Olywa Days of Change

Men in Black at the Food Stamp Office – By Joe Tougas

by

Donna, Sally, and I were talking over dinner the other evening about the way that the level of friendliness toward strangers had changed over the years, especially the way that people had become a little more guarded in how they interacted with government officials.
Donna said, ”There was that time at the food stamp office, right? Did I ever tell you about that? Now that was a pretty flagrant example of hostility.”
“No,” said Sally. ”I don’t think I ever heard about that.”

A Fantasic Odyssey in Music – By Connie Bunyer

by

I arrived in the spring [of 1981] and didn’t really have a plan, just hoped the universe would take care of me. I had my guitar and my flute, headed to Percival Landing, and put out a hat. usking was slow that time of year, but a wonderful woman came by and offered to let me play in her coffee shop for tips and snacks: first gig, Café Intermezzo.

Olympia Farmers Market – By Becky Liebman

by

The early days presented a consummate catch-22 situation. Growers did not want to participate unless there were customers. Customers would not return if there wasn’t produce to buy. As manager, I considered myself a marketing genius: I would call numbers I found in the classified ads of the Daily Olympian with a pitch something like, “I see you’re selling cucumbers. Did you know we have a farmers market in Olympia, open every Friday and Saturday alongside Capitol Lake?” Slowly the word spread.

Jazz in Olympia: Big Time Small Town Scene – 2023 – By David Lee Joyner

by

I think the state’s capital is a treasure—beautiful, less crowded, economically accessible, friendly, it had great schools for my kids, and it was a convenient commute to my day gig as Director of Jazz at Pacific Lutheran University in south Tacoma. To my delight, I also discovered a vibrant community of musicians in Olympia, some of international repute and stature.  Unfettered by the lack of local gigs, these wonderful artists’ activities have flourished, and they welcomed me into the fold with the same small-town warmth possessed by the city in general.

Making Music and Friends in Olympia: Carol Elwood – By Jean Eberhardt

by

I played violin from fourth grade on. I played briefly with the chamber orchestra at The Evergreen State College when I was a student there. I had a lot of friends in the early ’70s who were in the Evergreen academic program called American Music. Tom Foote was one of the profs. My friend Karen England was taking fiddle lessons from an old-time fiddler in Tenino and she practiced so diligently, more than I ever had. I’d never played anything by ear before but I tried a tune and just wow! It surprised me that it went well.

Oly Activism in the 1980s – By Ron Jacobs

by

The biggest protest I recall being involved in with CAAC and CISPES was in fall 1989, during an uptick in the war in El Salvador and after the Salvadoran military had killed six people at a Jesuit home there. Both priests and their housekeepers were brutally murdered. This news intensified the nature of the protest and increased our numbers in front of the federal building on Capitol Way . . . an Evergreen student and I “cased” the building a couple days beforehand, looking for appropriate offices and possible entrance points.

The Sauna, the Goddess, and the Mushrooms – By Joe Tougas

by

For several years in the ’70s, the folks at Cold Comfort hosted what they called a Harvest Festival . . . One of the highlights of each of these gatherings was firing up the sauna . . . “I was standing in the shadows, observing the scene as the cloud of smoke and steam began to dissipate and the circle of joyous celebrants around the altar began to reassemble. I saw the most amazing sight. One of the glorious bodies stepped into the candle-lit circle and stood for a moment lit by the sparks from the holy fire . . .”

A Ride on a Trustafarian Sailboat – By Joe Tougas

by

I was just getting set up for some focused work with the One Shot sign paint, my paper pattern, and my brushes, all laid out on my workbench. Without warning, there was a series of taps on the shop door. It was not an aggressive banging like you would use to wake the occupants of a house on fire. It was more like the friendly beeping that Northwesterners use to greet friends while driving down the street. It was a “shave and a haircut” rhythm. I put down my brush and went to the door to see what was going on. It was my friend Trip, a happy-go-lucky guy who was a frequent visitor on that bustling section of 4th Avenue . . . “Listen bro, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event—a meteorological trifecta. The tide is just right for sailing out to Hope Island, going out in the morning and coming back in the afternoon. Wind speed and direction are perfect, and this sunshine, my god! . . .” 

Jolene Unsoeld Tribute – Anna Schlecht

by

Jolene slowly emerged above the water line in the world of politics, going from what she called, a “citizen meddler” to getting elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1984. Then in 1988, she was elected to become our congressional representative in the US Congress where her first act was signing on to what was then called a Gay Rights Bill.