Food, history presentations, a Woodworkers Ball and other delights will be celebrated this weekend across the North Olympic Peninsula.
Family Literacy Day
Clallam County Literacy Council and North Olympic Library System will celebrate National Family Literacy Day at the Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Clallam Bay public libraries Saturday.
This year, local firefighters will impress on children the importance of “Stop! Drop! and Read!” at events at the libraries from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Forks Library’s theme is “Fit to Read,” and this event will also run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Participants will receive a free book.
For more information, phone the North Olympic Library System at 360-417-8500.
PORT ANGELES
Taste of Peninsula
PORT ANGELES — The bounty of area farms and wineries are cause for celebration at the Clallam County Family YMCA’s fourth annual Taste of the Peninsula on Saturday.
Tickets are $45 to the fundraiser, held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Elks Naval Lodge, 131 E. First St..
Wineries will pour their wines, and chefs will provide samplings of foods prepared with locally harvested ingredients.
The event will celebrate the programs offered through Clallam County Family YMCA and the many volunteers who make those programs thrive.
Offering tastes will be Port Townsend Brewing Co., Harbinger Winery, Black Diamond Winery, Camaraderie Cellars, Olympic Cellars, Sorensen Cellars, FairWinds Winery and Finn River Farm & Cidery.
Serving samples of food will be Alderwood Bistro, Bell St. Bakery, The Blackbird Coffeehouse, Double Eagle Steak & Seafood, Michael’s Seafood & Steakhouse, Mt. Townsend Creamery, Oven Spoonful, Pane d’Amore, Raindrop Desserts, Rainshadow Coffee, Sabai Thai and Yvonne’s Chocolates. Live jazz will be provided by the Taste of Jazz Sextet featuring local musicians Ed Donohue, Chuck Easton, Andy Geiger, Al Harris, Ted Enderle and Tom Svornich.
Tickets, which include a two-week YMCA fitness pass, are available at the YMCA, 302 South Francis St.
For more information, phone the YMCA at 360-452-9244 or visit www.ccfymca.org.
Market meeting, party
PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Farmers Market will hold its annual meeting and celebration at the Clallam County Fairgrounds kitchen Sunday.
The potluck will be free and open to the public from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 1608 W. 16th St.
Vendors and community members are invited to bring a dish to share.
The potluck will begin at 4 p.m. with the meeting at 5 p.m. and the raffle at 6 p.m.
Manager Cynthia Warne and the market’s board of directors will review highlights from 2010, share the market’s priorities and goals for the new year and elect board members.
Linda Rotmark from the North Olympic Peninsula Resource Conservation & Development Council and Betsy Wharton from First Step Family Support Center will discuss a USDA grant which will allow the Market to accept Electronic Benefits Transfer — or EBT — cards for the first time in its history.
Information regarding new vendor sign-up and the Market Booster Program will be available.
Attendees are encouraged to bring an item for a raffle table, and all who attend may put their names in a hat and get to take something home.
For more information, phone Betsy Wharton at 360-461-0866 or e-mail behwarton@olypen.com.
Relay fundraiser
PORT ANGELES — Team Jazzercise is kicking off this year’s Relay For Life fundraising efforts by pairing up with Olympic Cellars Winery for a Girls (and friends) Night Out on Saturday.
Festivities start with a Dancing Abs Party Class, taught by Robyn Caynak and Andrea Piper at Jazzercise Fitness Center, 128 E. Fifth St., at 6 p.m.
This will be followed by a Private Wine Tasting and Holiday Food Pairing at Olympic Cellars Winery, 255410 U.S. Highway 101 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $30 for both events, $20 for the wine portion only, and may be purchased at the Jazzercise Fitness Center.
Proceeds will go to Team Jazzercise’s fundraising efforts for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life.
Olympic Cellars will donate 20 percent of wine sales during the event to Relay For Life.
For more information, phone 360-582-7679 or e-mail straitjazz@olypen.com.
History Tales talk
PORT ANGELES — Dick McLean and Bill Bork will share downtown Port Angeles business memories at the Clallam County Historical Society’s November History Tales on Sunday.
The free event will be at 2:30 p.m. in the Port Angeles City Council Chambers, 321 E. Fifth St.
McLean’s Shoe Store and Johnson & Bork Paints were mainstays of the Port Angeles downtown for many years.
Both McLean and Bork followed in their fathers’ footsteps to keep the businesses thriving and vital parts of the city.
History Tales is free and open to the public.
For more information, phone 360-452-2662.
Caregivers conference
PORT ANGELES — The Caregiver Coalition will hold its fourth annual caregiver’s conference, “Caregivers . . . It’s All About You,” in the Olympic Medical Center conference room Saturday.
The free conference will be from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 939 Caroline St.
It will provide tools and resources for both paid and unpaid caregivers.
All participants will receive a free lunch. Informational vendor booths will be staffed during the day.
Paid caregivers will be eligible to receive six continuing education credits for attending the conference.
The keynote speaker — Dr. Paul Cunningham, medical director at Jamestown Family Health Center in Sequim — will talk about “Assessing Caregiver’s Need for Help.”
There will be four concurrent break-out workshops.
Two are for the family caregiver: “Dealing with Dementia,” presented by Kathy Burrer, administrator at Dungeness Courte, and “Finding Respite Care,” with Carolyn Lindley and Ellie Cortez of Senior Information & Assistance.
Workshops for paid caregivers will be “Handling Caregiver Emotions and Grief,” presented by Melissa Layer, bereavement counselor at Assured Hospice, and “Career Development,” by Jen Gouge, coordinator of the Medical Assistant Program at Peninsula College.
Other sessions, in the afternoon, are “Gratitude and Humor,” by Donna Oiland, from Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, and “Songwriting Works,” by Judith-Kate Friedman, who developed the program in 1990 at the Institute on Aging in San Francisco.
The conference will end with a breathing/meditation session led by Annette Lindamood.
For more information or to register, phone Lindley at Senior Information & Assistance at 360-417-8554 or 360-452-3221.
First Step program
PORT ANGELES — First Step Family Support Center’s Read First Program will host a family Pajama Party tonight.
The event will be at 6 p.m. at First Step’s Dorothy Duncan Learning Center, 323 E. Sixth St.
It will feature a free showing of the 2006 movie, “Charlotte’s Web.”
Families with children are invited to join the fun by wearing pajamas, bringing a favorite toy and/or blanket, and enjoying a snack
Snacks will be provided or attendees can bring their own munchies.
Each family will also receive a free book to take home.
The Pajama Party will be emceed by local author, Rebecca Redshaw.
The First Step Charlotte’s Web Pajama Party is supported in part by Target and the First Book Program.
For more information about the pajama party, phone Chase Hill at 360-457-8355, ext. 35.
Play for Hospice
PORT ANGELES — Readers Theater Plus will perform Jan Karon’s “Welcome to Mitford” as a benefit for Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County tonight through Sunday.
The play will be staged at the Port Angeles Community Playhouse, 1235 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
The following weekend, the play will be held on Friday, Saturday, Nov.13; and Sunday, Nov. 14, at the Old Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, in Sequim.
Tickets are $12 each, or two for $20, and are available at Pacific Mist Books, 121 W. Washington St. in Sequim, and in Port Angeles, at Odyssey Bookshop,114 W. Front St., and at the Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County office, 540 E. Eighth St.
They will also be available at the door.
For more information about Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County visit vhocc.org or phone 360-452-1511.
SEQUIM
Fall Family Festival
SEQUIM — Sequim Community Church, 950 N. Fifth Ave., will hold a Fall Family Festival from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today.
The event will include live music by Jubilee, line dancing, team competitions, prizes and food.
For more information, phone 360-683-4194.
Art show, sale
SEQUIM — The Sequim Arts 2010 Members Art Show and Sale continues today through Sunday.
The show at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hall, 525 N. Fifth Ave., will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The show will also be open from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. during the First Friday Art Walk Sequim event.
The annual event gives Sequim Arts members the opportunity to display and sell original or reproductions of their artwork and features a silent auction and raffle.
The People’s Choice Award will be announced at the end of the show.
The show is free and open to the public.
For more information, see www.sequimarts.org.
GARDINER
Taste of Italy
GARDINER — The Gardiner Salmon Derby Association’s “Taste of Italy” event will be held at the Gardiner Community Center, 980 Old Gardiner Road, at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The event will include Italian food, classical guitar music and live and silent auctions.
Tickets are $15 per person and are available by phoning 360-797-7710 or 360-797-0050.
PORT TOWNSEND and JEFFERSON COUNTY
Woodworkers Ball
PORT TOWNSEND — The Woodworkers Ball — A Black Tie and Carhartts Affair will be an opportunity for creative pairing of formal wear and work clothes on Saturday.
The Port Townsend School of Woodworking will present the ball from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St.
The dinner, raffle, auction and dance are a benefit for the Port Townsend School of Woodworking and Preservation Trades, the school’s newly established nonprofit.
The tickets of $45 cover wine, a dinner by Chef Arran Stark and dancing to music by local band Airstream Traveler.
Ball attire in the past has included a prom gown with matching nail belt, work dungarees with tuxedo jacket and steel-toed work boots, and a black cocktail dress with a Carhartts label affixed to the shoulder strap, said John Marckworth, who founded the Port Townsend School of Woodworking at Fort Worden with Jim Tolpin and Tim Lawson.
The raffle and auction will have items donated by local businesses and individuals, including art pieces by school faculty and local woodworkers.
Tickets and donations are tax-deductible.
Tickets are available online at www.brownpapertickets.com; from Frameworks Northwest, 118 Taylor St.; and from Port Townsend School of Woodworking board members.
For more information, visit www.ptwoodschool.com.
Benefit concert
PORT TOWNSEND — The First Presbyterian Church will host a benefit concert for Jumping Mouse Children’s Counseling Center on Sunday.
The concert, “From Classical to Country,” will be at 4 p.m. at the church at 1111 Franklin St.
Performers will include Theresa Chedoen on piano and harp, Jack Reid on guitar and vocals and organist Woody Bernas.
Each donor will receive Bernas’ organ CD, “Resounding Joy” that was recorded on the historic pipe organ at First Presbyterian Church.
Suggested donation is $20.
‘The Foreigner’
PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend High School players will open their 2010 season with the thoughtful comedy “The Foreigner” in the campus auditorium, 1500 Van Ness St., at 7 p.m. tonight.
Other performances will be at 7 p.m. Saturday; Friday, Nov. 12; Saturday, Nov. 13; and Friday, Nov. 19.
Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students without a student body card.
Children younger than 12 and students with a student body card pay $3.
Anyone wishing to reserve tickets for a group of 10 or more should phone the high school at 360-379-4520.
Donner Party
PORT TOWNSEND — Daniel James Brown, author of The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride, will discuss his book at the Jefferson County Historical Society’s First Friday Lecture tonight.
The program will be at 7 p.m. in the Port Townsend City Council Chambers, 540 Water St.
Admission is by donation and supports historical society programs.
The book recounts the journey of Sarah Graves, a young woman whose fate became entangled with the tragic Donner Party, which turned to cannibalism after being marooned in a snowy mountain pass in 1846-1847.
The book is a finalist for the Washington State Book Award 2010.
Land trust walk
PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson Land Trust docents will lead a nature walk in the Quimper Wildlife Corridor from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Participants will meet at the North Beach County Park parking lot at the end of Kuhn Street.
The walk will visit the eastern end of the Quimper Wildlife Corridor, including the Chinese Garden, and the wooded hillside of Fort Worden State Park.
The walk is free and open to the public.
For more information, phone 360-379-9501, ext. 103, or e-mail jlt@saveland.org.
Community memorial
PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson Healthcare Hospice of Jefferson County will hold its annual community memorial service today.
The service will be at 5 p.m. at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave.
Residents of Jefferson County who have lost a loved one are invited to join with friends and family in this free, nondenominational service of honor and remembrance.
With an emphasis on community and the celebration of life, this annual event is held every fall before the holiday season because, for the bereaved, the holidays are often difficult and lonely, especially during the first year after the death of a loved one.
The service includes music, speakers, lighting of candles, a program of responsive readings, reflections and sharing.
During the ceremony, a memorial quilt, made by the Cabin Fever Quilters, will be displayed. Attendees are encouraged to add a photo or memento to honor and remember their loved one.
There will be refreshments and sharing afterward.
For more information, phone 360-385-0610.
Concert in Coyle
COYLE — Singer-songwriter Carolyn Cruso will perform folk, pop and jazz-inspired acoustic music at a concert at the Laurel B. Johnson Community Center at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
Suggested donation is $5.
For more information, phone 360-765-3449 or visit www.carolyncruso.com.