PORT ANGELES — Volunteers and business leaders want to ensure that cruise passengers disembarking in town later this month will be saying, “There is no place like Port Angeles,” long after they’ve left.
Months of planning will culminate next Friday, May 7, and on Saturday, May 15, when two Holland America cruise ships dock at Port Angeles for shopping, culture, food, fun and a nighttime viewing of “The Wizard of Oz.”
“The businesses are really rolling out the red carpet,” said Barb Frederick, executive director of the Port Angeles Downtown Association, on Thursday.
“But it isn’t just the businesses, everyone in town is getting ready, the fine arts center and the Museum at the Carnegie as well,” she added.
Those who want to volunteer to help prepare for the cruise ship visitors are invited to an informational meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Port Angeles Visitor Center, 121 E. Railroad Ave.
The Zuiderdam will arrive May 7 and stop from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m., bringing with it as many as 1,850 guests and 800 crew members, Frederick said.
The actual number of passengers is not yet available.
The Statendam — which made a stop in Port Angeles in May 2009 — will arrive at noon May 15 and stay until 11 p.m. with its 1,300-passenger capacity and 580 crew. The number of passengers is not known yet.
Each ship will dock at the Port of Port Angeles Terminal 1 pier near the Peninsula Plywood mill.
“The best thing that anyone in the community could do if they see a passenger from one of the ships is to make sure they have a good time,” Frederick said.
“We want them to come back again — not just the cruise ships but we want the passengers to want to come back again and again.”
The cruise-sponsored events will include tours of Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent and North Olympic Peninsula wineries.
However, since many passengers disembark in search of other activities, two shuttles will be available for a shopping tour and a “cultural loop” of several venues, Frederick has said.
The Elwha River Casino is also planning a shuttle, she said.
The Landing mall on the waterfront will be host to a crafts fair.
Cleanup day
Between the two visits of the cruise ships, the downtown association plans a cleanup day, Frederick said.
A host of volunteers will weed, pick up trash and tidy the town, said Corey Delikat, Port Angeles parks and streets superintendent.
“Some of the activities that the city is doing,” such as cleaning up the zig-zag stairs above Laurel Street and refilling the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain, “are things we would have already done,” Delikat said.
“But a volunteer effort of this size is definitely geared at the ships coming.
“The city will provide the gloves, trash bags and a bin, and they’ll help us make the town look really great for the visitors.”
Frederick said donations for shuttles is also needed.
“We need the community’s help to provide these free shuttles and services for our guests,” she said.
Sequim, Blyn
Sequim and the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe are angling for cruise passengers on May 7, in hopes of bringing them eastward to shop, dine, gamble and sightsee.
Though the passengers must be back on board by 10:30 p.m., they will be able to catch some Sequim events, said Vickie Maples, executive director of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Among them are the First Friday Art Walk from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in downtown Sequim, and the Irrigation Festival Logging Show starting at 5 p.m. in the field beside Carrie Blake Park on Blake Avenue.
Upon disembarking their ships, cruisers will be able to pick up information on catching the Clallam Transit bus that takes them from downtown Port Angeles’ Gateway to downtown Sequim — for $2 round trip — as well as details on finding the Art Walk and Logging Show.
The Jamestown tribe is offering a Totem Tour of the many totem poles in Blyn, and shuttles to its 7 Cedars Casino about 7 miles east of Sequim.
Cruisers will see Paris Bishop, the casino’s assistant marketing director, offering printed information about the 7 Cedars shuttle that departs from the Red Lion throughout the day.
Bishop said there will also be plenty of seats on the tribe’s Totem Tour buses to and from Port Angeles.
Port Angeles volunteer information
To volunteer for Port Angeles preprations, visit www.portangelesdowntown.com and click on the link under the icon for the Zuiderdam and download the form.
The form may be mailed to the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, 121 E. Railroad Ave., Port Angeles, WA 98362 or faxed to 360-451-5380.
To volunteer or sponsor shuttles, phone Louann Yager, the Chamber of Commerce volunteer coordinator, at 360-452-2363, ext. 17.
To sell arts or crafts at The Landing mall, phone Peggy Acorn at 360-457-4407 or e-mail peggy@thelandingmall.com.
To be an activity vendor, phone Gloria Cerney, marketing assistant at the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau, at 360-452-8552 or e-mail info@olympicpeninsula.org.
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz contributed to this report.
