SEQUIM — Friends and fans of the Dungeness River Audubon Center will celebrate the center’s 10th year with an open house today.
The event will feature special walks, talks and presentations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a reception from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The reception will include a special recognition and highlights program at 5:30 p.m.
The Dungeness River Audubon Center is located in Railroad Bridge Park, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road.
Some 150 people turned out on a Sunday afternoon 10 years ago for the center’s grand opening.
“When the center opened on Oct. 21, 2001, it was a modest building with a few exhibits and great hopes for the future,” said Lyn Muench, board member.
“Now, it is one of the most successful small nature centers in the country.”
The center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and from noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. Admission is free.
The primary function of the center is to help people understand and enjoy the natural environment.
Salmon run
“The salmon run this fall in the Dungeness has been phenomenal, and the Railroad Bridge is the perfect spot for viewing them,” said center director Bob Boekelheide, who is retiring at the end of the year after years with the center.
He hopes to write books and get involved in eco-tourism.
Last month, the opportunity to learn about the salmon and the Dungeness watershed attracted more than 3,000 visitors to the annual Dungeness River Festival in the Park.
The center’s beginnings go back well beyond the opening of the building in Railroad Bridge Park in 2001.
In the early 1980s, Annette and Mark Hanson, Clare Hatler and others “envisioned a natural history center where students and adults could learn about the natural environment,” Boekelheide said.
They created a small museum in the old Sequim High School with dioramas simulating a variety of natural habitats.
The founders were also linked with the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society.
When the museum closed at the school, the founders formed the Rainshadow Natural Science Foundation and developed a partnership with the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
The organizations worked together to create the center.
“The community has embraced and supported the river center through tough financial times, and Bob Boekelheide and his staff are doing an outstanding job,” Muench said.
Last year, center staff and volunteers participated in more than 650 events that attracted more than 18,000 attendees.
Outdoor field trips and in-school presentations reached nearly 3,000 students.
More than 6,300 visitors signed the center’s guestbook last year, and 59 percent were from out of town.
Railroad Bridge Park offers the best public access to the lower Dungeness River.
The park also provides access to the popular Olympic Discovery Trail, which runs across the river at the Railroad Bridge.
For more information, visit www.DungenessRiverCenter.org or phone 360-681-4076.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
