Snohomish County Placemakers – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Aw shucks! We care a heap about sustainable food here in the Pacific Northwest. Luckily, we have some of the freshest waters, as indicated by the health of the lowly (yet oh so delicious) oyster.

This week we wade into a conversation with Lissa James Monberg, Vice President of Shellfish at Hama Hama Oysters. Lissa's family has been stewarding the waters of the Salish Sea for six generations, tending to a microclimate that breeds some of the freshest bivalves you've ever dipped into cocktail sauce.

We'll talk shellfish biology, sustainable farming practices, proper shucking technique (for the "oyster curious") and discuss why the lowly geoduck... isn't a duck at all. 😳

You don't need to be a supertaster to slurp up this convo... bon appetit!

Follow Hama Hama on social @hamahamaoysters or order their fresh oysters on their website.

Follow us on social @seattlenorthcountry (tag us!) and get more great travel inspo on our website.

This episode's cover photo: Garrett Grove

Have you ever loved something a little too much? Maybe a pair of jeans that was worn threadbare and beyond repair. Or a pair of sneakers that finally fell apart from too many miles.

Nature can be kind of like that. Too much love and human visitation can wear down that which centuries of natural processes have worked to build.

Today we're talking to Jennie Thwing Flaming and Craig Romano from The Washington State Hiking Podcast. Their podcast name says it all – these are the experts on local trails. Craig is an award-winning author who has written more than two dozen trail guidebooks, most with Mountaineers Books. Jennie is a Washington native who has enjoyed local hikes her entire life. 

Together they provide practical and timely seasonal hiking advice for hikers, trail runners, and potential hikers of all skill and ability levels. 

That means you!

Ready to hike? Let's goooooooo

More hiking info 👉🏾seattlenorthcountry.com

Follow us on social 👉🏾@seattlenorthcountry

Read our digital hiking guide 👉🏾 Right here

The famous urbanist Jane Jacobs (whose influential book The Life and Death of Great American Cities is the bible of urbanists everywhere) wrote with great fondness about the importance of old buildings. Old buildings, she reasoned, were important – especially in a changing cityscape that favors new development.  

She says it best: "New ideas require old buildings."

Old buildings offer a place for startups to start up, for fledgling companies to get off the ground.

Today we take a field trip to the Marks Building in downtown Snohomish. Building owner Doug Greenup has put much love into this 1888 edifice, mixing modern with vintage in a way that's attracting tenants and complimenting the "upcycled" Snohomish aesthetic.

More content: seattlenorthcountry.com

Listen to our first episode about Snohomish

Here's a deceptively simple question: how do you create a grassroots art movement... from scratch?

Today I’m talking with Laura Bettelheim, the founder and Director of the Lake Stevens Film Festival. This is a volunteer-run, female-led hyperlocal film festival that draws regional talent and even national talent to the city of Lake Stevens, WA.  

As we’ll get into in the episode, Laura conceived the idea of the Lake Stevens Film Festival during COVID. Like so many of us, she missed culture during lockdown. She wanted connection. So, she set out to build culture and connection.  

Today, in talking to Laura, we’ll find out how one goes about building something from nothing – how the former bedroom community of Lake Stevens is attracting indie film fest star power, offering free public access to cultural education, and making it look easy.  

Buy tickets to the Lake Stevens Film Festival here

Find more great Snohomish County content here

The Stanwood-Camano Arts Advocacy Commission promotes the arts in the city of Stanwood by doing... well, all the things! Public outreach, education, fundraising and more.

It’s not uncommon for a town to take pride in its arts community, but Stanwood and Camano Island walk the talk. There is a high concentration of fine artists there and have been since as far back as the 1970s when Dale Chihuly and co. camped out and started a glassblowing school in what was – at the time – the middle of nowhere near the county line. Or so the self-mythology goes. 

What makes Stanwood a hotspot for the arts? What can we learn from that community? Today on the pod, Cat Olson from the SCAAC will be our guide. 

Check out MAC Fest and get tix here.

Want more quality content about Snohomish County? Follow us on social @seattlenorthcountry or visit our website for all the travel inspo.

You know the educational acronym STEAM? Science, tech, engineering, arts, math... these are the skills and fields that provide kids with an advantage in the modern workforce. Snohomish County runs on these types of industries. If you think of aviation companies like Boeing, or the life science companies in Canyon Park, or the advanced manufacturing facilities at the Cascade Industrial Center in Marysville/Arlington... these STEAM skills are at the very center of our local economy.  

Snohomish County provides plenty of secondary education options – we have 15 higher ed institutions, in fact – but I wonder if there’s a gap, a bridge that’s missing between high school and college. If you’re a junior or senior in high school and you want to be an entrepreneur in the arts – an influencer, a podcaster, a YouTuber (BTW, these are totally viable career choices in 2024)... how do you get access to training and tools to bring your vision to life in a way that you can be your own boss? How do you develop a strong skill set to offer to employers without having to go through the conventional four-year degree route?  

These are interesting questions for me as someone who works in media. Sometimes it seems like the media landscape changes daily with q constant churning cycle of new apps, technology, and algorithms – not to mention the ways in which we communicate; what can and can’t be said, ways to use images and words to grab attention and position thoughts in a way that engages your audience. 

Now, more than ever, I believe that we need a young workforce – Gen Z and Gen Alpha – who are autodidacts, young folks who can take the infinite universe of information at their fingertips and apply it to making things, generating new ideas, solving problems on a local and global scale. I think we’ll need these bright young minds more than ever in the coming decades as we as a society grapple with climate change, misinformation, housing needs... you name it.  

Ok, zooming back in again... 

Today I’m interviewing Chris and Zea, who are the founders of the nonprofit arts and tech makerspace Creator Zone in Lake Stevens. I think they are the authorities in this topic of creativity, education, and the future workforce of our community. I’d like to hear more about how they are creating STEAM access for disadvantaged communities in Snohomish County, opening up opportunities for kids who might otherwise not know how to address the big, intimidating (existential even) high school question of “what do I do with my life now?”   

Today on the pod – Chris and Zea Smith from Creator Zone. 

“It’s okay to not know what you’re doing... it's okay to start without a plan. People will help!” 🎨

True enough! Creating culture in a city from the ground up takes a big act of faith. Not easy. Yet grassroots arts orgs develop the rich local economies and ecosystems that both residents and visitors are attracted to. It all starts with the arts!

In this episode we chat with Jennifer Oak and Nikki Gardner from SAC about how they are creating a collective arts movement in the city of Snohomish and how other communities can follow suit.

Be sure to check out the Snohomish Studio Tour this year on September 28 & 29! Like this content? Find more trip inspo on the web at seattlenorthcountry.com or on social @seattlenorthcountry

Can we engineer zero traffic violence into our cities? Can we create reliable transit options for everyone? Can we plan for dense infrastructure, create walkability, and revitalize downtown cores? Yes! We absolutely can. Brock Howell, Executive Director for Snotrac shows us a future with less pollution, cooler neighborhoods, and better connectivity for all. 🚊 🚞 🚲🚶 Like what you hear? Please rate and review this show. Find more tourism & economic development content on the web at seattlenorthcountry.com or on social @seattlenorthcountry

What practical things can we do today to make a brighter future? What a great question. Optimism without action is a hollow daydream. Simreet Dhaliwal-Gill is coordinating the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Research and Development Center. This Snohomish County-led initiative is leading the aerospace and aviation industries into a future with fewer carbon emissions. The SAF R&D Center is a remarkable $6.5 million private-public partnership informed by top-tier WSU researchers. The jobs that the SAF Center is creating will benefit generations of Snohomish County residents to come. More than that, as we discuss in this episode, average citizens can also make lasting changes in society by voting, lobbying, getting involved in their local community, or by joining a board or a commission. Listen in on this inspiring conversation with someone whom the Everett Herald recently voted as “The Emerging Leader of Snohomish County.” You can find more tourism content by visiting us at seattlenorthcountry.com or on social @seattlenorthcountry

Arra Rael is the Director of DEI and B for the Center for Human Services – a local behavioral health nonprofit. She’s also part of the LGBTQ+ community of Snohomish County. Arra joins us today to share about her work and philosophy around creating a sense of belonging for all. This episode is produced in conjunction with the Snohomish County Office of Social Justice. Join us as we explore questions like: -How does language frame and influence thoughts? -How do those thoughts influence cultural attitudes? -What is workplace trauma? -Is an unstructured future really just opportunities waiting to happen? -How can we adopt a posture of cultural humility? Enjoy! As always, find us at seattlenorthcountry.com or on social @seattlenorthcountry