PORT HADLOCK — Live American blues and ragtime, bossa nova, vintage standards and gypsy jazz will mix together in Red, White & the Blues, a long-awaited fundraiser for Bayside Housing & Services this Sunday.
The Old Alcohol Plant, 310 Hadlock Bay Road, is the venue for the outdoor event from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with the Hounds of Townsend — aka bluesmen John Maxwell and Jon Parry — and Stringology, the acoustic trio specializing in music from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.
“It’s a ‘welcome back’ event, to the Old Alcohol Plant, and the first Bayside fundraiser in over a year,” said Greer Gates, the nonprofit organization’s development director.
Tickets to Red, White & the Blues start at $100 and include the live music, a drink and a locally sourced charcuterie board, Gates added. Dinner is also available for purchase at an additional cost. For information and tickets, see Baysidehousing.org.
This event is a key benefit for Bayside’s existing transitional housing programs as well as its expansion plans, Gates said.
Since the last fundraiser, she added, four more family units have been added to the main Bayside building adjacent to the Old Alcohol Plant hotel, for a total of 22 units. Then there’s the Peter’s Place community of 12 tiny houses beside Port Hadlock’s Community United Methodist Church.
In progress are 10 more colorful wooden shelters, being built on the lot provided by Evangelical Bible Church in Port Townsend.
“From a fundraising perspective, it’s not just covering costs; we’re raising funds to continue our mission,” Gates said.
“I’ve always been happy to support [Bayside]. They do such wonderful work there,” said Maxwell, who on Sunday will give his first live performance since March 2020.
He added that after he moved to the Olympic Peninsula five years ago, he immediately hit it off with Bayside director Gary Keister and his wife, board member Susan Keister.
“I know they appreciate music,” said Maxwell, who specializes in slide guitar and stirs in some mandolin.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Stringology too,” he said of the band featuring guitarist Eric Bogart, Terianne Stratton on ukulele, and Tracy Grisman on bass and vocals.
The trio has played many local venues and festivals, Bogart said, and appeared on National Public Radio.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladaily news.com.