SEKIU – Weekend activities related to Clallam Bay and Sekiu’s rain-soaked 11th annual Walk for Life raised at least $1,692 for breast and prostate cancer research at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
On Friday, Sharon Ryan, Patrice Porter and Carol Cory shivered in a hot-dog wagon donated by a Port Angeles Pepsi bottler from noon to 4:30 p.m. at Olson’s Resort, as cooler air blew in.
They raised about $200 for the cause.
At 5 p.m. Saturday, as rain began gusting into the area, a Walk for Life dinner in the Sekiu Community Center raised $360 for the meals and $1,132 during an auction that followed dinner.
“We couldn’t compete with Mother Nature,” Ryan said.
“We expected a lot of the people staying at the resorts to come, but when the rain hit, a lot of people left town.”
Sunday morning, only six people braved the elements for the Walk for Life, a round trip between the Clallam Bay Post Office and Slip Point.
Walking were Dillard and her daughter, Melanie, Eddie Bowlby, Porter, Evelyn Higgins and June Bowlby.
On Sunday, the donations for the walk had not been tallied, said Dillard, who organized the event.
Many donated to the fundraiser.
Pat Cook prepared the lasagna for the dinner and Jerry White delivered it.
The Clallam Bay/Sekiu Chamber of Commerce donated $150 toward the cost of the meal.
Donations to the auction included a driftwood wheelbarrow planter from craftsman Don Kelly, and a 40-year-old box of well-maintained fishing gear.
James Brown donated hand-built bird-houses. Jeweler Louise Kelson donated a sea-glass bracelet and necklace.
Art included a painting by June Bowlby and a numbered silkscreen raven print from Makah artist Frank Parker.
Forks Thrifty Mart and Washburn’s General Store in Neah Bay each donated more than $200 in merchandise.
The Misty Valley Inn donated two nights at its Forks bed and breakfast, while Forks Chinese restaurants Golden Gate and South North Garden each donated dinner for two.
Artist K.C. Winter contributed a new blue design on the teal Walk for Life T-shirts.
A Fred Hutchinson research scientist, Dr. Peggy Porter, plans to visit the community later this year to express her appreciation for the $15,000 that the Clallam Bay/Sekiu walks have raised for the center over the years, Dillard said.
