PORT ANGELES — Former President Theodore Roosevelt and daughter Alice Roosevelt failed to show up at the Tea with Teddy on Sunday afternoon, despite a having confirmed plans to attend.
Roosevelt was long known for not appearing at scheduled social events, said Richard Stephens, Heritage Festival and Port Angeles Downtown Association committee member.
Alice often filled in for her widowed father, but she too canceled her appearance, Stephens said.
Like the early 20th century characters they played, the actors scheduled to appear as the iconic president and first daughter found themselves unable to attend the Sunday afternoon tea at the Elks Naval Lodge, he said.
Stephens spun tales of the exploits of Roosevelt and his daughter, including the creation of the nature preserve would become Olympic National Park, as well as details about life in the turn-of-the-century Roosevelt White House.
Alice sometimes chased White House staffers with her pet snake, and the president hated his nickname.
“He hated to be called ‘Teddy,’” Stephens said.
Roosevelt preferred to be called “Colonel,” or Col.Roosevelt, he said.
Half of the dozen people who did attend were costumed in 1914-era clothing, including Stephens, but the turnout for the tea was disappointing, said Barb Frederick, executive director of the Downtown Association.
Weekend went well
However, the rest of the Heritage Festival weekend went very well, Frederick said.
The children’s carnival, based on turn of the century children’s games, was busier than expected, keeping teenage volunteers busy Saturday, she said.
Games were selected, organized and run by the Downtown Youth Volunteers, whose members are ages 10 to 18.
Attendance results from tours and other events will not be available until Tuesday, but they were all very busy, she said.
The Steam Ball sold more than 200 tickets to the dance and Abney Park
steampunk concert, well within the Heritage Festival’s hoped-for turnout, she said.
About 90 percent of attendees were in steampunk costume of some kind, Stephens said.
Many of the costumed dancers were members of established steampunk groups from Portland, Ore., or Seattle, with elaborate costumes, while other guests’ costumes were created by what they had in their closets.
Some guests were surprised to find that what they already had in their closets was steampunk, Stephens said.
At least one group from Portland drove to Port Angeles just to see the band perform.
It was cheaper for fans to drive to Port Angeles for the ball than attend an Abney Park concert in Portland, Frederick said she was told.
Mystery revealed
The weekend also saw a fictional murder mystery.
It was Howell Beamond, in the tavern, with a stick.
Beamond was the murderer in the mystery that played out over the weekend at the Heritage Festival.
Amateur sleuths searched out the 15 witnesses in period costumes to try to put together 46 clues that led to the solution to the murder of tavern owner Trevor Llywelyn.
The eye witnesses were based on real people from Port Angeles history, but the suspects and murder victims were fictitious, said Diane Hanes, creator of the mystery.
Hanes revealed the details surrounding the death of the fictional 1914 tavern owner’s violent death.
The killer planned out the attack in detail, she said.
He left fake notes for other residents the day before the murder, established a fake alibi, slunk through the newly created Port Angeles Underground, moved the body to a new location and posed as the victim after his death to confuse the timeline.
As with many murders, Beamond killed Llywelyn over money — the funds Beamond’s parents thought should have been theirs after Llywelyn sold the family property in Wales many years earlier, Hanes said.
Eric Nelson, a suitor for Llywelyn’s daughter, stole $100 from the tavern after the murder took place.
The theft was unrelated to the murder, she said.
Results from submitted sleuth solutions were not available Sunday.
The 2012 Heritage Festival theme has already been selected, said Kathy Monds of the Clallam County Historical Society.
As part of the Port Angeles sesquicentennial celebration, the Heritage Festival will be based on the founding of Port Angeles in 1862, Monds said.
Organizers’ first meeting to begin planning for that event will be next week, when the date for the festival will be selected, Monds said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.