Singing the national anthem for millions of people was a dream come true for Sequim's Pearle Peterson at the World Series last year. But she says doing it again seems unrealistic.

“It was shocking to get the news for the first time,” Peterson, 19, said by phone from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“Nothing can prepare you to hear it twice.”

She will once again represent the Boys & Girls Clubs of America singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Game 2 of the Major League Baseball World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, October 26 in Los Angeles. Game time begins at 5:08 p.m. on the West Coast and will air on Fox 13 in Washington and on Hulu with Live TV, DirecTV, YouTube TV and FoxSports.com.

“I’m so excited and obviously nervous,” Peterson said.

A three-time Olympic Region Youth of the Year for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, Peterson has attended or worked at the Carroll C. Kendall Unit in Sequim for over 11 years.

She said the club gave her a place to go after school, reliable meals, homework, friends and a place where she could “grow up in an environment where I could be my authentic self.”

The club offered Peterson her first job and she worked there in morning camps last summer. She even plans to work there during her winter and summer breaks from college.

For the past two years she has toured the country performing for the national Boys & Girls Club, NASCAR and many local events.

Mary Budke, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, said leaders of the national organization requested Peterson's return to the World Series because the MLB asked for it.

“Not only are we super proud of her, we’re also telling the kids that they can be the next Pearle,” Budke said.

“She has taken a new path. Pearle didn't tell them. She showed them and that’s remarkable.”

Budke said Peterson was grounded by her experiences, performing on a big stage one day and returning to the club the next.

“She is one of the hardest-working young ladies I have ever met,” she said.

“She embodies the values ​​and goals of the Boys & Girls Clubs. I can tell you the clubs’ mission, but Pearle lives it.”

Sequim Club staff organized a viewing party at the Sequim Club last year, and this year the World Series will be held during the Sequim Club Halloween Party. But Peterson will still be on their screens.

“This is a big deal for us,” Budke said. “We will definitely have our girl on the big screen.”

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ About 30 people gathered at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club to watch Pearle Peterson sing during the World Series last October. She returns to sing the national anthem on October 26 before the game between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Preparation

Peterson left Sequim in August to go to college to study lyric theater at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“It’s so wonderful; This program is a hidden gem,” she said.

And even though the major is a full-time job, “it doesn’t feel like it because I love it so much,” she said.

She has learned a lot, including better self-care.

“I used to think I would sing every day, all day, but I had no idea what that meant,” Peterson said.

Ahead of her second chance at the World Series, Peterson said she had more time to enjoy the process and she took care of herself while working hard on the anthem.

Before being selected to sing at the World Series last year, Peterson was selected as a National Youth Talent Performer and performed across the country in 2023. Boys & Girls Clubs of America executives heard her and recommended her to sing at the World Series as the national organization's representative.

She thanks the Boys & Girls Club for their help and believes her hard work has led to cool opportunities.

“I'm so happy to be a role model for other small town kids who want to get into the music industry,” she said in 2023. “I'm fulfilling what my younger self always wanted to do.”

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/Pearle Peterson, a three-time Olympic Region Youth of the Year for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, will return Oct. 26 to represent the national organization at the World Series in Los Angeles.

Hometown, college life

The transition from small-town life to university life was interesting, she said, especially “not seeing people I know every day.”

The hardest thing about college is being away from her parents, Jason and Kelsie, and her sister, Victoria, Peterson said, but she is excited that the trio will be traveling this weekend to attend the performance.

Sequim Club Director Tessa Jackson said she was incredibly proud of Peterson.

“It was an honor to watch her grow into the person she has become,” she said.

Budke said the community has helped Peterson through college through various forms of support.

“They opened their arms to this girl,” she said.

“They see her and congratulate her as she drives by for coffee, and service groups ask us to bring Pearle so they can congratulate her.”

Peterson said thanks to many local scholarships and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, her tuition for this school year is covered.

For more information about the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, visit bgc-op.org.