MANCHESTER — Community pride will be on display once again for the 45th annual Salmon Bake and Book Sale on June 15. The event — rain or shine — is 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Father’s Day in the Manchester Library parking lot, 8067 E. Main St.
The salmon bake, which began in 1970, is hosted by the Friends of the Manchester Library. All proceeds go to benefit the library.
Along with salmon, beans, coleslaw, garlic bread and drinks will be served. The meal is $14 for adults and $10 for children ages 6-11. Children younger than 6 can eat for $5 each.
The event brings families and community leaders together.
“It’s not so much a fundraiser as a community-building exercise,” said John Winslow, president of the Friends of the Manchester Library. “Everyone takes pride in the event as well as the library.”
About 65 volunteers work to stage each year’s salmon bake, including eight who start months in advance. Last year’s event raised about $7,500 and made it the largest single-revenue source for the library’s $27,500 annual budget.
“This doesn’t go to pay for the library staff or the materials,” said Winslow. “This is used entirely for the upkeep and maintenance of the building.”
History of library
Mary J. Sanford, who owned the local Manchester Shopping Mart and was a member of the county’s rural library board, donated a corner of her business to be the library in 1947.
In 1953, the library temporarily moved into the Manchester Improvement Club building and the following year into a 16-by-24-foot modular building on Port of Manchester property.
The Friends of the Manchester Library became a registered nonprofit organization in 1976 and sought a loan to build a permanent library building. With a grant from Kitsap Regional Library, donations and many hours of volunteer construction, the building was completed in 1980. The Port of Manchester leases the land to the group for $1 a year.
The building is surrounded by gardens designed, donated and maintained by volunteers from the Long Lake Garden Club and the Friends of the Library. The gardens are a water-wise teaching garden used to demonstrate environmentally sound gardening techniques and to educate the public on local flowers and plants.
