It’s a boat time!

Pacific City celebrates summer with Dory Days

The traveling exhibit “Launching through the Surf: The Dory Fleet of Pacific City” makes its much-anticipated annual return to the Kiawanda Community Center as part of Pacific City’s 2025 Dory Days celebration.

Don’t miss the opportunity to experience the rich heritage of the local dory fishing tradition this Saturday and Sunday, July 19 and 20.

The exhibition features a component of the larger “Launching through the Surf” collaboration by Linfield University and the Pacific City Dorymen’s Association. It explores the vital role dory fishers and their boats have and continue to play in the life and identity of Pacific City.

Since its inception in the summer of 2011, the oral history project has documented the adventures of this unique fishing community. To date, the team has interviewed more than 100 dory fishers, collecting more than 15,000 vintage and contemporary photographs and other images and more than 300 hours of audio and video recordings. The stories are shared in the voices of those closest to the fleet: the fishers themselves, along with their families, friends, boatbuilders and fish buyers.

The exhibit features 25 panels covering more than a century of dory activity in Pacific City, the process of building a dory, the evolution of the Pacific City dories, and Dory Days. The panels are comprised of vintage photographs and historical documents from the dory fishers, contemporary photographs and comments from the oral history interviews.

This year’s exhibit also includes three special displays — a salute to the 2025 Dory Days theme, “Christmas in July,” with photos by Tyrone Marshall; a tribute to the past with vintage photographs certain to evoke fond memories; and a celebration of the photographs of Sandra Weedman, aka the “PC Photo Lady.”

Also known as the official photographer of the Dory Fleet, Weedman has been part of the dory landscape on the beach at Cape Kiwanda for several decades. She can be found there most weekends and holidays with camera in hand, documenting the dories as they launch west into the often-breathtaking waves and return with thrilling slides onto the beach.

The exhibit is available to view from 7 am to 5 pm on Saturday and 10 am to 2 pm on Sunday at the Kiawanda Community Center, 34600 Cape Kiwanda Drive in Pacific City.