2019 Anacortes Waterfront Festival

Anacortes Waterfront Festival 2019

A supplement to the Anacortes American

anacortes

Waterfront

June 1st & 2nd 2019

Festival

Packed by the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Anacortes, Washington

Thank you to our community partners for making the 30th Anniversary of the Anacortes Waterfront Festival possible!

Presenting Sponsor y Shell Puget Sound Refinery

Venue Sponsor Port of Anacortes

Fleet Sponsors Island Hospital • Trident Seafoods

Captain Anacortes American • Edward Jones, Jeffrey Pleet Gere-a-Deli • Heritage Bank Irishman Enterprizes • Pacific Party Canopies

Admiralty Sponsors Dakota Creek Industries • Marathon Petroleum Company Peoples Bank • Skagit Valley Herald Vice-Admiralty Anthony’s Restaurants • Quantum Construction Commodore Sponsors Anacortes Yacht Club • Banner Bank Judd & Black

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Boatswain Sponsors Fidalgo Bay Resort • Lakeside Industries Tri-County Recycling Pirate Scott Richards Insurance • Seattle Yachts Washington Federal

Anacortes Chamber of Commerce

(360) 293-7911

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Anacortes Waterfront Festival

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

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Welcome to the 2019 Waterfront Festival Live music, festival food, boat building, rides on the water and car shows are just some of the activities awaiting visitors at this year’s Waterfront Festival.

Celebrating 30 years this

year, the festival is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 1, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 2. The Anacortes Chamber of Commerce hosts the festival (which has free admission) at Cap Sante Marina, 1019 Q Ave.

The Anacortes Yacht Club will offer free boat rides to visitors all day. Kids can build their own small boats at the Fidalgo Island Rotary Booth. The Channel of Discovery offers information and interactive displays,

and teams of community members will spend six hours building vessels … and then hope they float.

Several bands will entertain visitors and offer the chance to sit back and listen or dance the

day away.

A variety of food vendors will be around with treats ranging from corn dogs to ice cream.

Visit anacortes.org/waterfront-festival/ for more information.

Kids of all ages can build their own take-home boats to the festival bring their children and talk about the boats they made themselves years ago, Rotary club member Brianna Hackler said.

“We get to hear what this booth means to them,” she said.

Some parents have said they end up with a fleet of wooden boats their kids built over the years.

More than 500 volunteer hours go into preparing for the festival, Rotary club member Tricia Sharp said. The foundation at Sierra Pacific Industries donates the lumber and then volunteers from the club cut them to shape.

Right now, the club is using equipment at La Conner High School (because Anacortes High School is going through construction) to cut the wood. One of the bandsaws being used was actu-

ally a Rotary donation to the school, she said.

At a recent meeting, members of the club all worked together to cut sails and affix them to dowels as the meeting’s scheduled program.

Everyone works together to make everything happen, Sharp said.

More volunteer time is yet to come, she said.

Club members help run the boatbuilding booth, making sure every kid gets all the pieces of his or her boat and has a chance to put them together and float them.

They also take the time to get to know the community, Hackler said.

The club isn’t just featuring boats this year.

There will also be a small putt-putt course at their booth, as well as information about an upcoming STEM summer camp for middle school students.

Anacortes Waterfront Festival 2019 Editor: Colette Weeks Content and Layout: Briana Alzola Advertising director: Duby Petit © 2019 Skagit Publishing All rights reserved

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The pounding of hammers can be heard from around the corner, as can the delighted shouts from the Waterfront Festival’s youngest sailors.

It’s all part of a very popular Anacortes tradition.

Each year, the Fidalgo Island Rotary Club brings about 1,000 wooden boat hulls to the festival. Add to that brightly colored sails, corks and other decorations and each young visitor walks away with a free boat.

The booth is always full of people and have in past years run out of boats.

After they spend time perfecting their little boats, the little captains can launch their boat in a nearby pool and sail it to and fro, dodging the other rope-pulled vessels bobbing in the water.

Some of the visitors

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Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Anacortes Waterfront Festival

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Take a ride on the water thanks to Anacortes Yacht Club Each year at the Waterfront Festival, hundreds of people board boats and head out of Cap Sante Marina.

Some boats are powered by wind and others by motor.

For many people on board, even those who have lived in a maritime community their entire lives, it’s their first foray out on the water.

“I’m always amazed that local people have never been out on the water,” said Mac Mad-

enwald, a member of the Anacortes Yacht Club.

Club members are the boat owners and captains who take the community members out on the water.

“My wife Wendy and I really have fun,” Madenwald said. “People are so appreciative.”

The rides are free, but the spots fill up quickly, so club members recommend stopping by the gazebo near Cap Sante Marina early in the day to sign up.

Madenwald has been sailing for decades. He and his wife moved to Anacortes in 1969. He practiced orthopedic surgery here for 30 years and then retired, leaving him more time for boating.

The Bellingham native started sailing in high school and has continued throughout his life.

He has a Baltic 39 from Finland, which he bought new in 1978. He’s been a member of the yacht club since 1971 and is the

longest standing active member. Both he and his wife have held leadership positions with the club.

It’s a good boat for cruising and racing, Madenwald said.

He and his wife still get out and race as often as they can, including during Wednesday night races here in Anacortes.

“We are quite competitive,” he said.

What does he like about the boating life?

“Just being out on the water,” he said.

Mac Madenwald stands with his boat at Cap Sante Marina.

Teams hope boats will float at Quick and Dirty race in some way). They also get roughly $20 to buy additional supplies.

The design is completely up to each team, and no two boats turn out the same.

The teams will carry their finished boats through the water starting at 5 p.m., before launching them into Cap Sante Marina. Then, the race is on. Each team of two sailors will attempt to row their boat out to the end of the marina and back, all to the cheers of the crowd.

Some float better than others.

In years past, there have been boats powered like bicycles, stand-up paddleboards, kayaks, a floating plywood ferry boat and standard rowboats. Each is decorated to match the theme of their building group.

Dock space fills up, so anyone who wants a specific vantage point to watch the races should arrive at the marina a

little early.

Wi n n i n g t h e r a c e, while earning lots of cheers, doesn’t guarantee the victor the trophy.

The race is just one portion of the overall prize.

Other points are awarded in categories like Best Looking, Best Use of the Mystery Material, Seaworthiness, Design and Wettest Feet.

There’s also a category for the best bribes of a judge (which have often included some sort of tasty treat).

The People’s Choice Award is another factor. People will have a chance to buy tokens for $1 each. They then place their token in the bucket of the team they think has the best boat. For the winning team, 100 percent of the proceeds of their token sales will go to the charity of their choice. For the others, 50 percent will go to the charity of their choice and 50 percent will go to the Waterfront Alliance.

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One hundred screws.

A few plywood boards.

Six hours.

And a lot of hope.

The Quick and Dirty Boat Building Demonstration, Parade and Race challenge teams of builders to create the best vessels they can and then race them to the end of the marina and back.

The catch?

They only get a limited number of materials and a short amount of build time. Teams will set up early Saturday, June 1. Stop by the building area at the festival from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day to check out their progress. Sawdust is often flying from under the covered canopies as creators work furiously to get the vessels done.

Teams get four sheets of plywood, some 2-inch by 4-inch pieces of lumber, 100 screws, some caulk, tie wraps and a mystery material (which must be used on the boat

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Anacortes Waterfront Festival

Channel of Discovery offers fun for kids, adults Walking along the Channel of Discovery could mean encountering a large chalk drawing, watching flying balls launched by a mechanical robot or seeing several intricately detailed miniature boats lined up on display.

Th i s a r e a o f t h e Wa t e r f r o n t Fe s t i v a l brings together community groups and businesses to provide interactive and informative exhibits for people of all ages.

Participants this year are the Anacortes Arts Fe s t i v a l , A n a c o r t e s FIRST Robotics, City

of Anacortes, the Old Anacortes Rowing and Sailing Society, Shearwater University, the West Skagit Community Emergency Response Team, Wolf Hollow Wild-

life Rehab Center, Rotary clubs, Skagit RC Modelers, Pacific Mammal Research, Pacific Biodiversity Institute and the Washington State Parks boating program.

Monday-Sat y-Saturday 8am-8pm Sunday y 9am-5pm • Holidays 9am-3pm

2511 M Avenue, Suite B, Anacortes Anacor 360-299-4211

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

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Attend the carnival

Pay-to-play carnival games and activities of all sorts will be available both days in the marina parking lot.

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Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Anacortes Waterfront Festival

Schedule of events Saturday

10:05 a.m. – Opening ceremonies 10:20 a.m. – Mount Erie Elementary Mustang Singers 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Free boat rides at C Dock 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Fidalgo Island Rotary wooden boat building 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Channel of Discovery 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – All Corvette Car Show 11 a.m. – An-O-Chords A-Capella 11:40 a.m. – Shifty Sailors Sea Shanties 12:30 p.m. – A’Town Big Band 1:50 p.m. – Moon Candy 3:20 p.m. – Mama Dirty Skirt 5:00 p.m. – Quick & Dirty parade and demonstration

Sunday 10:00 a.m. – Opening ceremonies 10:15 a.m. – AHS Drumline and AHS Jazz Band 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Free boat rides at C Dock 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Fidalgo Island Rotary wooden boat building 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Channel of Discovery 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Custom Classic Car Show 11:15 a.m. – Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble 12:15 p.m. – Anacortes FIRST Robotics Team 12:40 p.m. – Sheri Roberts Greimes & Da Boyz 2:05 p.m. – The Dizzys 3:30 p.m. – Tighty Whities

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Anacortes Waterfront Festival

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Dancers stay connected to culture of Croatia Swirling dresses, lively music and bright colors entertain guests when the Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble takes to the stage.

The 25-or-so dancers in the troupe will entertain guests at 11:15 a.m. Sunday, June 2, at the festival.

The ensemble, which has performed all over the world, was started in 1975 here in Anacortes, Alma Franulovich Plancich said.

“We are in our fourth generation,” she said.

Her father started the group, and her grandkids are now dancing.

It’s not uncommon to see those connections among the ensemble.

“You could see grandma out dancing with the grandkids,” Plancich said.

Most in the group are family members or friends, but one thing binds them all – their love for Cro-

atia.

“This is all about the culture,” Plancich said.

Some aren’t actually Croatian but they have an appreciation for the country that connects them to the music, Plancich said.

Plancich was born in Croatia, as were her sisters, so this group helps them feel more connected to the place where they were born.

It also helps them stay connected with family.

“We dance together, we sing together, we make music together,” Plancich said.

Their dance troupe has members from Anacortes and as far away as Renton.

It’s fun to perform in Skagit County, where the ensemble started and where it still considers its home base, Plancich said.

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Car shows offer classic fun on land

“This ensemble keeps us connected to each other and to where we were raised in Anacortes and Skagit County,” Plancich said.

It’s never just about the boats.

While things that float are at the forefront of the Anacortes Waterfront Festival, two streets near the marina also fill with classic cars and enthusiasts who want to take a look.

Two car shows will bring in shiny classic cars this year.

The All-Corvette Car Show is from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 2. An open class Custom Classic Car Show is 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 3. Registration for each show starts at 8 a.m. the day of, with an entry fee of $20 per vehicle.

Th e r a i n - o r- s h i n e events feature trophies, dash plaques, door prizes and a 50/50 raffle.

The shows are presented by the Majestic Glass Corvette Club, and the cars will be parked along Ninth Street and Q Avenue.

Fresh Northwest Seafood is Our Priority, Providing a Truly Northwest Dining Experience is Our Pleasure!

Serving fresh Northwest seafood from our own seafood company. Enjoy impressive views of the marina and relax indoors or on one of our two outdoor decks.

Visit our open air Cabana for casual dining and a game of Bocce ball!

1207 Q Avenue • Anacortes • (360) 588-0333 • www.anthonys.com

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