QUILCENE — A do-it-yourself community improvement project will culminate Saturday as participants in a series of smaller meetings will gather to decide which projects should be addressed by the community at-large.
The final “Quilcene Conversation” will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Highway 101.
The town’s self-improvement process began just after Thanksgiving, with the first small-group meeting in a private home.
Options for bringing the town back to its former glory were discussed.
Ten such meetings have since occurred, using an informal setting to discuss options falling into four categories:
Opening (or reopening) businesses, supporting schools with service and reaction, making the town more attractive to visitors passing through and implementing the beautification projects.
On Saturday, each topic will be assigned to a corner of the room, where it will be discussed in detail, and projects will be prioritized.
The groups will then combine and examine exactly what they hope to accomplish, settling on a few projects that will be worked on by the entire community and can be finished within a year.
The process was the idea of former interim Sequim city manager and Quilcene resident Linda Herzog to bridge the gap between what the unincorporated town needs and what the government is providing.
“Quilcene is a wonderful place, and we are looking to bring it back to its former glory without changing the nature of the town,” Herzog said.
“There are people whose families have been here for generations and those of us who have only been here a few years, but we all have skills we can share to accomplish these tasks.”
Herzog said about 100 people have participated in previous conversations.
All three Jefferson County commissioners indicated they would attend the meeting as observers but will not participate.
“Quilcene was once a booming place, but it has gone downhill in the last 15 or 20 years,” Herzog said.
“All it needs is a little energy and effort to restore it to its former glory.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
