Quimper Grange #720
1219 Corona St
Port Townsend WA 98368
360-531-0326
quimpergrange.org
Connect ~ Learn ~ Benefit
Grange motto: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."
March 2026
Special Events
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Sunday, March 1, 3:30-4:30 pm: Food for Thought presents The Camas Prairie - An Historical and Cultural Perspective
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Thursday, March 12, 7 pm - Kristian Bugge & Ruthie Dornfeld Traditional Nordic music, American Old Time & More
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Saturday, March 14, 10-1 - Fourth Annual DIY Tool Maintenance Clinic
Regular Grange Events
check Calendar for updates
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Sundays, 1pm & Mondays, 6 pm - Line Dance Classes
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1st Tuesday, 5 pm - Ukuleles Unite
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Wednesdays, Mar 11, 18, 25 - 6 pm - Dance Balkan
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Saturday, Mar 21 - 7:30-10:00 - PT Community Dance
Save The Date!
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Sunday, April 12, 3:30-4:30 pm: Food for Thought presents: From Field to Tortilla with La Cocina
Sunday, March 1, 3:30-4:30 pm
The Kah Tai Prairie
An Historical and Cultural Persepctive
with Forest Shomer
Photo by Fayla Schwartz
Kah Tai Prairie is a 1.4-acre remnant of the once vast prairies that carpeted the Kah Tai Valley between the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Port Townsend Bay. Though development has dramatically transformed this area, a portion of the original prairie remains within the Port Townsend Golf Course. The Olympic Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society has been working to preserve and restore this unique botanical site since 1986.
With years of work from dedicated volunteers, the prairie is a stunning sight in the spring and summer, with a variety of wildflowers and prairie plants on display. Regular work parties focus on stabilizing prairie plant communities and controlling weeds, with the goal of promoting herbaceous prairie species. The prairie is home to over 90 different species, 27 of which are prairie indicator species. To learn more about the Kah Tai Prairie, visit the Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society.
FOREST SHOMER is a professional seedman specializing exclusively in native-plant seeds of the Salish Sea bioregion. He began professional work with seeds in 1974, collecting, processing, and distributing seeds of native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses through his sole-owned INSIDE PASSAGE SEEDS. He is co-Founder of the nonprofit Olympic Peninsula Prairies (2018) and the recipient of a WNPS Mentzelia Award, “Made a significant contribution to native plant conservation, research, or education in Washington”.
This free series offered by Quimper Grange #720, examines "all things food & growing” in our area. For over 100 years, this Grange has supported the Jefferson County community through public programming, concerts, dance, rental space, and a 7,000 ft² Food Bank Garden, donating produce to help mitigate food insecurity. The Grange is at 1219 Corona Ave, PT. Doors open at 3:15 pm
Kristian Bugge & Ruthie Dornfeld
Traditional Nordic music,
American Old Time & more
Thursday, March 12, 7:00 pm
Master fiddlers Ruthie Dornfeld and Kristian Bugge
(from Denmark) will delight your ears with polkas, jigs, waltzes, reels, and hopsas, along with wonderful stories.
Doors open at 6:30; $20 cash or check.
Kristian and Ruthie first met each other in the Danish folk music circles in the
mid-1990’s, where Ruthie has been touring regularly and growing a reputation as a
well-renowned artist and fiddler since the early 1980’s. Later when Kristian was a
music student, Ruthie was guest-teaching at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in
Odense, Denmark and Kristian made sure to take the opportunity to study with her
while she was there. About ten years later they met again in and around Seattle
when Kristian had started touring and performing in the states. They formed the
trio 3 Fiddlers 3 Traditions with métis fiddler Jamie Fox and have continued to
meet and play together ever since.
This summer marked a new chapter in their collaboration and friendship as they started touring and recording as a duo for the first time, next up is a 2026 spring tour in the Pacific Northwest, very exciting!
The repertoire spans from Danish traditional fiddle tunes and music from the other
Nordic countries to old-time American and self-composed original tunes, spiced up
with a few Venezuelan waltzes. Music learned directly from folk music legends like
Danish-American Dwight Lamb (1934-2024), Danish accordion player Karl
Skaarup (1924-2013), fiddler Peter Uhrbrand from the Danish island of Fanø and
many more. Expect everything from wild polkas and jigs to lyrical waltzes,
fiery reels and happy hopsas, all served with humor and stories from their many
years on the road.
DIY Tool Maintenance Clinic
DIY TOOL MAINTENANCE CLINIC
Sat. March 14, 10:00-1:00
Quimper Grange, 1219 Corona Ave, PT
Dust off the dirt, sharpen your shovels, and lubricate your loppers in preparation for the Spring 2026 growing season! Learn to maintain your own tools from seasoned helpers at this hands-on clinic. Bring your work gloves to the party!
This by-donation event is co-sponsored by Food Bank Growers and Quimper Grange, and is open to the public.
Line Dance Classes
Beginning Line Dance Class
No Experience Necessary, Drop-ins Welcome
Every Sunday at 1:00 pm
90 minute class
$10 Suggested Donation
Intermediate Line Dance Class
One should have some line dance experience before attending.
Every Monday at 6:00 pm
90 minute class
$10 Suggested Donation
For more info: 360-302-0188
Ukuleles Unite!
Happy Hour:
Open Mic & Singalong
First Tuesday
Happy Hour is open to the public on the first Tuesday of the month starting at 5:00 pm. Enjoy listening and singing along with us. The relaxed atmosphere encourages beginners to advanced groups and individuals to perform. Bring your musical instruments and play along with us. We suggest a small donation to help pay the rent.
Guidelines: Sign up upon arrival if you wish to perform. Solo performers are allowed one song and one singalong song. Groups can perform up to three songs, with one designated as a singalong. Bring singalong music for projection.
For more info visit: ukulelesunite.com or George Yount at 360-477-5788 • gyount@olypen.com
Dance Balkan
Wednesdays
(except the 1st Wednesday of each month)
March 11, 18, 25
6:00 - 8:00 pm
No partner needed
Evenings start with mellow dances & progress to intermediate. Dances from Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and more.
Fast paced & fun!
Richard & Susi Watson host • by donation
PT Community Dance
Saturday, March 21
Dancing from 7:30 to 10:00 pm
Doors open at 7:15 pm
The caller for March is Laura Mê Smith. The ever gracious Laura Mé Smith has been delighting dancers with her top notch teaching and rapier sharp wit since 1980. Her repertoire encompasses a variety of dances, from English country dance to contras to squares, as well as many styles and more. Her clear and concise instruction leaves more time to enjoy dancing to the wonderful tunes these dances use. She is known for helping dancers of all skill levels achieve maximum fun.
Port Townsend’s The Quimper Chums will be serving up dance tunes for the evening. The Chums include Dave Thielk, Katya Kirsch, Jeanette Henderson and Lori Bernstein. Dave Thielk has been playing for dances since 1990. The band promises to play with drive, flow and all around dance energy.
The Port Townsend Community Dance is inspired by traditional kitchen and barn dances and features a mixture of traditional sets, always danced to live music along with a dance caller. All experience levels are welcome; all dances are taught! Come alone, with a friend, with a partner, with the family – or with the whole village!
Admission is $10 per person/$20 per family; however, no one will be turned away at the door. Cash only, please.
Please bring your own personal water bottle and consider arriving on foot or by bicycle if possible!
Garden Notes
2026
Pop back next month to see what we're doing. It's SO busy! In the meantime see our Garden tab to learn about GroVeg, our new program, and what our growing scheme will look like.
Poem submitted by Kathy D - a garden volunteer...
One Garden
I am no longer surprised
when strange, exotic
blooms appear in my mind,
knowing now how seeds
arrive on the wind from everywhere.
Now, I am less likely to label
something weed simply because
I didn’t plant it myself.
At the same time, I want
to be discerning, knowing
whatever I choose to grow might
appear soon in the soil of you,
so I am cautious when sowing
bulbs of anger, saplings of judgment,
thorns of certainty.
I want us all to plant great beds
of unanswerable questions
and tend the mystery together.
How else might it change
what these hands do when I
trust every choice matters?
—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
