Ah, you must be here for the unfortunate story of favoritism and disrespect that caused all the venue changes.  Read on...

 

Our dance community has held an outdoor festival on the 3rd weekend in July for the past 36 years.

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The Amphitheater at Sehmel Park has been RTH's home since 2018. 

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July 2023:

        I booked the Amphitheater a year in advance, as usual, and paid the fees in full.

 

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December 2023:

        PenMet informed me they were not going to honor our paid reservation because an art show                    came along and wanted the park for their own festival that day.  Shockingly, PenMet cancelled our          confirmed festival at Sehmel Park and our reservation was given to the Peninsula Art                                  League instead. 

 

        PenMet offered Hales Pass Park plus the use of their stage as a substitution.  I accepted.

 

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February 2024:

        PenMet informed me they were not going to honor the Hales Pass agreement, either. 

        Peninsula Art League decided that now they wanted our stage, too, and PenMet gave it to them. 

 

        PenMet further said that anything Peninsula Art League wants supersedes their commitments to              anyone else.  Without a stage, this was no longer an equivalent substitution.

 

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March 2024:

        I reached out to the director Colette Smith and co-director Robin Avni of Peninsula Art League,                  thinking perhaps they weren't aware that their festival was going forward at the expense of ours.  I          asked if it was possible for their art show to proceed with just the Amphitheater stage without                  taking ours, too.   Neither one has ever replied.

 

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April 2024:

        I appealed to PenMet's executive director Ally Bujacich to honor their word regarding the use of                their stage.   She has promised to rent an outside stage, while Peninsula Art League keeps both of            PenMet's stages.

 

        And then we realized the impossible parking situation at Hales Pass.  PenMet offered the use of                the CRC  (Community Recreation Center) instead, the majority of which is still under construction.            Somehow they thought we could hold RTH, with a stage, performers, vendors, and audience in the          lobby of their existing administrative building.  Uh...no, not at all possible.  Plenty of parking                      though.

 

        So....the lobby will be converted, at my expense, into a dressing room with adequate privacy.  RTH            will be in a section of the large parking lot, against a backdrop of lovely trees and facing away from          the construction site.

 

        I don't know if Raq the Harbor will ever be able to return to our traditional venue at the                              Amphitheater.  Peninsula Art League's event is annual on the 3rd weekend of July, just like ours is.            According to minutes from the Board of Commissioners' meetings it appears Peninsula Art League          intends to permanently displace us.     

 

July 2024:

        I reached out to Peninsula Art Leage director Colette Smith and her co-director Robin Avni again,              asking if they do intend to book their festival at Sehmel Park on the 3rd weekend in July again next          year.    Neither one has replied.     

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July 19, 2024 - the day before the Festival
        PenMet Parks executive director Ally Bujacich approached me for an extended conversation as I                was prepping the parking lot for the festival. 

 

        She suggested some PenMet Parks venues for Raq the Harbor next year.  I asked (twice) if she                  could guarantee we wouldn't be canceled again next year if someone came along that they favored          over us.  She talked about permits and processes and a number of other things,  but she would                not promise they wouldn't do the same thing to us again next year.