PORT TOWNSEND — When an old military base with a lighthouse, a sweeping beachfront and a flock of historic buildings is turned into a lifelong learning center, that’s reason to celebrate.
So believe the organizers of Saturday’s open house at Fort Worden State Park.
The open house celebrates the first anniversary of the May 2014 agreement between Washington State Parks and the Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Center Public Development Authority.
The PDA is overseeing the campus portions of the 434-acre park for educational purposes while State Parks continues to manage the camping, beach and recreation areas.
The fort’s partners are inviting the public to a day full of tours, live music and activities for children and grown-ups — all free.
And since Saturday is National Get Outdoors Day, no state parks Discover Pass is needed at the fort.
“The whole fort is lit up” with festivity, said Aletia Alvarez, co-founder of the Madrona MindBody Institute — aka Building 310 — where yoga, dance and other fitness programs will start early — 8:30 a.m. — in a 5,000-square-foot former gym.
The Fort Worden Commons will be the hub for visitor activities from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
That’s where information displays will be set up and the park’s partners will publicize their offerings.
The organizations include:
■ Port Townsend Marine Science Center, open for tours and the 2:30 p.m. feeding of the giant Pacific octopus.
■ Artillery Museum, with tours at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
■ Point Wilson Lighthouse, open for tours from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
■ Madrona MindBody Institute, with free chair massages through the afternoon.
■ Port Townsend School of Woodworking, which will host free birdhouse-building.
■ Centrum, which will offer information about its eight festivals and dozens of other events through the year.
■ Friends of Fort Worden, offering a Stewards of the Fort program.
■ Peninsula College, hosting local classes as it renovates the fort’s Building 202.
The Commons will have a kids’ zone, too, beckoning with an obstacle course, face painting, juggling and crafts, all while local bands fill the air with their music.
Rhythm Planet, the Toolshed Trio and Soundlab Singers, the Pipia Sisters and Lobo del Mar are all set to play through the afternoon and early evening.
Free classes
The open house starts early at Madrona with a “free play all day” theme. Eleven classes will be offered at no charge:
■ 8:30 a.m. — All-levels yoga.
■ 10 a.m. — Nia, a dance-fitness class with Madrona co-founder Allison Dey.
■ 11 a.m. — Vinyasa yoga.
■ Noon — Soul Motion, a free-form dance class.
■ 1 p.m. — A crystal-bowl meditation.
■ 2 p.m. — Classes in yoga sculpting and Feldenkrais.
■ 3 p.m. — A “Nia: Conscious Conditioning” program with Dey and Jan Burr and another Soul Motion dance.
■ 4 p.m. — An injuries assessment clinic with licensed massage therapist Shawn Kellogg and a “yoga for backs” class.
■ 5 p.m. — A champagne toast, juice bar and drawings for prizes, such as a six-month unlimited-class certificate.
Those who stop in at Madrona any time Saturday can purchase class passes and book massages at a discount, Alvarez added.
Evening dance party
At 7 p.m., Port Townsend’s Kiwanis Stars of Tomorrow and the Locust Street Taxi band will set up on the Fort Worden Commons patio for a dance party.
“We’re going to play our usual post-modern atomic folk ska with horns,” said Taxi’s Franco Bertucci, “and a few cover songs from the ’60s and ’90s, Taxi-fied.”
The evening’s all-ages dance party will go until 10 p.m., with admission by donation.
For information about the open house and campus, see www.FortWorden.org or phone 360-344-4434.
To find out more about Centrum’s events, including the Voice Works music festival June 23-28, visit www.centrum.org.
For details about Madrona institute classes and retreats, go to www.MadronaMindBody.com or phone 360-344-4475.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
