Forks Washington on the Olympic Peninsula
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Forks Athletic & Aquatic Club is having their Grand Opening Celebration December 17th – December 23rd 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.
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!
Gentlemen and Ladies it is time to “Start Your Engines” as another season of West End Thunder drags is fast approaching. The first race of the season is set for May 21st and 22nd. Hopefully the weather has rained itself out and sunshine will make an appearance along with all the mean machines that have been sitting around all winter.
Hop in the seat and hit the eighth mile!
While spring still seems to be unavailable, a trip to the beach can be a little chilly. So, the marketing people for Pemco Insurance have hit on some more Northwest humor, with their Northwest Profile #38-Goosebumped Beach Bum. This actually reflects many trips I have enjoyed. But what the heck the scenery is outstanding and the crowds are usually few, put on some warm clothes and enjoy!
There are many fishing opportunities in the Forks area. You can go fishing on some of the wild rivers here on the Olympic Peninsula or take a charter out for ocean fishing. For a list of fishing guides, click here.
Across the street from the Forks Information Center on the airport runway, a herd of elk gather daily for weeks at a time, then disappear for months, then reappear. We wonder if they notice all the activity going on at 1411 South Forks Avenue, better known as the VIC. We think it likely some of these things have occurred to them:
*Sure a lot of vehicles going in and out of that parking lot over there. And many of those cars have writing on them, like "Team Edward" or "T
eam Jacob" or "La Push or bust" or "Vampires Rule, Werewolves Drool."
*Lots of lights flasing across the street. What's a "camera?"
*Seems to me there are a lot of youngish visitors climbing out of their cars and squealing. I wonder if they are squealing about me?
*Sure would like to sample the grass over there. It looks greener.
*I don't understand why people over there are always staring at us. Haven't they ever seen a hairy, antlered, grass-munching four-legged animal before?
*I think I'll turn around and let them see how I look from the back
(Contributed by Marcia Bingham, Director, Forks Chamber of Commerce)
The Seattle Times has rated the top 10 western Washington skateboard parks and Forks' Tillicum Park facility has been ranked number 8! Features include beautiful mosaic tile work in the bowl, a free-floating quarter pipe and brick banks. The skatepark was built by Grindline and a whole lot of community involvement.
This little trail has something for everyone!
- Wide, level and only about 0.3 mile long
- Located in Klahowya Campground--right off US Highway 101 at about milepost 212--convenient place for a quick break
- Borders scenic Sol Duc River--winds through old homestead site
- Crosses historic Snider-Jackson trail
- Interesting and informative interpretive signs along the way
→Our photo gallery slideshow takes you on a quick tour around this fun loop trail.
It's encouraging to see that the West End now has a paved 6-mile section of the Olympic Discovery Trail in place. Although it's still "closed for construction," this first-class section of trail extends through the forest from the Camp David Jr. Road end of the Spruce Railroad Trail, on Lake Crescent, to the top of Fairholm Hill. The Olympic Discovery Trail itself will eventually go the entire 100-mile distance from Port Townsend, through Sequim, Port Angeles, Joyce, Forks and LaPush, to the Pacific Ocean.
Can’t decide how to spend your time in Forks–Geocaching or Twilighting? You know who you are! Here’s the perfect solution: Forks’ newest Geocache has a Twilight theme!! If you’re not familiar with Geocaching, it’s basically a worldwide hide-and-seek game played with GPS receivers. It’s easy (and free) to get started with Geocaching.
This particular cache takes you on a tour of local Twilight hot-spots–gathering clues along the way that lead to the final cache. We haven’t tried the cache yet, but it looks like it will be lots o’ fun. (We’re waiting for it to be even rainier before we try it . . . .) If you do the cache–especially if you’re new to caching–remember to leave the cache in better condition than you find it–watch for muggles, re-hide well and trade up. TFTC Blue Power Ranger!
Forks and the entire West End of the Olympic Peninsula extend hearty “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” wishes to world-famous mountain-climbing twins Jim and Lou Whittaker, who turned 80 yesterday!! This article in today’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer (written by David Andriesen with photo by Scott Eklund) touches on some of these local heroes’ incredible life achievements. While, in the interest of the family’s privacy, we’re not going to say much, we’re proud to say that Jim and his wife, Diane Roberts, are Olympic Peninsula residents and have ties with Forks and the West End. It would be difficult to imagine anyone, more than Jim and Lou, embodying the true spirit of the Pacific Northwest–fun, adventure, health, appreciation of the outdoors, entrepreneurship, statesmanship, philanthropy, leadership–and so much more. We’re hoping we can keep up with them for the next few decades. Here’s to many, many more!!
© 2012 Forks Chamber of Commerce, Inc.