It’s true, I love to celebrate and our team at the Production Alliance feels privileged to organize and support many Jefferson County gatherings. Perhaps you wonder, why is Danny so passionate about celebration? Why the cake? Why the games?

For me, it’s not just about the party. It’s mostly about deepening our connection to each other and this beautiful place we call home. We use celebration as a coyote-style invitation to strengthen community connectedness through creativity, collaboration and joy.

One of the most important traditions (perhaps the most important) that we help produce each year is the All County Picnic (ACP). This event is presented by the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), Local 20/20’s Neighborhood Preparedness (NPREP) Action Group and The Production Alliance (TPA).

The 12th Annual All County Picnic, held Aug. 18 this year, was a lot of fun and a great way to connect with friends, neighbors and community leaders. Importantly, it also strengthened our resilience and emergency response networks. As a rural community, our ability to respond to emergencies and recover from disaster is dependent on knowing where and how to connect to information and resources before and during a crisis.

This year’s ACP featured 35 nonprofit and government agencies and introduced some new traditions focused on strengthening community resilience. One addition was an Emergency Simulation and Community Briefing titled “Are you ready?” Attendees were guided to see themselves 24 hours into a large-scale disaster and gathered with neighbors around the nearest battery powered radios for a KPTZ or KROH transmission of a Community Briefing that featured emergency response officials summarizing what is happening and what the community should know in this time of great crisis.

Leaders from the DEM, Fire, Law, and PUD all participated, each framing the 24 hour reality based on lived experience from similar events.

The briefing was followed by a robust Q&A session and generated positive feedback from many participants.

“I found the Emergency Simulation to be very helpful. It is amazing how even though we have discussed these things in our neighborhood, having the scenario described and all the players speaking from their different perspectives was emotionally powerful,” said Cindy Jayne, who is a neighborhood organizer with Local 20/20s Neighborhood Prep group.

“I loved the Earthquake scenario and I bet it was illuminating for a lot of people,” said Crystie Kisler, cofounder and coowner of FinnRiver Farm and Cidery. Kisler said that was true “both in terms of appreciating all of the awesome agencies and leaders devoted to helping community in challenging times, but also in terms of understanding our limitations and need for coordinated preparations.”

This year the annual picnic said good-bye to a popular tradition — free corn on the cob. We loved sharing that bite of delicious corn and Chef Aaran Stark’s famous chimichurri sauce, but have always regretted having to import the corn knowing we have such a rich farming right here in Jefferson County.

What grows here and is ripe in August? Everything we need for a midsummer Ratatouille! Keeping with the heart of the tradition, Chef Stark prepared this delicious treat with vegetables donated by the Chimacum Corner Farmstand and noodles made by the Chimacum Grainery with locally grown grain! Not surprisingly, this new tradition drew rave reviews!

Something you may not know — the planning team was given a 10-day notice when a double booking was discovered at the traditional HJ Carroll Park setting. We had our own mini disaster to deal with and quickly pivoted to ask the Fairgrounds to host the event on short notice. The team’s flexibility and the Fair’s cooperation provided a great example of what we can accomplish by keeping calm and working together in uncertain times.

The team is already working on plans for the next All County Picnic. In the meantime, you can learn more about our community’s disaster response capability. Join DEM and NPREP, along with other community-based response groups, to learn more at the Tri-Area Community Center at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 26.

Danny Milholland is a lifelong resident of the Olympic Peninsula and co-founder of The Production Alliance. TPA has partnered with Local 20/20 and Department of Emergency Management on the ACP for all 12 years.