SEQUIM –– For Powell Jones, director of the Dungeness River Audubon Center, his bicycle is more than a means of conveyance; it’s his connection to the outdoor world.
“I bike for my heart, soul and sanity,” Jones said.
Jones will speak on how he balances his work and family with his biking “obsession” as part of a series of presentations by outdoor enthusiasts aimed at energizing the Dungeness River Audubon Center’s River Center Rally, formerly known as the Dungeness Spring Fling.
Jones speaks at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the river center at Railroad Bridge Park, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road.
Other speakers in the series sponsored by Columbia Bank of Sequim will be Denny Van Horn on birding April 30; John Bridge on hiking May 7 and Tuttie Peetz on driftwood sculpting May 14.
All presentations will begin at 7 p.m. Admission is by donation to support the center and park through the River Center Rally.
The speeches are part of the rally, in which participants raise funds for the river center by getting sponsors for their favorite hobbies.
In the five years the center has held its spring fling, participants have raised more than $108,000 in support of the center’s educational programs and maintenance of Railroad Bridge Park.
Last year, participants raised $28,000 through sponsorships of their outdoor hobbies, including hiking, biking, birding, swimming, dancing and even pulling Scotch broom during the spring fling.
“Changing the name from ‘Dungeness Spring Fling’ to ‘River Center Rally’ doesn’t change our objective,” said Julie Jackson, a member of the center’s board.
“The essence is to have fun while raising funds.”
This year’s goal, Jackson said, is to raise at least $30,000.
The rally caps with a 10.1-mile walk from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Center to the river center along the Olympic Discovery Trail on June 14.
The rally is also a part of this year’s GiveBIG, the Seattle Foundation’s one-day charity event.
Donations made between midnight May 6 and midnight May 7 will receive partial matching funds that will go to the river center.
For more information, visit the foundation’s website at www.seattlefoundation.org.
To sign up for the rally or for more information about the river center, visit its website at www.dungenessrivercenter.org or phone 360-681-4076.
The Dungeness River Audubon Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
