QUILCENE— A welcome sign proclaiming Quilcene as the “Pearl of the Peninsula” will be dedicated at 5:30 p.m. today.
The event will include a ceremony recognizing the volunteers who created and placed the sign and also built the new Gateway Park where it is located.
Gateway Park is a garden at the south end of Quilcene on U.S. Highway 101 at Milepost 295, just south of the Mount Walker Inn.
The new sign was designed by Quilcene artist Anne Ricker in order to display the town’s new slogan as the “Pearl of the Peninsula.”
“Several people pointed out that Quilcene is famous worldwide for its oysters, so the image just about designed itself,” Ricker said.
Built by residents
Gateway Park was designed and built by Quilcene residents under the leadership of John Helsper, a professional landscape designer who operates out of Quilcene and the Seattle suburb of Kirkland.
More than 100 hours of planning and labor went into the garden, along with donations of the site, the trees, bushes and grasses, giant rocks and river stones, heavy equipment to construct dry creek beds and ponds and irrigation and lighting systems.
The new slogan, Gateway Park and the sign all resulted from Quilcene Conversations, a community volunteer movement that seeks to add attractions and services that will capitalize on the town’s assets and address needs identified by its citizens.
The Beautify Quilcene team, a subset of Quilcene Conversations, has already completed several beautification improvements.
They include creating a paved pedestrian walkway, rehabilitating the Totem Pole Garden in front of Quilcene School, expanding the planting area north of the Peninsula Market on Highway 101, refurbishing the garden in front of the Twana Roadhouse and expanding the planting area outside the Plaid Pepper gift shop.
