Bremerton Community Theater has one heck of a good sense of humor (I’m just not sure which is more to the point of hilarity, the play – Law & Order, Fairy Tale Unit – itself or the fact that it sports a whopping 54 KIDS on stage!!
As you might expect, Law and Order Fairy Tale Unit is a spoof on the t.v. crime series, described as follows: “In the fairy tale criminal justice system, the characters from fairy tales and nursery rhymes are represented by two separate yet equally ridiculous groups: the fairy tale police who investigate fairy tale crime and the fairy tale district attorneys who prosecute the fairy tale offenders. These are their stories.”
Performances are:
- July 9 (Friday) at 7:00 p.m.
- July 10 (Saturday) at 2:30 and 7:00 p.m.
- July 11 (Sunday) at 2:30 pm.
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How very refreshing it is, to have a pumpkin farm so close to home – not to have to drive for miles, in order for kids to run wildly, into a field, asking for pumpkins of such ENORMOUS size as to inspire even the most indulgent of parents to declare that…seriously, children ought to be required to have a PERMIT to own one of those!! 
The pumpkins at 
Better yet, he might have discovered the name of the GREAT PUMPKIN carved into one of them! 
We also took a fun “antique tractor” ride along a distance one could easily walk. Come to think of it, this reminds me of the time I locked my keys in my running automobile (ah, youth!) and the local firemen drove me from the top of the hill to the bottom (the rough distance of…er, half of a block?!), to the scene of the embarrassment. Of course the car was on “empty,” as well (I was a broke student, after all!). 
Was I ever glad I ventured off for a moment. Before I knew it, I was sitting in a chair, experiencing a free consultation by Chinese Medicine practitioner, Donna Turner. Now, I’m not exactly sure what to make of the outcome of her feeling my pulse, but I can tell you that it makes discussing the benefits of LARGE NEEDLES – er, acupuncture – a whole lot easier to consider. For those of you who are much more brave than I (like my friend who swears by acupuncture!), you may want to check out the Acupuncture & Wellness Center in Poulsbo! I assure you… if ever I were to bring myself to try…needles…I would see Ms. Turner without hesitation. You can tell a lot about a person when you’re sitting, literally, knee-to-knee and there’s nowhere to look but in their eyes…and their eyes are clear, direct and kind. If you do go in, you’ll easily know what I mean.
This gorgeous statue greeted us, on our way out of the event, as we headed to our cars. As I stood there taking a photo, close up, I couldn’t help but recall a story about our neighbor in Alaska, when I was a child. Let’s call her…Harriet… One morning, my mom spotted a moose and baby moose in our back yard. She phoned Harriet, to let her know. No sooner had she hung up when she noticed Harriet in our yard, camera in hand, getting a severe “close up” of the baby…WHILE standing in between mom and baby!! My mom always reckoned that the mama moose could only have known just how ‘not very bright’ Harriet was…that she couldn’t possibly have been a threat! Please, if ever you come upon a moose and her baby…do NOT pull a Harriet!!! 
Call me old fashioned, but a fair isn’t about carnival rides. It’s about barns filled with animals and proud 4-H faces; baked goods and needle work sporting ribbons of support for time honored traditions; rodeo riders, tractor pulls and other, rough-and-tumble kind of fun; music and entertainment blasting from an outdoor stage; hay bales for seating and corn dogs for eating; a community gathering as we don’t see every day; young and old winding up tired, sun-drenched and dusty from play…
This year, we entered some items, just to have a stake in the game. It was really fun for the kids to search, on opening day and with great anticipation, for their items; to see what kind of ribbon they might have won. They didn’t do too badly 
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In the sheep barn, Janice Bryant (Kaukiki Farm, Longbranch WA) decided the kids would enjoy learning how they bathe a sheep for show. This adorable little creature was guided just outside the show barn, to an area where she could be safely secured for a proper bathing. 
I had intended to cover the Whaling Days Parade in Silverdale this Saturday. But, as life happens, not all things go according to plan…!
So – given my post-lugging-of-giant-juicebox-condition, I changed course when it came to the other portion of our Saturday plan (I had intended to visit the Kingston Farmers Market). What energy I had left in the heat of Saturday was diverted toward a visit to the 
After that, I had the pleasure of listening to a few tunes and then meeting the musician (a.k.a. Mr. North Dakota Lonesome), Kel Schmitz. Kel says he does several markets and that the reason he doesn’t currently do ours (Port Orchard) is that we’re not set up for electrical. I purchased his CD, available for $10 and listened to it on the ride home – a nice selection of tunes with lovely harmonies – well done!
Belfair, like ours (Port Orchard), is a small market, as markets go. And it seems to face similar challenges. But it was presented well, with a nice mix of offerings. It’s arrangement is in a kind of a circle (conducive to an event that brings community to interact together), with booths along the outside and inside, as well. Above all, 
While it was near the closing of market when we arrived, there were still visitors eager to participate in a taste test (go figure!). I forgot to mention (in my previous post) that the Poulsbo market had several vendors offering taste tests – a GREAT way to sell! While Belfair is a much smaller market, it was nice to see this wasn’t an opportunity missed.
Many times, I have smiled at the wisdom contained in the story of The Wizard of Oz; how it is so very true – that all we ever need, we really do already have. And how, what we cannot manage to find within, at any given time, is quite often right on our own, proverbial doorstep.
Each year, we receive a notice in our mailbox, asking everyone to converge on the lake at a certain o’clock, for a boat parade. We’re asked to dress up, decorate boats and enjoy some “good ol’fashion fun.”
Once dark, we roasted our marshmallows like so many others across America. Then, we watched our own, local “Hatfields and McCoys” battling it out in the skies overhead. Over the years, it really has become an increasingly obvious battle. One of these days, we’ll have to lay bets – to see who actually had the last word… But they were still going strong at midnight so – ?!
The Fourth of July offers a great opportunity to enjoy what’s right in our own home town. In thinking about community, a really good community is not much different to a really good family. They don’t all agree 100% of the time (but that’s okay!). They have the proven ability to come together and find joy in the simple things – the free things. And they thrive on their traditions.
I went up to the Poulsbo Farmer’s Market last weekend to see what inspiration it had to offer our town of Port Orchard. I understand Port Orchard has the oldest market in Kitsap county. Port Orchard also has an amazingly beautiful locale – right down on the waterfront!
First, this beautiful band was playing tunes you could hear for blocks!
If you’ve ever worked retail, you know the value of good merchandising. Merchandising, in a nutshell, is about offering a wide range of options and displaying it really well, so that customers unconsciously just want to buy ALL of it, one thing after another (have you ever been in a store where you found yourself noticing one more thing after one more thing as you worked your way through the shopping experience? That’s all it is – they know their customer and present things in a way that appeals – now, THAT’S good merchandising!).
Okay, last but not least, I just have to add – there was this lovely lady, Julie Fritts, of 3 in 1 
