Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Weedstock 2018
“Weedstock 2018” is set to happen on part of the Gilchrist land northwest of Pullman.
After 50 years of events taking place at the Gilchrist land near Klemgard Park, another is set for Friday through Sunday, April 20-22. It is “Weedstock 2018,” featuring bands, comedy acts, speakers and marijuana.
The pasture land is owned by Gerald and Penny Gilchrist, longtime farmers and members of the Palouse Empire Fair Rodeo Board.
Events held at the site include an annual fishing derby, square dances, Onecho Church bible camps and WSU faculty gatherings.
The latest is organized by Dax Taylor of Pullman and the group he founded, 420 Union.
The location for Weedstock came together in the past three weeks, a process which brought questions about permit requirements and whether the Gilchrists would go through with it after concerns arose from neighbors and county officials.
As of the Gazette deadline Tuesday, this is what it looked like.
“There’s been changes every 15 minutes,” said Penny Gilchrist Monday afternoon. “We’re really trying to shut it down.”
The vendors are set to move in on Friday at 10 a.m.
“Gerry and I were not, period, promoting or wanting this,” Penny said. “A good 80 percent chance we’ll get it shut down.”
What brought it to this point?
“Lots of lies,” said Penny.
Code
According to Whitman County code 5.08 Outdoor Amusements and Assemblies, a permit is required if an event features paid admission and more than 250 people. If it is free for the same-sized crowd it does not require a permit – which is the case for Weedstock 2018. If admission is charged for an event of less than 250, a permit would be required.
“It’s not an either/or situation, it’s an ‘and’,” said Michael Largent, county commissioner for District 3 which includes the Gilchrist land. Largent lives six miles away.
“I consider them neighbors and friends. I’ve talked to them, we’ve discussed this,” Largent said. “But I couldn’t direct them, absent an ordinance, to take one direction or another.”
Whitman County Sheriff Brett Meyers went to the site Monday. Troy Henderson, director of Whitman County Public Health Department visited Tuesday morning.
“By invitation of the property owner and the event organizer, I will be there but in an oversight role,” Henderson said. “I’m not not going out there looking for violations. You can call it a fact-finding mission.”
Food vendors set to be there include burrito and taco trucks and Captain Cook’s, a pirate-themed sit-down restaurant which travels to fairs. Musical acts number more than 30.
“I’m almost positive it will get shut down,” said Penny, indicating that there was a signed contract between a family member and Taylor. “That’s why we can’t shut it down, because there’s this contract.”
Like other events held on the land, the Gilchrists are not charging rental for Weedstock.
“We’ve never taken any money,” said Penny.
Last week
Before this past weekend, Weedstock appeared to have more qualified support from the landowners.
“This is not a foreign thing for our family to do,” said Gilchrist April 13.
Part of what makes this event different is the marijuana-theme aspect.
“I don’t know how I feel about that,” Penny said. “I’m not gonna hurt anybody’s feelings by condemning their lifestyle. They could easily condemn ours.”
The land also housed the Union Creek Ranch Bed and Breakfast, until Penny closed it and retired in February.
She said she has not spoken with Taylor, noting it was another family member.
The land, on which the Gilchrists raise cattle, wheat, peas, barley and garbanzo beans, is on Stevick Road at the intersection of Upper Union Flat Road, in the hills and trees between Colfax and Pullman.
“It’s the same people that were against Klemgard Park and the cell tower going up on our property that we’re getting hate calls from,” Penny said. “The same people.”
Some neighbors have spoken up.
“We were never asked what we thought about it,” said Carol Evans, who lives three miles down. “Obviously it’s gonna be a large gathering. It’s gonna be a great big drug fest. We’re right in the middle of spring work. It’s a little country road, farm equipment, animals, it’s not gonna be safe for anybody, much less people who are high.”
The organizers
“Weedstock” tickets are free for those age 21-and-over who are members of 420 Union, which was formed in 1997 to share cannabis information among its members.
“Basically what this event is is a group serving group members,” said Megan Sanders, assistant event coordinator for Weedstock.
Becoming a member requires something.
“Go to our Facebook page and like the page and you’re a member,” Sanders said.
The event came about beginning as “potluck dinners” at Taylor’s apartment.
“We outgrew that, then thought of a restaurant, outgrew that idea and now it’s a gentleman’s field,” said Sanders. “It’s become quite a thing. The numbers kept growing and growing.”
Taylor works at a Mobil gas station in Pullman. Planning the event, he kept asking around and asking around for a place to put it on. One day in late March, a member of the Gilchrist family walked in to the station and said he was notified that Taylor was looking for a place to hold an event.
Later, a contract was signed and plans accelerated.
Particulars
If the event is free, how are the bands being paid for?
“Thankfully only three are being paid,” said Sanders of the lineup of rock, hip-hop, electronic dance music and some folk.
“We’re just trying to bring the community together and educate them. On the cannabis culture, it’s not all a negative thing,” she said, noting speakers which include Kevin Oliver, a member of the board of directors of NORML, a national advocacy group for expanding legalized marijuana laws, and Carrie Cutler, WSU clinical assistant professor of psychology, who has studied physiological response to stress in chronic cannabis users.
“It’s gonna actually be very educational,” said Sanders. “It goes a lot further than just a party in a field.”
The festival will run two and a half days with camping available. Vendors include Hell’s Canyon Cannabis, Sam’s Apothecary and Etched Amethyst Creations.
“Mary Jane Vendor Lane and camping all around. I think we might have already outgrown our idea,” said Sanders.
A separate lot will be reserved for V.I.P. camping for vendors, band members and more.
On Monday, Sanders put the number of interested members and/or attending through the Facebook page at more than 1,300, including people from Ohio, Montana, Pennsylvania and California.
“I think it’s because of the kind of event, it’s different and new. We’re bringing together the entire town of Pullman, or at least trying to,” Sanders said.
Is there a capacity crowd for this?
“Not that I know of,” said Sanders. “The owner says he’s got another plot available of 60 acres.”
Organizers have 16 port-a-potties on order and one to five hand-washing stations at a cost of $6,000 from Port-o-go in Moscow.
Costs are covered by donations and sponsors/vendors and of out-of-pocket, by “Team Weedstock,” which includes various supporters from Pullman, Spokane and elsewhere.
“The most expensive part is the port-a-potties,” Sanders said.
As far as use of marijuana, the law prohibits it in public places, which in this instance, means if someone drives by and sees it happening, it is illegal.
“If someone wants to go in their tent or take a walk in the trees, by all means,” said Sanders.
Items still needed to put on the fest include lighting and a tow-behind generator to power both stages.
“I have faith in us,” Sanders said.
She moved to Pullman last year from Moscow. An in-home caregiver, Sanders grew up in Lewiston and dabbles in hairdressing too.
“I did Dax’s (Taylor) dreads and we became friends, and ideas started flowing,” she said.
420 Union expanded since marijuana was legalized in Washington in 2012.
“In 2015 it hit Facebook and started doing reviews of different strains,” said Sanders.
Does any of this surprise her?
“Following the law, no actually, with how hard we’ve worked,” she said.
She has never put on an event before.
“It’s definitely a rush,” Sanders said. “Nothing compares though to going up against the county commissioners.”
Commissioners’ meeting
The meeting with Art Swannack and Michael Largent took place April 2.
“My impression was Taylor had no track record,” Largent said. “A lot of invites and not a lot of planning. We are about to find out, if the Gilchrists proceed, how good of an organizer he is.”
Commissioner Dean Kinzer was out of the office that day.
“They came in and verbally said they won’t be charging,” said Swannack of Taylor and Sanders.
“The way the code was written, I think it was in the ‘80s, if they expect more than 250 and they don’t charge and no contribution... That’s where we’re stuck at right now as far as regulation. As of the current moment, based on what they’re telling us, we don’t have the ability to require a permit.”
The landscape at the Weedstock location brings up particular questions.
“Part of the concern is public health and safety, sanitation and security,” said Swannack.“It’s right next to a creek and on a flood plain... It’s a challenge to say the least, in terms of our point of view.”
Earlier that day, Taylor and Sanders first talked to the Whitman County planning department.
County Planner Alan Thomson was told of the event three weeks ago and found a phone number on the Facebook page and asked them to come see him. Taylor and Sanders stopped in.
“I thought they needed a permit,” Thomson said. “They said ‘We don’t,’ and it turned out they didn’t.”
Thomson was thinking a conditional use permit or assemblies permit would apply.
“It didn’t fit either of them,” he said. “We were caught flat-footed on this. They ended up being okay because of the wording in the code.”
“Before it got too heated, we left,” Sanders said.
Another meeting soon convened with County Prosecuting Attorney Denis Tracy, Swannack, Largent and Thomson.
“They claimed they talked to the environmental health department. Nobody in Whitman County knows who they are or has ever seen them,” Thomson said.
A year from now, will the code be different?
“A lot less time than that,” Thomson said. “We have no ability to make sure public safety, health and welfare are (taken care of). The landowners, for their sake, I hope this goes well. It’s a flood plain and shoreline of the state. Liability could come into play if there is damage.”
Before
Swannack, who took office in January 2013, initially had the code in mind to review when he started.
“To re-write this was on my to-do list,” he said. “In 2013 I wouldn’t have thought of this. We gotta still work on that, while making sure we’re not regulating family reunions and graduation parties.”
County commissioners ultimately grant permits.
In the case of “Weedstock 2018,” if a permit was required, and Taylor submitted a full application with all of the conditions met, could commissioners deny the request?
“If they met all the criteria, I don’t think we’d be able to legally prevent it,” said Swannack. “The commissioners are the ones that make the final decision, and we’d rely on advice of the departments... I have concerns about the public safety and health, if they get the crowds they’re talking about.”
The existing code 5.08 includes a ladder of permit fee rates corresponding to the size of the event. For example, for 250 to 500 people, the rate is $125 and $250 for events of 500-1,000.
“If that was written in the ‘80s, now it would be double, triple the costs,” Swannack said. “It’s kind of frustrating. We’ll be working on the code, I can assure you that.”
Weedstock begins at 3 p.m. Friday, and runs through Sunday morning. Bands include Silent Theory, State of Krisis and Unconfined.
“The biggest variable that no one knows is how many people will show up,” Henderson said.
“That property is all waterlogged, you gotta be crazy to think hundreds of people will be out here,” said Penny.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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