Spring barrel tasting offered

The Olympic Peninsula Wineries Association will offer a sneak peek at a number of upcoming releases during its annual Spring Barrel Tasting Tour, to take place Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday, May 24, through Monday, May 26. Seven member wineries located in Port Townsend, Sequim and Port Angeles will welcome visitors from 11 a.m.-

5 p.m. each day. Optional “reserve tickets” are available online or at any of the member wineries and entitle the holder to a special commemorative wine glass and complimentary tastings at all seven wineries. Visit www.olympicpeninsulawineries.org or call 800-785-5495 for further information.

Buckle up

The Washington State Patrol will participate in the All-American Buckle-Up Week beginning May 19 and concluding May 26. Buckle-Up week is an annual nationwide event that encourages everyone on the road to use seat belts and safety restraints and to use them properly.

During this week, troopers from District 8 will pay special attention to those individuals who fit into the high risk/low seatbelt use group, such as passengers, youthful drivers, speeders, alcohol-impaired drivers and aggressive drivers.

The WSP is using a method of high visibility enforcement that is proven to work because the fear of a citation and significant fine outweighs the fear of being injured or killed in a collision.

The fine for failing to use a seat belt or child restraint is $124. This includes seatbelts that are defective and/or are worn improperly.

District 8 consists of Kitsap, Mason, Jefferson, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Pacific and Wahkiakum counties. 

 

Warm weather brings risk

of illness from raw oysters

With warm weather approaching, people are heading to the beach for oysters. It’s important to know raw oysters can make people sick under certain conditions.

Spring and summer temperatures can warm the waters where oysters live and that may promote the growth of bacteria such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus. These naturally-occurring bacteria can cause an illness called vibriosis when oysters taken from warm water are eaten raw. Vibriosis is usually mild to moderate and lasts for two to seven days; it can be life-threatening to people with lowered immunity or chronic liver disease. Symptoms include diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, headache, fever and chills. These symptoms usually appear within 12 hours of eating infected shellfish.

Recreational harvesters can protect themselves against vibriosis by making sure oysters are placed on ice or refrigerated as soon as possible after harvest, by not harvesting oysters that have been exposed by the receding tide for a long time (if the temperature’s high, pass them by) and by thoroughly cooking oysters. Vibrio bacteria are destroyed when oysters are cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fall harvest celebration seeks

art work and volunteers

The 12th annual Clallam County Harvest Celebration will be held on Saturday, Oct. 4. For $10 a carload, visitors will be able to tour all participating farms and enjoy a fun-filled day of local working farms, music, food, hayrides and more. The theme of this year’s Harvest Celebration is “Get to Know the Hands that Feed You.”

The Friends of the Fields Harvest Celebration organizing committee is now accepting original images, photos or artworks from the community that reflect the 2008 theme. The image they select will be used for promoting the event.

All ages are welcome to submit an entry and the winner will receive free admission to the daylong event this fall as well as a gift basket from area farmers’ markets.

Submit original art by June 6 via e-mail to astro@olypen.com, or postal mail to P.O. Box 1122, Sequim WA 98382. For more information or an appointment to deliver work personally, call Cathe Muller, 681-0323.

The committee also is looking for volunteers who have promotion and outreach skills to share and want to donate their time to help manage the publicity for the annual Harvest Celebration. Call Kia at Nash’s Organic Produce, 681-7458, or e-mail nashsorganicgirl@yahoo.com for more info.

 

 Learn about your heritage

The Clallam County Genealogical Society plans to visit Salt Lake City, Utah, during the week of Oct.19-26. The Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City provides more resources to study family history than any other single library. Holdings include records not only from the United States but also from all over the world. For more information on how to travel with the group and costs, call the Genealogical Society at 417-5000 or e-mail at ccgs@olypen.com or contact Roberta Griset at 681-0962.

Sequim Library to

host Nike co-founder

Geoff Hollister, former Nike executive now from Sequim, will discuss being an author and present ideas from his book “Out of Nowhere: The Inside Story of How Nike Marketed the Culture of Running” during a program hosted by the North Olympic Library System.

The event is scheduled for at 7 p.m. May 29 in the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave. Hollister will be available to sign books at the conclusion of the program and plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from sales at the event to the Friends of the Sequim Library.

For more information about the program, the Sequim Library and the North Olympic Library System, visit www.nols.org or call 683-1161.

Summer season begins

for Washington State Ferries

Memorial Day traditionally means the arrival of summer crowds desiring to board a Washington State Ferry en route to a long weekend of fun. Three-day weekends can mean traffic backups on Friday afternoons and evenings westbound and again on Monday, eastbound, as travelers return home. To meet these additional demands, WSDOT Ferries Division will provide extra service on key routes, but travelers should still expect some delay at their ferry dock. For information on schedules and up-to-date traffic, check the ferries Web site at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries or call 888-808-7977 or 5-1-1.

Transit Summer Youth

Pass program available

Clallam Transit System will offer its Olympic Peninsula Summer Youth Pass program during the summer months. All youths ages 6-19 can travel throughout the county on regular fixed-route Clallam Transit buses for $10. The pass is good for travel from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The pass can be purchased beginning May 21 through outlets in Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks and at the Clallam Transit System office. For further information or to order a pass, call the Clallam Transit System at 452-1315 or toll-free at 800-858-3747.

Draft Environmental Impact

Statement released on proposed Makah Tribal whale hunt

NOAA’s Fisheries Service has released a draft environmental impact statement in response to the Makah Indian Tribe’s request to hunt gray whales. The tribe’s request included a detailed proposal about the hunt — how many whales would be hunted, in what areas and during what time of year. Before NOAA Fisheries Service can decide how to respond to the tribe’s request, it must analyze the effect on the human environment of approving the hunt as proposed by the tribe, as well as a range of alternatives to the tribe’s proposal. Such an analysis is required by the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA.

NOAA Fisheries has scheduled several public meetings to provide interested parties with an overview of the DEIS and to provide an opportunity for public comment and testimony on it. The comment period closes July 8. The closest public meeting is 6:30-9:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 28, at the Vern Burton Memorial Center, 308 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.

See Web site www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Gray-Whales/Makah-DEIS-info.cfm for more information.