April 2025: Ukuleles Unite!, Spring Plant Sale, Food for Thought, Community Dance, & Dance Classes

 With our Merv-13 filtration system, we feel confident having our events. 
Please stay home if you do not feel well! See each event for health requirements.

Mark your calendars with these April events - 
see below for more info…

  • April 1st - Ukuleles Unite! Happy Hour.
  • April 5th - Food Bank Growers' Spring Plant Sale!
  • April 8th - Food For Thought presents: 'Saving the Planet with Your Fork' by Mary Purdy.
  • April 19th - Port Townsend Community Dance - with local caller David Thielk, and fiddler Joe Fulton & Friends.
  • Wednesdays, April 9th, 16th, 23th, & 30th - Balkan Dancing.
  • Sundays, April 6th, 13th, 20th, & 27th - Beginning Line Dance. 
  • Mondays, April 7th, 14th, 21st, & 28th - Intermediate Line Dance.


COMMUNITY & SPONSORED EVENTS
APRIL 2025

Ukuleles Unite!
Happy Hour

No Fooling - the public is welcome to Ukuleles Unite Happy Hour on Tuesday, April 1st, at 5:00 pm. Hear performances, join us in the sing-a-longs, even try strumming along with a loaner uke. Enjoy the company & party atmosphere. For more info visit: ukulelesunite.com.

Tuesday, April 1st, 2025
5:00 pm
All Are Welcome

Quimper Grange, 1219 Corona Ave.,
Port Townsend, WA 98368


Food Bank Growers'
Spring Plant Sale!
We have an exciting and bountiful presentation this Spring with many vegetable starts, berries, herbs, flowers, and other plants ready to put in the ground. We also have related items such as weeding certificates, calendula salve, hand-collected seeds for sale, and plant ID tags.

Food Bank Growers Plant Sales are more than just fundraisers — they are a way to directly feed our community! Every purchase helps FBG gardens to provide fresh, healthy food to food banks and other entities. By helping with these events, you’re investing in local sustainability, supporting neighbors, and ensuring that everyone has access to nutritious, homegrown produce.

We are also pleased to host the Master Gardner’s Plant Clinic and the WSU Seed Library at this event.
Saturday, April 5th, 2025
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
All Are Welcome

Quimper Grange is located at 1219 Corona Ave.,
Port Townsend, WA 98368

Help us to grow a stronger, more food-secure community!



'Saving the Planet with Your Fork'
with Mary Purdy
Did you know that certain foods or dietary patterns have a bigger environmental footprint than others?  What we choose to eat, buy, serve and advocate for (if we have that choice) can make a difference. Discover which foods - and how they are grown - are gentler on our planet while also being super nutritious and supportive to our health. This interactive workshop will offer four simple ways you can make a difference in creating a more sustainable, regenerative, resilient and equitable food & agricultural system.


Mary Purdy, MS, RDN, is an integrative eco-dietitian, working at the intersection of sustainable food systems, climate and human health. She is the Managing Director of the Nutrient Density Alliance which works to connect the dots between soil health and nutrient-rich food. She is also Adjunct Faculty at The Culinary Institute of America's Masters Program in Sustainable Food Systems With 125+ podcast episodes and two books, Mary is a leading voice in nutrition & sustainability, fostering resilient, just, and healthy food systems. More can be found at marypurdy.co.

Tuesday, April 8th, 2025
6:30 - 7:30 pm
Doors open at 6:15 pm
All Are Welcome

Quimper Grange, 1219 Corona Ave.,
Port Townsend, WA 98368

The Grange has ADA access and
an outstanding Merv-13 air filtration system.

Food For Thought is a free monthly lecture series that is open to the community. Quimper Grange is located at 1219 Corona St., Port Townsend. Doors open at 6:15; there will be time afterwards to socialize.

Did you know? Butter vs. Oleo - In the 1930's, to help butter-producing dairy farmers, Quimper Grange supported a 15¢ tax per pound on all butter substitutes. Uncolored margarine came with a dot of yellow food coloring that you kneaded in to make oleo look like butter. It wasn’t until 1952 that Washington State passed an initiative allowing margarine to be sold pre-colored.

April’s Port Townsend
Community Dance!

April's Port Townsend Community Dance at the Quimper Grange will feature local caller Dave Thielk who'll be calling active squares, circles, mixers, and contras. Joe Fulton & Friends will be serving up the dance tunes. Joe is a traditional dance fiddler who has played throughout the Northwest, recorded several CDs with The Tall Boys, and now makes his home in Jefferson County.

The Port Townsend Community Dance is inspired by traditional kitchen & barn dances, features a mixture of traditional sets, always danced to live music, and with a dance caller. All experience levels are welcome; all dances are taught! Come alone, with a friend, partner, family, or the whole village!

For more information, or interested in a work trade, please contact Dave Thielk at edavidt@gmail.com or ‪(971) 266-3170‬.

Saturday, April 19th, 2025
7:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Doors open 7:15 pm

Admission:
$10 per person / $20 per family
No One Turned Away!

Please bring your own personal water bottle,
& consider arriving on foot or by bicycle if possible!

Quimper Grange
1219 Corona Ave., Port Townsend, WA 98368

From last month’s Community Dance…




Balkan Dance

Wednesdays: April 9th, 16th, 23rd, & 30th


Every Wednesday except the first Wed. of the month. No partner needed. 
Evenings start with mellow dances & progress to intermediate. Fast paced & fun! 
Richard & Susi Watson host. 7:00 pm • $5 entry.



Beginning Line Dance Class
No Experience Necessary • Drop-ins Welcome
Every Sunday in April at 1:00 pm
90 minute class • $10 Suggested Donation
For more info: 360-302-0188
vickieltownsend@gmail.com

Intermediate Line Dance Class
This class is not for beginners - one should have some line dance experience before attending.
Every Monday in April at 6:00 pm
90 minute class • $10 Suggested Donation
For more info: 360-302-0188
vickieltownsend@gmail.com

QG FOOD BANK GARDEN NEWS

by Barbara Tusting
March seems a bit confused this year! In like a Lion and out like a Lamb? Not even close. But the warmer weather has us all quite a bit cheered up.

This past month has been a whopper. We got the first bed of our All-Access beds completed filled and planted…what a joyful moment! It's so easy to sit or stand and work instead of crouching down. No aching backs or muddy knees!


We are also just about ready for the Food Bank Growers' April 5th Plant Sale. Many volunteer hours have gone into seeding, up-potting, and preparing our spare plants for sale. We added an extra row of Sugar Snap Peas supplied by the WSU Community Seed Project that many gardens grew last year. We got a bunch of pea seeds, and used toilet paper tubes to get them growing. So easy - just plant the entire tube. We'll be doing the same for our pole beans in a short while - we could use some clean tp tube donations! We have many rows of alliums planted (bulb onions, scallions, shallot, and leeks) and a whole bunch of lettuce and pac choi as well. 

It's time to start your tomato seeds indoors. The trick with tomatoes (I just learned) is to up-pot them to the next size up as soon as they start their second set of leaves. Otherwise they won't grow as quickly or vigorously.

Our twice weekly donations to the Food Bank have still been quite fruitful with stir fry greens: asian greens, mustard, kales, etc - all grown in the hoop houses. Spinach is really coming up strong after overwintering under cover outdoors. And our microgreens have been regular and appreciated by the Food Bank clients.

It's also time to get your berries in the ground (we have a LOT of raspberries and strawberries this year for sale!). Throw lettuce & radish seeds around and lightly cover with soil. We have luck keeping them protected from the birds by using nets over the top - this is the time for sparrows & robins to start feasting on those tender greens!



BECOME A MEMBER  •  RENT  •  SUPPORT / DONATE


GRANGE MEMBERSHIP
Support your local Grange! Become a member! Help keep the hall open for community 
events, concerts, dances and rentals! Meetings occur the third Sunday of the month, 3:30 p.m. at the Quimper Grange Hall. Come to meet members and learn about activities, concerts and new projects we’re considering. Download and print our brochure from our website: quimpergrange.com at the Membership Information tab and mail to:

Quimper Grange, 1219 Corona Ave, Port Townsend, WA 98368

BUILDING RENTAL
Rent our Grange Hall for your event or meeting. We have an excellent air filtration system and a beautiful interior. 

  1. Check our website under “Calendar of Events” to see if the date you want is available.
  2. Email quimpergrange@gmail.com or Call Doug at 360-531-0326.
  3. An orientation to the building will follow for potential renters.  
SUPPORT / DONATE
Your support keeps the Grange Hall maintained and open to offer music, dance, community events, and private rentals. Your help also supports the food bank garden with water and electricity bills. Checks made out to “Quimper Grange #720” can be mailed to 1219 Corona Ave, Port Townsend WA 98368.
 
See you at the Quimper Grange!