What’s happening this week around Thurston County

Saturday, Sept. 2

Olympia Harbor Days’ 50th Celebration: South Sound Maritime Heritage Association is presenting the 50th celebration of Olympia’s maritime history over Labor Day weekend along downtown Olympia’s Budd Inlet waterfront boardwalk from Percival Landing to the Port of Olympia’s Port Plaza Park. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 3. This year’s event continues the tradition of the Puget Sound’s vintage tugboat races at noon Sunday, as well as showcasing historic ships, tribal activities, four makers markets, live entertainment, kids activities and two food G’Alleys. Tugboat Chippewa, formerly known as the Roland Foss, is the 2023 Logo Tug and returned to Olympia Harbor Days after a full restoration by owner Jeff Mincheff of Tacoma. The Lady Washington, the state’s Tall Ship, and the historic Mosquito Fleet Steam-Ship Virginia V will be cruising Budd Inlet. Both ships will offer dock-side touring and harbor sailings. Kids engage in hands-on activities including a LEGO Harbor Build, marine science area with a touch tank offered by the Puget Sound Estuarium, and a tugboat make-race-take activity with the Hands on Children’s Museum. For more information, go to www.MaritimeOly.org and www.HarborDays.com.

Tiny Tides Storytime: Head to the Puget Sound Estuarium every first Saturday of the month for Tiny Tides Storytime. Estuarium team members will read an estuary-themed picture book from its Children’s Library, and participants will be able to explore the exhibits and meet estuary animal ambassadors. Cost is $15 for adults and $3 per child. Must register for the event due to limited space. Masks are highly recommended. For questions or more information, contact Programs@pugetsoundestuarium.org

Tuesday, Sept. 5

Gluesenkamp Perez to host town hall in Tenino: On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the Democrat who represents the 3rd Congressional District, will host her 11th town hall at 5:30 p.m. at the Kodiak Room in Tenino. During the town hall, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez will provide an update on her work in Washington, D.C., and answer questions from the audience. Members of Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez’s team will be on-site providing constituent services to those seeking help with a federal agency. The Kodiak Room is at 225 Sussex Ave W, Tenino.

Wednesday, Sept. 6

Welcome to Medicare Zoom Presentation: At 11 a.m. Wednesday, an introduction to options for new Medicare beneficiaries will cover Parts A and B, Medicare Advantage Plans, Part D Prescription Plans, Medicare supplements and programs available to limited income beneficiaries. To get a Zoom link, email jrich@southsoundseniors.org or call and leave a message at Senior Services SHIBA program, 360-586-6181 ext. 134. A registration link will be sent to you.

Thursday, Sept. 7

Senior Medicare Patrol: This program on preventing Medicare fraud and abuse will be introduced in a Zoom presentation at 1 p.m. Thursday. To get a link, email jrich@southsoundseniors.org or call and leave a message at Senior Services SHIBA program, 360-586-6181 ext. 134. A registration link will be sent to you.

Nordstrom Rack grand opening in Olympia: The new retail shop will host its Grand Opening Celebration at Cooper Point Marketplace. The celebration begins at 8 a.m. with treats, beats and a chance to win a $1,000 Nordstrom Rack Gift Card. Shopping begins at 9 a.m. The new store is located at 1200 Cooper Point Road SW, Suite #102, in west Olympia.

Friday, Sept. 8

Orca Books Co-op Rare Book Auction: The book store will be holding a silent rare books auction, offering vintage, collectible, signed and just plain cool books. Much of what will be available are things that are not on the floor everyday. Bidding will end at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10. Winners will be contacted via email or phone thereafter. Email sierra@orcabooks.com for more details.

Saturday, Sept. 9

Award-winning author to highlight Writers Conference: Two dozen writing workshops and a keynote speaker who has written 60 published books will highlight the 9th Annual Southwest Washington Writers Conference Sept. 9 at Centralia College. Elizabeth Goddard, a USA Today best-selling romantic suspense writer who has sold 1.5 million books, will speak at the conference, which also features master classes and workshops taught by award-winning authors. Workshop topics include how-to sessions on fiction and nonfiction, audiobooks, memoirs, marketing, and flash fiction, among others. A literary agent will speak, and workshop presenters include historical fiction author Melanie Dobson, inspirational writer and speaker Christina Suzann Nelson, and many other published authors. The nonprofit conference is put on by volunteers with all proceeds benefiting college scholarships. Lunches from Dawn’s Delectables of Centralia are included both days. For information and registration for the Southwest Washington Writers Conference, see https//southwestwashingtonwriters.com.

Volunteers walk to fight suicide: The annual Thurston County Out of the Darkness Community Walk will be held Saturday Sept. 9 at Marathon Park on the west side of Capitol Lake. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, yet suicide can be prevented. Volunteers from Thurston County are joining the quarter of a million people who are walking in towns across the United States to draw attention to the fight for suicide prevention. This walk supports the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s education and support programs and its goal to reduce the U.S. rate of suicide 20 percent by the year 2025. Check-in begins at 11 a.m., the opening ceremony is at noon, and the walk will kick off about 12:30 p.m. To find out about registering and participating, go to the event webpage.

Setting personal boundaries workshop: Boundaries are essential, yet we’re so very confused about them. Bring your problems to work on — as well as your successes — to share with others becoming more boundary-savvy. The workshop is led by Shanti Mai that runs from 1-4 p.m. at an Olympia location that will be provided upon registration. Cost is $35 by Sept. 2 or $50 after. For more information, see http://www.shantimai.com; to register, call 360-999-2773 or email shanti@shantimai.com

Olympia Zine Fest: This event, free and appropriate for all ages, will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Olympia Timberland Library, 313 Eighth Ave. SE. Finish your zine or start something new using provided supplies. Computers, copiers, and free printing will be available and there will be button making, zine-go-bingo, an open mic zine reading, and a zine swap station. A Tabling Expo & Workshops will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10, at the library. (Tables will be set up behind the library on Ninth Avenue, and the library will be open for bathrooms and workshops only.) Workshops include on-demand merch screenprinting — bring your own light-colored T-shirt, hoodie, bag, patch, etc. DJ sets will be provided by DJ Wildman James and Doctor Sleep, and Saeko Reed will run a hand-drawn photo booth. Then Sunday night at 7 p.m., LeVoyeur will host a zine reading featuring Ayun Halliday, Jonah Barnett, Mara Gervais, Minhee Kim, Nhatt Nichols, Sierra Jane, and Tanisha Jackland. LeVoyeur is at 404 Fourth Ave. E.

Learn about Prohibition bootlegging in the Pacific Northwest: Steve Edmiston, a Des Moines business and entertainment lawyer and co-founder of The Good Bootlegger’s Guild, will give a free Humanities Washington presentation at 11 a.m. Saturday at the McCleary Museum, 426 S. Third St., McCleary. He’ll focus on the story of Roy Olmstead, who on Thanksgiving Day 1925, was trapped by federal prohibition agents and their Tommy guns on a lonely Puget Sound dock. His reign as the Northwest’s most prolific bootlegger had ended, but big questions remained about why the youngest lieutenant in Seattle Police Department history, formed a secret gang to take over Prohibition bootlegging in the Northwest.

Sunday, Sept. 10

The African Children’s Choir performs in Olympia: This traveling choir will perform at 9 and 10:30 a.m. at Hope Community Church, 2425 Black Lake Blvd. SW. and again at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, at Calvary Chapel, 919 Division St. N., Olympia. The tour is organized by the international Christian nonprofit organization Music for Life. The African Children’s Choir is composed of African children, aged 10 to 12 years old, all who come from vulnerable backgrounds and have faced hardship and lack of education.

Sea Stroll Historic Shoreline Tour: Learn how the cultural and ecological history of Olympia’s historic shoreline intertwine during a Puget Sound Estuarium Sea Stroll walking tour. Starting from the Estuarium, the tour loops around the downtown core to track the historic changes to Olympia’s shoreline. Sea Stroll is approximately 2 hours and 1.5 miles long so don’t forget your comfy walking shoes. The Sea Stroll tour also includes a tour of the estuarium. Cost is $15 for adults; kids 12 and younger can go for free. To register, visit: https://seastroll.eventbrite.com/

Would you like to have your event included in our weekly What’s Happening listing? Email the details to news@theolympian.com at least 10 days before the event.