As locals prepare to celebrate the 128th Sequim Irrigation Festival — with events kicking off during Crazy Callen Weekend (May 5-7) and culminating with the Grand Finale Weekend (May 11-13) — a quartet of citizens from longtime Sequim families serve as Honored Pioneers and Susan Baritelle as Grand Marshal.

Honored Pioneers must be a descendent who has/had a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent from the area and, as festival organizers note, “a tribute to those who came early and stayed late.” These dignitaries are selected by a Pioneer Committee and are guests at the annual Pioneer Dinner on May 12 at the former Macleay School, now known as the Sequim Prairie Grange.

Tickets are $20 each and will be available from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays through May 8, until all tickets are sold, at Sequim Museum & Arts, 544 N. Sequim Ave. Tickets are available for qualified pioneer family members and/or residents of Sequim that arrived prior to 1950. For more information, call Hazel Ault at 360-808-8641 or hazela@olypen.com.

For a full schedule of various events at this year’s festival, visit irrigationfestival.com.

Janis Schmuck Thomsen

Janis (Schmuck) Thomsen was born and raised in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley area. She lived in Carlsborg with her parents Audra and Ernie Schmuck and three siblings.

While attending Sequim High School she met and married her high school sweetheart, Bob Thomsen, whose school locker was next to hers.

Together, for the next 60 years, they raised six children who gave them nine grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.

Hobbies included sewing many school clothes and kids costumes for operettas and pageants. She also enjoys planting items to adorn her yard.

She is a life-time member of Sequim Prairie Grange and participated in the Rebekahs for several years.

She worked in the Brussels Sprouts barn on Woodcock Road for a short time, then helped open the Sequim Downtown Sears store and worked there for seven years from the first day it opened. Janis eventually started selling Avon products from her home and continued for more than 25 years.

Relatives that preceded her as festival dignitaries include her dad, Ernie Schmuck as Grand Pioneer in 1993; cousin Janice Schmuck, royalty queen in 1959l daughter Cindy, a princess in 1973, and grand-daughter Amanda, queen in 1997.

For more than 30 years, her extended family has monopolized the intersection of Sequim Avenue and Washington Street to watch and cheer for the parades. This was followed by her family and friends meeting at her home for the customary indulgence in fresh baked, piping hot Belgian waffles, dripping with either butter and syrup, or topped with strawberries and whipped cream.

“I am so delighted to have been chosen as an Honored Pioneer for the 128th Irrigation Festival,” she said.

Photo by Keith Ross, Keith’s Frame of Mind/ Honored Pioneer Rena Mantle Blank

Rena Mantle Blank

Roenah “Rena” Marie Mantle Blank was raised by her grandparents, Jess Mantle, a third-generation pioneer, and his wife Bess.

Rena’s parents Rex and Stella (Curry) Mantle divorced and Rex was drafted into World War II, so Rena went to live with her grandparents. She said she enjoyed living on one of the more than 200 dairy farms dotting the Sequim area.

The Jess Mantle home was at Mantle’s Corner, now Peninsula Nursery, on 200-plus acres owned by Jess.

This acreage afforded the opportunity to have several horses while Rena grew up, and she ideally could ride each day.

She graduated from Sequim High School in 1955.

Being from a family who believed in higher education, she was given the opportunity to go to Washington State College (now Washington State University).

She left school after one year to marry Bill Blank, her high school boyfriend — a 1952 Sequim graduate. They moved to Port Angeles, where they raised their children Randy, Cheryl and Deanna.

For 30 years in Port Angeles, Bill worked for the railroad and Rena worked for PenPly and Rayonier.

In 1987, the couple built a home on West Sequim Bay on property homesteaded by Bill’s grandparents.

Bill passed away on July 15, 2019.

Rena remains active with Trinity United Methodist Church in many roles, and served for 11 years on the Shipley Center’s board.

“It really means a lot,” she said about being chosen as a pioneer. “It recognizes the pioneers in our community are not forgotten and still valued.”

Photo by Keith Ross, Keith’s Frame of Mind/ Honored Pioneer Myrna Mantle

Myrna Mantle

Myrna Margaret Mantle was raised and adopted by Vern and Norah Mantle after her father Rex was drafted into World War II.

They lived about a block away from the Mantle Farm, so they were close enough to play with both her sister Rena and cousin Diane who lived about a block in the other direction — now Rock Plaza.

Myrna said she spent her early years in 4-H raising calves, then graduated to home economics clubs.

“We never had a chance to join a horse group, even though we loved horseback riding,” she said.

Myrna was an Irrigation princess her senior year and pursued musical pursuits in high school and throughout life. She graduated from Sequim High School in 1956.

She attended Washington State College (now Washington State University) and pledged Alpha Gamma Delta. She left after two years and got married.

Myrna has two sons: Mark and Tony. She later returned to college to earn a degree in Home Economics at the University of Washington.

Myrna obtained her teaching degree and was a substitute teacher for a few years and as a teacher at a skill center in Burien for three years. She later worked for Albertsons and QFC as a clerk for 15 years.

Myrna loves music and plays the piano, autoharp and banjo ukulele. She remains active with local groups including the Old Time Fiddlers and a jam group at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

On being named an Honorary Pioneer, Myrna said, “Sequim is a wonderful place to grow up.

“I can’t think of a better childhood than the one I had here.”

Photo by Keith Ross, Keith’s Frame of Mind/ Honored Pioneer Rick Godfrey

Rick Godfrey

Richard “Rick” George Godfrey was born and raised in Sequim.

The son of George and Mildred Godfrey, his family has roots on the Olympic Peninsula dating back to 1888 when his great grandfather William Barber Ritchie arrived in Port Angeles from Scotland. Ritchie, a lawyer, was responsible for leading the City of Port Angeles to lease Ediz Hook.

Rick, the oldest of four brothers, attended local schools until his family moved to Shelton when he was 15. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle in 1954. Rick served in the U.S. Navy, and later graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s of science in business.

He later married Nan Shirley, a teacher, and the couple have a daughter and two sons. They retired to Sequim in 1996.

Rick spent 22 years with the Honeywell Corporation managing factory operations. He then joined TRW (Thompson Ramo Wooldridge) Corporation and rose to become the group vice-president of occupant restraint operations for 12 years.

He also has served the United States Department of Defense as a member of the Defense Manufacturing Board and Defense Science board.

Before Rick retired from TRW, he and his brother David created an independent consulting company MRI (Manufacturing Resources, Inc), which helped companies improve their earnings and profit margins. He served as its chairman, while David served as president until his death.

Rick and Nan’s son, Eric Godfrey, lives in Sequim and owns Three Crowns, Inc., established in 2014. He’s a fifth-generation business owner in the area.

Rick remains active in the Sequim pioneer group Over the Hill gang, and is affiliated with the Heart of Jesus Church. He’s an avid outdoorsman and enjoys fishing, hunting, boating, camping, and golfing.

Rick is also proud that he was the youngest Eagle Scout to achieve this rank in the state of Washington in 1950 while a member of Sequim Troop 490.

“I am very grateful to be selected as a pioneer,” Rick said. “Our family has served this community for many years and this appointment as a pioneer is one of my most exciting events.”

Photo by Keith Ross, Keith’s Frame of Mind/ Grand Marshall Susan Baritelle

Susan Baritelle

Susan Baritelle moved to Sequim in 2006 with her husband Andy after having spent a decade working in the wine industry in California.

In 2008 she opened a children’s store, Dungeness Kids, when her first son Austin was just a year old.

In 2013, when her second son Brayden was 2, she moved her store to its current downtown location.

She has volunteered with many organizations in the past 17 years including, Sequim Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts Troop 90, Greywolf Parent-Teacher Association, Olympic Peninsula Academy Parent-teacher Organization, Choose Local Sequim, Sequim Merchants Group, Sequim Food Bank, Sequim Pre-3, Dungeness Kids Fair and First Step (for Spanish speakers).

She is a proud annual sponsor of the Toys for Tots organization, and also contributes to many local organizations through her store.

Susan said she’s grateful to be able to raise her two boys in this close-knit community, and is honored and humbled to be selected as the grand marshal.