POULSBO — Storm troopers fighting Vikings. Dogfish flying through the air. Contestants glugging Glogg. People running around town looking for scavenges and other odd things. Wookies and other costumed folks dancing out in the streets and inside the Tattooine Cantina (also known as the Sons of Norway).
The shops in Historic Downtown Poulsbo are promising all this and more from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Feb. 11, at the fourth annual Winter Rendezvous, themed “May the Fourth Be With You.”
Hosted by unlimited hydroplane racing champion Chip Hanauer and sponsored by Boat Insurance Agency, the group’s Facebook page says free events will be offered at downtown shops (aka the “Outer Rim Trade Route”).
Those events include a Gloggfest Competition, Poker Run, Scavenger Hunt, a Valusblot Bonfire, a special Winter Rendezvous Artwalk and, new this year, the “Toss the Dogfish” contest.
For one day, the Sons of Norway will become the Tattooine Cantina, a place where weary space travelers can rub shoulders with aliens while sampling locally made beers and ciders, as well as wines and spirits from Menage a Trois.
Be warned: due to imperial executive order, you’ll have to trade your dollars for Galaxy Credits at the door. And there’s a ban on Droids.
Live music in multiple venues will kick off the party Feb. 10 and continue the next evening.
The event is sponsored by the Historic Downtown Poulsbo Association, Boat Insurance Agency, NW Yachting Magazine, the Port of Poulsbo, Menage a Trois Vodka and Menage a Trois Wines, Elliott Bay Marina, Monkeyfist, CSR Marine, Tacoma Fire Logs, Visit Kitsap Peninsula, and Sound Publishing.
Proceeds will benefit the One Eighty Foundation
The One Eighty Foundation is the philanthropic arm of One Eighty, the parent company of Leisure Care. With corporate headquarters in Seattle, Leisure Care is one of the nation’s largest privately-held retirement and assisted living companies. It has nine communities in Washington but none on the Kitsap Peninsula, according to its website, www.leisurecare.com.
The foundation funds grants to eligible nonprofit organizations in six areas: family support; youth development; hunger; education; economic opportunity; and housing and homelessness.
‘Toss the Dogfish’ latest Rendezvous attraction
The latest addition to the Poulsbo’s annual Winter Rendezvous is a dogfish toss.
But be aware: when you toss that dogfish, you’re chucking Poulsbo history.
According to Dennis Lewarch, the Suquamish Tribe’s historic preservation officer, Suquamish people historically burned dogfish oil for light and used the fish’s rough skin for sandpaper. Later, they sold dogfish liver oil to early sawmills in the area for use in lubricating machinery. Lumber mills in the Poulsbo area also used the oil to grease the skid roads used to slide logs to the water. After a couple of days, the smell of rancid dogfish oil was so bad “A blind man could follow a skid road recently greased,” wrote one 1870s visitor to Kitsap County.
The Scandinavian fishermen who immigrated here in the 1800s almost certainly knew about dogfish. Indeed, the abundance of dogfish in these waters may have been what attracted them to settle here in the first place. As late as 1976, Scandinavian fisheries were major suppliers of dogfish filets for fish and chips in European markets, according to the Cape Cod Fisherman’s Alliance, which reports they have “a sweet, mild flavor.” And once upon a time, there were no less than 250 fishing boats in Puget Sound catching dogfish to help meet that Old World craving for fish filets, according to Washington state records.
Indeed, the dogfish was so important that the bay out in front of Poulsbo was originally named “Dogfish Bay” on all of the maps. Then, in 1905, some Poulsbo residents petitioned the U.S. government to officially change the name of the bay from “Dogfish Bay” to “Liberty Bay.”
“The beauty of the bay is certainly grand and altogether out of harmony with the carnivorous dogfish. No poet can sing of our bay and say ’Dogfish Bay,’” wrote Poulsbo resident Frank Johnson.
And now Ewoks are going to be tossing dogfish. It seems like the only way the dogfish can get any respect is batter-fried with a side of chips.
Chip Hanauer pays a visit to Crimson Cove in downtown Poulsbo during an earlier Winter Rendezvous. Hanauer, one of the most successful hydroplane racers in that sport’s history, now hosts an online program, “The Boat Guy,” to promote boating and boating communities. He is the organizer of the Winter Rendezvous. Looking on is Elaina Trostad, an employee of Crimson Cove at the time. Photo: The Boat Guy/Courtesy
