PORT ANGELES — A banner introducing the 2012 Canoe Journey was placed in Port Angeles on Sunday afternoon, with a ceremony performed by the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s singers, to kick off the journey season.
More than 30 canoes are expected to arrive in Port Angeles on July 16 to be greeted by two canoes from the Elwha, and the banner at the Downtown Health Center, 240 W. Front St., announces the coming of the canoes.
This year, the journey will end at Squaxin Island, near Shelton, on July 29.
A group of Lower Elwha Klallam tribal singers held their ceremony in the parking lot as the banner went up in memory of Vanna Francis, namesake for the Elwha’s canoe, the Beautiful Sister.
Francis, 18, died in 2007, when the car in which she was riding plunged into the flooding Elwha River.
Ronnie Scroggins, 15, a member of the Makah in Neah Bay, was also killed in the wreck.
The banner is more than an advertisement, said Sonny Francis, Vanna’s father and one of the singers who attended the ceremony. It is also a tribute to Vanna and to the spirit of the canoe journey.
Vanna’s portrait is featured on the banner, along with a hummingbird design.
“She adored and admired the hummingbird,” Sonny Francis said.
The hummingbird is also featured on the bow of the Beautiful Sister.
The banner was donated by Friends of the Canoe Journey, represented by Bill Hennessey of Port Angeles.
“It’s all about the kids,” Hennessey said. “They deserve the support of the whole community.”
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
