Like many of you we have been waiting for spring to get here and we are not sure if it will happen or if we will jump straight into summer. Well, we hope spring or summer is arriving soon, as Port Gamble embarks on its outdoor season.

A place for local arts

We are excited about our new businesses in Port Gamble. WISH, a mercantile, will open before the end of May. The store  is located at House No. 20, 4790 NE State Route 104, the large red house across from Mike’s 4Star BBQ and Gamble Bay Coffee. This was the former Dauntless Bookstore location. Rhea Schneider, who also operates the Port Gamble Guest Houses with Patrick Stults and Doug Nicholson, has worked as a sales representative for three years and has been a partner in the guest houses for the past year.

WISH will be a retail store carrying locally-made items like jewelry, candles, pottery, glass work, cards, metal art, Gamble Bay coffee and T-shirts plus historical folk games just to name a few. If you are a local artist looking for a place to sell your items, please stop by and see Schneider. You can come by the store or call her at (360) 930-8437.

Port Gamble online

Port Gamble has also launched a brand-new social media campaign. Follow us on Twitter or “like” us on Facebook and receive daily updates on events in Port Gamble, specials from our local businesses, news updates and even some special giveaways.  Follow us on Twitter at @PortGamble, or follow our wedding events at @PortGambleWed. Find us on Facebook at Port Gamble or Port Gamble Weddings.

Look for our new updated wedding website, www.portgambleweddings.com to launch this month and the main website, www.portgamble.com, to relaunch next month. We’ll keep you posted.

Upcoming events

Medieval Faire:

Port Gamble goes medieval on Saturday, June 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, June 5, 10 a.m. to 3p.m. Step back into time with jousting, jesting and merry making sponsored by the Society for Creative Anachronisms.

See the costumed squires, knights and their ladies and many more. For more information, call (360) 697-7404 or visit www.kitsapmedievalfaire.org.

Adventure Race:

The Port Gamble Adventure Race will be held June 11. Coed teams progress together through an unmarked course with a map and a compass to guide them. Trioba is the oldest and toughest adventure race in the Pacific Northwest. This will be a classic adventure race with all checkpoints obtained in sequential order.

The course will consist of 20 to 25 miles of mountain biking, 5 to 10 miles of trekking and trail running, and 5 to 10 miles of flat water paddling. The course will be completely navigation-based, and teams should be proficient with using a map and compass in order to finish the course. Port Gamble is an adventure racer’s paradise. For more information, check out www.trioba.com or call Glenn Rogers at (253) 273-1026.

Quilt Shop Hop:

The Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop is a yearly event sponsored by locally owned quilt shops in Western Washington, in conjunction with the Western Washington Quilt Shop Association.

Port Gamble’s Quilted Strait will participate again this year. The Quilted Strait is located at 32280 Puget Way NE, in the big red barn. The Quilted Strait will have its own in-store drawings, demonstrations and guest pattern designers with their trunk show. The Quilted Strait will have special hours during this event: 9 a.m.  to  8 p.m. ,Wednesday to Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Each shop designs a special quilt block to give away with one piece of Shop Hop theme fabric, one coordinating fabric, and a fabric of the shops choosing. Some shops will have a finishing kit available for purchase.

For more information about the Shop Hop and Quilted Strait, call (360) 930-8145 or visit www.quiltedstrait.com

Spin In:

For all of you spinners, grab your spinning wheel and a chair, and come rain or shine to join Heidi and her friends for their June 24 Spin In. Contact Heidi at theartfulewe@aol.com  or (360) 643-0183.  You can find Heidi at her shop next to the Port Gamble water towers at 32180 Rainier Avenue NE.

Civil War Reenactment:

Rebels and Yankees clash again in Port Gamble June 25 and 26 during the Civil War Reenactment.

Visit camps of the Union and Confederate infantry, cavalry, artillery, navy, marines, engineers and civilians. There will be hospital demonstrations, period fashion shows, magic lantern exhibitions, music, period sutlers, and historic displays.

For more information visit www.wcwa.net/portgamble or call (360) 874-8548.

Cruz Port Gamble:

Relax and enjoy cool cars, friendly people and good food each Thursday, beginning May 5. Classic cars and hot rods welcome. The show takes place behind Gamble Bay Coffee and Mike’s 4Star BBQ. Cars begin arriving at 4 p.m.