Fuse is lit for a bang-up holiday weekend

Published 7:00 pm Saturday, July 2, 2005

The fun starts Sunday with the downtown barbecue and street dance.

Bainbridge Island’s holiday festivities may not feature 76 trombones, but the music and merriment that ensue over the long weekend is just as strong.

From marching musicians to classic cars, the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association and Chamber of Commerce have chosen a full complement of activities and food to delight folks of all ages on July 3 and 4.

Here’s a roundup of events so you won’t miss a beat.

The 19th Annual July 3rd Street Dance and BBQ, the downtown association’s Winslow Way block party, promises a dynamite time. There’s a lot more music this year, and it starts at 1 p.m. at the Gazebo at Winslow Green. The street festivities will run from 5:30 to 11 p.m.

Seventy-five volunteers are helping the downtown association board make sure everyone has a good time.

“It’s a labor of love,” said Cris Beattie, executive director of the downtown association. “It’s our community celebration.”

Town & Country Market is cooking up pulled pork barbecue sandwiches, garden burgers and hot dogs with all the trimmings for $10 per person. Other booths will offer such fare as desserts from the Boys and Girls Club, and lemonade poured by the Garden Tour Committee.

The Kid Zone will feature old and new activities: Robo Surfer, Hoops Bounce House, a 30-foot obstacle course, a giant slide and face painting. New this year is a “Rock Wall with Extreme Air,” which Beattie said has to be seen to be believed.

Tickets for Kid Zone activities are available at Eagle Harbor Book Co. through July 2 and on-site on the fourth. Children with an artistic bent also will enjoy the free sidewalk chalk outside Calico Cat.

The street party features multiple performance areas: the Main Stage in the Winslow Mall; the Gazebo Stage on the Winslow Green; and the Kid Zone Stage at Winslow Way and Madison.

Slated for the Kid Zone Stage are a DJ and performances by the Bainbridge Ballet Hip Hop Troupe and the Bainbridge Rope Skippers. From 5 to 6:30 p.m., the Virgin Islands Steelpan Orchestra will shake the Main Stage. This group of 16 teens from the Virgin Islands is hosted by Bethany Lutheran Church. (See sidebar.)

There’ll be more dancing in the street when the Original Fenderskirts take over the Main Stage from 7 to 11 p.m. Other highlights include the presentation of the Filipino-American Strawberry Festival King and Queen and the winners of the Downtown Merchant Garden Award.

The pie-eating contest starts at 7:45 p.m. in front of the Kid Zone Stage. This year, contestants will be 4 feet above the street so everyone can see the slurping. The person who eats a whole pie in the fastest time in each category is the grand prize winner.

The celebrity contest, featuring Mayor Darlene Kordonowy, is first, followed by the adult and kids eat-offs. This year’s pies are apple, donated by T&C, said event chair Paulette Jacobson, who expects about 30 contestants.

Stephanie Jackson, the 2004 winner, is ready to defend her title. Every contestant walks rolls away with a full stomach and a prize donated by local merchants. Proceeds from entry fees benefit the downtown association.

The fourth

The good times continue on Monday, with the 38th annual Grand Old 4th of July “Let Freedom Ring” celebration. This all-day affair kicks off with a pair of pancake breakfasts at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., in the Town & Country parking area and with Boy Scout Troop 1566 at the Church of Latter-day Saints on Madison Avenue, respectively.

The Street Fair takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., three blocks from the Ferry Terminal on Brien and Bjune drives. Here visitors will enjoy arts-and-crafts and food booths. Children’s activities will be held in downtown Winslow.

Popular events include the Classic Car Show, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the American Marine Bank/Washington Mutual parking lots. Awards will be presented at noon.

The Hometown Band, a 22-member group that plays Americana and patriotic music, will perform from noon to 1 p.m. at Winslow Mall.

The mile-long “Best Small Town Parade in America” starts at 1 p.m. Stand and cheer for the four color guards, which follow the fire department.

First up are the U.S. Marine Corps Security Force Company and U.S. Navy Trident Training Facility, both out of Bangor, then the U.S. Army National Guard 321st Stryker Brigade and Bainbridge’s Colin Hyde Post 172 American Legion Color Guard.

Legion, auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion members are invited to join the march and the picnic afterward at the American Legion Hall.

The parade continues with music and mayhem by approximately 100 organizations. The Bainbridge High School Marching Band will pump up the volume, while such merrymakers as Puppets on Parade, Theatre Without A Net, the Ku-Tee-Yaa Dancers and Ralph Munro’s Olympia Highlanders Bagpipe Band will provide crowd-pleasing performances. Don’t miss the tail-waggers, including the Basset Brigade, the Blended Breeds of Bainbridge and the Westie Brigade (see Calendar page 8 for details).

After the parade, head to Waterfront Park to catch the island’s own Gruff Mummies in concert from 2:15 to 4 p.m.

Dirt will be flying at the third annual Old Timers Baseball Game, which starts at 4 p.m. at the Bainbridge High School diamond. Pre-game festivities, featuring the barbershop quartet Smooooth, begin at 3:30 p.m.

After two consecutive losses, the Bainbridge Reds are itching for revenge against the Winslow Grays. The teams wear 1930s-era uniforms and use wooden bats and – for the first time – 1930s-40s-era gloves.

Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Transmitter Building Renovation Project at Battle Point Park. Tickets are a suggested donation of $5 per individual or family and include a game program.

The more tickets you buy, the better your chances of winning a prize, organizer Jeff Giblin said. Drawings for prizes donated by area merchants will be held between innings. Buy tickets from uniformed players at the July 3 Street Dance or at the game.

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Sally fourth

Parking and shuttles – Free parking and Kitsap Transit service are available from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Buses will pick up people every 10 to 15 minutes from remote parking areas – Sakai Intermediate School, Woodward Middle School, Bainbridge High School, the Ace Hardware parking lot and the Kitsap Bank parking lot – and drop them off at the police station at Winslow Way and Highway 305. A third bus will run between noon and 4 p.m. from Woodward and Sakai.

Warning: road closures and street restrictions will be in place in some downtown areas from July 3-4. See page A8.

Fireworks on the water – The Senior Center invites seniors and non-seniors to enjoy Seattle’s Fourth of July fireworks from a Kitsap Harbor tour boat in Elliott Bay. Board the boat at 7:45 p.m. at Waterfront Park and return after the fireworks display. The cost is $32 for seniors and $35 for non-seniors.

Although there are no (official) community fireworks displays on Bainbridge Island, nearby Poulsbo and Seattle will have displays.

On July 3, The fireworks on the Fjord celebration runs from 11 a.m to 11:30 p.m. in downtown Poulsbo around Waterfront Park. Activities include booths, rides, the Army K-9 Team solo performance, Lego projects, dance performances, live music, eating contests and a parade of boats, culminating in fireworks over Liberty Bay around 10-10:30 p.m. The best views will be from the Lemolo shore, Fjord Drive and downtown on Anderson parkway. Views are also possible from Viking Way. See www.communityeventproductions.com for a schedule of events.

On the Fourth of July in Seattle, there will be displays at two locations.

The Fourth of Jul-Ivar’s has activities from 12-11 p.m., with fireworks around 10 p.m., visible from Myrtle Edwards Park on Seattle’s Waterfront at the foot of Broad Street, next to Pier 70. For more information, see www.keepclam.com.

The Wamu Family 4th holds festivities at Gas Works Park on Northlake Way in Seattle, at the north end of Lake Union. Bring your blankets, picnic baskets, Frisbees, friends and family. The fireworks begin around 10 p.m. As roads will be closed near the park, check the Seattle Transportation Department website (www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation) for information about road closures. For information on fireworks and festivities, see www.familyfourth.org.

Washington State Ferries reminds ferry riders catching the fireworks from onboard that they will still be required to disembark at the destination ferry terminal.

At the Dog Wash, Yeah – Volunteers from Cross Sound Church of Bainbridge Island will have a “Dog Wash” from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 3 at the Chevron station at Highway 305 and High School Road. Proceeds benefit the Kitsap Humane Society.

Run Wild – Runners and walkers are invited to join the “Run for Bainbridge Youth Services” on July 4. Check-in is at 7 a.m. at Madison and Winslow Way. The 1-mile fun run starts at 8:30 a.m. The 5K run/walk begins at 8:45 a.m. Kids’ dashes are at 9 a.m. The cost is $25 for the 1-mile and 5K events and $5 for the kids’ dashes.

Island Sounds – Winslow will be moving to the music when the Virgin Islands Steelpan Orchestra takes over the Main Stage from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on July 3. The 16 talented teens who make up the group play steelpans – 55-gallon steel oil drums – on tour and during worship services at their home church, Frederick Lutheran, in St. Thomas, V.I. Frederick is the oldest Lutheran church in the New World, dating to 1666. The band was persuaded to join Bainbridge’s celebration thanks to the efforts of Pastor Marty Dasler of Bethany Lutheran Church, which helped fund the trip as a gift to the community. The teens are spending two weeks at Pacific Lutheran University in Seattle for the Western States Youth Gathering. They have performed at the 2003 Multicultural Youth Leadership Event and Atlanta Youth Gathering, the 2004 Virgin Islands Lutheran Youth Gathering and music festivals in the Virgin Islands.