Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Sequim’s Tyler Mooney, center, twists and turns on his way to the basket amid Crosspoint defenders in the Wolves’ non-league game on Jan. 14.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen Sequim fiber artist Marla Varner stands in front of her temperature quilt. (This portrait photo earned photographer Emily Matthiessen a third place in the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s 2022 Better Newspaper Contest.)

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Witnesses report a fire in Dungeness Meadows consumed this mobile home in a matter of minutes on Feb. 21.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell Sequim High’s Hannah Wagner views for the ball as Lynden’s Claire Devries, left, and Mya VanderYacht try to pry the ball away in a state regional playoff game at Mount Vernon High School on Feb. 25.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell/ Runners and walkers break from the start of the Sun Fun Color Run 5k at the Albert Haller Playfields just north of Carrie Blake Community Park in March.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell Attendees of the 2022 Sequim Sunshine Festival enjoy a colorful light display on a bridge at Carrie Blake Community Park on March 5, courtesy of light artist Ross Brown.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Jasper Davis produces bubbles from a homemade bubble solution, cotton rope, and dowels at the Sequim Safeway Plaza in March.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Nickel Bros crews begin to move a home in Dungeness on Sept. 16. Husband and wife Jim Nichols and Natasha Merkuloff had their two-story, 3,300-square-foot home voluntarily moved about 100 feet from the bluffs.

Photo courtesy Jeff McCord, Nickel Bros/ A crowd gathers late on June 8 to watch Martha Vaughan’s new home be delivered by Nickel Bros crew members to its new home on 3 Crabs Road.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell/ Sequim High School graduate-to-be Abram Yeater and classmates find their seats at the Class of 2022 graduation ceremony in June.

Photo by John Gussman Construction crews adjust the segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail at Railroad Bridge Park, just west of the newly remodeled Dungeness River Nature Center, in June. The parking lot between the center and historic bridge, along with several structures, were being removed as part of a project to restore and expand the Dungeness River floodplain.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ In June, Sequim Middle School student Emma Gilliam smiles as puppets — held by her parents Glenn and Kecia — cheer for her during the drive-through event celebrating eighth-graders moving onto high school.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Pat Rublaitus helps light candles for a candlelight prayer service on May 27 inside St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sequim, honoring victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas. About 40 people attended to pray and sing for the teachers and students and their families.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell/ Mini bike racers Ole Bekkevar, left, and Jeff Secord vie for a top finish at the Sequim Irrigation Festival Logging Show on May 13.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Sampson the lion enjoys a scratch from Robert Beebee, president of the Sequim Game Farm, in May. Sampson is eight years old and loves watching people and observing their activities, according to Beebee. The iconic Sequim facility celebrated its 50th year in 2022.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen T-Ball player Dominic Johnson tries for a catch during opening day of the 2022 Sequim Little League on March 26.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Auggie Hopkinson, age 5, enjoys running through the rows of lavender at Purple Haze Lavender Farm with his brother and sister, during the Sequim Lavender Weekend in July. “Our plane got in this morning,” from St Louis, said mother Sarah Seifgreid, “and we went straight to Sequim.”

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Carolyn and Alan Jones of Diamond Point visit the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club’s outside show on July 16 in Pioneer Memorial Park. “We came every year (before COVID-19) and I love (the park). I love the openness,” Carolyn said.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Joan Nap of Concrete visits B&B Lavender Farm after attending a wedding in the area on July 9.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell/ Young “pirates” — from left, Easton Hightower, Lincoln Davila, and (in front) Caron Hightower — sail their wagon ship toward some tasty candy treats at the downtown Sequim Halloween event hosted by local businesses and the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce in late October.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell Fifteen-month-old Thomas Hanna enjoys the newly-lit historic Railroad Bridge at Railroad Bridge Park on Saturday, Nov. 19. The annual River Center Holiday Nature Mart, held Saturday and Sunday, coincided with Saturday’s bridge lighting.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Fifth-graders Harper Hilliker-McCloskey and Ivan Cortani at Olympic Peninsula Academy and Dungeness Virtual School pet a tortoise at a special assembly about reptiles in November.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Karlene Minea (Puppeteer) and Donovan Rynearson (Puppeteer) in late July practice their troll puppet movements during a rehearsal for Olympic Theatre Arts’ play “The Hobbit.”

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Aliya Jones, 3, “having a blast,” as her father Clint Jones says, heads towards the camera in her tricornere hat, outside the Barcelona Trading Company tent at the PNW Colonial Festival in early August.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen Hot days did not discouraged this moth from enjoying the nectar of local catnip one day in mid-August.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen In late September, Sequim resident Dave Sellman — a five-year member of the Strait Turners — works at a lathe that he set up at an angle so that he could turn wood in his wheelchair. Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Members of the Strait Turners, a local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners, turn out Christmas ornaments for the Shipley Center’s holiday bazaar in early November.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Pedestrians and bicyclists in early October check out the newly-reopened bridge at Railroad Bridge Park, part of the Olympic Discovery Trail.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen Dancers and singers back Bud Davies’ Pharaoh in a dress rehearsal for “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in October.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Holding one of many hand painted pumpkins, 2-and-a-half-year-old Parker Lomker stands beside her downtown Sequim yard where decorations are placed everywhere for Halloween and Christmas.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Aaron Schultz skates the park during June 25 fundraiser for the Carrie Blake Community Park held by the Sequim Youth Skatepark Foundation. Schultz has been skating for 28 years. He said, “I like to encourage the littles to try hard … if they fall, to get up and try again.”