NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Aug. 7.
SEQUIM — It was summer 1969.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, a half-million people went to Woodstock — and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” was the movie to see.
Out here in Sequim that year, the Rotary Club decided to have a little barbecue.
The get-together has grown since.
For the 47th annual Salmon Bake & BBQ this Sunday, the Rotarians expect to fill the Sequim unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula — indoors and out, where two bands will be playing.
The public event at the Boys & Girls, 400 W. Fir St., will run from noon to 5 p.m.
Hundreds expected
“We’re expecting more than 900 people,” said Vicky Blakesley, Rotarian and salmon bake chairwoman.
She comes up with that number based on last year’s 800-plus. Being an optimist, she hopes for a slight increase.
In the Boys & Girls Club kitchen, volunteers will grill some 292 pounds of wild-caught Alaskan keta salmon and dish up plates of slaw, beans and rolls.
For those who prefer it, there will be about 43 pounds of pulled pork, too, as well as hot dogs for children. Kids’ plates are $5, while adult meals are $16 in advance or $18 at the door.
Tickets for this biggest Rotary Club of Sequim fundraiser of the year are on sale today and Saturday at the QFC supermarket, 990 E. Washington St., where a Rotary table will be set up from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
Beer, wine garden
For the first time in years, there will be a beer and wine garden to go with the feast.
“The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe will be running it. They said they’d help us out,” Blakesley said.
The live music will be outdoors, where there’s room for dancing, she added.
Porto Alegre, a Latin and swing band featuring vocalist Robin Bessier, will play from noon till 2:15 p.m., and the Dukes of Dabob, a Dixieland jazz and swing ensemble, will follow from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Local groups such as the Welfare for Animals Guild, the Sequim Parks and Recreation Board, and the Sequim Robotics Club will also be on hand with informational displays.
Teams of volunteers from the Rotary Club, the Boys & Girls Club and the Sequim High School football team collaborate to make the bake happen, Blakesley said.
But the salmon is not, in fact, baked; it’s seasoned and grilled over an alder-wood fire. Regardless, the event has always been called the Salmon Bake & BBQ.
Buy tickets early
Tickets purchased in advance help Blakesley and crew figure how much food to buy, of course.
“Last year, we ran out of salmon at a quarter to 3,” she said, so the people who showed up to buy tickets at the door didn’t get fish.
There was plenty of pulled pork to go around, though, since the Rotary Club had just decided in 2014 to offer it.
Salmon Bake proceeds go to Rotary’s local and international programs, which Sequim club President Joe Irvin said include scholarships for Sequim students, the remodeling of the Boys & Girls Club kitchen and water-system improvements in Guatemala.
To find out more about the club and its activities, see www.SequimRotary.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.
