Residents can fill up their plates with a full year of events this Saturday as the City of Sequim kicks off its Centennial Celebration.
Two meals, a pancake breakfast and a dinner, start the yearlong list of events leading to the commemoration of October 1913, when the city became incorporated 100 years ago.
The Sequim Prairie Grange puts together a special pancake breakfast from 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. that features all-you-can-eat pancakes, homemade applesauce, ham and beverages.
Bonnie Hagberg, family living coordinator for the grange, said the grange normally hosts four pancake breakfasts a year, but the Centennial committee asked them to do a special event.
“We’re very community-oriented and to be part of the Sequim Centennial is right up our alley,” Hagberg said.
At the breakfast, Aglazing Art Studios of Port Angeles starts the Centennial’s tile project: For $10, participants can paint a tile of their vision of Sequim past/present/future for later display in the city at a place to be determined.
Sequim City Clerk Karen Kuznek-Reese said they’ve set a goal for 1,000 tiles by the end of the celebration.
The Centennial continues into the night at the Holiday Inn Express and Conference Center with the kick-off dinner using local foods and beverages, prepared by the Black Bear Diner.
Mayor Ken Hays, co-coordinator of the dinner, said his hope is for everyone in the area to become excited about the Centennial.
“This is a great way to get introduced to the events for the year,” he said. “It’s not a fundraiser for your local favorite charity. We’re always asking people to come and give but this gives them the opportunity to come and get something.”
Thinking local remains the theme with dinner items like prime rib from Sunny Farms, potatoes and carrots from Nash’s Organic Produce, and wines, beers and ciders from local producers.
All attendees receive a one-of-a-kind Sequim Centennial goblet and hold a chance at one of many door prizes, such as a free flight over Sequim.
The dinner’s entertainment also serves as a history lesson through speakers Theresa Lehman sharing the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s development of the area, Doug McInnes on the first white pioneers and Sam McCullough of Nash’s Farm on the history of farming in the area.
Olympic Theatre Arts founder Richard Waites is master of ceremonies for the event, which also features Sequim trivia and a slideshow of photos throughout Sequim’s 100 years uncovered by the Museum & Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley and community members.
Free 9-inch by 12-inch prints of historical photos will be given away and order forms for 18-inch by 24-inch Centennial posters will be available.
Organizers have worked with city staff and volunteers for three-plus years forming events spanning nearly every month.
“This is meant to be a community celebration,” Hays said. “We want to fully engage in everything Sequim. We’re celebrating the place we live. Cities aren’t buildings but about the people and this is about the whole valley.”
Tickets for the pancake breakfast are available at the door. The dinner has advance tickets available at Sequim City Hall, Sequim-Dungeness Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Mist Books and at the door. Seating is limited at the dinner, so advance tickets are encouraged.
For more information, call the City of Sequim at 683-4139 or visit www.sequimwa.gov. Also see the Gazette’s Centennial special section inside Wednesday’s newspaper or CLICK HERE for online edition.
