Ned Luce

Another year, another “Lower Pioneer Picnic.” Well, except for last year. 

Almost 40 of the neighbors gathered in Kehele Park last Sunday to enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs and brats from the grilling talents of Vic Draper and Lynn Sorenson. 

In addition there was lots of deviled eggs, salads, fruit, brownies and much more designed to stave off any efforts to reduce one’s weight. 

There were several new residents in attendance and even one couple not yet moved in since they are doing some updating etc. It was great to talk with many folks we haven’t seen since before the pandemic. The whole event is just one more piece of evidence that many of us are ready to find ways to safely engage in the camaraderie of life as a human. 

Before we get out of summer, the Bluebills ninth annual Dove House Golf Benefit will be held at noon Friday, Aug. 27 at the Port Ludlow Golf Club. 

Over the past eight years, this event has raised more than $120,000 for Dove House that goes directly to client services. 

The golf tournament is a best ball scramble so talent is not a vital element to play. Hey, sign me up! 

Mulligans, buy a drive, hit from 150 yards on a Par 5 for $20, are some ways to enhance your team score. Raffle baskets worth $100 sell for $2/ticket. 

It is a great outing for a very worthy cause. You can sign up at the club house or go online to the Dove House website. 

Port Ludlow Performing Arts has scheduled a free concert on Sept. 5. It will start at 1:30 p.m. in the meadow adjacent to the location of the Grace Christian Church north of the Beach Club. There will be two bands, food and drink — providing an enjoyable afternoon. It will be a great end to the summer.

The past couple of weeks in sports have been all about the Olympics except for Bob and Sienna Sowatsky. 

Their granddaughter, Olivia Gurth, won the Womens 3000 Meter Steeplechase title in the European U20 Championships. 

If you need to see a young woman, still a teenager, win an epic race with a photo finish you should look this one up on YouTube. It is phenomenal. There is a proud mother involved. Maybe some grandparents also.

My friend Nancy Peterson reminds me that she is part of a couple of “improv” groups with scheduled performances in September and October. The first one is on Sept. 11 with “Imagined Reality,” (what?), at the American Legion Hall in Port Townsend. The second performance is on Oct. 23 with the Port Ludlow group “Anything Goes” also at the Legion Hall. The good news is that most of the tourists will be out of town and you will be able to get a seat. 

I walked into the Beach Club a few weeks ago wearing a Wabash College sweatshirt. 

The hostess that afternoon was Ruth Irvin who asked if I went to Wabash. 

I respectfully answered that I had and expressed surprise that she might not know. She then confessed to her sarcasm and clearly enjoyed telling me that I mention that fact in this column every other week. 

Speaking of Wabash, I had a classmate who recently told a story about his high school English teacher who had provided him an admirable saying: “There is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us that it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us.”

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week. 

(Ned Luce is a retired IBM executive and Port Ludlow resident. And did you hear? He went to Wabash College. Reach him at ned@ptleader.com.)