Peninsula: Film fest, heritage fest and other attractions highlight first weekend of fall

The fourth annual Port Townsend Film Festival headlines entertainment activities this weekend in Jefferson and Clallam counties.

It runs today through Sunday, with 13 feature films, nine documentaries — and movie stars Shirley Knight and Peter Fonda.

Exclusive interviews with these stars appear in today’s Peninsula Spotlight.

Live music is also part of the film festival.

For a complete rundown on events, see today’s Peninsula Spotlight entertainment magazine, part of the Peninsula Daily News every Friday.

Other weekend events — from art shows to plays to concerts to the “Fiber Panache” fashion show and what’s at the movies — are also highlighted in Peninsula Spotlight and in the PDN’s daily “Things to Do” listings.

There is also information about next week’s events — including famed Irish tenor Anthony Kearns’ performance Monday night at Port Angeles High School and former White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater’s “American Conversations” presentations Thursday and Friday.

Other events coming up today, Saturday or Sunday:

Forest Frenzy

This second annual bike ride will be held Sunday and will take participants for a 48-mile round-trip journey on the Olympic Discovery Trail.

The bike ride will begin at 9 a.m. in front of the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St. in Port Angeles, and follows the trail to John Wayne Marina in Sequim.

Forest Frenzy registration is $20, and people can sign up Sunday morning at the start gate. Volunteers are also needed.

The ride will be on both paved and gravel terrain. Bicyclists of all ability levels are welcome.

All riders will be provided with a lunch at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim before beginning the ride back to the Red Lion, where the event will end.

For more information, call the Port Angeles Parks and Recreation Department, 360-417-4550.

Biker Blues Blast

The third annual Biker Blues Blast for motorcyclists and their fans will be held at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds today and Saturday.

This is the first time the event has been held in Port Townsend and will tie into the film festival because of Peter Fonda, star of 1969 cult classic, “Easy Rider,” which he will show at the festival.

Registration will be at the gate. Admission is $20 for the weekend.

The event is for adults and includes a beer garden requiring guests to be 21 years of age or older.

The fairgrounds will open at noon, and live music featuring eight blues bands will begin at about 3 p.m. each day.

Food and merchandise vendors, games and a wet T-shirt contest will also be included in the gathering.

About 1,000 motorcyclists and 5,000 motorcycle fans are expected to attend.

On Sunday morning, bikers will board the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry en route to the Oyster Run gathering in Anacortes.

Down by the River

Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Down by the River Day focuses on learning about the Dungeness River and the forests that sustain the Sequim-Dungeness area.

The event is sponsored by the Dungeness River Audubon Center and takes place on the Dungeness River flood plain at Railroad Bridge Park, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road in Sequim.

Audubon Center supporters will provide interactive and educational activities.

People should wear shoes and clothing appropriate for walking and wading along the river banks.

A fun run kick off Down by the River at 9 a.m., and at 9:40 a.m. an opening ceremony will be held on the bridge.

Hourly river walks featuring various outdoor-related topics will begin at 10 a.m.

Children will also have the opportunity to make rock sculptures, participate in nature printing and a scavenger hunt and paint rocks.

For more information, phone the Audubon Center at 360-681-4076.

Home HazWaste

Clallam County’s 15th annual Home HazWaste Roundup is today, Saturday and Sunday.

The event allows county residents to drop off a host of poisonous or potentially polluting chemicals, including pesticides, paints and stains, batteries, chemicals and other toxic materials.

This can be done at the Wal-Mart parking lot off Highway 101 east of Port Angeles from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

On Sunday, residents can drop off materials at the Sequim city shop, which is off South Sequim Avenue on Hemlock Street, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

County officials said used automotive products can be recycled free at the city landfill and county landfill transfer stations.

Residents are advised to carefully handle hazardous materials by keeping them in original containers and labeling materials not in original packages.

Items that should not be brought for collection include explosives, leaking or empty containers, asbestos, compressed gas cylinders, radioactive wastes, nonhazardous materials and business or medical waste.

For more information, click on www.clallam.net/envhealth.

Salmon derby

The LaPush Last Chance Salmon Derby on Saturday and Sunday targets a bubble fishery off the mouth of the Quillayute River.

The open area is inside an invisible line running from Teahwhit Head northwest to the “Q” buoy and from there to Cake Rock and east to the shoreline.

Derby hours are dawn until 4 p.m. Saturday and dawn until noon Sunday.

Derby tickets, which cost $20 per person for one or both days, can be purchased at Swain’s in Port Angeles, 602 E. First St., until early this afternoon.

They can also be bought at Thriftway in Forks (950 S. Forks Ave.) and at the Quileute Marina in LaPush.

Tickets will also be available at the marina early Saturday and Sunday morning.

There is a daily limit of two salmon, one of which may be a chinook of at least 26 inches.

Wild coho must be released and hatchery coho must be at least 16 inches to keep.

Barbless hooks are required.

Derby prizes include $500 and two nights at the LaPush Ocean Park Resort going to the largest chinook and coho caught during the event.

The second-place chinook and coho catch will each earn $250.

Another $100 will go to third through sixth places; $100 will also be given to the anglers with the largest lingcod and bottomfish.

There is a $6 launch fee at the marina, and moorage costs 60 cents per boat-foot.

For more information call the Forks Chamber of Commerce at 360-374-2531, or click on www.forkswa.com.

Boat race

Sequim Bay Yacht Club is sponsoring the annual “Reach For Hospice” boat race on Saturday.

The race raises money for the Hospice of Clallam County.

The minimum donation for entering the race is $25, and participating boats are also encouraged to get sponsors.

Pacific Handicap Racing Fleet handicap will be used.

The race begins at 1 p.m., with the skippers’ meeting at 11:30 a.m.

After the race there will be a potluck in the banquet room at John Wayne Marina.

“Reach for Hospice” T-shirts will be available for purchase prior to the race and can be personalized with boat names.

To sign up, or for further information, contact Don or Susan Sorensen at 360-681-0977, or e-mail sorensen@olypen.com.

The annual race has raised $24,273 for the hospice since 1992.

Friends of ONP

Friends of Olympic National Park meets for their second annual membership social on Saturday.

“Anyone with an interest in Olympic National Park is warmly invited,” said Friends President Brad Collins.

“Local adventurer Chris Duff will present a program about his recent circumnavigation of Iceland, so we’re sure to have an interesting and enjoyable afternoon.”

Duff, 46, a carpenter who lives in Port Angeles traveled about 1,500 miles by kayak with a couple from Orcas Island between May 18 and Aug. 4.

Saturday’s gathering starts at 2 p.m. in the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St.

Friends of Olympic National Park promotes understanding of the park’s ecological, educational, economic and recreational importance and works with the park on special projects.

People interested in the group should contact Collins, who works as Port Angeles’ city planner, at 360-417-4751.

Heritage Weekend

Port Angeles’ historic side surfaces this weekend as tours track classic bygone days.

The second Heritage Weekend, sponsored by First Federal Savings and Loan and showcasing historical Port Angeles, takes place Saturday and Sunday with tours into the downtown underground, through a former brothel, past turn-of-the-century homes and into the Clallam County Courthouse clock tower.

Actors and historians dressed in period clothing will narrate downtown murals, and artifacts of old Port Angeles will be on display in the underground, created when the buildings were raised in the early 1900s.

At the site of a once-thriving brothel, above what is now the Family Shoe Store downtown, costumed ladies will depict “the soiled doves” that leaned from the balconies to lure customers.

The brothel and other downtown sites are part of a 90-minute guided walking tour that will depart from The Landing mall atrium, on Railroad Avenue, three times each hour, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The tour costs $8 per person. Register the day of the tour at the atrium.

For a look at Civil War-era and early-1900s homes, the hour-long trolley tour winds through uptown Port Angeles and includes a stop for refreshments at the Tudor Inn, built in 1910.

The trolley tour touches on the city’s early and present-day industries, including sites on the National Register of Historic Places, and passes some of the city’s oldest homes and a former speakeasy, painting a picture of the city’s bygone days.

The trolley tours cost $8 and depart from The Landing mall atrium at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. both days.

A third tour leads into the county courthouse’ clock tower, built in the early 1900s.

This weekend is only the second time the tours have been offered.

This tour is limited in size, and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. The clock tower tours are free, but donations to the Clallam County Historical Society are appreciated.

Sign up in The Landing mall atrium.

On Saturday night, the Victoria-based jazz band CanUS will fill the Elks grand ballroom with the sounds of swing for the Heritage Gala.

A swing dance exhibition and contest kicks off the gala from 8-9 p.m., followed by two hours of live music and dancing. Cover charge is $10.

Both days Ruddell Auto Mall is hosting a free vintage car show on City Pier, just east of The Landing mall.

Several downtown businesses are showcasing vintage clothing, collectibles and artifacts in their windows.

A planned antiques fair has been canceled.

Heritage Weekend made its debut last year, attracting hundreds of people and prompting interest in the downtown underground.

That interest evolved into regular tours with Heritage Tours, run by Port Angeles resident Don Perry through the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce.

The tours operated daily this summer and will be offered on Fridays and Saturdays during the winter months, chamber Executive Director Russ Veenema said.

For more information on Heritage Weekend, contact the Chamber of Commerce at 360-452-2363.

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