CLALLAM BAY-SEKIU –– A three-day festival to celebrate these two picture-postcard coastal communities kicks off today.
The 32nd Clallam Bay-Sekiu Fun Days will run through Sunday with music, painted fish, whimsical comic books, poker, a fun run and the traditional Fun Days fireworks extravaganza.
Clallam Bay’s Three Sisters Art Gallery, 16950 state Highway 112, will help youngsters paint fish that will then be used to brighten up the city’s main drag.
The Friends of the Library will sell historic photos and used library books throughout the weekend to fund the Clallam Bay Library’s programs.
The work of amateur shutterbugs can be spotted throughout the three-day festival in the Chamber of Commerce’s Visitor Center just off state Highway 112.
Helping a vet
Special to this year’s Fun Days is a fundraiser to help send injured Navy veteran Jonathan Moore to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Bob Wall of Compass Rose in Clallam Bay and Main Ax custom fishing rods assembled a medium-heavy RDR Rainshadow Rod that will be given away Saturday afternoon to those who purchased tickets for a special drawing.
Tickets are $5 each and are available from Compass Rose, 16803 state Highway 112, and Fisherman’s Outlet, 11 E. Runnion Road in Sequim.
Proceeds will help Moore, a cousin of Carol Batson at Fisherman’s Outlet, build up a fund to pay travel costs to get to the games to compete in archery and sharpshooting.
“This is a good way to help someone who helped us,” Wall said.
Moore lost his right leg above the knee after an accident on an aircraft carrier.
“I appreciate so much that they’re doing this for me,” Moore said Monday by telephne from Tampa Bay, Fla., where he was preparing for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.
The drawing will be between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. at Compass Rose.
The Grand Parade will take off from Weel Road at 11 a.m. Saturday and :inds past parade fans to Bogachiel Way.
Floats from other festivals on the North Olympic Peninsula regularly participate in the promenade.
The kids’ parade will precede the main show.
One of the regular highlights of Fun Days is the gala explosion of fireworks off the Breakwater Inn, 15582 state Highway 112.
Fun Days fireworks
The two communities of Clallam Bay and Sekiu save up their potential Fourth of July firepower until Fun Days to give celebrants a chance to stretch out the Independence Day fun.
“Everybody loves fireworks,” said Tricia Hutson-English, Fun Days chairwoman.
She is also president of the Clallam Bay-Sekiu Chamber of Commerce and chief of the Clallam Bay Fire Department.
“So if you didn’t get enough last week, we’re giving you another chance to catch them,” she said.
The annual auction to pay for the explosives will be in the Clallam Bay bus garage after the grand parade.
Arts show
Throughout the weekend will be an arts and crafts show sponsored by the Messy Palettes Art League at the Sekiu Community Center, 42 Rice St.
The show will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. It is open to all residents of the Cape Flattery School District or members of the Messy Palettes.
Cash prizes and ribbons will be awarded in adult and children’s categories.
Entries will be judged by popular vote.
Entrants can submit up to five original pieces per person between 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. today.
For more information, phone June Bowlby at 360-963-2221.
Fun Run
The 3.7-mile Fun Run from Front Street in Sekiu along state Highway 112 to Clallam Bay will cap the festival Sunday.
Registration is at 9 a.m. Entry fee is $5.
Awards will be given to the top three men and women in each division.
Comicon II
Although not officially part of the Fun Days festivities, Clallam Bay comic artist Donna Barr has organized the second annual Clallam Bay Comicon for the weekend to help add whimsical art to the celebration.
The show will be in the Clallam Bay Lions Club Hall, 90 Bogachiel Way, beginning at 3 p.m. today and continuing from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday.
The first convention probably had only about 20 visitors. Barr didn’t keep count because, unlike most comicons, Barr says of hers: “We don’t have no stinking badges.”
Admission to the Comicon will be free.
Panels will cover cosplay — “costume play” — based on media or personal design.
Comic artists expected for the event are Seattle comics author Robert Gregory, Ann S. Koi from Virginia and Your Mom Comics.
Other events include gaming tournaments and original pirate songs from the convention’s official high-seas singer, Dara Korrati.
