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EYES ON THE PRIZE: Rene' Sewell Skaggs leads the pack as she beelines for the ball in the Pretty Woman Polo tournament Saturday, June 24 at the La Conner Polo Club on La Conner-Whitney Road at George and Rhoda Dill's farm. For $25 a carload, spectators got to tailgate the event. Many showed up by 9 a.m. with their own chairs, tents and coolers to sit and cheer on the competitors. Finals were Sunday.
WITCHES DANCING UP A SPELL – During the work week, she is mild-mannered Connie Moore. Saturday and Sunday in the Maple Center's Spirit Wheel Courtyard she was part of flash-mob dances by Witches of Skagit. Moore was, well, bewitching.
Halloween was in the air on summer solstice weekend, which goes to show all things are possible in La Conner.
It was a truly spellbinding weekend here – perhaps best embodied by upbeat witches' dance flash mob performances at Maple Center's Spirit Wheel Courtyard – with ideal weather greeting those taking part in an array of events on both sides of the channel.
La Conner cast its spell on locals and visitors alike with an eclectic brew of attractions. There were traditional go-to activities like the Shelter Bay Garage Sale and the Kiwanis Club Craft Fair Saturday and Sunday's live music at Gilkey Square. Just north of town was the Pretty Women Polo Tournament at the La Conner Polo Club on La Conner-Whitney Road organized by George and Rhoda Dill. Finals were Sunday at the two-day event. Tailgating was encouraged.
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community hosted a major sobriety conference and powwow and Stephanie Banaszak coordinated an Intuitive Arts Fair at Maple Hall.
The outdoor flash mob dancing was a highlight of that fair, a celebration of spirituality and metaphysics that featured tarot card readings, psychic forecasts and vendors versed in energy healing and aura photography.
The choreographed performances were presented by a new troupe that has joined the global dance movement inspired by Wolfshager Hexenbrut that celebrates the season. It decided upon a witchcraft theme aligned with German Reggae-Pop artist Peter Fox's 2008 composition "Schuettel Deinen Speck."
The English translation of Fox's work is "Shake Your Bacon," which onlookers chanted as the dance was enthusiastically performed Saturday. The flash mob repeated Sunday. The Witches of Skagit had promoted practices ahead of participating.
Lisa Judy of La Conner Artists' Gallery Co-op is among the local troupe's performers and joined them for rehearsals at the courtyard the week prior to the festival.
The flash mob, with dancers in witches' garb, was must-see entertainment.
"It's all about bringing peace, love and joy," said Judy, who strode up and down First Street and the boardwalk promoting the flash mobbing.
"We really want to get people to dance with us," she said.
And, indeed, following the performances, spectators were invited to learn the steps to "Shake Your Bacon." Many accepted the challenge.
Dancing was also when popular blues band Mojo Cannon played its Sunday afternoon concert. Between sets, Mojo Cannon – known for its big brass sound – held a dance contest for young and old alike.
Gilkey Square was filled with concertgoers, who enjoyed the sunny weather and soulful music – the band's rendition of "Roadhouse Blues" by Jim Morrison and The Doors was a particular favorite – in equal measure.
The weekend kicked off with the Shelter Bay Garage Sale, long a Mecca for bargain hunters seeking quality items at discount prices. Volunteers met motorists at the community's entrance gate bright and early Saturday with handouts including a QR code that located sales addresses among the 900 residential lots.
By 9 a.m. cars and cycles were parked on both sides of Swinomish Drive near the Shelter Bay Marina, an area where some of the more popular sales were, leaving the narrowest of traffic lanes to navigate.
Those seeking arts and crafts items could browse a wide selection of handmade goods under one roof – the Braves Clubhouse on the La Conner Schools campus, where Kiwanian Joy Neal oversaw conversion of the former industrial arts building into a user-friendly sales floor.
"It suits our needs quite well," Neal said.
At Swinomish, the 10th annual "Carrying the Message" Sobriety Conference started its three-day gathering Friday.
In addition to the "mini-powwow," the event included meals, meetings, a raffle fundraiser and camping opportunities. The conference opened the day after the annual Swinomish Education Dinner and Program was held at the tents on the north end of John K. Bob Ball Park.
On a late June weekend where thoughts of trick-or-treating were surprisingly at the forefront, there was no masking the fact that La Conner was the place to be for folks of all ages and interests.
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