BY PEPPER FISHER
Port Angeles — The theme of this year’s Fourth of July parade in Port Angeles is “Celebrating Connections Across Nations, Cultures and Coastlines”. In that spirit, a delegation of tourism leaders from Victoria, BC will travel to Port Angeles to march in the parade.
The Marketing Director for the Black Ball Ferry is Jessica Wiersma. We asked Wiersma how this extension of goodwill on the Fourth of July came about.
“So, Marc Abshire from the Chamber, he had reached out to us asking Ryan and Rian, a couple of our owners, to be the parade marshals this year. And then, yeah, we…Marc also suggested having Victoria people involved, and that’s kind of how that started. Again, I think it’s perfect with the theme, and so we started reaching out to our Victoria partners and they were happy to support it. We have a Destination Greater Victoria coming, along with a few different attraction partners, and hotel partners.”
The two Ryans of Black Ball Ferry are Ryan Burles and Rian Anderson. Wiersma, herself a Canadian, is deeply involved in the Port Angeles community. Among others, she’s on the board of Crabfest, and she’s on the board of the Port Angeles Waterfront District, which is headed up by Sam Grello.
“So, she helped me plan the Port Angeles Loves Canada event back in February, and we’ve just been looking for other opportunities to celebrate the relationship between our two communities. You know, because we’re looking for any opportunity to do that. And then, you know, we’re kind of just taking that and shouting from the rooftops, “Hey neighbor, I like you!”
Wiersma was one of those on that first ferry to come from Victoria in February, and like many Canadians, she was moved by the welcoming crowd from Port Angeles.
“I saw people crying. It brought tears to my eyes. It was just such a warm welcoming. And I think that, you know, our relationships are really strong on both sides of the water and, yeah, just grateful to have two communities that, you know, support each other.”
The parade will begin at 6pm in the heart of the Port Angeles Waterfront District, with many other festivities taking place throughout the day.