Community Tides

Port Townsend’s high school campus, a nearly 100 year-old collection of wonderful brick buildings, sits at the top of the hill overlooking our town. Over the years these historic buildings continue to be held together and maintained by band-aid fixes. The time has come to examine the critical and overdue needs of a campus that should match the acclaimed status of its students and faculty. Here to tell us how this can be done, and how our community can invest their time and treasure in a bright future are Jennifer James Wilson, who served four terms on the Port Townsend School Board, having passed the baton to our second guest, Amanda Grace, recently elected as the Port Townsend School District At-Large Director.

KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and Co-Host Siobhan Canty, President and CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, meet with Port Townsend School Superintendent Linda Rosenbury, along with Emilia Ramsey, a 2023 Alumna of OCEAN K-12 Alternative School, its Founding ASB President, as well as a Student Representative on the Port Townsend School Board, and Sienna Vasquez Wind, an 18 year old Senior at Port Townsend High School, who is completing her senior project through the Facility Advisory Committee. We discuss recent special honors for the District, facilities needs, and exciting yet nostalgic news about the campus’s Lincoln Building.

For over 65 years, United Good Neighbors has rallied the community to strengthen front-line nonprofits that meet basic needs. This year’s Give Jefferson Campaign is more important than ever, as budget cuts threaten the very programs your neighbors depend upon. Significant cuts from the federal and state budgets have the potential to erode the strength of our local nonprofits and community serving government agencies dedicated to serving those in our community who need the most support.  KPTZ’s Chris Bricker & Siobhan Canty, President & CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, discuss the important topic of budget cut impacts and the current Give Jefferson Campaign with Denise Banker, Jefferson County Public Health’s Community Health Division Director; Christie Kisler; Director of Nonprofit Services for Jefferson Community Foundation; and Amanda Milholland, Executive Director for Jefferson County Farmers Markets.

Each month KPTZ’s Chris Bricker joins co-host Siobhan Canty, president and CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, to explore new paradigms, new developments, and organizations that have sprouted from our County’s good people doing good work. There’s a movement afoot to reimagine dementia care by emphasizing engagement and support. In conversation with us today are Nikki Jardin, founder and publisher of Mirador Magazine, a dementia-inclusive, general-interest publication designed for readers experiencing cognitive change, and Julie Eckert, Dementia Outreach Specialist for Olympic Area Agency on Aging.

KPTZ’s Chris Bricker, and Siobhan Canty, President & CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, explore new paradigms and new developments from our County’s good people doing good work. Today’s youth truly do face a brave new world, where a sense of community and caring for one another will be paramount. Growing and becoming independent, becoming equipped to face the perils of loneliness and the joy of engagement, authenticity, trust, and independance is what an organization called OWL 360 is all about. OWL 360’s Assistant Director Zhaleh Almaee joins us today to tell us more!

Every month, KPTZ’s Chris Bricker, and Co-Host Siobhan Canty, President & CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, explore new paradigms and  developments surrounding our County’s good people doing good work. Jefferson Community Foundation celebrates its 20th year this month!  Chris & Siobhan welcome special guests Kate Roosevelt, Chair of JCF’s Board and Co-President of Campbell & Company; Claudia Coppola, Executive Director of Olympic Neighbors and recipient of JCF nonprofit services and grants;  and Doug Van Allen, Retired Senior Financial Advisor and former JCF Board Treasurer who now has a Donor Advised Fund at JCF.  They.discuss what the Foundation does and how it does it, as we celebrate JCF’s significant impacts over the years. 

Welcome to this edition of Community Tides. Each month, KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and co-host Siobhan Canty, President and CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, explore news, new paradigms and stories from the good people who pursue our community’s Common Good. We’re bringing you the reprise of a program we aired last May about Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy and its founders, Sue Milliken and Kelly Dodson, who both possess a lifetime embodiment of plant knowledge and a long history of cultivating and conserving rare plants, right here in Port Townsend. Thanks for joining us on a tour!

Amanda Milholland is Executive Director of Jefferson County Farmers Markets. They’ve been selected to lead the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. It’s a nutrition assistance program that gives seniors with low incomes the buying power to purchase fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables. We broaden our conversation to discuss food access and food security, focusing especially on seniors, with Patricia Hennessy, Executive Director of Jefferson County Food Bank Association, and Matt Sircely, Data Systems and Music Coordinator for the Farmer’s Market, about those impending government cuts and what plans are afoot to address them.

KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and Siobhan Canty, President & CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, explore new paradigms and new developments from our County’s good people doing good work. In this episode, Chris and Siobhan visit the Far Reach Botanical Conservancy with founders Sue Milliken and Kelly Dodson, who possess a lifetime embodiment of plant knowledge and a long history of cultivating and conserving rare plants. On 6 acres in Port Townsend, the Conservancy acquires and conserves botanically significant wild and cultivated ornamental plants new to North America with special emphasis on those that are threatened or vulnerable to loss. 

KPTZ’s Chris Bricker, and Siobhan Canty, President & CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, explore new paradigms and new developments from our County’s good people doing good work. As our Jefferson County Museum of Art + History completes their work to make it more accessible and welcoming, all of us have been curiously anticipating its grand reopening on April 5. With electricians arriving on-site, painters moving into public areas, and key structural modifications underway, much has been happening behind the scenes! The Museum’s Executive Director Tara McCauley, and Board President Ann Welch give us a special preview of the renovations, along with some inside info on upcoming shows.