JOYCE — The blackberries for pie — plain or a la mode — are plentiful and sweet this year, ready to serve as the centerpiece of the 33rd annual Joyce Daze Wild Blackberry Festival on Saturday.
Volunteers from the community 15 miles west of Port Angeles on state Highway 112 have been out picking thousands of wild blackberries for several weeks, preparing to bake hundreds of pies for the festival, said Julie Hatch, a member of the festival committee.
“The blackberries came on early this year. We have tons of the berries,” Hatch said.
The warm, dry weather produced a bumper-crop of the wild blackberries, which began to ripen three weeks ago.
Enough berries ripened on the bushes around Joyce that some could be frozen to guard against any possible berry shortage next year, Hatch said.
The festival will open at 7 a.m. with a pancake breakfast for early bird visitors at the Crescent Grange, 50870 state Highway 112.
Breakfast will be $4 for adults and $2 for children 12 or younger.
Wild blackberry pie — with or without a topping of vanilla ice cream — is a mainstay of the community festival.
Hatch said the blackberries used in the pies are not from typical roadside blackberry brambles.
All of the blackberries used in the pies are fresh and picked locally from native Pacific blackberry bushes that produce small, sweet berries — a different variety from the large European blackberries that grow along roadsides.
Pie judging
Judging for the homemade blackberry pie contest — sponsored by the Peninsula Daily News — will take place at 11 a.m.
Pies for the competition must be made with the small, local wild blackberries and can be dropped off for judges between 9 a.m. and 10:55 a.m.
More than 100 pies baked by volunteers will be served from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., or as long as supplies last, at the Joyce Depot Museum on state Highway 112.
A single slice of wild blackberry pie will be $4; add ice cream, and the cost will be $4.50; an entire pie will be $24.
Salmon bake
A Pacific Northwest classic lunch — a salmon bake — will be served by Clallam Bay Lions Club from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the mini-mall across Highway 112 from the Joyce General Store.
A plate of salmon, baked beans, salad with all the trimmings and a glass of lemonade will be $12; a child portion plate, for those 12 and younger, will be sold for $7.
As of Wednesday, 37 vendors were signed up to sell handmade jewelry, art and other unique items in the parking area in the Joyce Center.
The tally of vendors included 12 who are new to the festival, Hatch said.
There is no children’s game area this year, but a children’s fishing tank and cotton candy will be available.
Grand Parade
The Grand Parade will begin at 1 p.m. on Highway 112 and travel from Crescent School to Agate Beach Road.
As of Wednesday, the parade had more than 45 entries — including some large entries that take up a significant portion of the parade — and more are expected to register on the day of the parade, Hatch said.
“We have a lot more big entries this year,” she said, and noted that the parade had as many entries by Wednesday as it usually has in final tallies.
Hatch said last-minute entries will be placed at the end of the parade, which will feature the Coker family as Grand Pioneers: siblings James, Shirley Jean and Dotty Coker.
James Coker will not take part in the parade because of health issues.
The Cokers are the children of Boyd Coker, who was among the first volunteers for the Joyce Fire Department and a founding member of Joyce Bible Church and the Crescent Grange.
Ben Pacheco, Clallam County Fire District No. 4 board chairman, and his wife, Donna Pacheco, will be honored as the 2015 Parade Marshals.
Highway closed
A stretch of Highway 112 will be closed from 12:30 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. for the parade.
The parade will follow the highway from the intersection with Piedmont Road to east of downtown Joyce.
A detour route will be marked from Agate Beach Road to Crescent Beach Road to allow through traffic to bypass the parade.
Live musical entertainment is planned before and after the parade at the Joyce Depot Museum.
Bands performing will be Serendipity Band, Buck Ellard, Terry Roszatycki & Friends, NBR (No Batteries Required) Barber Shop Quartet, Mike Bare & Friends, the Old Sidekicks, Luck of the Draw, Wanda Bumgarner and Jim Lind.
The dance group Olympic Mountain Cloggers will perform at 2:15 p.m. at the museum.
Cheering contest
After the parade, at about 2 p.m., the crowd will be divided into teams, and a cheering contest will determine who can be the loudest at the Joyce Depot Museum stage.
Fire District No. 4 and the Elwha Police Department will provide emergency equipment demonstrations, free blood pressure checks and refreshments at the mini-mall.
Past festival events such as a children’s game area, a beard and moustache contest, and a loggers’ chain-saw contest are not scheduled this year because of a lack of volunteers to organize them, Hatch said.
New volunteers to organize and restart popular past contests or add events are needed, she said.
Anyone who wants to help organize such contests for the 2016 festival can phone Hatch at 360-477-3749 or simply show up for the after-festival meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Crescent Grange.
For more information, visit www.joycewa.com/joycedaze.htm or email joycedaze@joycewa.com.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
