SEQUIM — Dan Haggerty, the actor who played the title role in the 1970s TV series “Grizzly Adams,” will be at Olympic Game Farm as it offers guided tours of old film sets and discounted rates for its wild animal tours today (Saturday).
The special day — from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Olympic Game Farm, 1423 Ward Road, near Sequim — is a fundraiser to raise money to replace enclosures for such predators as wolves, lions, a bear cub and coyotes.
In addition to an opportunity to meet Haggerty, 67, the farm is offering discounted rates to see the animals, which also include brown bears, black bears, kodiak bears, buffalo, elk, peacocks, goats and yaks.
The drive-through tour is $4 for adults and $3 for children today.
The usual price is $10 for adults, $9 for children.
Children 5 and younger are always free.
In addition to visiting with Haggerty, there will be prizes, raffles and games, said Bob Beebe, who manages Olympic Game Farm for his grandfather and founder of the farm, Lloyd Beebe.
Hot dogs and other food will be available throughout the fundraiser, and local musicians will provide entertainment, he added.
Guided tours of old film sets used in such Walt Disney movies as “Vanishing Prairie” and “White Wilderness” will be conducted.
The sets are in the farm’s historic barn, built in 1867.
All proceeds and donations from the day will go toward rebuilding the predator enclosures, Beebe said.
A man and his bear
The “Grizzly Adams” television show series outlined the escapades of a man wrongfully accused of murder who flees into the mountains and befriends a bear.
The bear in the series, Bozo, lived at Olympic Game Farm before its death.
“As the years have gone by, Dan has really maintained his connection with animals,” Beebe said.
Beebe said that Haggerty has remained a friend of the family through the years, but he hadn’t returned to visit the farm or animals since the mid-1980s.
“He’ll come up to sign autographs and talk to all the visitors,” Beebe said.
Upgrade enclosures
The enclosures for the animals, particularly those on “Predator Row” are getting older and need to be replaced, Beebe said.
The fundraiser will help begin that process.
“This won’t be an overnight process, but we have heard from some tourists who think that the enclosures look too prison like and too old, and we would like to upgrade them,” he said.
“Some of [the enclosures] are more than 50 years old,” he added.
“We want to take it slow and do it right.”
He estimated it would cost between $40,000 and $50,000 to rebuild one row of the four rows of enclosures.
Each animal has a sheltered area and a fenced area which totals about 2,000 square feet per animal on “Predator Row.”
To get to the game farm, from U.S. Highway 101, turn onto Carlsborg Road, then turn right onto Old Olympic Highway. At the four-way stop, turn right onto Woodcock Road, then left onto Ward Road.
The Olympic Game Farm is at the end of Warn Road, on the left.
For more information, see www.olygamefarm.com/ or phone 360-683-4295 or 1-800-778-4295.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
