Drumming and singing could be heard aboard Sunday’s Anacortes to Sidney, B.C., ferry opening the international run’s nine-month operating season.

The entertainment was provided by members of the Samish Indian Nation, which considers the ferry connection vital to its people who live on both sides of the border.

At least two Samish tribal leaders and other members planned to take the opening run “to show support and put a face on the people who care about this,” said General Manager Leslie Eastwood. “People concerned enough to take the entire day to show their commitment to the run.”

Also on the ferry were Anacortes Chamber of Commerce members, Mayor Dean Maxwell, and concerned Anacortes residents.

Joining them were political heavyweights: Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee; Rep. Jill Clibborn, chair of the House Transportation Committee and Rep. Jeff Morris, a longtime ferry advocate.

Sen. Kevin Ranker wasn’t able to make the journey but did greet the boat at the Friday Harbor dock when it stopped by to pick up more passengers.

“It was just pretty remarkable,” said Duane Clark, Ferry Advisory Committee and Save Our Ferry member. “By the time we got to Sidney ... we probably had over 300 people.”

Hundreds more people lined the Sidney ferry dock to greet them as they arrived, including the Town Crier, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, members of the media and government officials from the city and the province of British Columbia.

“It was big,” Maxwell said. “A big event.”

The fanfare, much more than usually accompanies the opening, came as the ferry’s future is being debated. It has received strong support from the Legislature in recent weeks, but the ferry run was eliminated in Gov. Christine Gregoire’s proposed 2009-2011 biennium budget and Washington State Ferries’ proposed long-range plan. Both are now before the state Legislature.

On the journey back to Anacortes, the Washington legislators took time to talk about what was happening at the state level and took questions from riders.

Chamber Executive Director Mitch Everton said the legislators were able to see the enthusiasm Anacortes and Sidney have for the run.

“I believe this will stand us in good stead in years to come,” he said.

Keeping the run operating would help keep the ties between Samish members who live on Fidalgo and Vancouver islands strong, Eastwood said.

The Samish people originated in the San Juan Islands thousands of years ago. They intermarried with people living on Vancouver Island, the Olympic Peninsula and Fidalgo Island, Eastwood said.

“Basically anywhere that was a day’s canoe ride.”

Today, about 100 tribal members live on Vancouver Island. Compared to the 700 members living in Washington, that’s a sizable percentage, Eastwood said.

Today the populations are related to each other culturally, spiritually and familiarly.

Each year, about 50 Samish take part in the canoe journey that includes travel from Anacortes to Vancouver Island, Eastwood said. If there’s no ferry, those not taking a canoe but still participating in the event would have to catch the BC Ferry leaving from Tsawwassen, B.C., on the mainland at added time and cost.

Members have already lost the opportunity to participate in dances and ceremonies during the winter months when the ferry is on hiatus.

“It really severs our ties with our community, our culture,” Eastwood said.

Another issue is the tribe’s language, one of about five dialects of the Straits Salish. The last living members fluent in the language live on Vancouver Island. Ready access to those people would be lost with the cancellation of the ferry run, Eastwood said.

“It just makes it more complicated … to maintain those relationships,” she said.

The Samish are not the only people in this region with family ties to Canadian residents on Vancouver Island. Cheryl Hicks said she has seen a lot of the same faces on the ferry during the nearly 20 years she’s worked for Olympic Cascade Services, which operates the ferry galleys.

Some people have dual citizenship and use the ferry to see their parents and other relatives who still live in Canada, Hicks said. Others use the ferry to commute to work, such as contractors who do jobs across the border.

People heading here from Canada come for several annual events, such as the Tulip Festival and Anacortes Arts Festival, and also to do their monthly shopping, Hicks said. She said she’s seen plenty of cars full of purchases returning to Vancouver Island after a trip to Costco.

“So there are a lot of reasons for people travel on this both ways,” Hicks said. “It’s may not be a benefit to the state but it’s a benefit to the people.”

The ferry galleys are open spring, summer and fall, but close January through March along with Sidney run.

“Because we need that revenue,” Hicks said. “That’s the balance that’s met on that boat.”

If the run is shut down completely, it won’t take the galley business with it, but it will hurt it and hurt it hard, Hicks said. WSF will suffer also because of the lost income it gets from Olympic Cascade and from the duty-free shops onboard.

On the San Juan Island ferries, people may get a coffee, but the real business comes on the Sidney boat. It’s there that entire families are traveling with credit cards in hand, Hicks said. They’re vacationers readily buying T-shirts, hats and other souvenirs.

“They’ve saved all year,” Hicks said. “They’re going to spend it.”