The future is as bright as was the day Sunday, when Sidney signed a lease to continue welcoming the ferry from Anacortes.
“It’s a 20-year agreement,” Sidney Mayor Larry Cross told a crowd of about 100, who applauded the deal.
The ferry pulled into the international ferry terminal just after 11 a.m. on March 25, following a 12-week winter break to save costs.
Funding cuts at the state level in Washington put the ferry’s future in jeopardy. At Sunday’s announcement, Anacortes Mayor Dean Maxwell said, part-jokingly to the ferry service’s executive director David Moseley, “I’m going to find you some money, David.”
Cross touched on the funding struggles as well, in his address to the crowd.
“We know that the relationship as we go into the future between ourselves and Washington State Ferries will stay in good stead and ensure that this run will continue. We have some struggles to go, we have some financial issues that have to be dealt with. I will work with Mayor Maxwell as we encounter every hurdle.”
This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Sidney-Anacortes ferry run.
Sidney town crier Kenny Podmore and his Anacortes counterpart Richard Riddell had the crowd laughing with their humorous proclamations. The Sidney Sister Cities Association sold baking and other refreshments at the terminal.
“This is the best 10-minute party that we’ll have all year,” said Anacortes Sister Cities Association president Duane Clark.