For a good time…go to the Whale Museum’s “Celebration of the Orca Greeting Ceremony” this weekend…

Think of the places that define what our island is about: Lime Kiln, Roche Harbor, Memorial Park, the ferry, and…the Whale Museum. Well, this weekend is your chance to support this island treasure & have fun while you’re at it. The Museum’s Amy Traxler has more:

The Whale Museum’s upcoming 3rd Annual ‘Celebration of the Orca Greeting Ceremony’ fundraising dinner and auction will be held on the evening of Saturday, May 16th at the Mullis Center in Friday Harbor.

Just as the Orca whales come together in what are called ‘greeting ceremonies,’ so, too, The Whale Museum wants supporters of these wonderful beings to come together for this fun evening.

The evening will begin with happy hour & silent auction at 6:00 p.m.; the no-host bar is tended by Clark Gilbert. An audio-visual program will be shared by Val Veirs of an actual Orca Greeting Ceremony. Val will play acoustic recordings while showing photos and video of this amazing event.

Watch orcas ‘line up’ to greet one another while listening to an underwater recording of their ‘conversations.’

Market Chef is preparing dinner. Bakery San Juan is baking the bread. San Juan Roasters is brewing the coffee. Wine is vintage San Juan Vineyards. After dinner, Eugene Cuomo will kick off the live portion of the evening with a dessert auction. That’s right, dessert after dinner is available in this unique auction. Bid on ‘Death By Chocolate,’ ‘Awesome Pecan Pie,’ ‘Black & White Ice Cream Torte,’ ‘Little Killer Cakes,’ and other delectable treats. There is a wild twist to this year’s auction – 50 tickets will be sold for $25 a piece for the big raffle. The winner of the raffle ‘wins’ the right to select any item up for auction (silent, live or dessert). Closing out the evening will be the live auction with more exciting items to bid on.

Special thanks to four businesses for sponsoring the event: Islanders
Insurance, Islanders Bank, Aiken Appraisal, and Petro San Juan.

Tickets (includes dinner; wine sold separately) are a great deal at $20.00
per person for members of The Whale Museum or $25.00 per person for
non-members and can be purchased at The Whale Museum (*basic annual
membership investment is $25). To reserve your tickets, stop by the Museum
or call (360) 378-4710 ext. 30. (If a group would like to attend, tables in increments of six or seven ticket holders can be reserved.)

There are a limited number of tickets available which are selling quickly. Proceeds raised through this event will directly support the education and research programs of The Whale Museum (www.whalemuseum.org).