Life in Ludlow: It was a picnic

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By Ned Luce

There is nothing like a picnic, particularly when the whole county is invited.

The third annual All-County Picnic was last Sunday at H.J. Carroll Park in Chimacum. The event was designed to highlight community resilience and disaster preparedness. The theme, the weather, the music and the 50 exhibitors/vendors brought out a crowd of about 1,000, both young and old. I was there with several other Rotarians providing information on “ShelterBox," an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter and vital aid to people affected by disasters worldwide. The three local Rotary clubs all support this charity in various ways but they all result in the support of construction and distribution of relief boxes containing the resources to support up to 10 people who have been displaced by a disaster.

Music was provided by several bands, the last of which, “Locust Street Taxi," was the one most enjoyed by my booth co-host, Fred Obee, and me. The trombone player found a traffic cone to be the best place to rest his instrument between songs. The only interruption to the music came when the youngsters broke open the piñata. Don’t get in front of that stampede.

Sheriff Dave Stanko and undersheriff Joe Nole joined with other Jefferson County Emergency Services in a booth. New Chimacum Schools superintendent Rick Thompson and his wife, Brenda, joined high school principal Whitney Meissner and others in the Chimacum Schools booth. Frank Trafton was part of the Frederickson Electric booth. Most of the booths subscribed to the theme of reducing risk for you, your family, and your neighbors in the event of a disaster. Most thought this was an appropriate time to address this subject given the increasing concern over the next earthquake, not to mention the fires causing havoc in Eastern Washington. Extensive information was available, ranging from an efficient wood-burning stove to solar heating and energy generation to a “Twin-Bucket Emergency Toilet." (They were right across the aisle with their buckets, one reading “poo," the other one “pee.")

Congressman Derek Kilmer was wandering the aisles pressing the flesh. He lamented his poor attendance record at his Rotary club in Port Orchard so fellow Rotarian Terry Umbreit and I encouraged him to come to our club in the near future. I had a nice conversation with County Commissioner Kathleen Kler who is still wearing her signature red clothes, including cowboy boots.

My friend Pete Hubbard was instrumental in putting much of this event together and he is one of many to be congratulated on the success of the picnic. I, along with many of our friends and neighbors, got exposed to strategies for surviving a disaster. If you would like additional information on this subject you can easily contact the Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management.

On a lighter note, don’t forget this Friday’s free movie night down at the Inn at Port Ludlow. The movie starts at 8:30 p.m. and is “Cool Runnings." Don’t forget, it is outside.

You may have heard that computer hackers were able to penetrate and expose the members of the website of “Ashley Madison," a firm that encourages marital cheating. I was reminded of a quote from Franklin Jones: “Nothing makes it easier to resist temptation than a proper bringing-up, a sound set of values and, of course, witnesses.”

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week!

(Contact Port Ludlow resident Ned Luce at

nedluce@sbcglobal.net.)