In this podcast, we get first-hand information for voters from City Mayor Anne Blair, Police Chief Matt Hamner, and the Treasurer of Islanders for a Secure Bainbridge, Tom McCloskey.

Their podcast explains this Fall's Proposition 1 ballot measure which would fund the consolidation of our Bainbridge Island police department, local court, and emergency operations center, in a central location adjacent to City Hall.

They explain that the Police Department is currently housed in a converted 1945 fire station that is structurally unsafe and deficient in many areas that would prevent our the Department from becoming accredited under State law. They also point out that the property at Route 305 and Winslow Way is in a commercially desirable location that - if sold - could raise a substantial amount of money toward the construction of a combined facility for police, courts and emergency operations.

The information provided in the podcast is also available on the website of Islanders for a Secure Bainbridge.

Credits: BCB host, audio editor and publisher: Barry Peters.

This is the second episode in this Fall’s "Election 2015" series on BCB.

It's an interview with the two local candidates for a position with a 6-year term on the 5-member board of the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District -- incumbent Ken DeWitt and challenger John Grinter.

John Grinter describes himself as a stay-at-home dad of school-aged kids and a long-time proponent of non-motorized transportation.

Ken, who has served on the Parks Board since 2000, describes himself as a dad and grandfather, a long-time community volunteer and a financial professional.

In this podcast, BCB asked each candidate the following six questions, which had been provided to the candidates in advance:

• Why did you decide to run (or run for re-election) for the position on the Parks Board?
• What relevant experience and skills do you bring to the position?
• How is the Parks and Recreation District doing? What is it doing well for the community? What are its unsolved problems?
• What are the key challenges or opportunities that you believe will face the Parks and Recreation District in the next six years?
• What are the most important outcomes you'd like to accomplish during your 6-year term from 2016 to 2021?
• What style of interaction do you plan to bring to the Parks and Recreation District - that is, with other Board members, with Park and Rec staff, and with community members?

After BCB’s questions, each candidate was offered a chance to ask the other one spontaneous question.

Ken asked John: If you had the power to change just one thing about how the Park District manages its delivery of services and programs, what would it be and why?

John then asked Ken about a proposal that John and other some other citizen volunteers have sought for several years -- a pathway behind the Sakai and Woodward schools to link Winslow to the Hilltop and Grand Forest properties -- and asked why the Parks Board hasn't taken up that proposal.

Credits: BCB host, audio editor and publisher: Barry Peters.

From BCB...

http://bestofbcb.org/tast-006-farmers-market-september-26/

Listen in as BCB host Bob Ross wanders through the September 26 Farmers Market on Bainbridge Island to meet our vendors and learn what's fresh and tasty this week.

This program is the first of a new series of Farmers Market specials that will be regularly presented as part of the “Tastes of Bainbridge” podcast shows on BCB.

Ross, a landscape architect and garden consultant and relatively new member of the Bainbridge Island community, brings several years of Farmer’s Market broadcasting experience to the scene.

The series will focus upon local Farmers’ Market producers and vendors with the hope of encouraging more local participation in the weekly market as listeners learn more about the myriad of products grown locally and made available through the seasons.  We’ll also be interviewing many of the visitors to the Market, local chefs who are regulars and cookbook writers and authors committed to the ‘local is good’ philosophy.

Credits: BCB host: Bob Ross; audio editor: Chris Walker; publishers Chris and Diane Walker.

From BCB...

http://bestofbcb.org/wu-187-october-at-the-bainbridge-library/

In October the library will display photographs taken by deaf children in Ometepe, our sister city in Nicaragua, and present an amazing set of events.

Presentations for the month include:

•  Opera: Bizet's The Pearl Fishers: October 3, 2-4pm

•  Composting with John Barutt: October 16, 1-2:30 pm

•  All about Kitsap Humane Society: October 17, 10-11:30 am

•  Island Theatre presents Copenhagen: October 17-18 at 7pm

•  The Art of Ekphrastic Poetry: October 20, 7-8:30 pm

•  Safaris through Southern Africa: October 21, 7:30-9pm

•  The Salon: October 23, 1:30-3 pm

•  Poetry with Michelle Bombardier: October 28, 7-9 pm

... and a special double feature for Halloween, to be offered Friday, October 30, from 7-9:30 pm: The Serpent and the Rainbow, and Body Snatchers (the 1993 version).

Do come join us -- and plan to have a great time!

Credits: BCB host and audio editor: Joanna Pyle; publishers Chris and Diane Walker.

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/wildfire-benefit-at-st-barnabas-september-27/

Haunted by images of the wildfires that devastated hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land in the Chelan and Okanagan regions, a group of Bainbridge Island artists and musicians have banded together for a benefit performance and auction to raise money for wildfire relief.

The Wildfire Benefit, to be held this Sunday, September 27, from 7 to 9 pm at the St. Barnabas Parish Hall, will feature a silent auction of works by local artists, music by the Anne Pell Trio, information about the wildfires, and a brief update from the Bainbridge Island Fire Department, which sent personnel to help fight fires in the Chelan region. 

Artists who have donated work for the silent auction include Mary Agrell Stroeing, Hilary Goldblatt, Paul Brians, Victoria Foster Harrison, Gillian Bull, Diane Walker and Dion Zwirner.  A book donated by Eagle Harbor Books and a quilted table runner from the Mongolian Quilting Center will also be auctioned off.

Wine from Rolling Bay Winery will be served with light hors d'oeuvres, and there will be a suggested donation of $20. All proceeds from the evening will go to the Chelan Valley Wildfire Relief Fund.

Credits: BCB host: Channie Peters;  audio editor: Chris Walker; publisher Diane Walker.

Be sure to listen to "What's Up" at the BARN!

This is the first of a new monthly series of BCB "What's Up" podcasts. Each episode will highlight the workshops and other creative project activities of the following calendar month at the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN).

The center is currently in Rolling Bay, but a new 24,000 square foot building will soon start construction.

Catherine Camp is BCB's guide to BARN activities. She is the operations and program chair for the BARN board of directors. She delights in the variety of BARN activities and shares anecdotes about the creative energy that surrounds them.

In this monthly series of BCB podcast radio interviews, she will highlight upcoming activities in any and all of the ten craft areas offered by the BARN at their Rolling Bay studios:

• Fiber arts
• Jewelry making
• Glass
• Kitchen arts
• Writing
• Printmaking and book arts
• Woodworking and small boat building
• Metal machining
• Welding
• Electronic and technical arts

In this episode, she describes the following October events in greater detail:

• Fiber art: Weaving Fundamentals for Beginners, with Deb Sweet, on Wednesday afternoons from October 7th.
• Jewelry: Sublime Silver Stack Rings, with Julia Loather, on Friday October 9th, from 10am to 2pm.
• Writing: Live Through This - An Historical Fiction Writing Class, with celebrated writer Kathleen Alcala, on six Wednesday evenings from October 14th.
• Woodshop: Introduction to Wood Turning of Bowls, with Lee Stollar, on two Saturdays from 10am to noon, starting October 31st.

For more information, visit the BARN website.

Credits: BCB host: Joanna Pyle; BCB audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.

In this podcast, we meet Tommy Dillon -- the new Rector of Grace Episcopal Church on Bainbridge Island.

This is the second interview in the new BCB series called "Clergy on Bainbridge", which is part of the podcast radio show known as "Who's on Bainbridge."

Tommy Dillon his process of learning about Grace and Bainbridge during the lengthy and extensive search process conducted by Grace Church. The congregation was seeking to replace their long-time minister, Bill Harper, who had given generous advance notice of his decision to retire from his leadership role at Grace. The voting members of the congregation (the Vestry) unanimously voted to call Tommy after receiving the endorsement of the ten trusted and diverse members of the Grace Call Committee.

Tommy has been in service as rector at Grace since mid-summer 2015, and his official installation ceremony is scheduled for September 29th of this year.

Tommy describes his prior service as rector of the St. Aidan's Episcopal Church in the urban core of San Francisco. He also reflects on his prior ministry in a suburban/rural area of Louisiana, before he moved to San Francisco.

In this podcast, Tommy describes his love for the inspirational beauty of Bainbridge Island. He also reflects on the ways in which he is already participating in leadership and engagement in the wider Bainbridge and Kitsap community, for example, to the LGBTQ community. Following a proclamation adopted by the City Council of Bainbridge Island, Tommy organized a successful gay pride event in August with scores of participants. 

Credits: BCB host, editor and publisher: Barry Peters.

After 37 years in the food business, Joe Pulichiccio is not only the produce manager for Town and Country Markets, but also our information source for what's fresh and tasty in the produce aisle. He's the author of the "Fresh Talker" blog on the T&C website.

And, in this 25 minute podcast, he shares his insights about fresh fruits and vegetables that you can find in the produce section of the T&C Market. He's joined in our BCB studio by Becky Fox Marshall of the T&C marketing team.

During his mid-September conversation with BCB, he naturally talks about the incoming crop of apples that are now arriving at T&C. His favorite -- the Jonagold.  Other apples that Joe finds worthy of note -- Honey Crisp; Envy; Fuji (especially those from the northern growing areas of Washington) - and especially the Fuji offshoot called Kiku.

Joe describes the T&C Market search for quality, and his related desire to make local sourcing a factor in his purchasing decisions.  How local is local? He offers examples of Bainbridge Island crops found at T&C and then describes the crops that are best sourced in supermarket quantities from nearby Northwest Washington, or from other parts of Washington state, or from the northwestern US region or British Columbia.

Joe uses the example of asparagus to illustrate how he sources a produce item from a series of locales -- from one to another throughout the seasons -- from sources that are right for the season.

And Joe shares his thoughts on the factors affecting crops, prices and farming over the long term -- from changing climate, drought and diminishing water supplies, to difficulties finding farm labor. He talks about the challenges of maintaining in our country the combination of small, medium and large farms that we've been blessed to have in the past.

Credits: BCB host, audio editor and publisher: Barry Peters.

In this podcast, BCB offers two City Council candidates a set of neutral impartial questions for each of them to answer.  Responding to the questions are our two competing candidates for a 4-year term in the At-Large position on the 7-member Bainbridge Island City Council.

Pegeen Mulhern describes herself as a mom, community volunteer, business owner and attorney.

Ron Peltier is a self-described carpenter, long-time islander and environmentalist.

In this 28-minute podcast, each was offered up to 2 minutes to answer each of the following six questions:

• Why did you decide to run for City Council?
• What relevant experience and skills would you bring to the position?
• How is the City doing? What is it doing well for the community, and what not so well? What are its unsolved problems?
• What are the key challenges or opportunities that you believe will face the City in the next four years?
• What are the most important outcomes you'd like to accomplish during your term?
• What style of interaction would you like to bring to City Council - that is, with other Council members? With City staff? With community members?

At the end, each asked a spontaneous question of the other.  Pegeen asked Ron about his position on the Shoreline Management Program. Ron asked Pegeen about a plan for the island's limited groundwater.

City Council elections are non-partisan races. Nevertheless, both Pegeen and Ron requested and won an approval from the 23rd Legislative District Democrats.

Credits: For BCB: Barry Peters

In this podcast, two employees of Town & Country Market describe the remarkable results of the 18-month renovation of the iconic downtown Winslow Way food market.

And they preview the celebratory open house party that's set for Thursday September 17th, from 6pm to 8pm. Stop by for free food samples amidst music from a local jazz combo.

We hear from Steve Vadset, assistant to store manager Rick Pedersen, and Becky Fox Marshall of the T&C marketing team. They describe the new store features that resulted from the very extensive renovation, and talk about the experience of keeping the store open to shoppers while the store transformed itself.

Among the new in-store features are:

• the new Recipes Bar, with the ability to consult thousands of online recipes for dishes demo'd in the store;
• a staffed sushi bar that will open soon;
• customer seating for more than 100 so you can dine on what you buy in the store;
• an open-oven flatbread cafe, near the coffee-espresso bar and not far from the open bars for salads, olives and hot dishes;
• a flavor aisle with bulk spices and herbs; and
• a draft beer station where you can bring your glass growler jug for a refill.

Behind the scenes, it's a story of remarkable energy savings. On the roof, there are 120 new solar panels. There's now 49 percent less energy used per square foot. T&C was the first private-sector project to use an energy-conservation bond from the state Housing Finance Commission. And T&C is seeking a LEED Gold green-building certification.

Racks supply lockable spaces for dozens of bicycles, and many new trees have been planted. Electric cars will find two recharge stations.

Credits: BCB host, audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.

On Saturday Sept 19th, you can experience at no charge an all-day Fall Sample of services offered by the Dayaalu Center in Winslow. The free sampling is running from 11:00am - 6:30pm, and you can attend all or part of the day.

The offerings include a diverse selection of classes and teachers -- such as yoga, Feldenkrais and 5Rhythms dance.  There will also be massage, acupuncture and short presentations on nutrition and health.

In this podcast, Sue Steindorf, founder and director of the Dayaalu Center, talks about the unique combination of yoga classes, bodyworkers, therapists, and health professionals that share the common purpose of the Center.

It is often a surprise to newcomers at the Center to learn why and how the drive to healthy living needs to encompass more than just the activity of yoga. Yet yoga was one of the starting points for Sue as founder of the Center.

Listen in this podcast to Sue describe how she chose the name Dayaalu,  what it means and how it represents the core teachings of the Center.

Register for this free event at Dayaalu Center by visiting the Center's website, or by emailing or calling Sue.

Credits: BCB host: Jennifer Waldron; BCB audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.

In this podcast, John Ellis and Frank Buxton describe the series of six classic Film Noir movies in a series of dinner and movie nights they are hosting at the Art Museum auditorium.

For six Tuesday evenings, starting Sept 22, there will be a movie shown in the comfortable movie theater auditorium at the Museum.  A prior dinner is optional. The Auditorium seats about 100, with a wall-sized big screen and excellent high fidelity sound. A question and comment period follows each show.

The series starts with Chinatown, with a special guest who is the founder of the Film Noir Foundation. Plus, there will be an optional grand opening dinner at the Bistro.

Other films in the series will include (not necessarily in this order):

• Criss-Cross - classic 1949 black-and-white cinematography, starring Burt Lancaster;
• Double Indemnity - the essential film noir film, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson;
• Sunset Boulevard - with Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Buster Keaton;
• In a Lonely Place - with Humphrey Bogart; and
• Blood Simple - the first feature release (1984) by the successful Coen brothers team.

Tickets are limited and can be obtained from the BIMA website.

John and Frank are also known for their comedy improv group -- The Edge -- that has performed for almost 20 years at BPA. Turns out they are both movie enthusiasts. Last year, they hosted several film series at BIMA -- on silent films, comedies and film noir. They are bringing back the film noir series by popular demand - with a new set of films.

Credits: BCB host, audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/wu-181-brown-bag-fridays-at-waterfront-park/

This September the Community Center kicks back into high gear with a new program called Brown Bag Fridays.  Here's what Sue Barrington, Manager of the Waterfront Park Community Center, tells us we can look forward to: 

 First Fridays: 11:45-1

Specialists from Kitsap Physical therapy offer news and research on various health-related topics.

 Second Fridays: 11:45-1

 Staff from the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, in partnership with the Land Trust and the Park District, will share information about local flora and fauna.

 Third Fridays: 11:45-1

Get to know your community leaders -- not their jobs, but their off-duty passions: from Dahlias to hot air balloons, expect the unexpected!

 Fourth Fridays: 11:45-1

Know your Non-Profits: valuable information about the programs and services offered by local non-profits.

In addition, because the Senior Center is receiving many calls about seniors being targeted for financial scams, there will be a local screening of a national movie called FLEECED, to be shown at the Community Center from 4-6 pm on Monday, September 28.  Come see, and learn how to cope with scam artists.

Credits: BCB host and studio tech: Joanna Pyle; BCB audio editors: Joanna Pyle and Chris Walker; Publishers Diane and Chris Walker.

In this insightful interview of sculptor David Eisenhour by Bainbridge Island Museum of Art executive director and curator Greg Robinson, we gain a sense of the artist’s development and evolution.

Over the decades, as Eisenhour relished the process of bronze sculpting, he also nurtured his love of nature and a continual discovery of the minute intricacies in the natural world.

In their conversation, Greg talks with David about what has driven his sculpting - process and subject matter.  And we learn how David’s growing concern about climate change’s effects on our natural world has moved him to focus our attention on the changes he sees in the oceans, including seawater acidification and the unprecedented increase in species such as jellyfish.

In particular, David talks about his intriguing jellyfish exhibit in the front windows of the art museum, facing the sidewalk along Winslow Way. David describes the significance of these jellyfish, the inspiration for them, and the captivating way they are exhibited, hanging from motorized gears that simulates how they might float in the ocean.

This is a delightful conversation that opens a fascinating window into the world of a thoughtful, sensitive sculptor.

Credits: BCB hosts: Channie Peters and Greg Robinson; BCB audio editor: Tim Bird; BCB social media publisher: Barry Peters.

In the first podcast of a new BCB series called "Clergy on Bainbridge", we welcome the co-minister of Cedars Unitarian Universalist Church, Jaco ten Hove.

Jaco and his wife Barbara have jointly served for 7 years as the settled ministers of Cedars, responding to a year-long national search in 2008.

In this interview, we explore with Jaco how he, as a clergy member, likes to practice in the wider community what he preaches with his congregation, such as:

• collaboration, for example, with other clergy in the Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap Interfaith Council;
• appreciation of nature, such as serving as a docent and advocate for the environmental learning center in the woods at IslandWood;
• addressing climate change, through projects, such as those of Sustainable Bainbridge and Island Power, that help achieve energy conservation and greener electrical power; and
• seeking peace, such as when he marched with his Zen Buddhist spiritual leader and friend Senji, from Olympia to the submarine nuclear weapons depot in western Kitsap.

Jaco says he appreciates that the Cedars congregation has chosen to conserve land and resources by sharing the lovely facilities of The Island School rather than consuming land and resources on a separate building.  He also appreciates how the Cedars congregation welcomes members of the LGBTQ community, and expresses a friendly welcome to worship service visitors of a wide variety of ages and life styles.

Jaco says visitors are invited to the weekly Cedars worship services at 10am each Sunday at The Island School at 8553 NE Day Road.

Credits: BCB host, editor and publisher: Barry Peters.

The Oatmeal Club meets for breakfast and camaraderie every Thursday morning at 7am sharp and ends precisely at 8:20 - typically after a guest's topical presentation and a lively Q&A session. It's been meeting and growing for 26 years, and there is now a long waiting list to join. This podcast interview with three of its long-time members examines the remarkable phenomenon of this long-lived informal group.

The men's Oatmeal Club has grown to become a legendary institution on Bainbridge Island since its founding by eight men at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church in 1989. And, after all those years, it now has a long waiting list of men -- mostly retirees -- wanting to become members. Yet it has no operating rules and no governing body. What's the secret for such lengthy success?

In this podcast, three long-time members of the Club -- Reid Hansen, Jim Kadlec and Don Marsh -- gather with BCB host Jack Armstrong to talk about the club's history, the benefits members experience by being part of it, and the amazingly diverse topics covered by its weekly speakers.

Recent presentations to the Club from outside invited guests have included discussions of climate science, the extinction of Aboriginals in Tasmania, bitcoins, the geology of Bainbridge Island, Supreme Court decisions, and the story of Ometepe (Bainbridge Island’s sister island in Nicaragua).

Listen to Reid, Jim and Don explore with Jack why the Oatmeal Club keeps going and growing after all these years.

Credits: BCB host: Jack Armstrong; BCB audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.

A sneak peek of the popular Port Townsend Film Festival comes to the BI Museum of Art at 7pm on Thursday, September 10th!

This exciting event will feature six short films, inside scoop on our special guests, Beau Bridges and Chris Cooper, and refreshments offered up by the art museum bistro.

Regardless whether you will be able to attend the 16th annual film festival in Port Townsend, you will be delighted by this preview.  The two are not mutually exclusive.  In fact, if you have been wondering whether to spend a day or two or three in beautiful Port Townsend, attending this sneak peek may just push you over the edge.

The six short films from the festival that you’ll see on September 10th are:

• Bodyteam 12: Directed by David Darg (13 minutes);
• What Cheer? Directed by Michael Slavens (19 minutes);
• On Beauty: Directed by Joanna Rudnick (30 minutes);
• An Education: A Father Daughter Trip of Discovery: Directed by Fitz Cahall (9 minutes);
• I Love You: Directed by Bianca Glaever (7 minutes);
• Afterglow: Directed by Nick Waggoner & Mike Brown (12 minutes).

Tickets to the BIMA preview -- "PTFF 2015" -- may be purchased for $10 in advance at Brown Paper Tickets, or that night at the door (cash or check only) if any of the 150 seats are still available.

Credits: BCB host: Channie Peters; BCB audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.