SEQUIM — The Beat the Blues Barn Dance this Saturday is a two-part, multifaceted event.
First comes the family dance from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., then the grown-ups’ hoedown from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m., all at the Big Barn Farm, 702 Kitchen-Dick Road just west of Sequim.
The Five Acre School Parent Service Organization, which puts on Beat the Blues, has grown a reputation over the years for putting on much more than a dance.
Circus theme
And this year’s event, with its “circus comes to town” theme, looks to be the most diverse ever.
Saturday at the barn, there will be three bands, comedian-juggler-stilt walker Henrik Bothe, aerialist Kinsley Johnson, a silent auction, Zumba dancing, prize drawings, organic supper by Oven Spoonful and an array of homemade desserts.
There even will be juggling lessons, promised Five Acre fundraiser Mary Jane Blanton.
Bothe, the comic who also spins plates and strolls atop stilts, will teach those during the daytime family dance.
Originally from Denmark, Bothe lives in Portland, Ore., and performs on such shows as “A Prairie Home Companion” and “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno.
Tickets to the Beat the Blues family dance during the day are $5, or free for children age 3 and younger.
Admission to the evening dance, which features rock ‘n’ roll by Locos Only and rock-and-twang from the Massy Ferguson band, is $15 at the door.
The later dance is a 21-and-older event with locally sourced beverages: Fathom & League and Port Townsend Brewing Co. beer, and Olympic Cellars wines.
Five Acre changes
Proceeds will benefit the tuition assistance and equipment fund at Five Acre School, a private preschool-through-sixth-grade campus in Dungeness.
Bill and Juanita Jevne founded Five Acre in 1995; they retired last year and sold the school to Autumn and Brian Walsh.
The Walshes plan to add seventh grade next year, as well as before- and after-school care, and music, art and science clubs.
“We want to offer the school as a choice for education to all families in our community,” Blanton said, “hence the fundraiser for scholarship monies.”
The Beat the Blues dance venue, the Big Barn Farm, is just off U.S. Highway 101 and has limited parking.
Guests are asked to park nearby at King’s Way Foursquare Church at 1023 Kitchen-Dick Road and take the shuttle over to the party.
Also during the daytime family dance, aerialist Johnson will perform, the Soundwaves marimba band from Five Acre School will play, and popcorn peddlers will scamper around, Blanton added.
At the evening party, the Locos Only band — Taylor Ackley, Kevin Lee Magner, Scott Bradley and Russell Lowry — will aim to put feet on the dance floor, and then Massy Ferguson, the Seattle band specializing in honky-tonk and blue-collar rock, will take the stage at about 8:30 p.m.
Johnson, the aerial acrobat, will be back for another performance after nightfall.
“We are very excited for this year’s barn dance, especially the circus theme and activities,” Blanton said.
Win trips
The Beat the Blues Barn Dance also offers chances to win trips: to Costa Rica; Santa Fe, Calif.; Disneyland; Lake Louise in Canada — in prize drawings. Tickets are $5 throughout the day and much of the evening, with the winners to be drawn around 9:30 p.m.
The lucky ticket holders need not be present to win, Blanton noted.
Early purchase of raffle tickets and more information about Saturday’s event are available by phoning Five Acre School at 360-681-7255.
To learn more about Five Acre, which is located at 515 Lotzgesell Road, visit www.FiveAcreSchool.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
