PORT ANGELES — Free daytime and nighttime programs are planned about the plight of southern resident orcas and climate change Saturday.
The Rise for Orcas and Climate Justice will be at Hollywood Beach, Feiro Marine Life Center at the base of City Pier off Lincoln Street and the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center at 401 E. First St.
Big picture
The Olympic Climate Action (OCA) event is part of a national day of observance sponsored by 350.org and a prelude to the Sept. 12-14 Global Climate Summit in San Francisco, organizers said.
Two programs
The daytime program will feature a picnic, speakers and children’s activities at Hollywood Beach, beginning at 11 a.m., and presentations at the Feiro center, beginning at 1 p.m.
The evening program will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center, where doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
Although admission is free, donations are encouraged to the Pull Together campaign to oppose the Trans Mountain pipeline.
Participants can bring their own picnics to Hollywood Beach where a burn ban-exempt covered fire will be available for roasting marshmallows provided by organizers and other ingredients for s’mores, said Brian Grad of Sequim, OCA board member and event coordinator, in a news release.
For the family
Booths for children’s games and art will remain open through mid-afternoon.
Activities will include pass the orca and share your thoughts, storytelling, sidewalk art, tile art, picture coloring, 3-D puzzles, a singalong and an orca informational prize wheel.
Musicians will perform, Grad said, and people are encouraged to bring instruments and songs.
Speakers slated
At noon will be a vigil and invocation, then a walk to the Feiro Marine Life Center to hear speakers, Grad said.
Starting at 1 p.m., the Feiro Center will host discussions about orcas, salmon, climate, energy options and Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion proposal.
Speakers will include Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, who will discuss the plight of the orcas facing starvation from depleted salmon stocks, and Eric de Place of Seattle’s Sightline Institute and Verner Wilson of Friends of The Earth who will talk about fossil fuel export plans, threats to the Pacific Northwest and opposition to the proposals.
Pipeline account
The evening program, co-hosted by Olympic Climate Action and the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center, will feature “The Road to Athabasca,” a multi-media, first-person account of a group bicycle ride along the path of the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline, from Vancouver, B.C., north to the Alberta tar sands.
To RSVP or for more information, see tinyurl.com/PDN-orcaclimate, the group’s Facebook page or email Grad at brian sway51@gmail.com.
