By Chris Henry
chenry@kitsapsun.com360-792-9219
PORT ORCHARD — Little has changed in the Fathoms O’ Fun Festival
over 45 years. True the carnival skipped town in 2009 and has yet
to return, but there’s still the quaint frog jump and snake race.
There’s music to dance to and plenty of sticky sweets to
consume.
The festival’s Grand Parade, nicknamed by organizers the
“Granddaddy of Parades”, still includes 112 entries. The parade,
sponsored by Columbia Bank, is set to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday at
Port Orchard Boulevard and wind its way along Bay Street.
This year’s entries include the usual bevy of pageant royalty,
public officials and candidates who hope to become public
officials. Dancers, horseback riders, gymnasts and high steppers
will take to the streets along with marching bands and other
musicians. One of the more unusual musical entries is the Mullenix
Ridge Screaming Eagles Pennywhistle Band. The crowd no doubt will
hear them coming from blocks away.
The parade will feature floats and classic cars, biker brigades and
pets on the march. Nearly last but far from least will be Billy the
Bull, the Mattress Ranch mascot.
The festival includes a craft and vendor show sponsored by
Clearwater Casino Resort that runs Friday through Sunday.
The fun continues on Wednesday with the Fourth of July Grand
Fireworks Show over Sinclair Inlet. The display, sponsored by Wave
Broadband, will be visible from downtown Port Orchard, Beach Drive
and the Bremerton side of the inlet.
Here’s the lineup:
6:30 p.m. Friday: Concert in the waterfront gazebo.
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday: Port Orchard Farmer’s Market, on the
waterfront
Noon Saturday: Frog jump and snake races (BYO critters). Watch
Fathoms royalty kiss a frog.
6 p.m.: Grand Parade
Noon to 3 p.m. Sunday: Puppet shows at the gazebo.
Ponies and children’s activities all weekend.
Noon to 10:30 p.m. Wednesday (Fourth of July): Concerts at the
Gazebo
10:30 p.m.: Grand Fireworks Show
Fathoms O’ Fun is a volunteer-run organization. Beside the summer
festival, it hosts a scholarship pageant and Concerts by the Bay.
For information, visit www.fathomsofun.org.
Tag Archives: Fathoms O’ Fun
Friday Afternoon Club: Par-tay in Port Orchard Saturday
Port Orchard will be strutting its stuff for the 21st annual
Port
Orchard Party, from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday at Towne Square Mall,
1700 Mile Hill Drive in Port Orchard.
Twenty Kitsap Restaurants will show their style. There will be live
music on two levels, entertainment, a silent auction, dancing and
no-host bars. “Put on your party clothes and come!” implore
organizers.
This year’s theme is “All Aboard – Don’t Miss the Boat!” (I’m sure
that will be a hit with the
Port Orchard couple who were on the stranded cruise ship.)
The event, hosted by Fathoms
O’ Fun, is a fundraiser for that organization and other local
causes. In 2009, POP raised $9,800, which was split between
Fathoms, responsible for Port Orchard’s summer festival by the same
name, and Boys and Girls Clubs of South Kitsap. In addition, South
Kitsap Helpline received $1,000 in donations plus food.
This year’s recipients are South Kitsap Fathoms O’ Fun Festival,
Soroptimist International of Port Orchard Foundation and South
Kitsap Helpline Food Bank.
Buy tickets for $30 each ($35 at the door) through PayPal on the
Fathoms website, or buy them from Columbia Bank, Alfred Interwest
Insurance, MoonDogs, Too, Peninsula Credit Union, Walk N’ Comfort
Shoes, Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce, Sidney Gallery, Kitsap
Bank main branch and Bethel Avenue branch, and the Lighthouse
Restaurant.
And … if you’re a wine connoisseur, check out the Kitsap’s Sun’s Cheers to You blog for a listing of wine events around the county this weekend.
Friday Afternoon Club: Fathoms O’ Fun Meets Mattress Ranch
The 43rd annual Fathoms O’ Fun Festival By The Sea begins today, Friday, with a craft show and concert. It’s the start of a week-long festival that ends with a bang: the annual fireworks show on the Fourth of July.
Friday’s concert, featuring Deadwood Revival, starts at
6:30 p.m. at the waterfront gazebo. The Fathoms Summer Festival
Craft and Vendor Show runs through July 4Sunday on Port
Orchard’s waterfront.
At this year’s festival, as last year, there won’t be a carnival (organizers are looking for an operator deemed adequately safe). But otherwise the tried and true trappings of the South Kitsap tradition that began in 1968 are all there. There will be a Street Scramble, where teams race each other find check points around town (10 a.m. Saturday), the snake race and frog jump (noon Saturday), and the Grand Parade (6 p.m. Saturday).
The announcer for this year’s parade will be
Ted Sadtler, the man behind those goofy Mattress Ranch
Commercials. If you’ve ever driven through Gorst, you will have
seen the colorful “folk
art” that graces his store in Kitsap County and Alaska, where
he’s quite a celebrity. Ted’s a funny guy with a soft spot in his
heart for children with disabilities. Hearing that he’d be playing
a key role in the Fathoms parade made us want to jump up and do a
little dance.
