By Mary Jendrucko
UNDOUBTEDLY, THERE WILL be at least two lavender-themed events this summer.
Success can be contagious.
It’s a free country, and that’s the American way.
Look in our own small group of communities where we have the freedom to move about and patronize a multitude of pharmacies, auto parts stores, grocery chain stores and pet supply stores.
The Lavender Capital of North America and its community of growers, located right here in our own Sequim-Dungeness Valley, should offer no less to the consumer in their selection of the highest quality lavender — and afford us our bragging rights that we cultivate the best lavender that Mother Nature permits.
This year in July celebrates 15 continuous lavender harvest seasons — highlighted by the Sequim Lavender Festival on July 15-17.
It’s the period when farmers and growers are in the home stretch and have a little time to celebrate, reconnect with their community and friendly rivals and gather in one traditional location.
Fifteen continuous years to persevere involving any festival event, activity, marriage or lifestyle is quite an accomplishment in its own right.
The Sequim Lavender Festival will be located, as always, in the heart of Sequim on tree-lined streets and walking corridors with shaded grassy areas.
Visitors will be surrounded by three days of continuous musical entertainment and greeted with the fragrance of the famous Sequim lavender and a talented colony of artists and “craft smiths,” most with long-standing festival attendance.
There will be lavender in all its blooming splendor and uses and expressed in gifts, bouquets and personal care items that are created exclusively by the lavender growers and longtime members of the Sequim Lavender Growers Association.
The Sequim Lavender Festival is produced by the Growers Association, the founding and oldest nonprofit organization involved in the lavender industry in this part of the world.
Growers Association members are local farmers, pioneers, entrepreneurs and your neighbors.
They exclusively govern and manage their own event.
They will follow their philosophy of supporting their neighbors through this year’s theme, “Charity through Commerce.”
What better pool of resources, energy, innovation and benevolence can there be that’s associated with a plant?
Who knows lavender, the community and the market better?
The festival will offer more diversity and selection for the modern family — all in one regional location and at no charge.
By attending the Sequim Lavender Festival, you can attend an antique-custom car show and nationally acclaimed quilters’ exposition.
And, of course, the growers most responsible for our success and heritage will be showcased and made available all weekend through a self-guided and free “U-Tour” attraction.
With a map in hand, visitors may leisurely drive about the Sequim-Dungeness Valley at their own pace and visit the smallest and largest lavender farms located in the Lavender Capital of North America.
The map also will highlight other regional attractions in the valley including a dairy farm, a collection of artists’ studios that use a wide array of media, a wildlife refuge, organic farms and a lighthouse and schoolhouse, both with historical significance.
At no time in our lives have world events, natural disasters and homeland issues intersected and reached such a high juncture.
We possess in this country the freedom to choose from an abundance of our bounties, voice our thoughts and move about without hindrance or penalty.
Our entrepreneurial spirits, the freedom to own and work our land and pursue our visions are part of the American fabric that makes us the envy of the rest of the world.
The lavender industry and festival offerings for all of us to enjoy are an outcropping of these freedoms. We must cherish these freedoms and pray for the eternal safety of those who constantly guard them.
See you at the 15th Sequim Lavender Festival.
God bless America.
________
This guest column appeared in the Peninsula Daily News on Friday, April 8.
Mary Jendrucko is a tenured member and past president of the Sequim Lavender Growers Association.
She is this year’s executive director of the 15th Sequim Lavender Festival.
Visit www.lavenderfestival.com for more information.
A second group, the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association, will hold the Sequim Lavender Farm Faire, based at Carrie Blake Park, on July 15-17, the traditional lavender weekend in Sequim.
