JOYCE — The first sidewalk in Joyce, which stretches most of the length of the community, will be officially opened Aug. 4.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:30 a.m. will present the sidewalk — which will give school children a safer way to walk to school — to the community.
The sidewalk ceremony at Crescent School, 50350 Highway 112, also will kick off the Joyce Daze festival.
Work on the sidewalk, an $11,000 project, was overseen by Clallam County crews and funded through a federal Safe Routes to Schools grant to Crescent School District.
“This is really the first sidewalk, and maybe the only, through Joyce because it does run pretty much the whole length of the growth area,” said Rich James, transportation program manager for Clallam County.
The six-foot-wide path was built under a cooperative agreement among the school district, the county and the state Department of Transportation.
Finished about a month ago, the sidewalk will be officially opened with the ceremony, which will also recognize the work of the late Doug Kubalek, who was superintendent of Crescent School District until his death last fall.
Kubalek wrote the grant which funded the sidewalk.
The ceremony is expected to draw representatives from all the parties involved.
Representing Transportation will be Neal Campbell, project engineer, and Bill Reilly, head of District 3 maintenance.
Tom Anderson, superintendent of Crescent School District, James, Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty and Clallam County Transit general manager Terry Weed also are expected to be present at the event.
“This connects Crescent School with the post office area, in addition to providing a safe area for kids to get back and forth to school,” James said.
“Joyce is also becoming a very active community, so it provides another half mile that people can walk.
“They can walk from the fitness center to the high school track or walk from their home down it to the track.
“I think this will be a great way down for both biking and walking.”
Crescent School District students — who haven’t been chosen yet — will be summoned to do a ceremonial walk and be presented with a certificate from the county, James said.
On top of those benefits, James said, the sidewalk will be a spot for people to watch the Joyce Daze Parade which will be at 1 p.m. on Aug. 4.
Other events during Joyce Daze will include hikes leaving at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. from the Joyce Bible Church parking lot.
A six-mile guided mountain bike ride on the Olympic Discovery Trail Adventure Route also will leave from the Joyce Bible Church parking lot at 11 a.m.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or paige.dickerson@hotmail.com.
