Forgive the gross use of cultural exceptionalism, but Sequim rocks. Well, our festivals do, anyway.
OK, that’s not really news to the exceptionally intelligent (and good-looking, I might add) folks who wisely chose the Sequim-Dungeness Valley to make their home. But the Sequim Irrigation Festival recently made the top of KING 5’s “2015 Best Northwest Escapes” contest.
Kudos, of course, go to the countless organizers of the festival’s events, and certainly to folks who brought the honor to Sequim by voting online and knocking off 62 other candidates.
If you haven’t seen the video touting our town, check out the link online (see story, page A-3).
So, naturally, it’s time for the bragging to begin.
Live with that, Lake Stevens’ Aquafest! Try not to weep, Whaling Days (Silverdale)! Isn’t it great, Bainbridge Island’s Grand Old Fourth?! Poor, poor Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival … Can you cope with it, Conconully Outhouse Races? (Seriously. That was one of the entries.)
Also getting some props in the contest was Salt Creek Recreation Area (Best Campsite), George Washington Inn and Estate (Best Bed and Breakfast) and Lake Crescent (aptly, Best Lake) were some of the other local spots.
Not to be outdone, of course, Port Angeles — our obnoxious, uncouth “city folk” to the west — are touting their town online to rave reviews as well.
Port Angeles clobbered the Colorado resort town of Glenwood Springs to advance to the fourth of five rounds in Outside magazine’s fifth-annual “Best Town Ever” online contest.
In successive weeks, P.A. has toppled Santa Barbara, Calif., Bainbridge Island and Glenwood Springs. (Others in Outside magazine’s semifinals include: Middlebury, Vt.; Bar Harbor, Maine; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Boone, N.C.; Spearfish, S.D.; and Eau Claire, Wis.)
Port Angeles now faces Flagstaff, Ariz., in the national contest for a shot at the semifinals. Online voting is under way now, and runs until 8:59 p.m. Saturday, May 23.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m rooting for those loathsome P.A. folks to top Flagstaff. It’s just that … Port Angeles?
“Best Town Ever”? Well, if it happens, enjoy it. Sequim folks were just too busy being awesome, I guess, to enter Outside’s magazine this year. Wait until next year …
On to the obscure, the ridiculous, the midly interesting that has passed across my desk in recent days:
More love of the lavender
If you notice more visitors to town looking for the purple herb well before July’s Lavender Weekend, blame the Mother Nature Network. A recent article/photo blog entitled “How one small town became the ‘Lavender Capital of North America’” notes, “While the city of Forks receives a whopping 119 inches of annual rainfall, Sequim only clocks in at around 10-15 inches a year — about the same amount of rainfall that sunny Los Angeles receives.”
The article also goes on to describe the rainshadow effect and the virtues of all things lavender.
Shea does it again
Buy this guy a lottery ticket. Sequim schools superintendent sank his first hole-in-one at the annual Boys & Girls Club Golf Tournament on May 9, winning the two-year lease on a car. (He’s not taking it but instead getting an upgrade on a truck.)
One week to the day, Shea had the best shot in a closet-to-pin contest to win another car at the Golf for Grads tournament. This one, he donated to a fellow school staffer who needed the wheels.
On an entirely different note, 51-year-old Spanish pro golfer Miguel Angel Jimenez hit an ace at the Open de Espana on May 15, which won him 288 beers. His reaction? He moonwalked down the fairway. Classy.
Baby names, baby names
The Social Security Administration announced this week the most popular baby names in Washington state for 2014. Can you guess? For boys, Liam tops the list, followed by Benjamin, Alexander, Noah and William. On the girls’ side, it’s Olivia in first place, followed by Emma, Sophia, Ava and Emily.
For reporters, these names usually come as a relief, albeit a false one. If you notice there are no unusual spellings, no silent Js, GHs or cleverly misplaced Es or dashes or asterisks. We pen-and-paper jockeys spend a lot of time getting the correct spelling of people’s names (hopefully getting them right the first time), and an inordinate amount of time wondering why someone would choose to name their child after a brand of whiskey or a punctuation mark.
Terrifying thought of the week
An American doctor named Ian Crozier was treated for Ebola in Atlanta last year and declared free of the virus in his blood. But he had no way of knowing it still lurked in his eye.
He was hospitalized for more than a month in September 2014 after contracting the disease in Sierra Leone, where he worked at a hospital. He was discharged in October, and about two months later, he developed eye problems. Doctors stuck a needle in his eye and removed some fluid, which tested positive for the virus.
When the virus was found in Crozier’s eye, the eye started losing its original blue hue. It turned green.
Phone books, phone books
For some reason I keep getting these calls from residents about phone books. “Don’t throw them away,” they said. “Don’t recycle them. They’re the only way to get a hold of people nowadays. And tell other people!”
Consider yourself told.
Same old tunes
If you’re 33 or older, you might as well stop shopping for music. A new online study suggests that those approaching their mid-30s rarely listen to new music.
The study is based mainly on data from U.S. Spotify users and concludes that age 33 is when, on average, people stop discovering new music and, as one writer put it, “begin the official march to the grave.”
And I thought all the new music was just garbage. Huh.
Kilmer, to the rescue
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) last week called for a new study of military jet noise over Olympic National Park.
Kilmer urged the National Park Service to collect new noise samples and data for the Federal Interagency Committee on Aviation Noise. He also asked that committee to review National Park Service findings along with previous studies from other agencies like the Department of Defense. The new review would come as the U.S. Navy has proposed expanding training missions on the Olympic Peninsula. The Navy is interested in using areas to run electronic warfare range testing for personnel and this training would lead to an increased number of jets flying over Olympic National Park, whereas peninsula residents would like to not be freaked out every 15 seconds and expect Mount Olympus to start erupting.
Kilmer has asked the Department of Defense to provide existing noise modeling data, the Department of Interior to collect real noise samples and data and for the the Federal Interagency Committee on Aviation Noise to examine that noise data and, if needed, figure out how the military can mitigate it.
If only he could do something about drought. Speaking of which …
One big dry run
Snowpack conditions across Washington mountains are near record low levels, prompting Gov. Jay Inslee on May 15 to declare a drought emergency for three key regions.
Watersheds on the Olympic Peninsula, the east side of the central Cascade Mountains and the Walla Walla region will be hit hardest with drought conditions. Snowpack is a mere 7 percent of normal in the Olympic Mountains.
The overarching theme? Enjoy the little things — like snow, water and sweat-free days — while they last.
Reach Sequim Gazette editor Michael Dashiell at editor@sequimgazette.com.
