PORT TOWNSEND — A concert Saturday will be the latest in a series of community projects to benefit Memorial Field.
Freddy Pink will play from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Fort Worden State Park’s McCurdy Pavilion, opening with a set by the Chuck Easton Quartet.
The band will use its brand of horn-driven rock to raise awareness and money for continued operation of the 52-year-old center of athletic activity at Washington and Madison streets in downtown Port Townsend.
There are no tickets. Attendees are encouraged to contribute what they can.
“We want people to just give what they have in their pockets,” said Freddy Pink lead singer Gordon Yancey, joking, “$700, $800 or whatever.”
The Jefferson County Friends of Parks and Recreation and other groups have stepped in to maintain and repair the aging field since Jefferson County, because of revenue cuts, issued a call for help from volunteers to help maintain the county’s 19 parks.
Several community projects have taken place since then.
This summer, contractor Rich Stapf Jr. drove the installation of a new sprinkler system, raising $25,000 for the work and using volunteer labor to get the job done.
Earlier this month, All Weather Roofing reattached the grandstand’s roof, putting off replacement for another year.
Jefferson County and the city of Port Townsend also are working on a pact to support both Memorial Field and the Port Townsend Community Center.
The county, which projects a $900,000 shortfall in 2011, has put a measure on the Nov. 2 ballot that would raise sales tax by 0.3 percent, from the present 8.4 percent to 8.7 percent, or 3 cents for every $10 purchase.
The city of Port Townsend would get a portion of the revenue from the increase which, if approved, would take effect April 1, 2010.
The terms of the proposed agreement between the city and county are that if voters approve the tax hike, half of what the city receives would go to maintain Memorial Field and the Port Townsend Community Center for four years.
Yancey’s connection to Memorial Field goes back to his high school days.
A 1971 graduate of Chimacum High School, Yancey played ball on the field — which he said was an opportunity he would not have had elsewhere.
“I moved from a more urban area when I was in high school, where all the ballplayers were built like professionals,” he said.
“When I moved here, I had the chance to play team sports, and learned some valuable lessons as a result.”
Yancey belongs to but one generation of the students who have played on Memorial Field, preceded by County Commissioner Phil Johnson in the 1960s and followed by Stapf in the 1990s.
Jefferson County Parks and Recreation Director Matt Tyler said the sales tax increase, if voters approve it, would support operations and also allow the county to secure grants that require matching funds.
He added that alternative revenue streams, such as Saturday’s concert and the $5,500 earned by the use of the field for overflow parking at the Wooden Boat Festival last weekend, are essential for maintenance and will help to replace the roof and the dilapidated Quincy Street fence.
“This is the time of year that Memorial Field really shines,” Tyler said.
“There are several games every week, and the field is the center of a lot of excitement and attention.”
The money raised from the event will go directly to the county to support the field.
Yancey plans to put on a special show, saying that “people love us around here.”
He characterizes the sound as classic horn-driven rock “with a new millennium edge.
“It’s like a Chicago Tower of Cold Blood Sweat and Tears sound,” he said, mashing the names of a lot of his influences together.
He also plans a super-band with members of the Chimacum and Port Townsend marching bands joined together in an entity called “The Jefferson Super Fusion Band.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
