by JUDY STIPE

For the Sequim Gazette

The anxiously awaited “Plow Day” is coming up this Saturday! If you’ve never attended one before, it’s worth a trip by the Pumpkin Patch at U.S. Highway 101 and Kitchen-Dick Road. A real history lesson, sometimes drama (if the 80-year-old machinery refuses to cooperate) and great old-fashioned socializing with friends you haven’t seen since the last “Plow Day.”

The East end of rural Clallam County is at its best when these hard-working, community-minded citizens give their time & resources to a farm that needs the dirt turned. The Lasilla family welcomes the Sequim High School FFA to sell food and drink to raise money for the community park the group is planning.

Dana Davis, John Dickinson, Dave Bekkevar and Dennis Schleve went to early breakfast for years and often discussed giving away some plowing. So the idea was “hatched” over bacon & eggs by members of the loosely formed “Sequim Collectors” Club, also known as “old iron.” These pioneers have deep roots planted in the area and thousands of volunteer hours were given during the span of five generations.

This event is a copy of the larger, slicker and more expensive ones around the the United States to celebrate the importance of the farmer.

The first “Plow Day” was in 2006 on the old Evans Farm, then newly purchased by Chantelle and Bob Reandeau. It has been noted, Billy Stipe replowed parts of the field the next morning but the laughs, love and fun were worth it!