Big weekend for activities providing summer 2011 finale

9/11 service set at Transit Center

This coming post-Labor Day weekend should prove to be a close second in activities and attendance when compared with the West End’s annual Fourth of July celebration.

On Sunday morning, Sept. 11 a memorial service is planned at the flag poles located at the Forks Transit Center, beginning at 9 a.m. to mark the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America of Sept. 11, 2001

In Port Angeles, a memorial centered around a nine-foot-long I beam recovered from Ground Zero in New York City, the site of the fallen World Trade Center Twin Towers, is being dedicated in behalf of all county residents at St. Francis Park at 2 p.m., also on Sunday, Sept. 11.

The weekend weather forecast is calling for fine, sunny weather with highs in Forks in the high 70s and low 80s. Local residents are commenting that the late summer warm weather is making up for what seemed like a chilly spring that stretched into July.

On Friday evening, Sept. 9, the Spartan football team takes on the Port Angeles Raiders team at home.

Also on Friday, Sept. 9 the fifth annual Stephenie Meyer/Bella’s Birthday Celebration kicks off. This year the Twilight-themed event is being held along Spartan Avenue in downtown Forks instead of Tillicum Park. A committee made up of merchants and local Twilight fans is staging the event, with the Forks Chamber of Commerce providing $500 in financial support. Each mid-September since 2007, up to this year, the Chamber has organized and run the event, which in the past has drawn up to 1,000-plus  Twilight fans to Forks and LaPush.

On Saturday, Sept. 10 the Hungry Bear Café in Bear Creek is holdings its annual chili cook-off. Chili chefs dishes are carefully judged at what has become a large community picnic on the grounds of the café.

The West End Thunder drag racing club wraps up its summer of races over the weekend, at the Forks Municipal Airport. Classic Northwest rail dragsters and funny cars are scheduled to arrive from the Puget Sound region to add excitement to the season finale. The club is hoping for an extension of its agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration for use of the runways at the public airport.

The 27th annual Annual West End Invitational Co-ed Softball Tournament is being played at the Tillicum Park ball fields over the weekend.