Ready, set, barbecue! Or camp. Or groove. Suddenly, as if by magic, Labor Day weekend is upon us.
Where did the summer go?
How did it fly by us so fast?
A host of holiday weekend activities — from art exhibit openings to the ParTy in P.T.-Sidewalk Sale to the Key City Players’ dramatic readings in Port Townsend — are covered in today’s Peninsula Spotlight.
Peninsula Spotlight is the PDN’s weekly entertainment guide, published every Friday.
Events are also listed in “Things to Do This Weekend,” appearing by clicking on CALENDAR at left.
State Patrol officers and police across the state — including Jefferson and Clallam counties — will be hunting down drunken drivers throughout the weekend.
Sunny weather is predicted for the Peninsula through Monday.
Here are additional best bets on enjoying the last lazy weekend of summer:
Under the skies
Open campsites will be hard to find in many public campgrounds.
But some campers always cancel or don’t show up, so it’s worth a try to show up today and see what’s available.
But don’t count on getting a spot in a popular park.
* Olympic National Park has 16 campgrounds, and they’re all first-come, first-serve except for Kalaloch, which operates on a reservation system during the summer.
Phone 360-565-3130, or log on to www.nps.gov/olym.
* All Olympic National Forest campgrounds are first-come, first-served, with the exception of the Rainbow Group Campground.
For more information on Olympic National Forest campgrounds, call 360-956-2402, or go to www.fs.fed.us/r6/olympic/recreation-nu/ campgrounds.shtml.
For recreation and general information on state parks, phone 360-902-8844 or 360-664-3133 TDD.
WW II ceremony
Veterans and everyone in the community are invited to a ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday commemorating the end of World War II.
The event marks the 61st anniversary of the Japanese surrender, which was finalized at 9:04 a.m. Sept. 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay on the deck of the battleship Missouri.
Dean Geddes of Sequim will host the ceremony at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post at 169 E. Washington St., Sequim.
For information, phone Geddes at 360-460-7179.
Music in Sequim
Feables, a cover band comprised of Sequim High School students, will play Beatles and other Baby Boomer-era tunes at the free outdoor Music in the Park concert in Sequim on Saturday.
The group will play from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the state-of-the-art stage in the Water Reuse Demonstration Park, just north of Carrie Blake Park.
Bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on — plus a picnic basket, or grab some food at a downtown store or restaurant, or at the Sequim Open Aire Market (open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday) on Cedar Street, between Sequim Avenue and Second Street.
Professional guitarist Cesar Medel will perform at the market from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Music in the Park is every Saturday through next Saturday, Sept. 9.
The concert series is sponsored by the city of Sequim and Peninsula Daily News.
Additional sponsors are Clark Land Office; US Bank; and Bill Littlejohn, owner of Olympic Ambulance, Sherwood Assisted Living and The Fifth Avenue and Sherwood Village retirement centers in Sequim.
Hear it played
Pianist Liza Lanza performs selections from her new CD, “Barcarolle,” at the Rose Theatre in downtown Port Townsend on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Tickets are $16 and are available in Port Townsend at Quimper Sound, 230 Taylor St., and Paul Creech Pianos, 2201 E. Sims Way.
Find a glass float
Fifty of artist Callahan McVay’s hand-blown glass fishing floats will be hidden in Pope Marine Park, downtown on the Port Townsend waterfront.
The hunt begins at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
No early birds. No digging or disturbing plants will be necessary. And, please, one float per person.
Once found, the floats should be brought to Artisans on Taylor gallery, 236 Taylor, across from the Rose Theatre.
A nominal fee to purchase a signed “certificate of authenticity” will increase the value of the float significantly.
Additional floats will be available for purchase at the gallery.
Concert in a barn
Olympic Music Festival’s summer concerts are performed every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through next Sunday, Sept. 10, in a restored 100-year-old barn near Quilcene, just south of State Route 104 along Center Road (watch for the sign off 104).
This Saturday and Sunday, the program will be performed by Alan Iglitzin, Elza Van DenHeeven, Teddy Abrams and Paul Hersh:
* Mozart: Trio in E Flat for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, K. 498.
* Bruch: Four Pieces for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, Op. 83, No. 1.
* A third program to be announced.
The festival is winding up its 23rd season.
Tickets are $15 to $26, phone 206-527-8839, click on www.olympicmusicfestival.org or buy them at the barn.
T-Bird sailing regatta
Hosted by the Wooden Boat Foundation, between 24 and 50 sailboats are expected to participate in the 2006 Thunderbird Northwest Regional Regatta in Port Townsend Bay on Saturday and Sunday.
Cruise? Tour?
* Michael Swirski of Seventh Wave Yacht Charters (360-808-0505; www.shadowfox7.com) will take you on a two-hour outing aboard his 45-foot ketch Shadowfox in Port Angeles Harbor and, weather willing, in the Strait.
He also takes charters to Sequim Bay, Port Townsend, Victoria, Neah Bay and the San Juans.
* Will Nelson operates All Points Charters and Tours, a full-service tour and charter company serving Clallam and Jefferson counties with day tours to Lake Crescent, Hurricane Ridge, Hoh rain forest, Makah Tribal Center, wineries of the North Olympic Peninsula and trips elsewhere in the state.
The company also provides custom transportation for any size group, for any purpose, to anywhere in Washington — plus it will make arrangements for business meetings, weddings and other events (including catering, tours, accommodations and arrangements for meeting rooms, entertainment and golf tournaments).
To book a tour, or for more information, click on www.goallpoints.com, phone Nelson at 360-565-1139 or e-mail him at tours@goallpoints.com.