Sequim teen to sing at World Series

Boys & Girls Club member to represent local, national organization

By Matthew Nash • October 25, 2023 1:30 am
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Pearle Peterson, 18, stands outside Sequim’s Carroll C. Kendall Unit of the Boys & Girls Club where she’s attended for 11 years. She’ll represent the local club and national organization on Oct. 28 at the World Series where she’ll sing the National Anthem.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Pearle Peterson, 18, stands outside Sequim’s Carroll C. Kendall Unit of the Boys & Girls Club where she’s attended for 11 years. She’ll represent the local club and national organization on Oct. 28 at the World Series where she’ll sing the National Anthem.

After singing at Boys & Girls Club events across the country this summer, Sequim’s Pearle Peterson is taking to the world stage this weekend.

The 18-year-old is set to sing the National Anthem before Major League Baseball’s World Series on Saturday, Oct. 28, in Arlington, Texas in game two between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers.

Major League Baseball made the announcement on Wednesday, with Grammy Award winning singer H.E.R. set to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Game 1 on Friday, Oct. 27.

Peterson sings at 4:45 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Saturday, Oct. 28; the games airs locally on Q13 Fox.

“The gravity of it all really hasn’t soaked in yet,” Peterson said Wednesday.

“It’s a huge opportunity coming from a small town like Sequim and go to this big event.

“I’m so excited to be there as a club kid and as a kid of the Sequim community.”

Sequim’s Carroll C. Kendall Unit, 400 W. Fir St., will host a viewing party in its Teen Room with pizza starting at 4:30 p.m. Saturday; the event is open to the public.

Peterson, who was surprised to learn of the opportunity on Oct. 17 from Boys & Girls Clubs of America CEO and President Jim Clark via a Zoom call, said she thought she was coming in to only talk about singing for the Sequim club’s upcoming dinner and auction.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I didn’t know what I was going to be told.”

Peterson, her parents Jason and Kelsie, and 14-year-old sister Victoria will fly from Seattle on Friday morning to Texas, she said.

Mary Budke, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, said if someone were to ask her what it would take to get it to the World Series, she’d say 11 months.

“That’s been Pearle’s ride: she’s made this happen through her determination and hard work,” Budke said.

“The clubs have opened the doors, and she’s gone through the doors and to another planet.”

Peterson, a high school senior and Sequim club member for 11 years, attributes a lot to the Boys & Girls Club.

When she moved to Sequim, Peterson said, the club provided her a place to go after school, dependable meals and homework help along with friends and programming.

It’s also helped having friends go through similar struggles, and mentors and confidants at the club who helped her “grow up in an environment where I could be authentic,” Peterson said in a previous interview.

While singing has always been a passion for her, this path opened last year when Peterson sang at the Olympic Peninsula clubs’ annual auction. She was encouraged to submit audition videos and a bio to become a National Youth Talent Performer. She was chosen in January and in May she performed in Orlando, Fla., at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s 117th National Conference. There, she was voted by her peers at the National Conference to receive the Aryana Pizarro “Fly Right” Award — named in honor of the first National Youth Talent Ambassador who died in a car wreck.

As a National Youth Talent Performer, Peterson she sang this summer in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Lake Tahoe, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Calif., and New York.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America executives heard her sing a few times in person, including a New York performance in early October when she sang Elvis Presley’s “If I can Dream.”

Now the three-time Olympic Region Youth of the Year, Peterson earned her first job at the club helping with the Summer Food Program in Carrie Blake Community Park.

She also served as the Sequim city council student liaison, and balanced her busy summer schedule working part-time at Sherwood Assisted Living where she’s become the weekend activity coordinator.

Peterson said tries to visit the Sequim club everyday, she said.

“I’ve got to make time for my friends,” she said.

With the Teen Club, they do community service at the Sequim Food Bank on Tuesdays, too.

Budke said Peterson encompasses three core traits, “a hard work ethic, natural ability, and a fire in the belly.”

Peterson said she plans to seek a degree at Gonzaga University after graduating high school with her area of concentration varied, but she wants to pursue music in some capacity.

Peterson will also perform at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula Auction and Dinner on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Sequim club.

For more about the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, visit bgc-op.org.

Photo courtesy of Peterson family/ Pearle Peterson, center, stands with her family, from left, grandpa Floyd McCoy, sister Victoria, dad Jason, and mom Kelsie in Orlando, Fla., after winning the Aryana Pizarro “Fly Right” Award for supporting her fellow National Youth Talent Performers at the boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Conference in May. She is set to sing at game two of the World Series on Oct. 28.

Photo courtesy of Peterson family/ Pearle Peterson, center, stands with her family, from left, grandpa Floyd McCoy, sister Victoria, dad Jason, and mom Kelsie in Orlando, Fla., after winning the Aryana Pizarro “Fly Right” Award for supporting her fellow National Youth Talent Performers at the boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Conference in May. She is set to sing at game two of the World Series on Oct. 28.

Photo courtesy Mary Budke/ Sequim’s Pearle Peterson sang a few solos and with an ensemble as a National Youth Talent Performer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Conference in Orlando, Fla. in May. She is set to sing at game two of the World Series on Oct. 28.

Photo courtesy Mary Budke/ Sequim’s Pearle Peterson sang a few solos and with an ensemble as a National Youth Talent Performer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Conference in Orlando, Fla. in May. She is set to sing at game two of the World Series on Oct. 28.

Photo courtesy Mary Budke/ Sequim’s Pearle Peterson sang a few solos and with an ensemble as a National Youth Talent Performer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Conference in Orlando, Fla. in May. She is set to sing at game two of the World Series on Oct. 28.

Photo courtesy Mary Budke/ Sequim’s Pearle Peterson sang a few solos and with an ensemble as a National Youth Talent Performer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Conference in Orlando, Fla. in May. She is set to sing at game two of the World Series on Oct. 28.