I recently attended the National Association of Realtors Mid Year conference in Washington, D. C.  We had an opportunity to meet with our local legislators and senators and lobby for real estate issue affecting our communities.  It was a long week of meetings, classes, caucases and preparation for our Hill visit.

On our last evening there representatives from Washington State had the opportunity to attend the annual POTLATCH Dinner put on by The Washington State Society.

The Washington State Society is a non-profit, non-partisan, member organization comprised of individuals who are living and working in the Washington, DC metropolitan area but are still "rooted" in or have connections to Washington state.

The Washington State Society brings together all with a love of the other Washington--Members of Congress, Capitol Hill and Administration staff, journalists, students, military staff, diplomats, business leaders, and many more. Their premier event is the annual Potlatch dinner--for more than 40 years, members feast on fine Washington state products flown in by the wonderful sponsors. 

We enjoyed Washington State local Oysters, smoked black cod and Cougar (Washington State University made) Gold Cheese.

Dinner was Snow Crab Clusters, beef tenderloin, sockeye salmon, steamed asparagus, warm apple tart and candies from Liberty Orchards in Eastern Washington.

Compliments of Redhook Ale Brewery, our local brew was available as well as Washington Wines.

You are probably wondering what POTLATCH means - "A social event or celebration. A word that comes from the Chinook dialect and means "to give".  A Potlatch was an important social event among Northwest tribes that marked the status of an individual or celebrateda special occasion.  These celebrations could take more than a year to prepare and sometimes lasted up to ten days.  Food and entertainment were provided, and gifts were given to guests who attended.

It was a great way to end a great week, seeing all the "other Washington" people in Washington, D. C.