Maritime Gig Festival weaves maritime narrative

Events tell story of Gig Harbor’s past and present maritime history

Nate Hulings

of the Gateway

Pancakes, pirates and precipitation flooded the streets of Gig Harbor for the annual Maritime Gig Festival last weekend.

The weekend festivities started with a pancake feed, courtesy of the Gig Harbor Kiwanis.

Joe Loya, Kiwanis member and pancake flipper extraordinaire, joked around with other volunteers, including Peninsula School District Superintendent Terry Bouck, and made sure no one left with an empty stomach.

“We’re all working to give something back to the community,” Loya said. “That’s what Gig Harbor is all about.”

Loya would flip about 3,000 pancakes before the end of the morning.

Two stomachs that came empty but left full were those of Rork Cogan, 9, and Hunter Schreiner, 13. They sat down beneath the overhang of QFC to avoid the morning drizzle and discussed weekend plans. Both are from out-of-town, here for a cousin’s graduation from North Kitsap High School.

A short walk down Pioneer Way to Harborview Drive put you smack in the middle of street vendors and the parade route.

And as floats and local businesses paraded down the street, street vendors’ foods filled the air with the smell of sizzling polish sausage and kettle corn.

If you wanted to hear a good fishing story, it wasn’t too hard to find. A short walk down to Jerisich dock put festival attendees right in the middle of old fishing boats and classic yachts.

People were encouraged to tour the boats and even meet some of the fishermen who braved the high seas. One such boat was the FV Commencement.

Mike Vlahovich, former captain and current owner of the Commencement, gave cooking demos on the deck of his boat. From pasta fagioli to octopus salad, Vlahovich warned visitors that a combination of pasta and wine, mixed with choppy seas could spell disaster for the stomachs of fishermen.

Down in the hull, his brother and former crewmember, Rich Vlahovich, talked about the engine room and how he was lead engineer and ran the reel.

“You can smell the diesel, oh yeah,” Rich Vlahovich said.

The Vlahovich brothers ran the Commencement from 1993 to 1995, fishing for sockeye salmon off the coast of Alaska.

Rich Vlahovich stressed the physical and mental toll fishing had on an individual.

“The industry is real,” Rich Vlahovich said. “It’s not imitation. There’s no faking it. You are dealing with nature and that’s what makes it so challenging.”

A canon blast opened the parade and the rest went to the pirates.

Most parade participants, whether a local business or club, had a pirate or maritime theme.

Three floats highlighted the parade this year, the first time floats have been a part of the Maritime Gig Festival, said Fred Oldenburg, one of the producers of the festival. He also said that this was the largest crowd he has seen in 30 years.

The Seafair Pirates “yo ho ho’d” their way through the streets of Gig Harbor on the “Moby Duck.”

The Pirates of Treasure Island pillaged the parade route, lead by Capt. Redbeard and his sword-wielding crew.

All-Star Guitar and Repair played an acoustic rendition of “Drunken Sailor.”

The pirate theme also seeped into the crowd. Children held mock sword fights with foam swords and others wore bandanas and patches.

A large variety of umbrellas were also on display Saturday — from polka dot and argyle to leopard print. One merely stated the obvious: damn rain.

And one of those countless umbrellas belonged to Lori Stewart.

For the past decade, Stewart has staked out a spot on the corner of Rosedale and Harborview to watch the parade. This year, equipped with an umbrella and blanket, Stewart and her husband watched their daughter perform with the Peninsula High School marching band. The PHS group is heading to Washington D.C. next summer for the Fourth of July parade — the only high school band in Washington that can make that claim.

Across the street, Jennifer and Erik Ward sat on either side of their 10-month daughter, Emily. It was Emily’s first Gig Fest and besides being excited to see pirates, her mother Jennifer only had one request.

“I gotta get a corn dog,” she said.

The Daffodil Festival float boasted a baseball theme with a rotating baseball player.

Sunday’s weather allowed for a dramatic change in attire and food and drink preferences. Attendees shed the rain jackets and umbrellas for shorts and t-shirts; and ice cream cones replaced coffee cups.

What didn’t change was the narrative of the weekend — celebrating Gig Harbor’s rich maritime history.

The Blessing of the Fleet, an annual tradition for St. Nicholas Catholic Church, was presided over by Seattle Archbishop Alex J. Brunett.

Packed on the end of Jerisich dock, the Archbishop led prayers with other Catholics and non-believers alike.

“Remember the people that work on the seas, through the seas and in the seas,” Brunett told onlookers and those listening on the shore. He then led a prayer asking for a “successful catch and joyful profits.”

Mary Brockway, 79, is a member of St. Nicholas and loves the tradition of blessing the fleet.

“This is a beautiful area with a lot of customs,” she said. “It’s wonderful to be a part of it.”

Brunett, local government officials and other religious leaders then boarded multiple boats and headed out to bless the Gig Harbor fishing fleet with holy water.

Even the music playing at Skansie Park held a fishing narrative. The Croatian dance ensemble and orchestra, entertained crowds that share a common maritime history, singer Amla Plancich said.

Plancich’s family comes from the Dalmatian Coast off the Croatian coast and says Gig Harbor shares a similar maritime feel. She married into a fishing family and says Gig Harbor’s history of fishing and boating creates a strong bond between the city and her motherland.

And despite the suspect weather Saturday, Washington State Sen. Derek Kilmer (D-Gig Harbor) summed up the festival like most others did—simply.

“It’s a great way for people to come together and have a sense of community,” Kilmer said.