(Airdate: October 19, 2021) SAM REZENDES: ONE SHARP YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR. Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Sam Rezendes, the owner of Uptown Cutlery, a knife sharpening business that’s upstairs at Aldrich’s uptown. When he was just a kid, Sam’s  parents moved to Port Townsend to open Crossroads Music. Like many small-town kids, Sam dreamed of making it big in the big city. After high school, he went off to chase his dreams – mainly in San Francisco. But the birth of a son and the global pandemic made Sam & his partner reexamine priorities. They moved to Port Townsend and Sam opened his tiny knife sharpening business. It’s a rarity – a business segment that got a big boost from the pandemic. People who never before had the time or interest to become a great cook were suddenly blossoming into impressive chefs. Think about it: your old knives need sharpening and what could make a better gift to your favorite nouveau chef than finely honed new knives?

(Airdate: October 5, 2021) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Rocky Friedman, the owner of the Rose Theatre in Port Townsend. Rocky fell in love with movies at a young age. After graduating from USC’s famed Film School, he decided that his future was not as a star but as a great screenwriter. Rocky and his wife ultimately moved to Port Townsend – a great place to write. But Rocky soon realized that the town was ripe for a special kind of movie theater. He spent seven long years researching and scheming. Oddly enough, he never even realized that the glory of the original 1907 Rose Theatre was lurking behind cheap remodels. The old tin ceiling and murals were carefully restored before opening in 1992. The Rosebud followed in 1995 and the adult venue Starlight Room opened in 2013. Then came the pandemic and Rocky – like all business owners – faced the trauma of shutdown. A “go-fund-me” campaign helped him hold on through the 499 days of closure. But the Rose is now back and Rocky is loving returning with the movies he loves. (Did you know he personally picks which movies run at the Rose?)

(Airdate: September 21, 2021) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Derrell Tidwell, president of the Jefferson County Healthcare Hospice Foundation. With a basic philosophy that ‘no one dies alone,’ Hospice is a small but important part of Jefferson Healthcare’s basket of services. Hospice aims to provide dignity and comfort during the final days. It can include everything from pain medication to services such as bathing, massages, or just having someone read to you. The Hospice Foundation is a non-profit that essentially raises funds for the Hospice program. Derrell and his colleagues on the Board serve a vital role ensuring there’s enough money for these vital services. The COVID-19 crisis meant Hospice workers couldn’t go into the homes of patients for quite a while. But, as Derrell notes, they are now back in action.

(Airdate: September 7, 2021) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Scott Walker, a passionate advocate for non-motorized transportation. Scott’s day job is as an electrical contractor. He’s owned and run Current Electric since the early 1990s. But for the past 35 years most of his energy has been devoted to trying to wean Jefferson County from the car. Back in the 1980s he was part of the group that instigated our system of trails. Over the years he’s been on every committee and advisory board that could possibly influence transit. According to Scott, 66% of the greenhouse gas in Port Townsend comes from auto emissions. That’s deplorable in his book! He dreams of a “walkable, bike-able town” and has mapped out how to achieve it.

(Airdate: August 24, 2021) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews CHRIS DAHLL, owner of Town & County Tree Experts. Chris grew up on the Olympic Peninsula. He was one of those kids who didn’t exactly have a plan for what he was going to be when he “grew up.” At first he thought he’d be a fireman. But when he was in high school he got a part-time job at Town & Country Tree. He was just a grunt laborer at first. But he found he loved working outside, dealing with nature. He learned on the job until there wasn’t a tree species around that could stump him. In time he was able to purchase the 30-year-old local company. Now Chris has his brother Matt onboard as part of the team. Interestingly, this is one company that positively thrived during the pandemic.

(Airdate: August 10, 2021) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews John Barlow, a Port Townsend guy who went to L.A. to follow his dream of becoming a big success in the film industry. After more than a decade of dead-end jobs in L.A., he found himself battling addiction. He struggled through “about 50” attempts at sobriety (cold turkey, therapy, rehab). Nothing seemed to work. But John relocated to a farm in North Carolina where friendship, nature, and a rare breed of dogs called Bell Griffin helped get him clean. Next came a move to Malaysia – a move that included flying 16 dogs to Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, that flight happened in January 2020. The country soon went into lockdown and Malaysia ultimately decided to cancel most visas. John was on a plane back to the USA and ended up at his Mother’s place in Port Townsend. Now he’s more determined than ever to make it in the film business. The question is — how?

(Airdate: July 27, 2021) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Jan Pierson, owner of Nor’West Custodial. He’s commonly called “Jan the window man.” He’s spent several decades building up a custodial business that services hundreds of businesses in Jefferson County. There are also several hundred residential clients who rely on his teams for cleaning gutters, mold, and windows. But then there’s the other Jan – the one who left Minneapolis and ended up as part of the Haight Ashbury scene in the late 1960s & early 1970s. He became obsessed with the Grateful Dead and literally followed the band around the country for more than 20 years. Somehow he made his way to Port Townsend with half a tank of gas and 22 cents in his pocket. It’s quite a tale.

(Airdate: July 13, 2021) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Marc Hilt, owner of Shining Star Cycles, a mobile bike repair business. Marc’s passion is bikes, particularly racing bikes. He raced for years, setting some national records. But winning races is pretty much a youngster’s game, so Marc played it forward. His passion became his career. He had a bike shop but figured out a fairly unique niche. Mobile bike service is a concept that’s pretty big in Europe but relatively new in the USA. Sparsely populated Jefferson County seemed like a good place to test the concept. So if you need your bike serviced or repaired Marc will come to you in his fully loaded (with bike parts) van. He also positions that van near the Olympic Discovery Trail so locals and tourists can have their bikes serviced before heading out on that spectacular ride. After all, there are no bike shops west of Port Angeles. We all know that good jobs are fairly scarce around here. But Marc’s a home town boy who has managed to create a business he loves.

(Airdate: June 29, 2021) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Charles Garland, manager of the Verizon store in Port Townsend. Charles was a restless kid with no particular career in mind. So he joined the Marines right out of high school thinking that it would broaden his horizons and perhaps see the world. But he was assigned to Bangor, right here in the Pacific Northwest. On his first off-duty weekend he took the ferry to Canada with a group of guys. There was a girl on board. She’s now his ex-wife. Even though the marriage broke up, Charles is firmly rooted in the Pacific Northwest. He’s worked at a variety of jobs over the years. But he sees sales as his calling. He’s been with Verizon for a relatively short period of time. That story also involves a girl – she’s now his fiancé and lives in Port Townsend.

(Airdate: June 15, 2021) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Ian Plagmann, founder of Greener Groundskeeping, an innovative gardening company. Ian uses a bike to carry all of his equipment from site to site. His haul includes lawnmower, leaf blower, edger and any number of all-electric gardening tools. His bike is indeed a sight to behold. It started out as a three-person tandem bike. But it has been modified carefully, balancing multiple engine weights to keep the bike’s delicate balance. The frame is the size of a mid-sized sedan. The goal of Greener Groundskeeping is simple: a zero emission gardening company. It’s an ambitious goal, but one he sees as a crucial component of climate reform.