Will Port Orchard live up to its image as the town that inspired Debbie Macomber’s feel-good Cedar Cove series?
On Wednesday, throngs of Macomber’s fans will arrive — a good
percentage from outside the region — eager to see the real life
places and people behind the fictional town of Cedar Cove. Here’s
what Debbie had to say about the event.
Macomber, 60, sold her first book in 1982. Since then she’s hit The New York Times best-seller list multiple times, and more than 100 million copies of her women’s fiction books, also in other languages, have sold worldwide.
It’s safe to say this is a really big deal for little old PO.
Macomber once said she wants fans to see Port Orchard/Cedar Cove “warts and all.” She may get her wish. Word is, her sons, who will be bus tour guides, will tell stories on “mom.”
And as visitors roam the town, chances are they’ll encounter the dumpsters on the back side of Bay Street and bail bond businesses aplenty — serving Kitsap County’s courthouse up the hill.
Macomber, born with a “happy gene,” is not the least bit
worried.
“If you come to my house, there’s a tricky little toilet. You have
to jiggle the handle. … Whenever anyone comes to my house, I bet
they don’t remember my toilet,” Macomber said. “Everyone wishes
they were perfect. It’s a real town with real people. When company
comes, they look for the real people, not the flaws.”
So Port Orchard, during this, your big chance to make a good impression on the millions of Macomber fans worldwide who, though they can’t all be here, will surely be watching us with avid interest, my advice to you is, “Be real, be yourself … just be subtle about it.”
While most of the by-reservation events have sold out (check the
Cedar Cove Web site for availability), there are a number of
freebies (see schedule below).
cedarcove
What a negative article, for so many people that have worked so hard to make this event happen. Was it really necessary to comment on bathrooms, dumptsters, “warts and all” If I were someone reading this article, I would never go to Port Orchard, which is a shame. It is a wonderful community, with hundreds of volunteers, being lead by a great group of people, who see a better vision for this town and are trying to prove it. People, please come see our wonderful community and support the actions of thousands of people who see a brighter future for Port Orchard. The Cedar Cove Days event is just what we needed,a breath of fresh air.
Wow Chris, can you let us know how you really feel?
You certainly revealed your “Shi..y Gene” this time.
Hopefully people are smart enough to read through your trash.
I heard you haven’t actually been to Port Orchard for 17 years, is this true?
Your article is a great example of Slanderous and unbalanced reporting filled with copious amounts of personal negative opinion and is not exactly fair.
Now I hope you can explain why many advertisers in the Sun have decided to take their business elsewhere.
Mr. Melton
Hmmmm … well, I think it was a reasonably written piece that rather politely addresses a significant fact: Port Orchard just isn’t the prettiest place in the world (even though the setting is), and there’s a bunch of people from all over coming here shortly who are going to see it. For heaven’s sake, just because the author of those books used a “jiggle the handle on the toilet” analogy to describe her own home when she’s having company, don’t get your feathers in a binder. And this piece was far too gentle to be anything remotely close to “slanderous and unbalanced.” Lighten up, mellow out, and try to be pleasant and kind to those folks from out of town who are just here to have a good time — not mention certain Kitsap Sun bloggers who are just doing their job. Yeesh.
Guess it just goes to show that whether you call our town Cedar Cove, Port Orchard, or Disneyland, there are always a few around that are proudly strutting their Grumpy shirts, not being Bashful about being a bit Dopey. Perhaps the Happy citizens are all down on the waterfront enjoying a drink with Doc.
Chris, your blog post on Cedar Cove days was quite tame. Nothing to be Sneezy about. In fact, it was so tame that I’m a bit Sleepy.
Regards,
Kathryn Simpson
PS. No joke… my Captcha words are “reworks Gilmore”. Irony abounds.