Flower baskets line city streets for summer

Editor’s note: this story has been updated with contact information for sponsorships. – MD

Flower baskets — staples alongside Sequim’s streets in the spring and summer — once again went up on light posts last week.

City maintenance crews worked in tandem on May 22 to place and hang 124 baskets made by Sequim High School students.

“It’s beautiful to see,” said city maintenance worker Luke Bugge, who is in his third season hanging baskets on light posts. “I love doing it.”

Co-organizer Emily Westcott said this is the 27th year of the joint program that seeks $100 sponsorships for a plaque below each basket, with funds supporting next year’s baskets, flowers around town, and Christmas lights in downtown Sequim.

“It’s been a really good project,” Westcott said.

High schoolers in agriculture/science courses with instructors Bill McFarlen, Lynette Jenne and Candy Seelye started on the baskets a few months ago in the high school’s newer greenhouse, Westcott said.

“They’re babies now, but they’ll get big like they always do,” she said. “They hopefully should be out until mid-October.”

The project is a joint effort between Westcott, the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce (bookkeeping), Sequim High School, and the City of Sequim. City staff water the baskets three days a week and fertilize them twice a week, Westcott said.

Basket sponsorships are always available, Westcott said, by calling her at 360- 670-6294.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ City of Sequim maintenance worker Luke Bugge, left, hands a flower basket to his coworker Jake Vanderwaal to hang in downtown Sequim on May 22. “It’s beautiful to see,” Bugge said of the baskets. “I love doing it.”

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ City of Sequim maintenance worker Luke Bugge, left, hands a flower basket to his coworker Jake Vanderwaal to hang in downtown Sequim on May 22. “It’s beautiful to see,” Bugge said of the baskets. “I love doing it.”

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
Jake Vanderwaal, a maintenance worker with the City of Sequim, places a flower basket on May 22 near the Sequim VFW. In total, Sequim High Schoolers made 124 baskets to go across the city.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Jake Vanderwaal, a maintenance worker with the City of Sequim, places a flower basket on May 22 near the Sequim VFW. In total, Sequim High Schoolers made 124 baskets to go across the city.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Jake Vanderwaal, a maintenance worker with the City of Sequim, moves his bucket to a flower basket on May 22 so he can place it on a light pole near the Sequim VFW.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Jake Vanderwaal, a maintenance worker with the City of Sequim, moves his bucket to a flower basket on May 22 so he can place it on a light pole near the Sequim VFW.