The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - The Port of Columbia will "launch" the first building at Blue Mountain Station, its new artisan food center, on April 25. The Friday event will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"Food is the focus of Blue Mountain Station," said Port Manager Jennie Dickinson, "and the grand opening will focus on food as well."

The public is invited to tour the facilities of the four artisan food and drink producers in the new building, as well as well as the center's commercial Kitchen.

Visitors will get to sample cheese products in many flavors produced by Little Dipper Dairy; gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free granola products made by Gypsy Girl Granola; micro-roast coffees roasted on site by Rey's Roast; and tour the production area for wine and mead at Mace Mead Works' Experimental Fermentation Company.

Also to be showcased during the grand opening will be an array of food from local farms and from some of Dayton's famous restaurants, including Weinhard Café and Bakery, Patit Creek Restaurant and Manila Bay Asian Café.

At 2 p.m., in lieu of a ribbon-cutting, a "christening" of the building will be held, using a bottle of wine produced onsite. Representatives of the primary funding agencies - the Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB), the Washington State legislature, and the Port - will speak briefly at that time.