SEQUIM — A group of pioneering Sequim-Dungeness Valley lavender farmers who recently split from the Sequim Lavender Growers Association over philosophical and administrative differences will put on a separate festival featuring farm tours during the July 15-17 Sequim Lavender Festival.
The newly formed Sequim Lavender Farmers Association said Wednesday that it will continue public tours of six of the valley’s largest and oldest lavender farms during the traditional lavender festival weekend but under the name of Sequim Lavender Farm Festival.
In a short announcement issued by the farmers association, spokeswoman Vickie Oen said, “After long discussions, planning and input from the Sequim business and tourism community, the Sequim Lavender Farm Festival will continue the public tours.
“We considered the astonishing beauty of our farms . . . collectively, we have over 100,000 plants in the ground . . . the requests of hundreds of our customers, people from around the world and the input from many of the businesses of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley, and we will be ready,” said Oen, who managed the Purple Haze Lavender store in downtown Sequim.
Attempts Wednesday to contact Terry Stolz, president of the growers association, for reaction were unsuccessful.
In addition to the six farms on tour, the farmers association is in the planning stages for a festival site in the city of Sequim where visitors can meet and interact with other members of the lavender community, enjoy great food, crafts, music and family programs, Oen said.
“This new event will provide a focus of activity in Sequim and provide a central information and transportation center for the thousands of visitors coming to see our world-famous lavender farms,” she said.
More details will be announced in the coming weeks as planning efforts expand to include the entire Sequim community, Oen said.
The six farms on the tour represent “the finest of Sequim lavender and all the farms you have enjoyed visiting over the years,” Oen said.
They are:
• Cedarbrook Lavender & Herb Farm, owned by Gary and Marcella Stachurski.
• Jardin du Soleil Lavender, owned by Pam and Randy Nicholson.
• Olympic Lavender, Bruce Liebsch and Mary Borland-Liebsch.
• Port Williams Lavender, Michael and Sue Shirkey.
• Purple Haze Lavender, Oen and Mike and Rosalind Reichner.
• Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm, Steve and Carmen Ragsdale.
The other member farms participating in the festival are Angel Farm, Cathy and Leeon Angel; Moosedreams Lavender Farms, Beth Norris and Barbara Landbeck; Victor’s Lavender, Victor and Mario Gonzalez; Washington Lavender, Dan and Janet Abbott; and Weary Gardener, Lil and Doug Gimmestad.
The group of 11 lavender growers that broke away from the growers association cited philosophical and administrative differences when they announced the breakup Jan. 11.
They then formed the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association, “dedicated to returning to the core values and original purpose of the founders of the lavender movement in Sequim Valley.”
Stolz then said the split would not affect the Sequim Lavender Festival, which the growers association operates.
“It’s going to go on,” Stolz said, adding that the farm tour would still take place, though the farms leaving his organization were on the tour.
Oen, who was not available for additional comment Wednesday, said Jan. 11:”We wanted it to go back to what is was originally, with farms marketing and growing lavender in Sequim.”
The farmers association will be focused on organizational structure and developing a long-range business plan to ensure the continued growth and support of the lavender farmers of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley.
Program plans will be announced in the near-future, Oen said.
Stolz originally said the growers association was trying to engage with the community more, focusing on getting the community to pledge support to local charities.
“What better forum is there than a world-class festival where a diversity of people can assemble, enjoy themselves free of charge and support their favorite cause?” Stolz said more than a week ago.
“We want to go in a different direction and eliminate the perception that events such as ours is all about salves. This is our philosophy and administrative direction.”
The growers association wanted to raise dollars for scholarships, the arts and theater in Sequim, he said, even create awareness for housing needs in Clallam County.
“We really want to promote charity through commerce,” said Stolz, who has a small value-added lavender operation near Sequim.
“It’s not all about money for us.”
Scott Nagel, Sequim Lavender Festival director, has agreed to accept the challenges that the change has created and has pledged to promote and produce the festival July 15-17 in its 15th season on the North Olympic Peninsula.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
