Relax! It’s Wooden Boat Festival time. Photo by Nicholas Johnson
Volunteer Spotlight on Don D’Alessandro
Don D’Alessandro lived in Port Townsend for about 15 years and worked for the Wooden Boat Foundation for a short time in the early 2000s as its donations administrator. Don became interested in volunteering when Steve Soltysik was in charge of the boatshop and asked him to pitch in; Steve knew of Don’s background in industrial education. Don has been at it
ever since, volunteering in the boatshop as time allowed and working on kids’ programs during the Wooden Boat Festival. When Steve left, Don stepped in and has captained the Kids’ Boatbuilding program ever since. Don also assisted in the setup of the new boatshop at the Northwest Maritime Center and enjoyed his time there, saying, “It is a marvelous facility and cer-
tainly the nicest shop I have ever worked in.” Don is currently renovating a nice little house in Medford, Oregon, in order to be closer to family, but plans to return to Port Townsend for the Festival. When he’s not volunteering at the Festival, Don is a partner in Baranof Wilderness Lodge, a guided fishing operation in Southeast Alaska, and in the winter, he skis for the
National Ski Patrol at Sugar Bowl in California (something he’s been doing since 1957). He also hopes to resume his avocation of making hunting knives as time allows. In addition to heading up Kids’ Boatbuilding, Don has put his ski patrol background to use as a Festival volunteer medic, and has always been a terrific addition to the Festival volunteer team.
Thanks, Don!
Don D’Alessandro
Hale Is Poster Artist
Michael Hale
Born in the Pacific Northwest, Michael Hale has been creating art since he could hold a pencil. He has spent six years of higher education at Washington State University, the Burnley School of Professional Art in Seattle and the Museum Art School in Portland, Oregon. He taught art and design at the Phoenix Institute of Technology in Phoenix, Arizona, and at the Whidbey Island School of Living Oils, under wildlife artist Libby Berry.
In the 1990s, he worked as a scenic artist for Universal, Paramount and Disney studios in Los Angeles while selling his art at galleries in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Glendale and Valencia, Calif. In 2000, he moved back to the Northwest, specifically to Port Townsend, where he began creating art about Port Townsend and its boats (he was artist of the 2003 Wooden Boat Festival poster). At that time, he started writing his illustrated book, Antiqueus, Quest of The Mazzergast, a novel about three kids who travel to present-day Atlantis (Antiqueus) with their wizard friend, Dearkin, on the flying craft, the Mazzergast. After finishing his 550-page novel, published in 2014, and not having the distraction of writing, Hale took up art fulltime and joined Gallery 9 in the fall of 2015. See Michael Hale’s work at gallery-9.com. He can be reached through the gallery or at 344-3733.
42 • 2016 WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL
Aye, Aye, Captains Crew captains for the 40th Wooden Boat Festival include (from left, back row) Jeff Graham, Balcony Wine Bar; James Redman, hospitality; Joel Goldstein, AV support; Hallie Kopald, volunteer coordinator; Greg Paulson, docks; Carolyn Hunt, data diva; Chuck Henry, docks; Juliette Sterner, exhibitor concierge; Barb Trailer, Festival director; Libby Wennstrom, boats and program support; Garry Wohlgemuth, main gate; Megan Claflin, paddleboard pool; Michael Rosser, Bar Harbor setup; Gene Buzzard, Balcony Wine Bar; Roni Redman, hospitality; Myron Gauger, race committee; Marty Loken, trailer boat concierge; Carol Huelsberg, volunteer photographer; Marty Crowley, set-up; Joyce Mottola, will-call booth; and John Mottola, greeters. Many others are not pictured – see complete crew captain details under Festival “Thank You” section. Photo by Len Maranan-Goldstein Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader