PORT ANGELES — Historical images, root beer and special awards for five local people will be among the attractions of the Heritage Days Committee’s “A Peek at the Past” on Saturday night.
Genealogical Society members also will be on hand at the gathering from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Studio Bob, 1181/2 E. Front St., a part of the Second Saturday Art Walk in Port Angeles.
“This is leading up to Heritage Days,” an annual event that will take on special meaning this year when it is celebrated Sept. 14-16 during Port Angeles sesquicentennial year, said Jim Moran, volunteer with the Heritage Days Committee.
“It will feature eclectic images from our past,” Moran said.
The exhibit is one of several events commemorating the 150th anniversary of an order signed by President Abraham Lincoln that established the town as a military and naval reservation June 19, 1862.
Exhibit panels
On Saturday, the Clallam County Historical Society will provide several panels of photographs covering aspects of the history of Port Angeles beginning in about 1897, said Kathy Monds, executive director of the historical society.
Among the images are likely to be a colorized photo of the old Angeles Cooperative Creamery and aerial views of lumber mills, including one of the Rayonier pulp mill, which closed in 1997.
“One of my favorite parts of [the Rayonier photo] is that the Kalakala is in the background,” Monds said.
The Kalakala ferry ran Puget Sound and Port Angeles-Victoria routes from 1935 to 1967.
Businesses are not the only images that will be on exhibit, Monds said.
“It covers cultural events and different things that were going on,” she said, so visitors can get an idea of the roots of Port Angeles.
Five to be honored
Five people will be honored for their volunteer contributions to maintaining knowledge about Port Angeles’ past, said April Bellerud, chairwoman of the Heritage Days Committee.
They are:
■ Gwen and Lee Porterfield, who have been dedicated volunteers for the Clallam County Historical Society, Bellerud said.
Gwen Porterfield has organized the library and books for sale. Many will recognize Lee Porterfield as the man who answered their questions at the Museum at the Carnegie at 207 S. Lincoln St.
■ Paul Martin, who wrote the most recent history of the town in Port Angeles: A History, published in 1983 and now out of print.
■ Peggy Norris, Martin’s research assistant.
■ Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty.
“He volunteered time to do clock tours and helped keep history alive,” Bellerud said.
“And that’s what this is all about,” she added.
All who will be honored “have done a lot personally” to keep the history of Port Angeles accessible to the public, she said.
A no-host root beer float bar will serve Bedford’s Premium Root Beer with the limited-edition sesquicentennial label created by Ed Bedford, owner of Northwest Soda Works of Port Angeles.
Family research
The genealogical society will be on hand to research and follow pioneer families.
“If you have family ties that go back on the [North Olympic] Peninsula and want to research them, they can help you,” Moran said.
Genealogical society members will have a computer set up and, if given names and dates, can conduct research on the spot, he said.
Historian Alice Alexander will provide a sneak peek at her new book, Lake Crescent — Gem of the Olympics: A History of Early Resorts.
Alexander also will have copies of earlier books: Elwha Settlers: Early Settlers on the Upper Elwha and Memories of Elwha Resort.
Alexander, who also writes a Clallam history column for the Peninsula Daily News that appears the first Sunday of every month in Peninsula Profile, plans several book-signings for Lake Crescent, her fifth book.
She will be at the Museum at the Carnegie at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 17; at the Necessities & Temptations gift shop, 217 N. Laurel St., from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 19; and at the Forks Timber Museum, 1421 S. Forks Ave. in Forks, at 1 p.m. Aug. 25.
________
Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
