BRINNON — Instead of shrimp, there will be flowers, pancakes, ice cream bars and egg rolls this Saturday and Sunday at the Brinnon Community Center.
Make that lots of blooms — geraniums, crocosmia, hosta, hollyhock, sunflowers among them — in the Quilcene Brinnon Annual Plant Sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at the center at 306144 U.S. Highway 101.
The Quilcene Brinnon Garden Club has put the sale together, assembling abundant flowers and vegetable plants.
Admission is free. Plant prices range from $1 to $25 for “ginormous fuchsia baskets,” as described by club president Ruth Dunham.
“It was supposed to be part of ShrimpFest, and since we had it all organized, we decided to go ahead with it,” added Bonnie McDaniel, publicist for the sale.
ShrimpFest, Brinnon’s seafood-fueled celebration begun nearly three decades ago, has been canceled for the second year in a row. Organizers couldn’t find enough freezer space for the shrimp, said Rhonda Burell of the Emerald Towns Alliance, a backer of ShrimpFest.
So in came the plant sale, usually held just one day in Quilcene. It’s been expanded to two days and turned into a multifaceted community gathering: The pancake breakfasts will be served from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., the Egg Roll Hut truck will roll in, and visitors will have a chance to buy tickets to win a handmade quilt, a barbecue and a composter.
The flowers and vegetables are especially abundant this year thanks to donations from local nurseries, McDaniel added.
Valley Nursery of Poulsbo was among the stores which provided large donations to the nonprofit sale.
“We didn’t expect that to happen,” McDaniel said. “We were going to do a small garden club sale. But our stores came through.”
Club members did too, bringing lots of dahlias, a major attraction in previous years.
“I would encourage people to get there early,” McDaniel said of the sale.
Garden club photographer Laurie Mattson noted the event also offers trees, shrubs, house plants and a few specimens of Podophyllum, aka chinesis.
This Memorial Day weekend plant sale traditionally raises money for local nonprofit organizations such as the Quilcene Food Bank, the Weekend Nutrition Program and Center Valley Animal Rescue.
Proceeds from this year’s pancake breakfasts will benefit the local Boy Scouts and the Brinnon School booster club, McDaniel said.
For more information about the Quilcene Brinnon Garden Club, see its Facebook page or email Dunham at ruthdunham@msn.com.
The club welcomes novice and experienced gardeners, according to its social media page, and it connects people to other passionate gardeners and local experts.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
