Despite heavy construction on SE Pioneer Way, the 42nd annual Holland Happening celebration is set to proceed as usual.
Event organizers have been in close contact with city officials and have been assured that the street will be ready for the more than 100 vendors expected to begin setting up Friday afternoon, said Erika Jones, the special events coordinator for the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce.
“They have worked with us really well. … I think it will be just like every year,” Jones said. “And it’s supposed to be sunny.”
Holland Happening is an annual event put on by the chamber that has been going on for more than 40 years. The three-day festival, which includes a carnival, the Eagle Run, a parade, and vendors selling arts and crafts, is a celebration of the city’s rich Dutch heritage.
Pioneer Way is undergoing major reconstruction, transitioning from a two-way street to an eastbound one-way. This week, phase two of the project from Dock Street to Midway Boulevard went into full swing when the entire portion of the roadway was pulverized.
The first part of the project, phase one, began in March when that section of street (City Beach to Dock Street) was pulverized. Work on it continues, but most of the major infrastructure has been completed.
Larry Cort, the city’s Pioneer Way project manager, confirmed that construction crews will begin prepping the street for Holland Happening late this week. Equipment will be removed, holes filled in, and the entire dirt roadway smoothed to a hard surface with a roller.
“We want our crews out by Thursday afternoon,” Cort said.
The street should look pretty close to normal, aside from the dirt surface, missing sidewalks and some fencing that will be installed around future light poles. Jones said she was even optimistic that the missing sidewalks will have a positive effect.
“It will actually look and feel bigger,” she said.
The construction project does not appear to have made a dent in vendor attendance. In fact, participation may actually be up from the 103 vendors in 2010. As of Monday, Jones said exactly 100 were registered but that there are always a few late stragglers and that they should bump the number of vendors this year over the 103 mark.
Most will be coming from locations around Island and Skagit counties but some will travel from areas south of Seattle. All were informed of the situation but no one voiced any real complaints about having to set up shop in the dirt, she said.
“People enjoy Holland Happening,” Jones said. “I think the attitude was, if it has to be in the dirt, so be it.”
The carnival is expected to open Thursday evening, though the celebration doesn’t officially begin until Friday. Saturday kicks off with the Oak Harbor Christian School’s 1 mile Eagle run at 8 a.m. and the 5K at 8:15 a.m. Races start and finish at Windjammer Park and registration is from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. that morning.
On Saturday, the Grand Parade will proceed down Bayshore Avenue at 11 a.m. The street fair opens at 10 a.m. and continues through Sunday. The international stage will host live music and performances starting at noon.
For more information, turn to pages 12 to 15 in today’s News-Times, call the chamber at 679-3755 or visit http://hollandhappening.org.
