SEQUIM — The two men may yet do a fish dance. Bob Boekelheide and Powell Jones, bosses of the Dungeness River Audubon Center, hope spawning salmon will appear today and Saturday for the Dungeness River Festival.
All the natural signs say the chinook, or king, salmon will be here, laying and fertilizing their eggs in the river’s pools and riffles.
But this being nature, the humans must wait and see.
Or not see, if the salmon aren’t quite ready to swim into the river below Railroad Bridge to spawn while festival-goers watch.
If the fish don’t appear, Boekelheide and Jones are bringing plenty of other things to the party.
The Delta Rays, the Orffestra marimba band and Eric Adams’ 1950s through ’90s music will supply the soundtrack for the food-and-display-filled event.
The Jamestown S’Klallam Singers will perform a welcome song and ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday to start the party.
“Fish walks’ — like bird walks, only focused on the water — and talks by Railroad Bridge Park historian Ken Wiersema are scheduled on both days.
“This is a celebration of the body of water that nourishes us all,” said Jones.
The weekend’s festival, Jones added, presents an opportunity to immerse oneself — figuratively — in the stream of life.
“We all benefit from the river,” he said. “Get out and enjoy it.”
River’s roles
In its role as a salmon stream, the Dungeness River feeds an extended family of eagles, songbirds, otters, raccoons, ravens and other animals.
It also irrigates the Dungeness Valley’s farms, fills its wells and attracts wildlife-loving tourists.
And this particular stretch, under the 91-year-old Railroad Bridge, is a shining example of what the river should be, according to Boekelheide.
“It’s very healthy here. This section is cold, clear and clean,” he said.
Moreover, the river has been allowed to flow into side channels across the 28-acre Railroad Bridge Park.
“A river needs room to spread out,” added Jones.
The Dungeness’ chinook numbers are expected to surpass 1,000 fish this season, up from 600 in 2002.
Coho and chum salmon are coming, too.
The Dungeness, Boekelheide added, is a major pink-salmon river — but the pinks won’t be seen this season.
They come to spawn only in odd-numbered years, for evolutionary reasons not completely understood, Boekelheide said.
The Dungeness River Festival, which began in 1998, happens only in even-numbered years.
That gives the river a rest — and it gives the Audubon Center staff and volunteers a breather, too, said Jones.
Eagles return
Railroad Bridge Park is a harmonious setting for a festival, but it’s also a rich destination throughout the year.
The eagles are coming back for fall and winter here, Boekelheide said.
The Audubon Center hosts free bird walks at 8:30 a.m. every Wednesday.
This year marks the Audubon Center’s fifth anniversary as an organization that nurtures the Dungeness River and seeks to educate the valley’s human residents.
Some 150 volunteers work year-round, said Boekelheide.
The park, established by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe 15 years ago, is the heart of the Olympic Discovery Trail section that connects Sequim and Port Angeles.
So local hikers and bicyclists know the bridge well; they’ve replaced the trains that ceased traversing the bridge in 1985.
DUNGENESS RIVER FESTIVAL runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Saturday at Railroad Bridge Park, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road, Sequim.
Admission is free. Activities and exhibits include a walk-through septic tank, T-shirt fish-printing, “fish walks,” and five live music acts.
Today is education day for school children, and will feature the Orffestra marimba band from the Five Acre School, popular songs from five decades by Eric Adams and the Funnybone Foundation balloon-twisting, face-painting clown troupe.
Food and drink will be sold both days. Phone 360-681-4076 or visit www.DungenessRiverCenter.org.
