Vickie Maples first heard about the Sequim Irrigation Festival as a small child living in central California. Her mother, Myrna Cameron, a Sequim native, had a scrapbook with photos of the Festival from the 1940’s to 1950’s when she was an Irrigation Festival princess. Vickie claims heritage with two Sequim pioneer families – Amos & Sarah Cameron and Alfred & Caroline Robb. Vickie’s summer vacations were spent on her grandparents dairy farm at Kitchen Dick & Woodcock while she continued to live out of state. After 20 years working in municipal Community and Economic Development, she finally came to her senses and moved to Sequim in 2008.
Vickie first became actively involved with the Festival in 2008 in her position as the Executive Director of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce and then later as the owner of Pacific Mist Books. Vickie’s participation in past years has been as a Board member and the grants writer for the Festival until accepting the position as Director in the summer of 2023.
To quote past Director Deon Kapetan, “Being a volunteer with the Festival is a very rewarding and fun experience”. The Festival Board members, event chairs, volunteers and sponsors have created a dedicated and energetic team committed to providing the community with a successful celebration every year with a great variety of events for all ages.
The relocation of Crazy Callen Weekend to the new venue at Carrie Blake Park in 2023 has opened up new opportunities for the growing Festival. The goal of the Festival team is to offer the Sequim Irrigation Festival as a true community event enjoyed by all!