How many years have you been driving? 35, 45, more? Now you can refresh your driving skills -- and drop your insurance rates -- by taking the AARP driving classes for age 50 and above at the Bainbridge Island Senior Center.

In this podcast, BCB host and Senior Center director Reed Price introduces us to AARP driving instructor Peter Eddy. Peter teaches a quarterly AARP Driver Safety course at the Senior Center. The classes are targeted at adults 50 or older, and take 8 hours of class time over two days. Upcoming classes will begin on Feb. 8 and April 10.

The course is also available online, https://www.aarpdriversafety.org/, but Peter favors the in-class method, and not just because he's a teacher. Listen here as he describes why people take the course, what they've learned from it, what insights have been gained in conversations among participants, and why some people take the course more than once.

To register for one of the upcoming driving courses, call the Bainbridge Island Senior Center at 206-842-1616. Or, better yet, you can drop by the Center -- on Brien Drive across from Waterfront Park -- and learn first hand about this and other opportunities and activities provided there.

Credits: BCB host: Reed Price; BCB audio tech: Chris Walker; audio editor and publisher Diane Walker.

Local wines and chocolates: a perfect pairing for Valentine's Day! Listen here to learn what the Bainbridge Island Wineries and Bloedel are offering in celebration of this romantic holiday.

In this podcast Brooke Huffman, Executive Director of the Winery Alliance of Bainbridge Island, and Claire Donahue, Marketing and Communications Director of Bloedel Reserve, describe the special events they have in store for islanders and their visitors.

Featuring local wines, delicious local chocolates, and special gifts, Wine on the Rock, held over the weekend of February 10 and 11, is a special opportunity to visit all seven wineries on the island to sample both local wines and local chocolates.

And while you're out and about, you'll also want to take a walk through the Bloedel Reserve and visit the many landscape features presented to Virginia Bloedel by her loving husband, Prentice. Visit Bloedel between February 9-11 or 13 - 18, let them know you're there for Cupid's Walk, and you’ll be given local chocolates and a map to all those special spots at this beautiful natural reserve. Cupid's Walk is included in the price of admission.

To add to the fun, off-island friends who sign up for the events at https://destinationbainbridge.com will be offered additional treats for their visit.

For more information about Wine on the Rock and Bainbridge Island’s seven wineries, go to https://www.bainbridgewineries.com.

Information about the Cupid’s Walk and other fun events at Bloedel Reserve may be found at http://bloedelreserve.org/events.

Credits: BCB host: Betsy LydleSmith; BCB audio tech: Chris Walker; audio editor and publisher Diane Walker.

If you enjoyed Robert Schenkkan's Kentucky Cycle, directed by Kate Carruthers at Bainbridge Performing Arts in the spring of 2014, you won't want to miss his newest play, Building the Wall, which will be presented at BPA for one weekend only, February 9-11.

In the context of a riveting prison interview between a historian and the former warden of an immigration detention facility, Building the Wall explores the potential consequences of our current administration's immigration policies. The results are deeply disturbing.

Listen here as BCB's Diane Walker talks with directors Kate Carruthers and Barbara Deering and actors Elena Flory-Barnes and Chip Wood about their motivations for tackling this play, and about the challenges and opportunities involved in producing a play that explores the dark side of complicity.

Building the Wall will be shown at BPA for three performances only: Friday & Saturday, February 9th and 10th @ 7:30 pm, and Sunday, February 11th @ 3 pm, with a Pay-What-You-Can Preview Thursday, February 8 @ 7:30 pm.

Post-performance talk-backs with the play's cast and directors will also feature commentary from Althea Paulson, a retired attorney, now accredited by the Department of Justice to provide legal representation to immigrants through KIAC, and Dr. Jacqueline Helfgott (Sunday only), a criminologist and chair of the Seattle University Criminal Justice Department.

For tickets and information about this and other BPA productions, please visit BainbridgePerformingArts.org.

Credits:  BCB host and publisher: Diane Walker; Audio tech provided by Chris Walker.

Whether you're in a book group, want to be in a book group, or just love books, this library fundraiser is for you! Wine, hors d'oeuvres, door prizes, famous authors, and a chance to build new connections: all yours for $35 February 8 from 6:30-8:30.

In this podcast, Bainbridge Public Library board members Mary Hall and Stephanie Hillier tell us all about the library's upcoming fundraiser, which will feature Seattle7 authors Erica Bauermeister, Carol Cassella,, Claire Dederer, Laurie Frankel, and Kevin O'Brien, and will offer opportunities to celebrate, join or even initiate some of the 40 or more book groups on the island.

In addition, we learn a bit about the 50-year collaboration between Bainbridge Public Library -- which is responsible for our library's building and grounds, is funded by donations, and just enacted a major library refresh project -- and Kitsap Regional Library, which is supported by our taxes and provides the books and the staff for the Bainbridge facility.

Credits:  BCB host: John Fossett; audio tech: Chris Walker;  audio editor and social media publisher: Diane Walker.

What do a  kindergartner, a 12th grader, and a school bus driver have in common? Each has the potential to be awarded the Bainbridge Island School District's new BISD Strong Award.

This award, created as part of a new initiative around raising social and emotional health, will be presented every fall, winter, spring, and summer to one person in each of the following categories: kindergarten-6h grade; 7th-12th grade; and BISD staff (teachers, transportation, technology, capital projects, food services, etc.)

In this podcast, School Superintendent Dr. Peter Bang-Knudsen and Erin Bischoff, the district's public relations officer, discuss this award and its success, as well as the background philosophy and values around social and emotional health.

Anyone (other than family members) can nominate a student or staff member who deserves recognition by going to the BISD website: www.bisd303.org . Nominations are ongoing throughout the  school year, but evaluated each quarter by a specially selected committee.

The next BISD Strong Award will be presented in February (the exact date and locations are kept secret), so if you know a student or staff member who deserves recognition, be sure to visit the BISD website and let the school district know about individuals you've met who demonstrate the district's guiding principles of "strong minds, strong hearts, and strong community."

Credits: BCB host: Carolyn Goad; BCB audio tech: Chris Walker; audio editor and social media publisher: Diane Walker.

If you're a fan of the abstract expressionists of the mid-twentieth century, you'll want to check out the art of Curtis Hughes, whose work will open at the Bainbridge Library at 5 pm on February 2nd as part of the First Friday Art Walk.

Still in his first year as a painter after a lifelong career as a designer, Curtis created this series of 11 paintings as an exploration of the methods and spirit of modern design and, in particular, such abstract expressionists as Franz Kline, Helen Frankenthaler, and Willem deKooning.

The paintings are spare and expressive, done mostly in black and white, with color used primarily as a value of black and white. The paintings are deliberately rough and unpolished and are intended to reach for emotional immediacy on the part of the artist and viewer alike.

Listen here to hear the story of Hughes' evolution as an artist, and how he first encountered the art which has so influenced him.

Credits:  BCB host: John Fossett; audio tech: Chris Walker;  audio editor and social media publisher: Diane Walker.

Hoping to do something different this year? Lose weight? Start a blog? Launch a new business?  If so, then mark your calendar for an inspiring workshop presentation with Miranda Hersey, author of Life by Design, at Eagle Harbor Books on Thursday, January 18^th,  at 7 pm.

In Life by Design, writer, editor, and certified creativity coach Miranda Hersey offers a roadmap of inventive ideas and practices to turn hopes and wishes into a life plan that really works. Calling upon her readers to  “start building the life you’ve always dreamed of living – one self-reflective step at a time,”  Miranda offers 52 lists, questions, and inspirations for imagining all the possibilities before claiming “a path to your own best future.”

Chock full of  interactive and “Smart Goal” exercises to map the way, her workbook provides an easy and fun guide for taking your goals off the shelf and putting them into practice -- and you'll have a chance to get started right away, if you come to Eagle Harbor Books next Thursday! So listen here to learn more about how you, too, can begin to design your better life.

Credits:  BCB host: Charlotte Cook; audio tech: Chris Walker;  audio editor and social media publisher: Diane Walker.

In this podcast, Bainbridge Island author Florrie Munat discusses her new book, Be Brave: A Wife’s Journey Through Caregiving, as prelude to her book reading at Eagle Harbor Books on Sunday, January 14 at 3 PM.

Florrie became her husband Chuck’s caregiver on the day he suffered a severe stroke.   Sadly, any chances for his recovery were derailed when they learned that he was also suffering from Lewy Body Dementia, the second most prevalent dementia after Alzheimers. 

Encouraged by her husband to write about their experiences, Florrie not only describes her journey as a wife caring for her beloved husband for six years, but also shares their inspiring love story. As she looks back over their 40- year relationship, Florrie, Chuck and their other family members come alive for her readers, and we come to see them, not as victims, but as the interesting, vibrant people they are.

To meet this inspiring author and learn more about her story, come hear her this Sunday, January 14, at 3pm.

Credits:  BCB host: Betsy Lydle Smith; audio tech: Chris Walker;  audio editor and social media publisher: Diane Walker.

What better way to entertain your budding actors and dancers over the mid-winter and spring breaks than with combined acting, dancing, and costume classes, now offered in a groundbreaking new collaboration by Bainbridge Performing Arts and the Bainbridge Dance Center!

Grouped by age and rotated through classes through the day, children from kindergarten through tenth grade now have an unprecedented opportunity to learn, not only acting and dance, but also costume design -- taught by the entertaining and award winning costume expert, Barbara Klingberg, whose recent efforts for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert were truly mindblowing.

As BPA Education Director Liz Ellis and Dance Center Director Christiana Axelsen explain, the children will be learning skills that will not only improve their stage performances but also encourage a level of fitness and discipline that will have lifelong benefits, both in their academic environments and beyond.

To learn more or to register for these mid-winter and spring break sessions, visit BainbridgePerformingArts.org or BainbridgeDanceCenter.com.

Credits:  BCB host,  audio editor and social media publisher: Diane Walker.

In an inspiring example of community collaboration, the Battle Point Astronomical Association and Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network are teaming up to upgrade the BPAA telescopes and functionality.

In December of 2017 the Bainbridge City Council, acting on the recommendations of the Cultural Funding Advisory Committee, awarded a grant of $20,000 to be used to repair and restore the Edwin Ritchie telescope, which is the largest telescope in Washington State and one of the very few publicly accessible telescopes in the Pacific Northwest.

Using the skills and resources of the BARN facilities and volunteers, the main telescope will be retrofitted, the numerous smaller donated telescopes will be repaired as needed and made available to the public, repairs will be made to the observatory's leaky roof, cabinetry and furnishings will be provided to house and support educational activities, and video equipment will be developed to make it possible to transmit images from the telescope via the internet.

Listen here as BCB host Sonia Scaer talks with BARN's Peter Moseley and BPAA's Stephen Ruhl about their plans for the collaboration and the learning and volunteer opportunities involved.

To learn more about the project or to volunteer, contact Stephen Ruhl at president@bpastro.org or Peter Moseley at metal.lead@bainbridgebarn.org.

Credits:  BCB host: Sonia Scaer; BCB audio editor and social media publisher: Diane Walker.