Forks Washington on the Olympic Peninsula

Forks Athletic & Aquatic Club is having their Grand Opening Celebration December 17^th – December 23^rd 2011. There will be specials on rates (monthly and yearly), juice samples from The Juice Bar, facility tours, membership orientations on weights and more. The membership rate during the Grand Opening will be $30 per month or $325 per year. This includes use of pool, weights, cardio equipment and classes. Located on Maple Avenue, the club will feature cardio equipment such as treadmills, exercise bikes and step machines, free weights, resistance machines, spin classes, aerobics and more. The club will be open 24/7 and the pool will be open 5am – 9pm with lifeguards on duty. Locker rooms for men and women, baby sitting in the evenings and The Juice Bar are some of the amenities they offer.

Ruby Swagerty, owner of Forks Athletic & Aquatic Club, said family swim will be offered in the evenings to members. She is contacting local lodging establishments and for a fee will offer day use of the club to visitors to Forks. Ruby has been working in the fitness industry since she was 19 years old and loves teaching people about good health.

Click the picture below to find all the details about the Breaking Dawn V.I.P. Tour happening on November 17! Seats are limited so don't delay!

Don't miss a gala evening sponsored by the Forks Chamber of Commerce, which benefits the Visitor Information Center.

The evening includes a silent auction, wine & beer tasting along with soft drinks and snacks. Music is also included along with some great socializing while you are placing your bids on some unique items.

Cost is $10 per person which includes two drinks. Another highlight of the evening are awards given to the Citizen, Volunteer and Business of the Year for Forks. This year the theme is "Just say cheese..."

Winners from left to right: Willard Quinn (Bainbridge Island) 32.4 lb Chinook; Tom Torgeson (Fox Island) 31.9lb Chinook; Brian Short (Kingston) 28.3lb Chinook; Steve Brower (Forks) 12.9lb Coho; Don Sandstrom (Spokane) 12.4lb Coho; Wilson Easton (Port Angeles) 16.1lb Coho; Gary Keenan (Tracyton) 15.2lb bottom fish.
The Last Chance Salmon Derby was held on October 1st & 2nd at La Push. This fun event is co-sponsored each year by the City of Forks, the Forks Chamber of Commerce and the Quileute Tribe.

The Derby was well attended with 105 tickets sold.  The weather forecast wasn’t favorable early in the week so that probably kept some fishermen away.  The waves weren’t as bad Saturday as they were predicting, but still bad.  Sunday was calmer but colder and it did not rain which was most helpful.  As far as the leader board went, Wilson Easton stayed on top the whole time.  He and his dad, Dave Easton brought the first two fish in, the elder Easton with a Chinook.  They were the first two on the board.  The fish came in slow and steady and the leader board kept changing.  At one time a young lady, McKenna Minnoch (9 years old) was on the board with a coho.   She was presented with a special “Sportsman” award.

It was dramatic towards the cutoff on Sunday when Tom Torgeson brought in a Chinook at 11:59 knocking off the third place and putting him in second place.  The derby ended at noon on Sunday.

At the end of the derby there was a great drawing for ticket holders with many great donations from our sponsors and local merchants. It was most fortunate that the weather and current cooperated well enough that the derby went as planned without any cancellations or curtailments. Congratuations to this year's winners!

A highlight of the annual West End Business and Professional Association Heritage Days celebration is the Fish and Brew.  Each year attendees are treated to various smoke fish recipes and local brew creations.  Judges award prizes and people’s choice awards are also bestowed on the best fish and the best brew. 

Along with great Fish and brew musical entertainment will be provided by “Loose Gravel.”

Another regular feature of this event is a Jack Datisman faux beer label print, each year the print reflects the theme of that years Heritage Days.  The Heritage Day’s theme this year is “I Remember When…….” 

In keeping with that premise Datisman’s label this year is for “Old Times” Premium Quality Beer.  Label prints will also be available for sale.

The Fish and Brew is Saturday October 8^th from 1-4 at the Old Mill Roundhouse located just off Highway 101 at the LaPush Junction.   “When you are remembering when…don’t forget the Old Times.”

Are you tired of the same old Jack-o-lantern?  Your Halloween been in a rut?  Break out of the norm and treat yourself to a bumpy pumpkin!  These genetically engineered gourds add a little creepiness to your carved creations. 

Or they just look good sittin’ around. 

Check out the assortment at J & P produce.  One look and you will “Fall” for them!

Sixty years ago today a few hot spots remained from a forest fire near Camp Creek.  On September 20, 1951, the humidity dropped and a strong east wind gave life to those remaining embers.  Around 3:00 am on September 20, 1951 a forest fire began its devastating journey down the Calawah River Valley and the citizens of Forks awoke to a rapidly moving fire, headed right for them.  The fire burned 38,000 acres overnight and traveled 18 miles in less than 8 hours, and a desperate effort to save the town began.

Marge Walhgren, a mother of 2 small children, had learned from her mother that there was a forest fire burning.  She recalls going outside that morning and the eeriness of the dark sky during daylight hours.  She says she thought it was raining at first and then she realized it was not rain hitting her face, it was bits of bark, ash and needles falling like rain.  Preparing for possible evacuation she washed diapers and set out her “valuables” to take, her silverware, on the dining room table.  At around 2:15 that afternoon the State Patrol ordered evacuation of women and children.  Volunteers coming in to help fight the fire reported a steady stream of evacuees throughout the day but those remaining had about 15 minutes to pack up and leave before the highway to Port Angeles was cut off.  Wahlgren grabbed the children and the diapers but in the rush totally forgot about her “valuables” her silverware.  Walhgren’s father had just completed building a 40 ft fishing trawler, it sat a block off of main street, he and Walhlgren’s husband Richard stayed behind to save what they could, mainly the trawler.  Walhgren made it to Port Angeles and she remembers the most frustrating thing was trying to get information about what was happening in Forks.  There were rumors that “there was nothing left” “the town is gone”.

When the fire had burned to where Ron’s Food Mart is today, it looked like a losing battle, one witness said houses were exploding like matches.  Then sometime after 6 pm, a southwest breeze sprang up, in a matter of minutes the fire rolled back on itself.  While the danger was not over the town was spared.  Around 38 structures were lost but there was no loss of life. After the fire a state forestry supervisor said, “The saving of Forks was a miracle, made up of hard work, guts and luck.”

Baseball it's just a game, right? Well, on Saturday August 27th the Seattle Mariner's are celebrating Olympic Peninsula Appreciation Night! This is the 2nd annual Vampire Night at Safeco Field, the evening will also feature the Color Guard Presentation by Boy Scout Troop #1467 (Forks, WA). Vampires, Baseball and the Olympic Peninsula......hopefully, a winning combination? Go Mariner's!

Recently The Forks Elks Lodge on Merchant Road became the host of a little family, a very little family, and they were a happy bunch, always humming. Well, they were Hummingbirds.

Elks Lodge employee Chrystal King noticed the little nest in one of the Japanese Maple trees out in front of the Lodge and began documenting the blessed event with pictures.

On June 16^th the eggs hatched and the two little birds began to grow.

On July 7^th, the baby birds were overflowing the tiny nest, their fully feathered bodies were ready and they took flight.

From Emily Dickinson, Within my Garden, Rides a Bird

He never stops, but slackens
Above the Ripest Rose --
Partakes without alighting
And praises as he goes……

Forks just had a phenomenal Old-Fashioned 4th of July celebration. The weather was perfect...no rain and 80 degrees! It was a rare day due to the dry weather with record attendance at the parade. The parade was one that was full of color. Summer is here in Forks!

Forks High School entrance (LEFT PHOTO) - Summer 2010 Forks High School entrance (RIGHT PHOTO) (facade) torn down June 20, 2011

Forks High school is currently being rebuilt where the 1925 building once stood. The 1925 structure had been condemned and had not been in use for two years so most of it was torn down last summer (2010). Last week, the front entrance (facade) was removed to make way for the new structure. The new high school building will be completed by this coming late Fall of 2011.

Most Twilight visitors to Forks usually post some kind of “My Trip to Forks” video on You Tube. Many are fun to watch and usually get viewed by friends and family.

But, I discovered a gem of a video posted by two Twilighters from Texas that will make you want to visit if you haven’t and if you live here it will make you glad you do.

Lexy Schultz and Monique Messman of Austin, Texas are avid Twilight fans. Lexy is the founder of the Austin Twilighters which is a meet-up group for local Twilight fans and Monique runs a Twilight blog dedicated to all things Twilight.

The two visited Forks at the end of April, to celebrate Monique’s birthday. Lexy said, “We booked the whole thing online right down to the rental car! Early AM flight from Austin to Dallas, then a direct flight to Seattle, and then four hours of driving to Forks. It was totally worth it! The drive there was beautiful and the scenery was Breathtaking.”

As you will see in their video they did all the regular Twilight things. They also spent two evenings at LaPush catching the sunset, which appears in their video in time lapse, the two also took a trip to the Hoh Rain Forest, which they describe as the most beautiful sites they have ever seen. As far as coming back? They are planning a trip for next year.

To view Lexy and Monique’s video go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lObb-zsu4I

Spring time in the Hoh Rain Forest means new life. Not only the sprouting of native plants but the birth of a new generation of wildlife. Forks resident and National Park employee Patt Doyle, got to witness these events close up last week.

When a calf elk was born just off the back steps of the Visitors Center she was able to behold the wobbly baby taking its first steps, later during a walk she observed baby ducks and a mother deer with twins!

On her drive home a chance sighting of a bull elk, its antlers in velvet, and she gets paid for this?

The good news is, we can all enjoy the beauty of the Hoh Rain Forest, and its mosses, ferns, trees and even the baby boom.

The first Settler’s to the Forks prairie in the late 1800’s didn't come for logging, they were mostly farmers. Hay, oats, grain, and vegetables grew well on the prairie, and hops were a major crop.

But selling products beyond the prairie was a challenge. The nearest market in the 1870s was 100 miles away in Port Townsend, and in the 1890s was 60 miles away in Port Angeles. Hops regularly rotted awaiting transport.

Hop growing was in decline by the early 1900’s. The Merrill Whittier hop house, was located near our Town's current only stoplight, became the site of all-night dances, people coming from miles around and staying until they could travel by daylight to their homesteads.

About twenty years ago I received a start from the original hops plants that still grow wild near the Forks Airport. Every spring when it begins to grow again it reminds me of the hardy individuals who first made Forks their home.