By Terry Asla

Kington Comunity News, Columnist

There was no “almost” about the Kingston Cove (Almost) Summer Fest on Sat. May 12. The weather was summery and the event was “an unqualified success,” according to Nancy Langwith of the Kingston Cove Yacht Club, who headed the event.

Almost Summer Fest committee members had set a goal of 2,000 visitors — double the number of attendees at the 2017 event — and vendors, committee members and port staff all agreed they easily met or exceeded that number over the course of the day.

“The port parking lot was full and people were parking along on the road by Marine Park and in the Village Green parking lot,” said Harbormaster Raymond Carpenter. “The only other time I’ve seen that many cars is for the Fourth of July.”

Committee members attributed much of the success to the many organizations that participated in the event.

“Umbrella Heads” — volunteer members of the Kingston High School football team wearing umbrella hats — surveyed 799 of those visitors throughout the day. Early survey results show that about one-third of the visitors they interviewed came from the Kingston area, another third from elsewhere in Kitsap county and the final third came from outside the county. Meanwhile, out on the docks, volunteers from the KHS swim team helped fit out small children with loaner life jackets.

For many kids, the magic number was 40. The crowd of youngsters waiting for free sailboat rides with the Kingston Cove Sailboat Club stayed steady; 40 youngsters took rides before the wind got up enough in the afternoon that rides in the small FJ sailboats were cancelled out of an abundance of caution. That was nearly quadruple the number of sailboat rides KCSC gave last year, officials said.

Forty was also the number of toy wooden schooners children built at the Yacht Club booth. KCYC member Ken Dalgleish designed and built the parts for the boats, using materials donated by Kingston Lumber and Northwest Millwork& Door Co.

“’Way more than 40,” was the way one official described the flow of children through the Kid’s Tent, operated by Kingston Coop Pre-school, with the help of WWU SEA Discovery Center. Likewise, youngsters crowded the Port’s fishing pier to take part in the fishing derby sponsored by Kingston Mercantile & Marine.

Being as the festival was partially in celebration of the opening day of boating season, there were lots of boats to be seen and toured, including the 100-year old Schooner Martha, visiting out of Port Townsend, two steam launches courtesy of the Northwest Steam Society, and a wooden runabout that had been a rumrunner during Prohibition. The most popular boat of the day was the North Kitsap Fire & Rescue fire boat, especially when it set sailed to the middle of the cove and demonstrated its water cannons.

Music played a large role through the day. Before the festival officially opened at 11 a.m., KHS students entertained the early crowd. During the early afternoon is was Dee Dee & the Revolutions and, in the evening it was a street dance featuring The Tropics, a Jimmy Buffet tribute band.

This marked the third year for the vent which in prior years was called “Kingston Cove Opening Day of Boating Season.”

“We wanted to open the festival up to the greater community; folks who may not have a boat but love being outdoors and by the water,” said Langwith.