Washington Retail CEO Renée Sunde and I attended state Representative J.T. Wilcox’s annual Salmon Bake last weekend on the family farm near Harts Lake, outside of Yelm. The event drew more than 500 from all over the state.

The gathering was a great opportunity to meet several candidates for the state Legislature, city councils and port commissions. Many of them fired up the crowd with patriotic speeches. The event concluded with Saturday evening’s wild rainstorm complete with a multitude of lightning bolts and thunderclaps that rivaled the best fireworks show ever.

As well as being an enjoyable social event, it was a great opportunity to establish relationships and to educate the guest list about Washington Retail and the work we do to represent the membership.

Among the guests who attended were Secretary of State Kim Wyman; State Senators Steve O’Ban, Tacoma, Lynda Wilson, Vancouver, and Hans Zeiger, Puyallup, who has declared his candidacy for the Pierce County Council; State Representatives Andrew Barkis, Yelm, Kelly Chambers, Puyallup, Tom Dent, Moses Lake, Jenny Graham, Spokane, Vicki Kraft, Vancouver, Jacquelin Maycumber, Republic, Ed Orcutt, Kalama, Gina Mosbrucker, Goldendale, Jim Walsh, Aberdeen, Luanne Van Werven, Lynden, Larry Hoff, Vancouver, and Bill Jenkin, Prosser.

A special thanks to Representative Wilcox and his family for opening up their homes and farm to the crowd of supporters.