Border Patrol Makes Arrest in Front of P.A. Farmers Market

Hung Han, a Korean citizen and Sequim resident, was arrested by the Border Patrol around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in front of the Port Angeles Farmers Market. He was in the process of helping his parents pack up their produce stand at Gateway Center. He was transferred to the I.C.E. detention center in Tacoma.

A farmers market vendor who witnessed the entire event said:

“I was shocked to see productive members of society arrested.”

Profile of Farmers Market Shoppers

At the Port Angeles Farmers Market this Saturday, a researcher will be counting and interviewing shoppers. Colleen Donovan of Washington State University’s Small Farms Program will get a “rapid market assessment.” This will hopefully provide helpful information to the manager and twenty-nine vendors of the farmers market.

Good Year for Port Townsend Farmers Market

Port Townsend Farmers Market vendors had a much better year — better by $85,000 — than in 2008.

The market director said: “This was our biggest year ever. We saw our most vendors, most sales and most customers in 2009. It was a solid year of growth.”

Hopefully the Port Angeles Farmers Market also did better this year than in 2008. (Here’s their website.) Their Gateway location seems to have more vendors and customers than when they were at the Courthouse parking lot.

Farmers Market at Gateway Permanently

Hooray!

A majority of the Port Angeles Farmers Market’s vendors has voted to make Gateway their permanent location. Several longtime vendors who voted not to relocate, will not be joining the market at Gateway.

City Manager Kent Myers said the Gateway pavilion will be reserved on Wednesdays and Saturdays for the Farmers Market in a contract (which hasn’t been signed yet).

And speaking of farmers markets and the revitalization of downtown: My wife and I were in Olympia yesterday and the day before. That city has a huge thriving farmers market which is open four days a week. It’s part of a much larger downtown/waterfront complex of pedestrian walkways, shops and restaurants.

I’ve heard that Olympia used to be a lot more rundown and crime-ridden; that these changes are recent. I wouldn’t know, but if that’s true, the city has sure fixed itself up. Olympia’s population is just over 40,000 (according to the 2000 census) — just a little more than twice Port Angeles’ population.

Heritage Weekend, Second Friday Art Walk and Farmers Market

Busy weekend coming up for Port Angeles. Heritage Weekend will be this Saturday and Sunday.

And don’t forget the Second Friday, organized by Bob Stokes for the second Friday of each month. Galleries participating in Second Friday include: Studio Bob, Waterfront Gallery, Anderson Gallery, Zenzizi, itty bitty BUZZ, Art Front (on the first floor below Studio Bob), Jack Gunter Art & Design Ideas Gallery and the Long Gallery (both at Landing Mall). Second Friday is really taking off; it's putting Port Angeles on the map as an artists’ community.

This Saturday will be the unveiling of Bob Stokes’ Avenue of the People — the newest installment of Port Angeles’ outdoor art collection. It will be nine sculptures along the west side of Laurel Street, downtown.

And last but not least, the Port Angeles Farmers Market will be back downtown this Saturday. And if I’ve understood correctly, they won’t just be in that parking lot next to The Toggery. They’ll be — better sit down for this — ON Laurel Street where they used to be. Ah, the memories.

UPDATE: Yes Laurel Street WILL be closed off for the Farmers Market tomorrow (Saturday). The street will be closed from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. There will be live music at the Farmers Market. The market will close at 3 p.m. They usually close at 2 p.m. but the PDN article says 3. After the market closes, there will be "entertainment related to the 6 p.m. Avenue of the People ceremony." That's as specific as the PDN article gets.

Check it out.

Passport To Health Fair — Port Angeles

This Saturday, May 17th, will be the first annual Passport To Health fair. It’s all about alternative medicine, and there will be free presentations and demonstrations at 22 locations in Port Angeles.

According to today’s online PDN poll, more than a third of respondents said they use alternative health methods and products. Whether or not you’re into any alternative medical practices, Saturday’s fair should have something to offer.

Ann Fritts, a Port Angeles acupuncturist, said: “I think people will gain a better understanding of their options with regards to natural health, and a better familiarity with natural health. This is something people can come to, and if they haven't tried massage before or they haven't tried acupuncture before, they can come, ask questions and find out more without any pressure.”

The main location for the Passport to Health fair will be at the Port Angeles Farmers’ Market (Clallam County Courthouse parking lot), 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are also 21 other locations throughout Port Angeles. These sites are listed here.

Port Angeles Farmers Market Written Up in PDN

Today’s Peninsula Daily News has a good write-up of the Port Angeles Farmers Market on page 1 of Section C. (Not available in the online PDN.)

The Farmers Market needs this publicity since they're basically dying out there on the courthouse parking lot. Apparently a lot of people don’t even know the Farmers Market is there; they thought it just fell off the Earth when it got banished from downtown P.A. They're at the Clallam County Courthouse parking lot at Fourth and Peabody.

On top of their reduced number of customers, they had to hold a fundraiser a few weeks ago to pay for the portapotty that they're required to provide.

The article reminds everyone that shopping at a farmers market is not only healthier; it supports the local economy by keeping the money in the community.

According to one statistic (I haven’t seen it online), when you shop at a nationwide franchise, only six cents of each dollar stays in the community. When you patronize a local vendor or mom-and-pop store, sixty cents of every dollar stays in the community. Presumably the statistics are similar for farmers markets and locally-owned grocery stores vs. the national supermarket chains.

So check out the Port Angeles Farmers Market (if you haven’t already been) — Saturdays at the County Courthouse from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wednesday DOWNTOWN Farmers' Market Starts TODAY

The Port Angeles Farmers' Market will be in downtown Port Angeles every Wednesday throughout the summer, starting today. Their hours will be from 3 to 6:30 p.m. They'll be in the parking lot at First Street and North Laurel, next to The Toggery.

Today there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3 p.m. to celebrate the opening of the summer Farmers' Market.

UPDATE:

The Wednesday night Concerts on the Pier will be starting next Wednesday, June 20th, presumably at 6 p.m. (that's the time they started last summer and the summer before).

Let's all get out there and support the downtown Farmers' Market and the Concerts on the Pier. Port Angeles rocks!

The Farmers’ Market

OK, Port Angelinos — ARE YOU READY?!? Mark your calendars for this coming Saturday, April 21st. The Farmers’ Market will be returning to downtown Port Angeles — for this one Saturday only. They’ll be in the parking lot at First and North Laurel, next to The Toggery; across the street from the fountain. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Details here.

And that’s not all. Along with the Farmers’ Market there'll be an Earth Day celebration and live music. Don't miss it.

Downtown rocks!

UPDATE:

Today’s Peninsula Daily News has an interesting article about the Port Townsend Farmers Market. For some reason this article doesn’t appear in the printed version of the paper; it’s online only. Here’s the link.

The Port Townsend Farmers Market’s website is very detailed and might have some helpful information that we can use here in Port Angeles. Here's their site.

UPDATE:

Today's Peninsula Daily News has an article about tomorrow's Farmers Market/Earth Day celebration in downtown Port Angeles. Here's the link.

See y'all tomorrow in beautiful downtown Port Angeles.

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It was great having the Farmers Market back downtown on a Saturday. People were shopping and strolling everywhere. Downtown was ALIVE.

Looking forward to having the Farmers Market return to downtown Port Angeles every Wednesday, starting this June.

Downtown/Gateway/Parking/City Council/ PADA

Things are heating up again in Downtown Port Angeles. Gateway Center construction will be starting soon, and the downtown parking situation will be Godawful. As you probably know, there's a disagreement (to put it mildly) between the Downtown Association and the City Council, regarding the parking situation.

In a nutshell: How much of a priority is it to provide parking for customers shopping downtown?

There have been long-term agreements between the City Council and the Downtown Association, stipulating that the Gateway construction will cause no net loss of parking spaces downtown. But several downtown parking lots have already been condemned (to make way for the Gateway project) and sold. This has created a loss of parking revenue for the Downtown Association, not to mention the huge loss of parking spaces for downtown customers. Just think how much worse it'll get when the construction actually starts. What happened to those agreements???

The Downtown Association wanted to go through the mediation process with the City Council to work out their disagreements on downtown parking. This mediation was to be an alternative to litigation. The City Council turned down the mediation request. So, where do we go from here? Litigation? There might be a meeting between the City Council and the Downtown Association — will this meeting be public or private? Will it be on the record or off the record?

What do YOU think should be done?

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UPDATE: The Port Angeles Farmers Market will be returning downtown on Wednesdays. This will begin in early June. They'll be using the parking lot at the corner of Laurel and West First Streets. Saturdays are unlikely any time soon, at least for that particular parking lot. However, the Farmers Market WILL be downtown (at that same parking lot) on Saturday, April 21st. That's because the Courthouse parking lot, where the Market usually sets up, will be closed that day for a car show.

So come on, Port Angeles residents, be sure to come into town on Saturday April 21st, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to check out the Farmers Market at West First and Laurel. It'll be just like the good old days. And be sure to do lots of shopping and dining and strolling while you're here.