Maybe you saw “Big Blue” as we affectionately call our bus in Port Angeles’ Fourth of July parade. The 70-passenger bus primarily provides transportation for Greywolf Elementary students to get to the Club after school each day. During the summer that’s a different story. That bus logs miles all over the peninsula and almost weekly as far east as the great Seattle area. This time the Port Angeles Club members and our Youth of the Year piled in the bus and rolled in the parade down Lincoln Street on the Fourth of July. The bus also took kids to Graysmarsh Farms this week to berry pick and on the Junior Ranger adventure out west. Kids from the Club went to the Port Angeles Lefties game thanks to Green Crow. The company not only gave the Club tickets, but they provided a hot dog dinner for all the kids. Our members were able to meet the players and partake in America’s pastime. It wouldn’t be summer without our annual trip to the Olympic Game Farm. Big Blue took the driving tour through Sequim’s iconic animal exhibit. This is a favorite field trip, as some of the younger members are able to attend because it’s so close.

Morning Camp

Kids got their motors running this week. All of the arts and crafts, recreation activities and some of the snacks were based on cars, motorcycles and trains. They dipped monster truck toys in paint and drove them on paper creating line art. Watermelons were carved into train cars and the kids had magnetic and Lego car building and racing contests. Extra special this week was a visit from The Hooligans, a local motorcycle Club. Don Bedinger a member of the Club, rallied the group and brought six bikes to let the kids see, hear and sit on. Don’s daughter Brooke was a Club alum and tragically passed away last summer in a motorcycle accident. The kids enjoyed asking questions about the cost of owning a bike, about the Hooligan Club and even about broken bones.

Junior Rangers

Our members learned how to become Ocean Stewards this week on their second trip of the season out to Rialto Beach. Molly, an Olympic National Park Ranger, provided each of the kids with a workbook to guide them through a few lessons on how to take care of the natural environment they live in. They explored tide pools and found sea stars and sea anemones. They started out on the one-mile journey to Hole in the Wall and immediately had to pull off their shoes and socks to cross Ellen’s creek due to all the rain that made it much larger than it was the day before. Fortunately, the kids were willing to pop off their shoes and socks and continue to their destination. The rain didn’t stop them from making sand creations.

For more information on the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, call 360-683-8095.

Riders with The Hooligans Motorcycle Club showed Sequim Boys & Girls Club members their motorcycles and answered questions last week.