The Krazy Key Parade and Family Summer Fun Day will make its debut on Aug. 8.

Hanaa al Janabi knows what it’s like to be forced to leave her homeland in fear for her life while still grieving for a murdered husband and father. She knows what it’s like to arrive in a different country, with only the clothes on her back. There was a language barrier, and she didn’t know how to provide for her children.

The 25th annual Gig Harbor Summer Art Festival will showcase the work of more than 125 artists and craftspeople from throughout the Northwest on Saturday and Sunday.

The Peninsula Art League will be accepting entries for its seventh annual Juried Art Exhibition until July 15. Selected entries will be on display at the Gig Harbor Civic Center from Oct. 6 through Nov. 12. The Best of Show winner will receive $1,000.

Fifteen thousand children are diagnosed each year with Diabetes Mellitus Type 1, better known as Juvenile Diabetes, according to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. It usually comes on suddenly when, for some yet unknown reason, the beta cells in the pancreas which produce insulin stop functioning.

Fox Island will resurrect a century-old tradition of celebrating the community on July 13. Island Days is a week-long series of free events to reminisce on the island’s history. The event is a joint effort between the Fox Island Historical Museum, the Chapel on Echo Bay and the Fox Island Community and Recreation Association.

A crowd of friends, family and admirers gathered in the garden area of the Home Port Restaurant and Lounge in Home on Sunday to honor John Glennon Sr. for his years of devoted service to the Key Peninsula community.

Saturday’s beach walk at Purdy Beach was the swan song after many years of teaching for marine education and outreach specialist Alan Rammer. The educator announced his plans to retire.

PHOTO GALLERY: View more photos from the day's event.

The Longbranch Improvement Club will celebrate 50 years as a marina operator on July 11, with festivities at both the dock and clubhouse.

A group of local volunteer firefighters got a chance to see just what being in a movie is all about last month.

Asmall crowd had already gathered at the Key Peninsula Farmers Market when the bell rang to signal the start of business at noon on Sunday. Coffee began to flow, fresh vegetable plants and herbs added their own aroma to the air and vendors displayed artwork and handcrafted beauty products.

Michael Haines looked like an ordinary guy dressed in casual clothes and a baseball cap, relaxing at the Tides Tavern. Quite a switch from the photographs that showed him dressed in a business suit and engaged in serious conversations with dignitaries in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Each Saturday morning, a group of small aircraft lines up on the runway at the Tacoma Narrows Airport. One by one the four-to-six seat passenger planes take to the skies on a very important mission. Breakfast. The Fosdick Flyers are a group of pilots, mechanics and other aviation-related enthusiasts who have found a way to leave it all behind, enjoy a relaxing breakfast and share their passion for flying.

At a far corner of the Gig Harbor Farmers Market, a young man sits on the pulled-down tailgate of a parked car, slowly strumming the strings of a guitar. While shoppers roam about, sipping cups of latte and carrying newly purchased packages of freshly baked bread and homegrown vegetables, the youth’s only focus is the instrument in his hand. His mentor, seated in front of him, gives him pointers and helps adjust his fingers to the proper place on the neck of the guitar.

In a special board meeting earlier this month, the Key Peninsula Fire Protection District No. 16 Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to place a lid lift levy on the Aug. 18 primary ballot. If successful, the levy would increase taxpayers’ rate from 87 cents to $1.09 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation.