SEQUIM –– A pack of bear jerky, some buffalo niblets and deep-fried tiger tail?
According to the recently issued 2013 version of The Local Pages phone book, a new snack food dealer in town is the Olympic Game Farm, the safari-style tourist attraction just north of Sequim.
Under the “Snack Foods” heading on Page 326 is listed the game farm at 1423 Ward Road.
“I don’t remember saying anything about snack food,” Robert Beebe, president of the game farm, said after being shown a copy of the book.
Beebe instead had ordered an advertisement to have the game farm listed in the “Tourist Attractions” section, 14 pages behind the snack foods section, he said.
Known for its wild menagerie of captive-bred wild animals, which range from Bengal tigers to black bears to zebras, the Olympic Game Farm — 40 years old last August — has no plans to put its beasts on the menu, Beebe said.
“No, we’re not stocking bear jerky,” he said with a smile.
Representatives of the The Local Pages, based in Salt Lake City, did not return calls requesting comment.
Jamie Pate, game farm manager, said the listing is the result of a misunderstanding.
“I said we should add Hardy’s Market on there and maybe put a listing under delis or snack bars,” Pate said.
“And something got miscommunicated between us and the phone book.”
Two summers ago, Hardy’s Market signed on to provide concessions at the game farm’s snack shop during the busy summer season.
Hardy’s operates two other convenience stores in Sequim.
Beebe said he contacted Hardy’s to run the game farm’s snack shop, which had been shut down for several years before he took over.
“People are here for all day sometimes,” Beebe said.
“They would get pretty frustrated having to go back to town to get some candy or something to drink.”
Hardy’s employee Kami Bonham has staffed the shack during the tourist season.
She slings burgers, candy, deli sandwiches and smoothies to people who then take a motor tour through the game farm.
“It’s a lot of fun working out there. It gets super busy,” she said.
While people request special flavoring for their Italian sodas and extra cheese on their nachos, Bonham said, she has yet to receive a request for fresh game-farm meat.
“No, no. Nobody’s asked for tiger meat,” she said.
“Not yet, but you know this is a new year,” said Randy DuPont, Hardy’s owner.
“But, you know, they get a lot of people from Africa and Europe that visit in the summer. So maybe there’ll be some more demand for exotic snacks.”
Neither the Dex phone book nor the Red Book phone book has the farm listed as a snack food vendor.
Beebe took over operations at the game farm in 2008. It was established in the 1950s by his late grandparents, Lloyd and Catherine Beebe, who opened it to public tours in 1972.
Since taking over, he has spent time and money to expand and improve the farm’s facilities.
In addition to the new snack bar, the game farm has remodeled its gift shop and ticket booth, improved its aquarium and is in the midst of building a large new enclosure for the tigers and lions.
The farm was established as a filming location for Disney movies, called Disney’s Wild Animal Ranch.
It was the set for dozens of Disney films and documentaries, starting with “The Vanishing Prairie” and “The Incredible Journey,” and scenes from television shows, such as “Grizzly Adams” and “Northern Exposure,” also were filmed on-site.
For more information about the game farm, visit www.OlyGameFarm.com or phone 360-683-7621.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
