Fish N Brew a great success

By Heather Cantua

I’m still beaming at the success of Fish N Brew 2024! So many people came together to put on a fantastic event: volunteers, vendors, competitors, sponsors, and the Richwine Road Band. The whole community showed up!

We had seven fish dish competitors and four brew competitors. Submissions ranged from chowder to smoked fish cracker dip, “hobo-sushi,” and fish candy! Brews included beers, sours, tea, and ginger beer. In the end, Mark Williams won the popular vote for Best Fish Dish, and Gordon Gibbs won Best Brew. They each took home a trophy, hand-carved by Tom Grafstrom.

The Bear Creek Builders Beer Garden was stocked with a Fir Tip Seltzer donated by Goodness Tea Farm, icy cold Rainer donated by Blakeslees, Pebble Beach Pilsner from Bar Hop, and Black Currant Cider from FinnRiver. We ran out completely of the Pilsner and Cider, so we’ll stock up more next year!

Seven local artists and vendors were selling their wares, including Goodness Teas, Mary B. Truly, Oberfranc’s Home Bakery, Jack Datisman, Olympic Gyotaku, and Susan Heiny.

Without the amazing businesses and individuals who stepped up to sponsor the event, thank you: PUD Commissioner Phyllis Bernard and Dann May, Blakeslee’s, Clarity, Scale law firm, Sully’s Burgers, and Thrift Star.

We’d like to give an extra special thank you to the Quileute tribe, who offered an opening drumming ceremony. PCSC Board Member Dave Hahn’s mother, who worked for the tribe as a paralegal, had received an old stone mortar and pestle that Dave had been keeping safe for decades. Dave decided PCSC’s revival of Fish N Brew at the roundhouse was a perfect time to repatriate the mortar and pestle back to the tribe, its rightful owner. Tribal Councilman Doug Woodruff and Rio Jaime received the gift with a song and a ceremony.

Both the silent auction and live auction had some great treasures. All in all, the Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition raised a total of $9,590! Incredible! We will use these funds to keep restoring salmon habitat on the West End of the Olympic Peninsula. The Richwine Road Band closed out the night with some fantastic live music!

If you would like to view the full photo gallery from the event, check out a link on our website and Facebook. Super special thanks to our sponsor and photographer for the evening, Tide & Timber Photography.

If you loved Fish N Brew and now are wondering, what does “salmon habitat restoration” mean? You’re welcome to come to our board meeting on December 18, at 5 p.m. at the PCSC Offices at 71 N. Spartan Ave., Forks. This will be our final board meeting of the year, and our Executive Director, Chad Wilkins, will be giving an overview of the three projects we completed this year, and an overview of the projects for next year. We’ll have potluck snacks and sweets, bring something to share!