PNW Bainbridge - Winter 2023

WINTER ISSUE 2023

yesterday, today, tomorrow

Wonderland Tea Cozy Sweet Music Tales Out of School

HOME ON BAINBRIDGE AT

5940 NE Whitmore Way | Now Pending Co-listed with Arthur Mortell Built by Emmet and Lara Demos

O N

T H E

M A R K E T

8068 NE Hidden Cove Road, Bainbridge Island Offered at $5,999,998 | Co-Listing with Arthur Mortell

R E C E N T L Y

10057 NE Lafayette Avenue, Bainbridge Island Sold for $1,430,000 | Co-Listing with Arthur Mortell

Beckey Anderson Real Estate Broker 310.450.0750 Beckey.Anderson@rsir.com AtHomeOnBainbridge.com

&

S O L D

300 High School Road NE #224, Bainbridge Island Offered at $449,000 | Co-Listing with Arthur Mortell

© 2023 Sotheby’s International Realty. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark and used with permission. Each Sotheby’s International Realty office is independently owned and operated, except those operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. This material is based upon information which we consider reliable but because it has been supplied by third parties, we cannot represent that it is accurate or complete and it should not be relied upon as such. All offerings are subject to errors, omissions, changes including price or withdrawal without notice. If your property is listed with a real estate broker, please disregard. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other real estate brokers. We are happy to work with them and cooperate fully. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Seattle and Bainbridge Island www.fairbankconstruction.com

editor’s letter

I

ve increasingly become a believer in the concept that you are who you keep. That the people you spend most of your time with heavily influence what kind of a person you’re becoming. And yes, I’m aware that this isn’t new information. But perhaps there was something about hitting 50— or seeing our teenager navigate friends: some truly amazing, others decidedly meh and a few rated as zeroes (as my amazing and hilarious friend Narinder loves to say)—that drove home to me the importance, immediacy and joy of being unapologetically choosy.

We all know those people who just sap us. That person who leaves you with less energy and inspiration. That person who for some reason stays in your orbit even though they add nothing to your body, mind or spirit. The person who makes you dumber for having heard them gossip or continually kvetch.

Conversely, there are those gems who literally light you up. The ones who always make you laugh, who always check in and who you find yourself thinking about even when they’re not around. People invested in becoming their best selves, whether that means smarter, fitter or kinder.

Why on earth would we spend one second longer than necessary with people who are as fun as the threat of nuclear war and feline AIDS? Instead, we have the agency to take a page out of Taylor Swift’s playbook and assemble the greatest tribe imaginable. Heck yes to that!

While putting together this issue with the PNW Bainbridge team (AKA my besties) of George, Connie and Stephanie, we were all continually blown away by the quality of the people we interviewed, learned about and met—all from this island. There is no shortage of inspiring, fun, creative, philanthropic, brilliant people to choose from, which means that there’s no excuse for any one of us to be OK with “less than” for a minute longer.

I love the expression that says sometimes you need to leave space for God to walk into the room.

But perhaps it would be better if we made space instead of just leaving it. This winter I’ll be engaged in some spring cleaning of my own, so that 2024 is my best year yet. I’m looking forward to seeing you on the other side.

Allison Allison Schuchman Editor in Chief

4

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

OWNER & EDITOR IN CHIEF

Allison Schuchman DIRECTOR OF SALES & C O M M U N I T Y R E L AT I O N S

Stephanie Reese CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Connie Bye George Soltes C R E AT I V E D I R E C TO R

Gisela Swift PRODUCTION MANAGER

Mark Swift WRITERS

Christy Carley, Jeff Fraga, Isabelle Haines, Luciano Marano, Audrey Nelson, Kerrie Houston Reightley, Bajda Welty, Anne Willhoit PHOTOGRAPHERS

Keith Brofsky, David W. Cohen, Annie Graebner, Dinah Satterwhite C O N TA C T

(206) 486-4097 • pnwbainbridge@gmail.com Instagram @pnwbainbridge Facebook at PNW Bainbridge

High Notes

Letters From Stephanie Reese

The Gift of An Interview The holidays are around the corner and you may be wondering what you can give that special someone in your life…something like never before. I may have the answer. Give them the gift of an interview.

When I started my podcast, Citizen Sister, I had a healthy amount of confidence even though I had never done it before. I had so many friends, relatives and acquaintances around the globe who would be engaging and entertaining for an audience. What I did not initially realize was the gift I would receive from these conversations.

I mostly knew the stories of those I was interviewing. In fact, I knew most of my first guests so well it seemed strange to be talking to them in an interview format. To my pleasant surprise, there was so much I had never heard or known about each one.

Stories I had heard before now had beautifully colored details and emotion. Opinions on past and present events were new and expanded, and, in many cases, people I saw so specifically in one light surprised me in big and small ways.

How had I never known that my dad’s favorite fast-food restaurant was called The Beanery? Or that one or my best

friends went to a conservatory in Manila for gifted musical kids before he came to the U.S.? That my sister wasn’t sure if she ever had a choice whether to do music? Or that my husband loves the color green? All of this was learned during a simple 45-minute interview.

What is the magic that occurs when someone sits across from me in the studio? It is simply the interview itself. It gives people a spotlight to be heard and seen and, most importantly, deeply listened to. I saw their faces light up as they divulged details of their stories and opinions. There was no worry about being seen as self-absorbed or arrogant in taking time to talk about themselves, all because it was an interview. Emotion, nostalgia and humor flowed because time was not an issue.

An interview allows time and space with no distractions. No phones or devices, no TV, no interruptions. The podcast helped me understand that in my daily life, I don’t always allow time and space to enjoy someone’s story with open ears and an open heart. I may not always agree with a podcast guest, but during an interview, I take the time to listen and understand without needing to interject my own beliefs. Truly and presently listening.

We only need to ask. We only need to give each other time and permission. You may laugh, be inspired or be surprised. You may cry or get nostalgic. The gift is in the details, in the time.

The gift is the ear that listens and the story that gets told.

This holiday season, give the gift of an interview. pnwbainbridge.com

5

CONTENTS winter 2023

42

FEATURES

42

48

52

A century-old Wing Point waterfront cabin is rich in life, history and charm

Giving of one’s time is more in need—and more fulfilling— than ever before

Staking out space for neurodivergent patrons broadens access to the performing arts

For Keeps

6

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

Just Say Yes

(Re)Imagining Inclusivity

CONTENTS winter issue 2023

departments Editor’s Letter 4 High Notes 5 Contributors 9 Epilogue 9

18

Calendar 62

secrets Hobbit House 11

30

Funky fun architecture on High School Road

sHORTS Feeding and Pouring 16 Master Sommelier and local realtor pair up to benefit affordable housing.

Come Sail Away 18 A two-year voyage sees an island couple set sail for adventure.

Wish Come True 22 Ovation! presents its enchanted spin on a fairy tale classic.

26

Down to a Fine Art 26 Beloved island art tour hits a major milestone.

Turning Over a New (Tea) Leaf 30 At the intersection of tea, tacos and ice cream is Winslow’s Ravine.

Getting Into the String of Things 38 Orchestral youth group fills a need for string instruction.

Slow Season 40 Acupuncturist Bajda Welty helps us cope with the winter blues.

AND ANOTHER THING

34

Now & Then 14

SPOTLIGHT

Blakely Elementary still educating Bainbridge’s south side kids.

Meredyth Yund 34

Magic Moments 56

RECIPES

Bainbridge’s fire department gears up for its annual holiday serenade.

Homemade Syrups 36

In Focus 64

Sticky gifts for a super sweet holiday.

Two planes in one day in one sky.

Organizer extraordinaire is ready to get you packed, stacked and thinned… and on to your next chapter.

FEAST ON THIS 59 Proper Fish

36

Amelia Wynn Winery Bistro Madison Diner

ABOUT THE COVER

38 8

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

Maureen Daniels snapped this snowy photo of Leo, their 7-year-old Finnish Lapphund. Daniels said that the breed is known for herding reindeer in Finland and that he loves the snow and his humans.

contributors | EPILOGUE | In the Fall 2023 issue, we profiled the dauntless

David Cohen

Johnny Nakata, one of the founders of Town & Country

David Cohen first became interested in

Market (Great Things in Store, page 14). None other

photography as the result of the black and

than Rachel Bowman, Johnny’s great-granddaughter,

white etchings in his Pittsburgh childhood

alerted us to an error in the article, which mistakenly

home which lined the steps going to the

stated that Bainbridge’s Safeway store opened in

second and third floors. Later, Cohen became

the 1950s. The supermarket which opened on High

fascinated with images of buildings and

School Road at that time was IGA. Safeway (as several

homes. The lines, lighting and ultimately the

longtime islanders have also reminded us) did not

photographer’s primary focus point were inspiring.

arrive until the early 1990s. Sorry for the mistake and

The key, he learned, is to find the unique soul in each

thanks to Rachel and other readers for helping us nip

of the structures. He says, “It pays to be a good and

“grocery-gate” in the bud!

patient observer!”

On a very positive note, the Facebook group Bainbridge

Annie Graebner

Island Lost Pets continues to be a superb community

Annie Graebner is a portrait photographer who

resource, returning flurries of furry family friends

captures moments, life and stories, blending

to their homes. In our Summer issue, George Soltes

a mix of candid and lifestyle elements. She

profiled the travails of tiny pooch Mabel (Paw Patrol,

was born and raised in the greater Seattle

page 11), who’d escaped a sitter during a snowstorm.

area and received her undergraduate business

Mabel was reunited with her grateful owner Beckey

and master’s degrees from the University of

Anderson after a community-wide mobilization finally

Washington. Before her career as a CPA began,

trapped the scallywag.

Graebner lived in Siena, Italy where she studied photography and fell in love with the craft. In

This summer, Bainbridge came

September 2007, she launched annie g photography.

together again after Gilli, a

Graebner, her husband Kyle, and their three kids

bourbon-colored bernedoodle

moved from Queen Anne to the island in 2020. They

puppy, snuck away from an

are thrilled to be a part of this wonderful community.

outdoor concert at Battle Point Park. Search parties,

Jeff Fraga

coordinating on the BILP page,

Jeff Fraga writes annual and sustainability reports

took to foot and sightings were

for companies such as PepsiCo, Southwest

mapped while the community held

Airlines, Target and Microsoft. When he isn’t

its collective breath. Working off a BILP tip,

writing for them, he’s writing for himself.

local teen Cruz Piland set off on his paddleboard from

He has written a Christmas musical, several

the beach late in the evening on August 11, near where

10-minute plays (including some that were part

the pup had made her getaway. Scanning the shoreline

of the Island Theatre Ten-Minute Play Festival),

with a headlamp, he finally caught sight of Gilli when

a mystery novel, and several Hawaiian pop songs. A

his flashlight reflected the glow of her eyes. Piland was

confirmed foodie, he once spent a week in the Paris

able to catch the frightened puppy and paddle home

kitchen of the Michelin 3-star restaurant Guy Savoy.

with her stuffed in his sweatshirt, returning her to her

Closer to home, Jeff lives on Bainbridge Island in a

thankful owners the next morning. No fewer than 350

117-year-old stone house with his wife, Kathe, and

comments and a thousand likes cheered Gilli’s rescue

the occasional Fraga child returning to the nest for a

and Piland’s heroism. BILP continues to reunite pets and

quick visit. He loves hiking the Bainbridge trails and

owners in magnificent fashion and is a beacon of all

discovering the season’s first trillium.

things good and right with Bainbridge Island.

pnwbainbridge.com

9

Trust, knowledge and outstanding service - always.

Ready to make a move? Let's chat.

Consider me an advocate, advisor and partner who puts you first. Empowering you with the resources, motivation and winning strategies to achieve your real estate goals.

Maureen Daniels Broker | REALTOR® | RENE®

206.409.4875

maureen.daniels@rsir.com www.modanielshomes.com

secrets

HOBBIT HOUSE

BY Rather than Middle-earth, Bainbridge KERRIE Island’s “Hobbit House” is more middle island.

HOUSTON Located just off High School Road, it is an REIGHTLEY PHOTOS COURTESY affectionate homage to the cozy dwellings CHRIS WHITED depicted in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Hobbit,” “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and the Hollywood blockbusters that followed.

Given the unconventional curves and mathematical problem-solving that went into its design and construction, builder and contractor Chris Whited is an unwitting testament to the possibilities of learning from a lifetime of on-the-job experience rather than a formal education.

Whited grew up on Bainbridge Island, working alongside his builder/contractor dad. Over the years, they worked together on projects ranging from high schools and health clinics to developing Bainbridge Island’s Commodore Lane to rebuilding an Alaskan hydropower plant. At 21, for just two weeks, he attended Bates Technical College for traditional vocational training.

“The professor needed his garage remod-

eled,” Whited said, “and he’d just check on us every now and again. When they wanted tuition, I moved on and got married.”

His inspiration for building Hobbit House was a garden shed he saw at Cannon Beach in Oregon. “It had funky windows and a V-shaped roof. I took a photo and drew up my own plans. I went to City Hall, and the structural engineer said, ‘How are you going to do this?’ He finally said, ‘Check this, this and this,’ and a couple months later, I had a permit.”

The many varying angles were a particular challenge. “Because of the curves, every rafter is at a different angle,” he said.

“One day, while building it, a tour bus stopped at the house.

A carpenter walked up with his family in tow. He looked up at the rafters, and exclaimed, ‘Now, this is math!’ I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I used tape measure, string, squares and levels, and how I’d have to figure out each angle, every time.”

Whited recalls that his wife said, “’You’re only building one, right?’ But, after we got going, she really enjoyed it.”

So, are there more Hobbit Houses in his future? “Maybe,” he said, coyly.

For the first year, Hobbit House was an Airbnb, lodging patrons from around the world. For the past five years, it has been on a long-term lease to “Perky Paul” Siegel, who operates Hobbit House Gourmet—home of epicurean delights like Tart Lemon Rhubarb Jam and Sweet Peach Habanero BBQ sauce— from a miniature hobbit house next-door. pnwbainbridge.com

11

Now Leasing!

Rare Opportunity on Winslow Way The Cove (formally known as Winslow Mall) is currently revitalizing its location to create unique shopping and dining experiences for the Bainbridge community. Stop by and visit our transformation!

Take advantage of building your own custom storefront on Winslow Way! We are currently accepting unique prospects for retail, restaurants, and offices.

• Retail with newly renovated storefronts • Central restaurant with outdoor seating availability • Variety of office and service spaces

Ready to build your perfect space? leasing@thecove.com thecovebainbridge.com

BLO BAINBRIDGE

now open BOOK NOW

blow outs | makeup | extensions bridal | braids & more

BLO BAINBRIDGE

275 High School Rd NE c 5, Bainbridge Island , Washington 98110 206.451.4193 blobainbridge@bloblowdrybar.com

blomedry.com

pnwbainbridge.com

13

now and then

Port Blakely School 1912

OLD SCHOOL AND NEW SCHOOL

PHOTO COURTESY BAINBRIDGE ISLAND HISTORICAL MUSEUM

For more than 40 years,

Blakely Elementary School 2023

14

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

BY GEORGE SOLTES

from 1885 to 1927, Port Blakely School introduced children on the south side of the island to their ABCs and 123s.

Some things never change.

Whether seated two-to-a-desk at Port Blakely School in 1912, or in teacher Erin Sheehan’s colorful, sun-drenched first grade class at Blakely Elementary today, each classroom offers kids a gateway to new possibilities and adventures.

“I am excited to teach this group of students,” said Sheehan.

“They are eager to learn and share what they know. They are kind, curious and funny ... three things that I love. I can’t wait to see where this year takes us!”

PHOTO BY ROBYN STAHL

shorts

Feeding AND POURING Bainbridge Island

BY ADAM

FOLEY is quickly becoming a AND ALLI wine lover’s paradise, SCHUCHMAN evidenced by the PHOTOS COURTESY ADAM FOLEY AND thriving wine bars SHAYN BJORNHOLM dotting downtown Winslow and the increasingly acclaimed wineries across the island, Yet, many islanders might not know that we share our home with a world-renowned master sommelier.

In his ascent through the world of wine, Shayn Bjornholm earned the coveted title of Master Sommelier on his first attempt—a feat accomplished by fewer than 1 percent of aspirants. Gaining that pinnacle placed him in rarified company. Only 273 other professionals around the world have received the title since it was established in 1969. The achievement is something Bjornholm credits to his background and experiences, especially his time at Seattle’s landmark fine-dining destination, Canlis.

“I was inspired daily by Canlis’ pursuit of hospitality and the delicious beverages I got to try regularly,” he said.

Bjornholm experienced a transformative moment in 2009, when one of his 16

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

Adam Foley

protégés accomplished the same feat.

He explained that witnessing someone else’s journey towards mastery profoundly altered his perception of true expertise and helped him appreciate the essential role of the mentors who facilitate the transfer of knowledge and tradition., Today, as the examination director for the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas, Bjornholm faces the challenge of ensuring that the examination remains rigorous, relevant and a true reflection of the ever-evolving wine industry. He noted the

importance of aspiring sommeliers finding a balance between stringent standards and their personal guiding principles.

Bjornholm said that his journey has not been solely about professional milestones, but also personal evolution. His metrics for growth are both simple and profound.

“If I feel full, vibrant, hopeful, expectant and invigorated by the role I play, I am evolving,” he said. His insights on mastery extend beyond the boundaries of wine.

“Do I inspire myself and those around me?

Are my skills fostering creation?”

The answer to both questions is a resounding yes.

Family friend Adam Foley (also a lifelong islander) was so inspired by Bjornholm that he decided to make a pairing of his own, combining his friend’s mastery of wine with the island’s need for affordable housing. Bjornholm was all in.

Bjornholm and Foley are co-hosting Let it Pour: A Northwest Winter Soiree, a fundraiser to support Housing Resources Bainbridge, a nonprofit community land trust which conserves and develops land for affordable housing.

Bjornholm will provide 24 wine lovers the opportunity to taste top-notch wines under the guidance of one of the world’s foremost experts and enjoy accompanying charcuterie and hand-selected cheeses, all while supporting inclusive housing on the island.

HRB, which currently has 44 homes in its portfolio, helps prospective homebuyers find affordable housing, works

Shayne Bjornholm

with current residents to help keep their homes and provides rental assistance to qualified households.

Foley, a real estate broker for Sotheby’s International, believes strongly in HRB’s mission. “I’ve witnessed many of my generation priced out of our beloved island,” he said. “An economically diverse community is a stronger community. This means that we have artists, teachers, waiters and waitresses, and grocery clerks, to name a few—essential members who make a community not just work but thrive. This also means age. If we do not support young families, we may forgo a dynamic expanding culture.”

As for Bjornholm, he’s just happy that his rare skills, which he boils down to the “simple act of feeding and pouring,” can help make our island more hospitable to all.

Let it Pour wine tasting with Master Sommelier Shayn Bjornholm will be held on the evening of December 7 at Sotheby’s in downtown Winslow. Tickets are $185 and all proceeds will benefit HRB. More information at adamfoleyrealestate.com

206.780.9113 . bcandj.com

pnwbainbridge.com

17

shorts

COME

BAINBRIDGE ISLANDERS TAKE TO THE SEA ON AN EPIC JOURNEY

SAIL AWAY

18

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

“Can I tell you about the night watch?” begins Joy Archer, in a blog post from early April 2022.

BY CHRISTY CARLEY

PHOTOS COURTESY JOY ARCHER AND HARRY PATTISON

She’s nestled into the cockpit of a 44-foot sailboat gliding through the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Puerto Vallarta and French Polynesia. With no land in sight, she enjoys a 360-degree view of the night sky.

This first Pacific crossing—2,841 nautical miles—took Archer and her husband, Harry Pattison, 21 days. They traveled mostly on wind power, desalinating their drinking water and generating electricity through solar panels. Moving constantly, they slept in shifts to ensure that someone monitored the boat at all times.

It sounds like a lot, but it’s just a fraction of the island couple’s two-year journey around the Pacific aboard Oh Joy II, which came to a close when they docked in Eagle Harbor this past fall.

Setting out from Bainbridge in September 2021, Archer and Pattison sailed south to Mexico, then crossed over to the South Pacific, through small atolls and island nations, and on to New Zealand. Their return journey took them north to Alaska and back down along the coast toward home.

For Pattison, this trip was a long time coming.

Growing up in Arkansas, Pattison taught himself to sail on a 9-foot boat he won in a mail-in sweepstakes; the sail, to his mother’s horror, featured a prominent ad

for Kool cigarettes (this was, after all, the 1960s). When his mom said the boat had to go, he stowed it in the bushes near a neighborhood pond, where he began to learn the ropes.

While Pattison has spent decades dreaming of a round-theworld sailing adventure, the same can’t be said for Archer.

Originally, Archer said, Pattison wanted to circumnavigate the globe “as a lifestyle.”

“I thought if I just kind of go along with it, but don’t commit, it’s either gonna go away, or I will come around to it,” she said. Eventually, they agreed on two years.

Archer’s decision wasn’t a reluctant concession. Both Pattison and Archer knew that if they were going to spend two years living in 250 square feet at the mercy of the Pacific Ocean (and each other), it was important that they both actually wanted to be there.

An open water swimmer, Archer imagined stroking through the tropical waters of the South Pacific, as well as some cooler water up north (similar to the cryotherapy that she practices swimming in Puget Sound).

pnwbainbridge.com

19

shorts “I found a way to make [the trip] a dream that I could embrace based on my own wishes,” she said.

Both writers, Archer and Pattison each documented the voyage in their own ways: Archer with a blog sent to an email list and Pattison with entries on PredictWind.com, a site that allowed visitors to track Oh Joy II’s position in real time via satellite.

Archer plans to turn her blog entries, now hosted on Substack, into a book. From reflecting on the realities of climate change at sea to extolling the merits of daydreaming, Archer’s blog is a far cry from a curated Instagram page documenting a dream vacation. Sure, there’s swimming in “impossibly” blue waters, foraging coconuts on tiny atolls and devouring street tacos in Mexico. But there are also honest accounts of relationship tension, the Sisyphean task of constant repairs on the boat, and

20

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

one comically tender story of wart removal in Mexico.

The tale of their journey is also one of an enduring, evolving relationship. For Archer, learning to be patient has been key.

Pattison attributes their lasting connection to “a default place of kindness.” They both agree that humor is essential.

You don’t have to care about sailing to be captivated by the couple’s story, but if you are interested in a nautical adventure, Pattison is eager to help. He runs a charter

company aboard Oh Joy II as well as Mates First, a venture focused on trip planning and boat handling for couples.

His advice to the adventure curious?

“Commit to doing it and set a date.”

While there’s plenty to learn before taking off, there’s even more to learn at sea.

“If you’re trying to be completely ready before you go,” said Pattison, “you will never leave.”

Read about Archer and Pattison’s journey at joyarcher.substack.com and visit matesfirst.com for help planning a journey of your own.

THE A R T O F SENIO R P ORTRA ITS

T IM EL ES S E LE GA N C E BOOK YOUR SENIOR PORTRAITS NOW

anniegphotography@gmail.com 206.799.0228

pnwbainbridge.com

21

Wish shorts

COME TRUE

vation director Scott Breitbarth has heard “Cinderella” described as everything from a rags-to-riches story to a woman just looking for a night off.

Though the tale has been told through

BY ALLI SCHUCHMAN many a lens—from first-century Greeks, PHOTOS BY to Renaissance-era Europeans, to Sergei KEITH BROFSKY Prokofiev’s 1940s ballet, to Brothers Grimm—Breitbarth believes that it is the soul of the story that makes it worth telling and retelling: “If you are a kind, compassionate person, all you need to do is say yes to yourself and amazing things start to happen.”

This December, Ovation! Performing Arts Northwest will present the slightly more contemporary Enchanted Edition of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, which features a local cast of 25. Some of the actors—including 23-year-old Carin Young, who plays Cinderella—have been performing for years, but for others this will be their first time on a stage.

That’s by design, said Margaret Johnston, president of Ovation’s board of directors. She explained that the non-profit values teaching above all else, an inclusive approach that is embraced by cast, crew and the throngs of volunteers who work in 22

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

THEATER TROUPE PRESENTS A CHARMED CLASSIC

concert to present the shows. “We like to be open to people of all skill levels, meet you where you are,” Johnston said.

“Anybody who wants to be on stage or behind the scenes, we give them opportunity,” added Breitbarth, who pointed out that Ovation is giving him the latitude to grow, too. Although he first worked as a choreographer with the group—a talent honed while at the University of Southern California, where he

studied at its Glorya Kaufman School of Dance—he pivoted to directing for Ovation’s 2020 production of “Bye Bye Birdie.”

“I just love directing,” he said. “It’s been one of the great joys of my life. It’s been a fun challenge to jump back and forth between directing and choreographing.

I’m always checking in to make sure everyone’s happy and having a good time.”

Young said that she’s personally having a blast working with the troupe for the first time. “I learn new things every day and it’s cool to

be there for other people who might not know as much,” she said. “I love that we’re all at different levels.”

In addition to exploring her character’s inner transformation, Young is also loving the production’s enchanted machinations, including Cinderella’s storied ballgown. “I don’t know how much I want to say,” she said. “It’s so magical it made me gasp.”

Young is also excited about Breitbarth’s concept of presenting Cinderella in the framework of the seasons. Breitbarth became intrigued by the idea since the show itself is being staged in wintertime.

“I wondered if I could actually make that work with Cinderella’s journey,” he said. “A story of one life ending and another one beginning. To be able to face change and then to grow.”

Around the same time that Ovation is putting on Cinderella, BPA will be presenting its own fairytale: “Beauty and the Beast.”

The coincidence is not lost on Johnston or Breitbarth, but neither one minds, believing that when it comes to the arts, more is better. »

pnwbainbridge.com

23

Johnston acknowledged that the island’s different theater groups fill different needs and have different goals, but feels that they’re all worthwhile. Breitbarth agreed: “There’s a lot of collaboration happening behind the scenes. I’m actually borrowing some sets from conceptual and musical theater, and in exchange I made a promotion for their upcoming show. We’re also borrowing a few set pieces from Bainbridge Ballet. We all just want to tell stories. I would love to be a director in the community that’s trying to bring more groups together and collaborate. Who knows what you can do when you have a ballet company helping you?”

Of course, everyone wants the audience to enjoy the show, but Breitbarth wants his actors to come away with something, too. “As the fairy godmother says, it’s not about getting a wish. It’s what you do with your wish that counts,” he said. “I think there are wishes everywhere. When we finally realize what they’re meant to do in our lives, what we’re meant to do with them in our lives, great things actually start happening.”

“Cinderella” runs over two weekends, December 1 through 10 at the BHS auditorium and will include a sensory inclusive performance. For more information on Ovation or for tickets, visit ovationmtb.com.

24

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

POV: FINALLY MOVED INTO YOUR NEW PAD!

2023

VOTED BEST MOVING COMPANY ON AND AROUND THE ISLAND! Thank you for voting Suseyi Pro Moving Company as the best moving company in Bainbridge Island for two years in a row!

SERVING BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, SEATTLE, POULSBO, KITSAP & KING COUNTIES

Experience the Best!

FAMILY MOVING CORPORATE MOVING PACKING

PIANO MOVING HOT TUB MOVING HEAVY SAFE MOVING

STORAGE MOVING JUNK REMOVAL HEAVY SAFE MOVING

REACH OUT FOR A FREE ESTIMATE TODAY

KITSAPMOVERS.COM | 206.450.6282

LICENSED, BONDED & INSURED · U.S. DOT NO. 2547762 · PERMIT NO. HG065765

Art FINE

shorts

DOWN TO A

Studio Tour Celebrates Milestone Anniversary Long an island mainstay, this year’s Bainbridge

BY ISABELLE HAINES PHOTOS COURTESY

Island Studio Tour is a little BI STUDIO TOUR extra special. The free, self-guided art tour, which has been going strong since the early days of the Reagan administration, is marking its 40th anniversary. Just in time for the holidays, artists from Bainbridge and beyond are gearing up for another great show.

What’s changed in the Bainbridge Island Studio Tour’s 40-year run? When you get right down to it, not much. Through thick, thin and even a pandemic, the bi-annual art show has stuck to its warm, cozy roots.

“We have our little tagline that says ‘the heart of local art,’” said Dinah Satterwhite, who has managed the Studio Tour for the past 12 years. Her own work — photography and at one point silk painting — has been featured in the show for about 25 years.

Like many others, Satterwhite found a local art community through the Studio Tour and is now helping others find their way into that same community.

26

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

The unique pleasure of the Studio Tour is right there in its name: The show gives customers (and looky-loos too) an invitation to explore some of the home studios and gardens of Bainbridge artists.

The summer iteration of the show, which takes place during the second weekend of August, is a breezy, backyard affair. The winter tour takes place during the first weekend of December in rented community halls and studios across the island. This is Bainbridge Island at its best; a chatty, homespun snow globe.

The Studio Tour is also, as local art shows go, idiosyncratic. The show prioritizes artists from Bainbridge as well as from our neighbors west of the island, plus it requires all participating artists to attend for the entire weekend. Satterwhite said that the only exception she recalls was when a pregnant artist went into early labor just ahead of the show, and in that case, her parents stepped in to take over. The conversations between artist and patron are one of the Studio Tour’s great strengths, said Satterwhite, who attests to the relationships she’s seen grow over the years.

“Customers get engaged and, especially if they bought something, they feel kind of enriched that they’ve met you,” said Satterwhite.

“We did so well after COVID, I think, because of those connections— people blew the roof off their sales.”

To be featured in the Studio Tour, each artist’s body of work is carefully juried. The artwork is evaluated using four criteria: originality, quality, craftsmanship and hand and spirit.

What’s hand and spirit you ask?

“The hand and spirit of the artist goes back to uniqueness,” said Satterwhite. “We’re looking [for a reflection] of your personality and something that’s unique to you that you’re putting into your artwork.”

It’s how attendees come across pieces like felted bird masks, welded cranes, dahlia paintings and bespoke dolls, all in the same show—the singularity and skill is part of the reason that so many customers keep coming back year after year.

“I’ve heard many, many times that people can count on the quality,” Satterwhite said. “I ask, ‘Oh, do you go to other shows?’ and they say very few, because you really don’t know if you’re going to get somebody’s first time making pottery, or somebody who has refined their instrument.”

It’s the artists, too, who keep coming back, sometimes for decades. Satterwhite recalled her own first Studio Tour 25 years ago.

During that weekend, she found herself instantly embedded in a community of artists who were willing to give advice and assistance to a newcomer. “Some of those people from my first studio are still my best friends,” she said, “whether they’re still doing art or not.”

Now, as Studio Tour manager, Satterwhite is the one coaching new artists. She helps with everything from taking better photos of their art to pricing their work. She said that bringing in that new talent—and welcoming back old friends—is part of what keeps the Studio Tour exciting.

“Artists get a bad rap as being sometimes flaky and flighty,” said Satterwhite. “I haven’t really found that. I’ve found that people are just very genuine. They’re in this because it’s their passion, and they want to share that passion with others.”

The Bainbridge Island Studio Tour runs Friday through Sunday, December 1 to 3. Visit bistudiotour.com for more details. pnwbainbridge.com

27

Beautiful selection of gemstones custom cut for you by Robin and masters from all around the world

Custom Jeweler

Bespoke custom engagement & bridal rings

Jewelry Design

Direct sources for certified natural and lab grown diamonds

Always leaving me speechless!

Lapidary Artist

That design is so fun.

Can’t help but smile when I see it.

Bringing you the most gorgeous selection of pearls from around the world

You’re and animal of one of a kind jewelry art....you’re truly blessed by God! Way to make pearls more interesting!

“Arcadia” Tahitian hand faceted Black Peacock Green Pearl, Tsavorite Garnets and Diamond Ring (more options available)

Bringing Designs to Life Specializing in REDESIGN and giving NEW LIFE to unwanted treasures

Order Online at www.robincallahandesigns.com facebook.com/robincallahandesigns | instagram: @robincallahandesigns | robincallahan59@gmail.com

2021 Spectrum Award winner

2023 Spectrum Award winner

Voted Best Jeweler Bainbridge - 7 years

Voted Best Jeweler Kitsap County - 3 years

FIND YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS

FIND YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS

FIRST CLASS FREE

Intimate. Casual. Cozy.

BARRE CIRCUIT

YOGA PILATES

AMELIA WYNN WINERY

BISTRO

I love the variety and intensity of classes at Lighthouse. The space is gorgeous, there's ample parking and it's conveniently located.

Can't say enough good things about this studio!

— Hannah W.

Delightful fine dining in the heart of downtown Winslow Award Winning Amelia Wynn Winery Wines Cocktails & Epicurean Cuisine Dinner Wednesday to Sunday Brunch Saturday & Sunday Amelia Wynn Wine Tastings MEMBERSHIPS START AT $79

AMELIA WYNN WINERY BISTRO

390 Winslow Way E. | Bainbridge Island Just 2 Blocks from the Bainbridge/Seattle Ferry ameliawynnwinerybistro.com

LIGHTHOUSEBAINBRIDGE.COM pnwbainbridge.com

29

shorts

Turning Over a New (Tea) Leaf Bainbridge Business is Steeped in History

30

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

Whether walking off the ferry or strolling around town

BY AUDREY NELSON

PHOTOS BY ANNA after a Town & Country run, CARSON FOR THE RAVINE it’s hard to miss The Ravine.

The circle of local businesses, located at the ravine end of Winslow Way just to the east of Ericksen Avenue, is festooned with lights, Ethan Currier’s rock sculptures and an array of rainbow Pride flags.

Thank Erika Thayer for making The Ravine what it is today. Thayer, who moved to the island in 2011, purchased the property in the spring of 2020. That summer, as the pandemic ramped up, she opened The Ravine’s flagship business, what’s now the Bainbridge Apothecary & Tea Shop.

The Ravine is perhaps best known— especially to younger islanders—as the former

home of That’s A Some Pizza. But the property’s history extends much farther into Bainbridge’s past. The four buildings, constructed between the 1890s and the 1930s, originally housed Winslow’s general store and post office.

Thayer had no intention of letting that history disappear.

“I thought that we really needed to preserve the legacy of what these buildings represented to Bainbridge,” she said.

So, in 2020—when it seemed like potential buyers were interested in transforming the property into a hotel—Thayer and her family bought it instead, and The Ravine was born.

Almost four years later, The Ravine is a thriving ecosystem for both tourists and locals, who come for high tea at the Bainbridge Apothecary & Tea Shop, pnwbainbridge.com

31

try their hands at Bainbridge Escape’s new historical escape room or take home hand-crafted souvenirs from Island Life Artisan Gifts.

Meanwhile, Hot Hot Yoga offers classes in an infrared-heated studio, the Taco Barn sells food from a storefront decorated with colorful papel picado, and the Stage at the Ravine—an outdoor venue envisioned by Thayer and created in partnership with artist James Rudolph and the Bainbridge Creative District—spills over with local live music in summer months.

Plans are under way to transform the small building behind the apothecary 32

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

into Wedgewood Cottage, a traditional Victorian tea parlor. With four new tables, Wedgewood will expand the tea shop’s current capacity for hosting high tea.

That’s not the only expansion in the works. Heading into the holiday season, Thayer is leaning into themed experiences at The Ravine. In November, she wants to sell pies and in December, she’s planning a Nutcracker-style high tea table on the Apothecary’s back deck, along with gingerbread, cocoa and opportunities to meet Santa Claus. She hopes to give The Ravine a “Victorian village feel” throughout the winter months.

Thayer’s efforts to transform The Ravine have not gone unnoticed. She was recently named Business Leader of the Year by the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, just three years after The Ravine opened.

Claudia Powers REAL ESTATE BROKER

Thayer is humbled by the award, but she’s determined in shaping The Ravine to have a goal of more than profit. She wants the space to bring people together around civility, compassion, and—she said, laughing—“glittery pink rose-gold love.”

As someone who has spent more than 30 years in the tea business, Thayer has a keen awareness of what the ritual of gathering can add to our daily lives.

“I think we’ve lost the quiet moments, the times that we come together, and we really share in one another,” she said. “And that’s what The Ravine as a whole is all about; creating these moments of experience.”

She’s enabled countless quiet, remarkable moments during her time with The Ravine. A few of her favorites include a bride who experienced “three hours of stressless bliss” during a bridal shower; little girls who “exploded” with glee, delighted to “drink out of China cups and eat little tea sandwiches”; and a 95-year-old woman celebrating her birthday with a granddaughter in tow.

Running a business like The Ravine can be stressful. Thayer joked that she’s like a “little duck” with her legs paddling frantically under the smooth water. But each new moment of joy at The Ravine renews her commitment to getting people to gather, slow down and care for one another.

“The truth is that I love what I do,” she said. “I love this little magical spot on the planet that we get to share.”

LOCAL EXPERT GLOBAL REACH

206.321.8124 Claudia.Powers@rsir.com | ClaudiaPowers.com

© 2023 Sotheby’s International Realty. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark and used with permission. Each Sotheby’s International Realty office is independently owned and operated, except those operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. The Sotheby’s International Realty network fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.

WINTER’S EMBRACE

Immerse yourself in the stillness of winter. Visit Bloedel Reserve this season for silent solstice walks, December 19 & 21.

Photo: David Cohen

Ask questions | Share stories Connect with us

Open Tuesday–Sunday | Timed tickets are required for admission | bloedelreserve.org

pnwbainbridge.com

33

spotlight

Meredyth Yund

BY CONNIE BYE PHOTOS BY DINAH SATTERWHITE

Meredyth Yund relishes the challenge of helping someone else move, a process she equates to working a giant puzzle. Her company, Miss Priss, will sort, clean out and box up a lot—or a little— of your stuff. Yund, who grew up on Bainbridge, also is an actor and contends being creative is a big asset for helping others achieve a smooth move.

How did you get started?

I was doing some personal assistant work.

A good friend is friends with (Realtor) Ty Evans, who I also knew in passing for years.

Ty called about a client who wanted help with clearing up, cleaning up and moving on. I said, “Yes, I can!” Word spread, and it just kind of snowballed.

Why is it hard for people to get rid of stuff?

Emotional attachment. I tell clients who are downsizing that I can pack everything, from attic to basement—clear down to the paperclips. But I also tell them to keep their “greatest hits.” Some people don’t want to be pushed, so we pack every pillow and book. But sometimes it’s very healthy, very therapeutic and healing to lighten your load.

Are most clients downsizing?

Downsizing almost always is a part of moving. Sometimes they just want a little bit of help organizing or clearing out the garage or the kitchen. Some need help with every little thing, and some just need a little kick in the pants.

34

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

My team does a lot of house cleanouts where a family member has passed away and everyone’s overwhelmed or the rest of the family are not local. Or the person didn’t have any family or someone has gone into assisted living. We just go in and get it done.

You also are an actor?

I’ve been acting and singing my whole life.

I basically grew up at BPA. I still do some acting, but Seattle’s really not a union town, and I am a union actor. I did a show with inD Theatre last year—one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done.

I’ve also been developing a film called Rockaway. We were pitching it in Los Angeles and getting a little traction, then the pandemic hit.

Why is it a plus to be creative in this line of work?

You can see big-picture. When I’m looking at a house, I see it as a 3-D puzzle.

Logistically, you’re putting together the scheduling for the staff and vendors.

You’re preparing the materials you’re going to use. You’re looking at the client and trying to pull it all together.

What’re the hardest rooms in the house to pack?

Kitchens and garages. Never leave the kitchen for last. Your final few days before a move are basically like camping if you stay in the house. We pull some basics and put them in a basket. You don’t need your Kitchenaid mixer or turkey roasting pan two days before you move.

Why Miss Priss?

My grandma called me that. In the summer when I was 7 or 8, I’d come upstairs fully dressed, a little jewelry, a little makeup.

She’d say, “How’s it going today, Miss Priss.”

SELLING THE BAINBRIDGE ISLAND LIFESTYLE OVER 20 YEARS Luxury Marketing Specialist | Graduate of the Real Estate Institute Accredited Buyer Specialist | Senior Real Estate Specialist Certified Residential Specialist

206-755-8411 SusanGrosten@Windermere.com SusanGrosten.com

pnwbainbridge.com

35

recipes

Homemade SYRUPS

to Gift

36

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

Winter is a time when we can

BY

ANNE revel in a bit of a slower pace here on WILLHOIT Bainbridge. Without the clear skies of PHOTOS BY summer or the beckoning forests of fall ANNE WILLHOIT and spring, we find a little more time to be indoors. Dark days and holidays draw us into the kitchen for projects that remind us of when we were small and help us embrace our cozy winter rhythms.

An important year-end habit for many of us is to set aside time to show gratitude. Making homemade syrups is a simple way to send a sweet thank you to the people who are important to us year ‘round.

Package with a ribbon and a tag that includes some suggestions for use and your tasty treat is good to go. If you’re looking for something more, consider pairing your syrup with a little extra. For a baker, you might combine vanilla syrup with two new cake pans and a nice pastry brush for spreading the syrup on cake layers. A bag of coffee or a mug are obvious additions for caffeine lovers (or you could go big and pick out a milk frother). Sometimes I put together a couple of different syrups in small, pretty bottles, because choice is always a luxury.

Be sure to keep a little back for yourself. Dark days and hot drinks. Ah, now it’s winter.

Chocolate Syrup Addicting and versatile, this syrup stays soft in the fridge and is easy to use.

Simple Vanilla Syrup The easiest syrup to make, and a great one for syrup-making rookies!

2 cups water 2 cups sugar 4 tsp. vanilla extract

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate 3/4 cup cocoa 1/4 tsp. salt 2 cups water 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix sugar and water and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the vanilla.

Yield: 2 cups (scale up or down as needed) Keeps: About one month refrigerated Consider: London Fog latte with Earl Grey tea and milk.

Luscious Hazelnut Syrup The trickiest syrup to make, but also the most decadent.

2 cups hazelnuts 3 cups water 1 cup sugar

Chop chocolate and set aside. In a medium pot, add cocoa powder and water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce to low. Stir in the sugar and salt. Simmer, whisking every so often, for about 3 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and add in the chopped chocolate. Let it sit undisturbed for 2 minutes, then whisk smooth.

Stir in vanilla extract. Hit quickly with a blender or pour through a fine mesh sieve into a clean jar.

Yield: 4 cups syrup (scales up easily) Keeps: About three months in the refrigerator Consider: As an ice cream topping, in coffee drinks or for a quick hot or cold chocolate fix

Festive Spiced Syrup Easy to customize - use the spices you like.

2 cups water 2 cups sugar 3 cinnamon sticks plus 2 cardamom pods or any combination of whole spices Mix water and sugar, then add whole spices. Bring to a simmer to dissolve the sugar. Let steep with spices and, when cool, strain into a jar. You can keep the spices in the jar for effect if you like.

Yield: 2 cups (scale up or down as needed)

to be roasted, put them on Prepare the nuts. If they need oven for 8 to 10 minutes. a baking sheet in a 350 degree dish cloth, close, and rub While still hot, pour onto an old flat. This removes a lot of ds the nuts all over with both han processor and pulse until the skins. Add the nuts to a food and pulse a couple more small. Add a little of the water the water to a bowl. Soak for of times. Add this and the rest r this mixture through a piece 3 to 4 hours. When done, pou a nice squeeze. Mix back of cheesecloth or fine sieve. Give 2 hours or so. Strain and together and steep for another a pot. Add the sugar to the into squeeze again but this time over medium heat. Reduce to nut liquid and bring to a boil utes. low and simmer for 5 more min Yield: About 2 cups syrup

Reserve: Rinse and refrigerate the nuts and use in cookies, muffins, bread, or oatmeal Keeps: About a month in refrigerator, shake before serving Consider: 2 tablespoons in a glass of milk or in coffee drinks

Keeps: About one month in the refrigerator

Caramel Nutmeg

Syrup

Lighter than ca ramel sauce, bu t still packs a bold fla vor.

1/2 cup granulate d sugar 3/4 cup water Scant 1/4 tsp. fre shly ground nutm eg Have 3/4 cup bo iling water stand ing by. Add the su to the bottom of gar a small, heavy bo ttom pan. Shake out and put over to even medium heat. Le ave without stirri see the sugar melt ng until you ing. Swirl the pan gently a couple of incorporate all th times to e sugar. When it is evenly dark, rem heat and slowly ove from pour in the wate r while you stir co smooth. Watch ou nstantly until t for bubbles and spurts! If it seize back over low he s up, put it at and stir until it looks like syrup.

Yield: 3/4 cup sy rup (scales up ea sily) Keeps: About tw o weeks in the re frigerator

pnwbainbridge.com

37

shorts

Getting Into the

String of Things YOUTH ORCHESTRA MAKES BEAUTIFUL MUSIC TOGETHER

Pia the Peacekeeper came into the

BY GEORGE

SOLTES world to a fanfare of strings.

PHOTOS COURTESY Members of the Bainbridge Island BI YOUTH ORCHESTRA Youth Orchestra provided the soundtrack at Pia’s August unveiling at Sakai Park, playing “Adventures on Bainbridge Island” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King” as the 18-foot-tall wooden troll, the creation of Danish recycle artist Thomas Dambo, was introduced to her new home.

When BIYO conductor Justine Jeanotte got the call to perform at the troll’s Saturday morning debut, there was one obvious problem: the event was less than 72 hours away. “My first thought was, ‘Wow, that’s very early in the morning and not a lot of time to prepare,’” Jeanotte recalled.

Violinist Angeline Hamilton, a BHS sophomore, shared Jeanotte’s concerns. “It was fun, but a little nerve-racking,”

38

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

Hamilton said. “I had some of the solo parts, so I was up that morning at 5 a.m. preparing them because I didn’t want it to crash and burn.” Despite having just a single rehearsal to learn the pieces, the orchestra pulled it together in time to welcome Pia to the island in style.

The Bainbridge Island Youth Orchestra has a long history of responding and adapting to the needs of its community.

The orchestra was founded in 2001 by a group of parents and music instructors to fill a void created by the lack of programs for string musicians in the public schools.

“This whole organization sprang up because the Bainbridge Island community wanted access to orchestra education for their kids,” said BIYO music director Nathan Rødahl.

Over the years, BIYO has grown into a tiered system, which accommodates young violin, viola, cello and bass musicians at every skill level. There are four orchestras, starting with the Prelude Orchestra, which plays a beginning repertoire, then advancing through the Debut Orchestra, the Symphonic Orchestra and, at the highest level, the Chamber Orchestra. Jeanotte is the music director of the Prelude and Debut Orchestras while Rødahl helms the Symphonic and Chamber Orchestras.

For the newest and youngest aspiring players, BIYO began offering Beginner Strings, a biweekly after school program, in the fall of 2022. Taught by both seasoned teachers and high-school-age student teachers, Beginner Strings offers students as early as kindergarten a chance to pick up the bow. Third grader Ada Fulton learned to play cello in Beginner Strings’ inaugural year and is now ready to advance to the Prelude Orchestra. For Fulton, the rewards of playing greatly outweigh the downsides of toting an instrument nearly as big as herself. “It’s really fun,” she said, “and I like the way it sounds.”

BIYO has never been content to rest on past successes.

After a concerted effort and a lot of red tape cutting, students will, for the first time ever, be able to receive high school credit for participation in BIYO starting this fall.

There are also plans to take the orchestra on the road, starting with a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, this season, possibly followed by a tour of Eastern Europe in the future. Beyond giving the kids a fun adventure, Rødahl explained that travel can be “a huge part of seeing the way that music can be their passport to the world.”

And remember “Adventures on Bainbridge Island,” the piece that opened the concert for Pia the troll? That

composition, by Alan Lee Silva, was commissioned by BIYO nearly a decade ago and subsequently became a best seller and a mainstay for youth orchestras around the country. Plans are under way to obtain funding to commission Silva to write a sequel to that beloved work for a future special performance to celebrate the history of BIYO. Even as BIYO continues to evolve, its core mission--to make orchestra education available to every kid on Bainbridge Island who wants to try it-remains the same. “Anybody who wants an experience in music that is more fun, where the goal of meeting every week is to make music that we enjoy, should just reach out to us,” Rødahl said, “and we’ll find a spot for them. We don’t turn anybody away. We find a spot for everybody. And we would love to make music with more kids.”

Want to attend a free BIYO concert or get a kid started in orchestra?

Visit biyo.us.

NW CRAFT BEER, CIDER & WINE

ALL AGES • 206-451-4646 AT COPPERTOP PARK (9415 COPPERTOP LOOP NE)

AGES 21+ • 206-317-6986 THE ISLAND GATEWAY (500 WINSLOW WAY E)

BAINBRIDGEBEER.COM pnwbainbridge.com

39

shorts The Slow Season

Acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner Bajda Welty helps us cope with the winter blues.

BY BAJDA WELTY PHOTOS BY BAJDA WELTY

It’s winter here in the PNW. Most people around here think that’s a big old bummer! Mood bleak, weather dreary, ground soggy, sky gray most of the time. It’s a tired time of year, the daylight is short and the darkness is long.

Before you look outside, I challenge you to look inward this season. Do you have a word of the year? What is it? Mine is simplicity.

Wander inside yourself for a few moments to ponder: How is my heart? How is my mind? How is my body? How is my soul?

This can be a miserable, sad time of year, literally. Many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). You may experience your mood, energy level and motivation sinking, eventually settling in the cold muddy depths of the well. So, go there. Slow down, live at the measured speed of the season. What does this free up? For me, letting the resistance slide right through my fingers gives rise to imagination and time to reflect.

Consider any intentions or resolutions you may have set last January: Where did your journey take you? What surprised you? What joy did you find? What sorrows did you experience? What adventures did you have? What risks did you take? What challenges did you face?

Don’t feel rushed to come to conclusions. Ponder, wander and wonder.

There isn’t a deadline that crashes down with the ball at midnight on December 31.

Many cultures, like the Chinese, start each new year with the second new moon after winter solstice. That means not until late January or into February. So, if you look at the year from the lens of 12 moon cycles instead of 365 days for the earth to orbit the sun, we are entering the last quarter of the year. Not quite done yet, with time left to reflect and inform your 2024 intentions.

Revisit your 2023 goals, apply curiosity, buckle down and explore what purpose they were perhaps guiding you toward. The season, like flashlight tag, requires faith and willingness. Come February and March, the dark, murky bottom of the well may become lighter. Your vision may turn back upward and outward again. This is the time to sprout new dreams and sew new seeds of intention, fantasy and resolution. Energy and motivation will stir, rising from mud to sky. Life begins again, new and refreshed.

40

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

TIPS FOR WINTER: Get warm—Hot yoga, sauna, hot bath, tea, soup, sweaters, socks, hats and scarves.

Get moving—Exercise to get blood flowing, lungs circulating, oxygen and endorphins pumping.

Get rest—Sleep more hours.

Get reflective—Answer the questions in the adjacent article.

Get light—Make use of candles, full spectrum lamps and bright decor.

FOR KEEPS

A TALE OF A CENTURY-OLD CABIN

When Mike Yates’ and Kathy Hughes’ first child Adam arrived in the mid ‘80s, they were living in Ballard.

Adam, as new babies are wont to do, got the couple considering where their future might lay. Yates’ parents lived on Bainbridge, so he reached out to local realtor Bill Hunt. “We really hit it off,” he said. “Kathy was resistant, but she came over here and said, ‘Wow, this is kind of cool.’ Bainbridge looked like the right kind of place.”

BY ALLI SCHUCHMAN | PHOTOS BY DAVID COHEN

42

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

“So, we ended up buying this house,” he said. Yates explained that while its location on Wing Point was ideal—a quick bicycle ride to the ferry, where they’d catch the boat to their work in Seattle, he as an architect and Hughes as a nurse—it was never part of the plan to move into (and stay) in a dilapidated log cabin. “The house was a groaner,” he said.

“It was a lot of money at the time for a house in pretty iffy shape,” added Hughes, “but we kinda knew it was right.”

Yates said that the cabin was originally built after a storm broke a log boom off the creosote plant and washed

the unbound wood onto the Wing Point beach. The cabin, the last of three that were constructed side by side, was built from those stray logs in 1920. When Hughes and Yates moved in, all three cabins still stood, but the other two have since been torn down.

Yates said their plan was to live in the cabin until they could afford to build a contemporary home. “But it’s kind of strange how this place grew on us,” he said. “Especially our son, especially Kathy, and I got it too.”

The early years were rustic.

“All these animals were living in the crawlspace,” said Yates. “We had a broom, and when they would get noisy at night, I would take the broom handle and pound on the floor. The noise would go away for 20 or 30 minutes.” Yates said Hughes took it all in stride and would say that, after all, the animals were there first.

As the cabin’s charm grew on the family (which expanded to four after the birth of their daughter, Michelle) the couple decided to make a go at restoring it. Their first task was to straighten the house, as it was tilted

pnwbainbridge.com

43

44

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

toward the water. The next project was to put a porch around the house to protect the logs, said Yates. “That’s sort of the way it worked from the get-go.

Whenever we would save a bit of money, we would apply for another building permit and do that renovation.”

Next up was the living room. “It involved a very small addition expanding the house out to meet the walls of the upstairs. Basically, it was pulling the downstairs out,” said Yates. The space made room for the new entryway and door as well as the stone fireplace.

Yates also noted that all the beams in the living room sagged. They were therefore hoisted into proper position, girded with sheet metal for structural integrity and wrapped in Douglas fir to match the logs and the home’s trim. Yates’ brother, Jim, a professional woodworker, built the front door, the couch and the coffee table.

He also did all the kitchen cabinetry.

“He and his family were living in Northern California, and he would drive up here with his very large pickup truck with a very large trailer,” said Yates. “He did three trips up here with cabinets and then he’d spend a couple of weeks each time putting them together and installing them.”

Yates said that the son of a family who lived a couple doors up did all the additional carpentry in the kitchen, the beams and the new foundation. “Totally tore off the floor to the dirt. He worked here for a year and a half on this project.”

The kitchen is clearly a cherished spot, as was evidenced by the heaping plate of cookies and big pot of spaghetti prepared

by Hughes in anticipation of brother Jim and family’s arrival later in the day. “I love to cook, to experiment with food,” said Hughes. “I love to host. Big parties or just a couple of friends over.” Nearby, Cooper, a gigantic (or perhaps simply very fluffy) 15-year-old Belgian Shepherd, snoozed peacefully under the built-in dining nook.

Altogether, Yates said that there have been six renovations to the house, the latest being the upstairs, which they just finished last year.

“Everything up here was a lot of work.

Everything was a mess,” said Yates. “The pnwbainbridge.com

45

walls twisted this way and then would twist that way from one end of the hall to the other. I don’t think the people who built it had a level or a plumber. I think they just eyeballed it. It was totally exasperating for the carpenters.”

The wonkiness didn’t end at the walls. “The floors upstairs creaked,” he said. “We had a cat—and it was not a big cat—but when it would walk across the floor, you’d hear creaking. The boards were that loose.”

Yates said that Bainbridge-based Isley Construction did a great job over seven months of extensive problem-solving. Now that the project’s complete, the couple are in the process of moving back into the lovely (and now non-creaking) space.

Their bedroom has a painstakingly constructed barrel celling, there’s a refinished modern bathroom, and their kids’ old rooms have gotten a facelift as has Yates’ drawing room, though he said he only uses it for personal projects now that he’s retired.

Hughes is just glad that the cabin is still a cabin. “All the logs, all the wood.”

Down on the beach is a boathouse which Yates built over a year and a half, putting in about 2,000 hours. “When I get started on a project, I don’t quit,” he said. Inside the boathouse are museum-worthy boats that he also built himself. “We built the kayak, the rowing shell, the rowboat, and then a sliding-seat wherry,” he said. Despite their stunning good looks and gleaming finishes, Yates is quick to emphasize function over beauty. “That they work really well is the important part. They’re not furniture.”

The boathouse’s only decoration is a shelf lined with carved ducks from the Great South Bay on Long Island, gifts from a good friend. “They’re all easily 100 years old. And they’re his 46

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

grandfather’s ducks,” said Yates. “So, I built a duck shelf.”

Just offshore is a buoy from which Yates said the kids used to jump. “We call it the tower of death.”

During the nearly four decades since the couple moved in, a lot has happened in their lives. Adorning the cabin’s walls, framed photographs of the family’s adventures and expeditions tell a pulsing, rolling-stones-gather-no-moss sort of story. Among the memories are numerous

mountaineering trips, white water rafting excursions and kayaking voyages that span rivers in California, Canada, Central America, South America, Tibet and China. “It is kind of what we’re all about,” said Yates.

Today, first-born Adam is a commercial pilot, while daughter Michelle is an architect. Adam and his wife have one child—Yates’ and Hughes’ first grandchild—and another is on the way. A smattering of toddler toys is evidence of the growing family.

Though the 100-year-old cabin has served as backdrop to their lives, perhaps its most important role was as a place to return home.

In March, Hughes suffered a ruptured aneurysm while on her bike.

Luckily, Yates found her within minutes and in less than an hour she was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center, where she spent the next 84 days.

After Hughes’ hospital release in June, “Michelle took three months off from work and lived here,” Yates said.

“Plus, Kathy comes from a family of eight kids and it’s just one big bundle of love. She has made a miracle recovery.”

Hughes said that returning to the cabin, and to Bainbridge, has been a priceless part of her recovery. “It is so quiet and peaceful,” she said. “We lived outside as much as inside. My community was so touching, so humbling with all the love. All the food, all the cards, all the requests for a small visit. I truly felt half the island was involved.”

Through it all, Hughes and Yates have kept laughing. Her parting advice?

“Life is fun if you’re determined to make it that way.” pnwbainbridge.com

47

Just say

YES! Island Groups Need Volunteers Now More Than Ever

BY CONNIE BYE

PHOTOS COURTESY BIMA, HELPLINE HOUSE, BI HISTORICAL MUSEUM, ISLAND VOLUNTEER CAREGIVERS

Step up, Bainbridge. Nonprofit organizations across the island need you to volunteer.

COVID ripped apart the traditional model of volunteering, causing some people to step aside for a while—or permanently. Now, as the island’s population continues to grow and age, nonprofits need help more than ever.

“We went from hundreds of volunteers down to just a handful during COVID,” said Maria Metzler, executive director at Helpline House. “When we started reaching out to (volunteers) again, at least half were unwilling to return.”

It’s a story that’s been repeated all over the island: Some people felt they had aged out of volunteering. Others had pursued new interests. Still others worried about resuming in-person contact.

The scope of the problem can be seen in the Bainbridge Community Foundation’s State of the Sector 2023 Community Report: 57 percent of the nonprofit groups said they do not have enough volunteers, 34 percent said they have just enough while only 9 percent said they have more than enough. When asked about their greatest needs for assistance, 58 percent picked help with volunteer recruitment.

Even as the number of volunteers declined in recent years, the need for their help grew—and continues to expand, Metzler said.

That challenged Helpline and other organizations to find fresh solutions, including rethinking how volunteers could best be used.

The Bainbridge Island Historical Museum’s volunteer force is half as big as before the pandemic, said Executive Director Amber Buell. To address the challenge, the museum tried new ideas.

48

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

One strategy: Adopting a more flexible model. “Recognizing that many of our volunteers have varying levels of comfort with in-person interactions, we offered volunteers the option to inventory our research library, allowing them to fulfill a need but not be public-facing,” Buell said via email. This adjustment also ensured that the museum continued to benefit from veteran volunteers’ expertise.

Another successful change involved recreating the way volunteers interact with visitors, Buell said. Instead of serving as gallery docents, volunteers can opt to greet visitors from behind a desk, providing a measure of social distancing.

Kim Seigel, gallery and volunteer manager at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, has stepped up efforts to match volunteers with jobs that tap into their skills. Some work as gallery docents, others serve on the installation crew as exhibitions change, some are specially trained to work in the book arts room, still others lead field trips, help with administrative tasks or work at special events.

“We’re all about promoting curiosity,” Seigel said. “You are bound to find something you enjoy—just try it.”

At its peak before COVID, BIMA’s field trip program relied on a dozen or so docents to lead school tours. Now, the art museum is working to rebuild its trained volunteer base and reinvigorate

the program with area schools, said Kristin Tollefson, education director. After kids visit with their classes, some bring their parents back to BIMA, she noted, “and that creates a potential volunteer pipeline, too.”

At Island Volunteer Caregivers, the volunteer pool is healthy, growing to 317 people in 2023 from 293 in 2022, said Joanne Maher, executive director. She credits the staff’s ongoing hard work and creativity.

IVC provides transportation and other services to 378 care receivers, Maher said.

One goal is combating loneliness. “We want to ensure that no one is sitting home, isolated and sad,” she said. “Even if it’s only for 15 minutes, sharing time together builds opportunities.”

Transportation is key to IVC’s mission, but some volunteers do far more, such as inviting their care receiver to a movie, said Jackie Fabbri, volunteer program manager. “When we create companionship, that’s when this becomes interesting.”

The pandemic forced IVC to slow down and rethink how to meet needs, said Lynn Murphy, life enrichment program manager.

One result: To maintain a personal connection, IVC matched care receivers with care givers in a phone buddy program.

One particular appeal for IVC volunteers, Maher said, is the ability to work an hour, a day or even once a year. “As long pnwbainbridge.com

49

as you want to volunteer and have gone through the background check, you’re free to give what you can.”

Still, IVC continues to be stymied by some pandemic effects, Maher said. “We used to take people to Seattle for doctor appointments, but (volunteer drivers) are reluctant to do that now,” she said. “It’s the ferry system.”

Creating a Sense of Community

Expanding the Volunteer Pool To attract new people, the history museum organized virtual programs, where potential volunteers could learn about the museum’s mission, history and volunteer opportunities, Buell said. The museum also reestablished partnerships with local schools and universities, offering internships and volunteer positions.

“These initiatives not only brought in fresh faces but also helped the museum connect with younger generations who could contribute new perspectives and skills,” Buell said.

Today, Helpline has 85 to 95 people who volunteer in some capacity each week, said Kerry Lavigne, volunteer services manager. “We have people who do grocery rescue, handle operations, work in the foodbank.”

A few high school students donate an hour or two a week after school in behind-the-scenes jobs, such as breaking down cardboard boxes, repackaging food into smaller quantities or restocking the front-porch pantry, where people can pick up food they need after hours, Lavigne said.

50

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

Routinely, Helpline receives two or three volunteer applications a week, Lavigne said. “But they don’t always turn into volunteers, because situations change. We reach out to them on a regular basis for up to a year” to see if they are ready to start volunteering.

Helpline also is looking for ways to accommodate volunteers with specific requirements while still filling its needs, she said. That could range from working on a spot basis as a substitute in the foodbank to handling a job that can be done seated.

Some people even volunteer before they head to work, Lavigne said, including early morning pick-up of food donations from Safeway and Town & Country.

“They are trained about procedures and get the items that are needed that day.

We even have a couple who work on the weekends.”

Volunteers are the lifeblood of nonprofit organizations, and island groups aim to make their unpaid workers feel cherished.

Many of them use appreciation events and parties to boost camaraderie and loyalty.

“By creating a supportive and inclusive environment, we hope to encourage volunteers to stay on board and become ambassadors for the (history) museum in the community,” Buell said.

Helpline volunteers, for example, enjoyed getting together at an event at Fletcher Bay Winery. Lavigne said it was a chance for them to meet new people and to catch up with old friends. Some of them already knew each other from volunteering at more than one place on Bainbridge, she noted. “They were delighted they got to see each other.”

Volunteering is a two-way street.

People want to give back to their community, but they also are seeking a sense of personal connection, said Tollefson, BIMA’s education director. For island newcomers, it’s especially appealing to have an instant peer group, she said.

“Volunteering is not academic,” Tollefson said. At BIMA, “you don’t have to learn facts about art. It’s a chance to learn together.”

HAPPY RESIDENTS. HAPPY FAMILIES. Independent & Assisted Living • Premier independent and assisted living apartments with studio, 1 bedroom, and 2 bedroom options • Gorgeous water views • 3rd floor Sky Lounge and deck • Accommodating active lifestyles • Exceptional dining at Gerald’s Restaurant

Fieldstone Memory Care Now open & accepting residents

Fieldstone Rolling Bay Independent & Assisted Living Now open & accepting residents

JoyfulandVibrant.com

JoyfulandVibrant.com

10861 Manitou Park Boulevard NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 | (206) 222-6048

(Re)imagining

Inclusivity

BY LUCIANO MARANO

PHOTOS BY ANNIE GRAEBNER

There’s more room in the spotlight than you’d think.

Inclusivity is a word one hears quite a bit in our current cultural moment. The practice of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized is being realized across nearly every aspect of society and spurring discussions which, not so long ago, would likely never have happened. Several key artistic institutions on Bainbridge Island are doing their parts, rising to the challenge of meeting the special needs of the neurodiverse community through new partnerships, additions to programming, and even facility improvements.

I. What’s the word?

According to the University of Washington, terms such as “neurodiverse” and “neurodivergent” were introduced in the 1990s by sociologist Judy Singer as an alternative to then-common deficit-based language, such as “disorder.”

Someone who is neurodivergent may be on the autism spectrum, or, more generally, somebody whose brain processes information in a way that is not typical of most individuals. Such people may have learning disabilities, attention deficit and anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder or Tourette’s syndrome, among other conditions.

While neurodiversity is most often used to describe a particular group of people, it could really refer to all of us, since everyone processes information in their own individual way.

II. A room of one’s own Both the programming and Bainbridge Performing Arts’ new facility itself have been designed with inclusivity in mind, said executive director Elizabeth Allum.

“Truly, BPA is a space for everyone,” she said, “from the 3-year-olds to the 93-year-olds.”

And she isn’t speaking metaphorically, either.

Not long ago the BPA education program’s youngest student was, in fact, 3 and the oldest a nonagenarian.

52

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

pnwbainbridge.com

53

“She’d never taken an acting class before,” Allum said. “Life goals, really and truly—it was inspirational! And that speaks to one aspect, just one aspect, of when we talk about inclusivity and access.”

The recently unveiled Buxton Center for Bainbridge Performing Arts also boasts greater accessibility for wheelchair and walker users in the main theatre, administrative areas and for performers backstage as well.

No matter your level of involvement, there’s no barrier.

Additionally, the facility has a special sensory access room, where patrons so inclined can enjoy the show from a slightly removed space that features even more legroom and adjustable lighting and volume controls.

As opposed to select performances being offered as sensory-inclusive, wherein lighting and sound settings are adapted and audience conduct expectations are relaxed, Allum contends that having a separate designated space available as needed gives BPA the means to better engage audience members with special needs.

“The production isn’t changed, it’s the same production that everybody is seeing. It’s just that you can experience it in a different way,” she said.

On stage, too, BPA is taking steps to broaden access, partnering with several local organizations that specialize in fostering community engagement for those living with varying levels of neurodivergence, including Neurodiverse Connections and Vitalize Kitsap (formerly Island Time Activities).

Neurodiverse Connections played a crucial part in BPA’s production of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” which centers around a neurodiverse individual as the main character. Members of Vitalize Kitsap are now taking things one step further and staging their own performance of the show.

54

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

“We’ve fostered a strong partnership with this incredible organization, offering weekly drama classes and helping them to develop a sensory-inclusive performance piece that will be presented in the new studio space in the Buxton Center,” Allum said. “I can’t overstate how wonderful this organization is.”

Kellie Creamer, executive director of Vitalize Kitsap, said the experience of partnering with BPA has been excellent and the benefits for members nearly incalculable. “They’ve just grown so much,” she said. “Learning all kinds of drama skills and voice projection.”

The acquiring of confidence and alternative communication techniques hasn’t been limited to the chattier students, either. Even some of Vitalize Kitsap’s non-verbal participants have, after several rehearsals, become surprisingly comfy in the spotlight, Creamer said.

“You’re sometimes not even sure if they’re listening or they’re understanding,” Creamer said. “But based on all of the practices and the drills that we’ve done in the drama [program] we can see that they are understanding … it’s just been incredible.”

III. All part of the show “We are lucky to live in such an inclusive community,” said Brian Guy, a Bainbridge resident and activist for greater inclusion in regional performing arts programs.

“Anyone and everyone should be able to experience theater.”

In addition to his work arranging sensory-friendly productions in Seattle at both the 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT Theatre, Guy is cofounder of the

island-based nonprofit Neurodiversity Allies and board member of Bainbridge Island Special Needs Foundation (Stephen’s House) and Ovation! Performing Arts Northwest, and was instrumental in making possible the first sensory-friendly performance of “A Christmas Carol” at ACT Theatre.

“I love bringing like-minded nonprofits together,” Guy said. “We currently have several island-based nonprofits partnering together to benefit our neurodivergent community.”

Specifically, Guy said a performance has been scheduled during which the Ovation! choir, Crescendo!, will sing for the members of Vitalize Kitsap and Stephen’s House.

“This brings equal joy to the audience members and to the performers.”

And there’s more joy to come.

“We will have more announcements soon, and the [Neurodiversity Allies] site will keep the community updated about the various inclusive shows. We have at least five coming up in Seattle, all walkable from the ferry, and a few coming up on Bainbridge,” said Guy. An outspoken proponent for sensory-inclusive performances, Guy explained that such programing, scheduled in advance and advertised as such, supplements a company’s traditional performances and provides an “altered audience environment” where expectations are relaxed. He prefers this approach to the use of a separate sensory-friendly space.

“We want all patrons to experience theater from the main auditorium and not be segregated,” Guy said. “Special sensory spaces are wonderful when supplemental.

Everyone is welcome in the main auditorium at a sensory-inclusive show.”

Plans are in the works to create additional opportunities for the ND community to become even more involved, said Dr. Daniela Ferdico, cofounder of Sensory Access, one of Neurodiversity Allies partners, which facilitates accessibility for those with sensory processing difficulties.

“We are excited to be partnering with Neurodiversity Allies to bring the first sensory-friendly performances to Bainbridge Island with Ovation!

Performing Arts Northwest,” she said. “We are also in discussions with inD Theatre to bring Sensory Guides to their shows.”

These guides provide a breakdown of the different sensory impacts in a performance, allowing patrons to prepare in advance for all the sights, sounds and emotions they will encounter.

“Inclusion in theater is about allowing all individuals to experience a performance alongside their community,” Ferdico added.

“While it is always nice to have a separate space available in case someone needs to step out and reset their sensory system, it is critically important that everyone be able to enjoy the experience together in a non-segregated fashion.”

Sensory Access and Neurodiversity Allies, both headquartered on Bainbridge, are also working on active sensory-friendly projects with Ovation! Performing Arts Northwest and inD Theatre.

It’s like the Bard once said: All the world’s a stage.

The only difference is that now, finally, we’re a lot closer to everyone being able to play their part. pnwbainbridge.com

55

magic moments

Siren SONGS The holiday season on Bainbridge comes with its own special traditions: the tree

BY GEORGE

SOLTES lighting at Town Square, cozy evenings by the fire during power outages, dustings of snow PHOTOS COURTESY BIFD that send Teslas around the island into ditches and, of course, a roving musical firetruck.

The Bainbridge Island Fire Department’s music truck has been taking holiday cheer to the streets for more than 50 years, said BIFD Community Risk Reduction Coordinator Janine Courtemanche.

The firetruck, decorated with lights, banners and tinsel and outfitted with a speaker system, cruises through island neighborhoods playing holiday tunes during the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Wherever revelers gather, the crew hops off to visit and pass out candy canes.

Music truck duty is a favorite assignment among both career and volunteer firefighters, said Courtemanche. “Although not a charity event, we receive many treats and donations enroute,” she added. “The treats are brought back to the station and shared with the crew, monetary gifts are added to the Bainbridge Island Volunteer Firefighters Association fund (which in turn provides goods and services to our community) and any toys are donated to either Children’s Hospital or Toys for Tots.”

To find out when a festive first responder will be coming down your street, visit bifd.org, where the tour schedule and map will be revealed during the first week of December and where, for those wanting to pinpoint the position of the sirened sleigh at any moment, a real-time tracking app is available.

56

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

Photo by Anna Carson

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for three years in a row!

400 Winslow Way East, Suite 110 Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 206.780.8399 furnishbainbridge.com

feast on this

BY JEFF FRAGA PHOTOS BY DINAH SATTERWHITE

PROPER FISH There’s no place like this place, so this must be the place Stand on the corner of Winslow Way and Madison on a summer day and you can almost see them marching toward you. Drawn in by what many call the Seattle area’s best fish & chips, the anticipation grows.

“Look! There it is!”

The sign reads simply, “proper fish,” and on a beautiful Bainbridge afternoon, people are happy to wait for up to an hour to sample the perfectly fried Alaska cod filets.

Before it was Proper Fish, it was a wildly popular Seattle food truck called Nosh, founded by London native Harvey Wolff, who had visions that went beyond the mobile eatery. His search for a suitable restaurant space brought him to Bainbridge Island. Soon Proper Fish was born—in a permanent location off Winslow Way—and the awards followed, including four consecutive Best of Bainbridge awards.

And, while Proper Fish has changed owners – it’s now co-owned by Heriberto Quintero and Ana Silva – they still use the original recipe from the Nosh truck. “We use Alaskan line-caught cod from the Bering Sea, dipped in local beer batter and served on a pseudo-London newspaper with house-made tartar sauce and a side of mushy peas, “said Quintero. “Each filet weighs in at a hefty 10 to 12 ounces and is carefully hand-battered in a secret blend of seasonings, ensuring a crispy golden coating that locks in the succulent flavors,” added Silva.

As Englishman Wolff might say, “Cod save the king!”

Proper Fish 112 Madison Avenue North 206-855-5051

pnwbainbridge.com

59

feast on this

Amelia Wynn

Winery Bistro: It’s service that sets it apart On the leafy corner of Ericksen Avenue and Winslow Way, a restaurant aspires to greatness. And by combining a top menu and dining experience with an emphasis on impeccable service, Amelia Wynn Winery Bistro intends to achieve it.

Making it happen are Nick Van Den Bosch, front of house manager and wine director; Erika Johannsen, director of operations and bar manager; and chef de cuisine Gulsidel Valazquez Ayala.

“Our front of house ownership team brings service experience from James Beard award-winning locations, Michelin star restaurants, some of San Francisco’s favorite cocktail spots and everything in between,” said Johannsen. “We’d like folks to know that we are a team of three equals in ownership, who love this business.”

In the kitchen, Valazquez Ayala has created a menu that combines contemporary Pacific Northwest cuisine with Spanish flair. The restaurant also serves a full brunch menu, from waffles to a luscious burger.

As might be expected in a restaurant that got its start as a wine tasting venue, the bistro offers a wide range of tastings, as well as wine for sale by the bottle or case.

Van Den Bosch argues that as a restaurant, the bistro’s food is important, but service is what sets it apart.

Johannsen summed up the restaurant’s philosophy. “We believe fine dining is not solely defined by white linens and a curated atmosphere,” she said. “It’s built on the knowledge and education of our staff, the execution of thoughtful service and a reverence for everything we send out on a plate.”

Amelia Wynn Winery Bistro 390 Winslow Way East, 206-451-4965 info@ameliawynnwinerybistro.com 60

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

feast on this

Madison

DINER

Keep it simple and do the basics: That’s the not-so-secret sauce You might do a double take when you see the Madison Diner for the first times, an authentic 1940s diner, right in the heart of downtown Bainbridge Island.

And, while it still has that unmistakable diner vibe, its customer service gestalt is right out of the 21st century. “Philosophically, we don’t have customers, we have guests,” said David Shaw, who owns and operates Madison Diner with his wife, Lucia. “And we don’t have employees, we have team members. It’s a mindset for us. I want my team thinking of guests—not customers—when someone comes into our establishment.”

Then there’s the food, which can best be described as diner meets farm-to-table. “We make our own breakfast sausages and chorizo,” said Shaw, “plus sauces, pickles, biscuits, Hollandaise sauce and much more.” Shaw also partners with Bainbridge Island’s Vireo Farms, which he said supplies the diner with a substantial portion of its fresh produce. “Our goal is to provide quality and locally sourced home-cooked meals that appeal to a variety of tastes while remaining true to American diner classics.”

And unlike the ersatz offerings of themed chains, the diner is in fact, a diner. It was built in 1948 and located on a street corner in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Years later, falling into disrepair, the diner was disassembled in pieces, numbered, and shipped across the country to Bainbridge Island, where it was restored on its current site.

There’s no mistaking the real thing.

Madison Diner, 305 Madison Avenue North, 206-842-5786

LUXURY IS AN EXPERIENCE, NOT A PRICE POINT. Is it time to unlock the true market value of your island property? Kristi Nelson specializes in helping discerning sellers, like you, realize the full potential of their luxury homes.

When it’s time to transition to your next adventure, Kristi will guide you with professionalism, discretion, and a deep understanding of the unique Bainbridge Island real estate market.

GLOBAL REAL ESTATE ADVISOR kristi.nelson@rsir.com 206.391.1718 livingonbainbridgeisland.com

FOR A FREE MARKET VALUE REPORT OF YOUR HOME, SCAN THE QR CODE OR CONTACT KRISTI DIRECTLY.

© 2023 Sotheby’s International Realty. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark and used with permission. Each Sotheby’s International Realty office is independently owned and operated, except those operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. The Sotheby’s International Realty network fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.

pnwbainbridge.com

61

winter 1. Festive Nights, Holiday Lights Winslow’s winter holiday celebrations kick off the Saturday after Thanksgiving with a tree lighting and live music at Town Square (280 Madison Avenue). Rumor has it that Santa may be in attendance. December 7 and 21 will also see some stores open until 7 p.m. in Winslow, with the festivities centered around Madrone Lane.

November 25, 6 p.m. — Holiday Lights December 7, 21 — Lights on the Lane bainbridgedowntown.org

1

2. Winter Studio Tour The Winter Studio Tour celebrates its 40th anniversary this year with a cadre of regular artists as well as plenty of newcomers. As always, the holidays are the perfect opportunity to connect with and support local artists and makers (and discover some truly unique treasures).

December 1 - 3, 12-5 p.m. bistudiotour.com 3. Cinderella at Ovation!

Before she was a Disney Princess, some speculate that the character of Cinderella first cropped up in an ancient Greek tale.

Between Disney and the ancients, the story of Cinderella has seen hundreds of adaptations. Ovation! will be taking on Rodger and Hammerstein’s musical version.

December 1 – 10, 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 5 p.m. on Sundays, with a special sensory-inclusive matinee at 2 p.m. on December 9. ovationmtb.com

3

8. Holiday Hootenanny and Sing Along at Lynwood Theater Carrie Clark’s beloved Holiday Hootenanny has generated a corps of loyal fans in its two decades at venues around Seattle.

Clark is joined by musicians from a handful of local groups who perform holiday classics in unexpected styles (think cabaret, punk rock) designed to get you moving.

December 16, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Tickets at eventbrite.com 9. Polar Plunge at Lytle Beach Year-round cold-water swimming seems to be on the rise these days with a number of groups touting the benefits of their frigid forays around the Pacific Northwest.

But you don’t have to be a regular to appreciate the benefits (it really does wake you up) of a New Year Polar Plunge.

January 1, noon (but good to arrive 5 minutes early)

4

5. Chava Mirel at WEAVE Presents A multi-award-winning artist whose work spans genres (she’s the vocalist for jazz fusion group Duende Libre but has also covered Alice in Chains), Chava Mirel will be at Rolling Bay Hall to offer jazz arrangements of Chanukah songs in anticipation of this year’s Festival of Lights. All are welcome.

December 2, 7:30 p.m. weavepresents.org PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

7. Soul Kata at WEAVE Soul Kata turns out original, danceable soul-pop tunes inspired by Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Alicia Keys. Members of the Seattle-based group have pursued their own musical trajectories over the years, and according to vocalist/ keyboardist Josh Rawlings, the reunion at Rolling Bay Hall is sure to be “epic.”

December 9, 7:30 p.m. weavepresents.org

2

4. Beauty and the Beast at BPA Consciously or not, BPA and Ovation seem to have coordinated their winter musicals this year, so if you’re on a fairytale kick, you’re in luck. Like Cinderella, the story of Beauty and the Beast originated in the pre-Disney era, but it’s the much-loved Disney classic that BPA will present.

December 1 - 17, Fridays 7:30 p.m., Saturdays 2 p.m., Sundays 3 p.m. (Pay-what-you-can preview on November 30, 7:30 p.m.) bainbridgeperformingarts.org

62

6. Welcome Wednesday at Bloedel While it’s usually fall colors or spring blooms that call visitors to Bloedel Reserve, a winter visit can be the perfect escape from the doldrums that may set in as the days get colder and shorter. Bloedel offers pay-what-you-can community days every first Wednesday of the month.

Timed tickets must be reserved in advance.

December 6, January 3, February 7 bloedelreserve.org

6

7

10. Tomo Nakayama at Manor House Tomo Nakayama’s musical catalog (ranging from melodic and complex to sincere and folksy) has earned him local and national praise. The Seattleite’s most recent album took a surprising (and fun) turn to synthpop, a testament to his versatility and experimental drive.

February 3, 6:30-9 p.m. pleasantbeachvillage.org

10

Winter Night Market

Join us on the plaza for Lights, Music, Food, and Shopping

Dec 1 & 2 • 4-8pm

Dec 8 WURLIPOP IN CONCERT

@ 7pm Take a soulful and funky spin through your favorite

holiday playlist—from Otis Redding to Wham!, WurliPop (Korum Bischoff, Lucas Cheadle, Danny Figgins, and Stina Tillotson) will surely get your toes tapping, your hands clapping, and maybe even coax you into singing along.

Dec 9 ACE CHOIR —

@ 7pm THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL ENSEMBLE

This lightning bolt of positivity returns to BIMA with their message of hope, help, and healing. The brainchild of NAAM Executive Director LaNesha DeBardelaben, and led by musical director Jason Turner, ACE brings together vocal talent from various Seattle-area church groups to form one powerful and inspiring musical force.

Dec 16 SERA CAHOONE IN CONCERT @ 7pm BIMA welcomes Americana singer-songwriter

Sera Cahoone. Now a solo artist with a burgeoning following, Cahoone first broke onto the scene with the fan-fave indie rock group, Carissa’s Weird, and later with Band of Horses.

DETAILS AND TICKETS:

WWW.BIARTMUSEUM.ORG

Shop PNW Vendors DIY Activities Live Music & Performances Holiday Themed Drinks for all ages FREE Movies in the BIMA Auditorium FREE Photo Booth & more!

MANY THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

FREE ADMISSION • Open Daily, 10am-5pm Galleries open 5-8pm for First Friday Art Walk

550 Winslow Way East, Bainbridge Island W W W. B I A RT M U S E U M .O RG

In focus

It’s a Cloud, It’s a Plane...

Laura Clement’s daily morning

BY GEORGE

SOLTES walk along Manzanita Road seemed to PHOTO BY enter a time warp in mid-August when LAURA CLEMENT she looked up to see a World War II bomber rumbling overhead. The B-17, which turned out to be part of a historic military plane tour, “was sitting heavy and low in the sky doing a pattern.”

“I figured that was my one cool thing to see for the day,” she said.

At twilight, however, the children’s author and photographer, who always keeps an eye out for beautiful and unusual images, peered up and got another surprise.

“During my evening walk,” Clement said, “the sky bloomed with clouds and sunset, and above Seabold Farm, out over the Salish Sea, I saw another plane, only this one, though similar in shape, was made of clouds with a rainbow sheen.

I snapped a shot thinking that the magic and beauty of the sight wouldn’t translate...but maybe it did.”

64

PNW BAINBRIDGE WINTER 2023

ORIGINAL PODCAST

paula

MORE THAN INSURANCE, PEACE OF MIND FOR ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR

{weissinger}

206.855.0855 | paulamyagent.com

STATE FARM INSURANCE AGENT, ChFC, CPCU, CLU, MBA