#95. Jackie Dandeneau: How A Small Playhouse Became a Big Engine for Culture and Connection

A small stage can change a whole town. That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with Jackie Dandeneau , the executive artistic director behind Playhouse Arts, conductor of the Blue Lake Community Choir, and one of the community builders shaping Arcata’s creative life. We swap stories about saving a venue, turning it into a citywide arts engine, and how a Tuesday night show can feel like church when the room leans in.

Jackie takes us from a farm near Jasper to national theater tours, radio drama in Vancouver, and eventually to Blue Lake, where the Arcata Playhouse became home base. We dig into how the Playhouse grew beyond performances: writing the City of Arcata’s strategic arts plan, placing artists in schools, and creating Our Space, an arts-and-wellness program for houseless neighbors that restores dignity through making. When KHSU went dark, the community lit a new signal—KHHA 94.7 LPFM—broadcasting from a converted storage unit with big spirit and a local-first roster that keeps Humboldt’s voices on the air and in your earbuds.

We share favorite shows and why they hit so hard, from an all-women mariachi band filling the room with new songs and new neighbors, to intimate sets where the audience becomes the magic. Jackie’s lens is clear: gratitude is a balm inside pain, justice is the work of designing belonging, and succession is generosity in action—handing over the reins so a legacy no longer depends on one person. We close with what’s ahead: holiday pantomime chaos, porch festivals, poetry in the marsh, line-dancing fundraisers, and how to rent the Playhouse when your crew needs a seasonal home.

If this resonates, tap follow, share it with a friend who loves local arts, and drop a review. Your support helps more people find the creators, venues, and programs that keep Humboldt connected.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, friends and neighbors, Scott Hammond with the 100% Humboldt Podcast in Humboldt County with my new very best friend, Jackie Dandano. Hi, Jackie.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Hi, Scott.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

How's your day?

SPEAKER_01 0:42

My day has been a lot and good.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

A lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

As my days usually are these days.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

I think we're all having a lot to do. Exactly. Yeah, that's it's happening a lot. So what's your I was gonna just be funny and say, what's your deal? But what's my deal? What's your deal? What's my deal? What's your deal? What do you what do you do? How did you uh well we'll uh find out how you got here, but what's your current uh deal?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Well, currently I am the executive artistic director of Playhouse Arts, which is the local arts agency for the city of Arcata. I'm also the conductor of the Blue Lake Community Choir. Oh. Mother to Leo and Cora.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Wow. Yeah. That's a lot of hats.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yeah, partner to Barb. Got all these hats, got them all on.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Nice. You got and you're out in Blue Lake, which is really cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Out in Blue Lake. It's awesome out there.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Oh man. All the the old crows, those guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

They are awesome. The Lolas, ladies of the lake.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Those are Lolas.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Yeah, there's Lolas and Crows. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

I think we bought Lolas too.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Yeah, I'm always envious of you Blue Lakers because it's 22 and freezing in McKinleyville. We got to Blue Lake and it's 89, and everybody's got their Speedos on.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

And we're also happy and full of joy and Love Thy Neighbor.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Yeah. McKinleville a little.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

It's yeah. No, McKinleyville's, you know, I I firmly believe that McKinleyville is the next hot hub because um I I just think McKinleyville's on the cusp of a lot. A lot of change and a lot of community connection and a lot of community action. So I know people have discommun uh McKinleyville for a while. Oh, but I just um I mean I love the stuff that's going on in McKinleyville. You got more grocery stores per capita than cents.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Eureka Natural Foods, come on.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Safeway. So Gross Out.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

And we got good old gross out. I'm glad that you called it gross out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Only Grocery Outlet. Park and Market, there's a song, we won't sing it.

unknown 2:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

You know, so I, you know, I I'm a fan of cum of McKinleyville. And like I said just recently, we did our festival out there, One Village, Many Peoples, in McKinleyville. And it was fabulous. Pearson Park is like a gem.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

It's beautiful. And you don't have to rent porta potties when you do an event there. That's all I'm saying, producers. You can save yourself, you know, two grand.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

Shucks, we got electricity out there.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

I know. You got toilets and electricity.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Oh, yeah. And so many spaces and grass and well, you know, Jesse with the Chamber does that summer concert series every Thursday. It's great. Oh well, there's been some big crowds. Yeah. And fun fun dancing. I actually have been known to dance now and quite quite I could cut a rug and cut the grass.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Nice. At the same time?

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Occasionally. Depends on the Trevor Burrus.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Well, you'll have to come to the playhouse because we're doing a big uh fundraiser and we're gonna do some line dancing. We're gonna have some people teach line dancing and then Cadillac Ranch is gonna play. There'll be a cabaret Cadillac Ranch, a little bit of line dancing.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Rick from Blue Lake.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Yeah, Rick from Blue Lake. Cadillac Ranch rehearses at the little church.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Is that Cadillac Ranch from Blue Lake?

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Yeah, yeah. Nice. That's Cadillac Ranch.

unknown 3:47

From Blue Lake.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

Is that in California?

unknown 3:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Wait, Blue Lake is let me show everybody where Blue Lake is.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

See the line that goes to the right? It's out that line that's 299. It's about three inches from Arcata.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Yeah. It's on your way out of town.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

As the crow flies.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

So give us the Jockey story and how the arc of your your deal.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Ah. You're Canadian, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:11

You're born here.

Blue Lake, Arcata, And Local Flavor

SPEAKER_01 4:12

I am Canadian. I was born on a small farm between um Edmonton and Jasper, if anyone knows Jasper National Park in Spruce Grove. I was actually outside of Spruce Grove. So I grew up youngest of seven on a farm. Did a lot of uh you know horseback riding and gopher catching and did a little bit of milking, not very much, but every once in a while, because I was the youngest of seven and I was a girl. So when times were tough, they would get me to go out and milk my sister's cows. Um yeah, so I grew up doing that. Very musical family. My dad was a guitar player, my sister, guitar player singer, knew every song to words to every song and chords. And so I kind of grew up around music and community engagement. They were big um community people. My dad was the bingo caller and Spruce Grove, and my mom worked concessions, and they were Elks Club and Royal Purple and curling and very, very involved in the community. Curling.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Curling. Curling.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Not hurling, like throwing up. No, curling like the sports. Yeah, Canadians bond spiels and matching sweaters. And we would go to town on a Friday, and my parents would curl and I'd go to the arena and watch people play hockey and you know, skating and all kinds of things like that. And then I went to theater school. Uh I went to the University of Alberta, which is a professional training program in Canada. Kind of one of the, you know, there's two schools, a national school theater school and and um University of Alberta. Now there's York and there's other um schools as well. But at the time those are kind of the two major ones. And I went there. It was a four-year program. And then I got out and I got my Canadian actor's equity card and I started working professionally right away.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

I'd worked at them kind of regional theaters across Canada, um, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia. I did the Stratford Festival, which is like the Ashland Festival of Canada. It's a pretty big deal.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Mostly Shakespeare.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

It is Shakespeare, but the same thing. They have to do musicals so that they can pay for Shakespeare.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Um and I was part of the young company. So we were in Stratford, Ontario.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Ontario. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

So out east. So I I did that. And then I did a l a whole bunch of uh theater. Oh, just kind of did, you know, I do like six theater professional shows a year where I just go into towns and act and go.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

So rock star actress.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Roll them through Canada. And then yeah, then I got a part in a movie called Blood Clan.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Yes, and you can see it. I think it's on YouTube or something. I don't know. Who does it star? Um Besides you. Gordon Pinsent, who's a big Canadian actor, and Michelle, I can't remember her last name. It's uh it's a murder mystery. Or not a murder mystery, it's like a horror show. Anyways, I got that part, and so it was being released in the theaters in Vancouver. So I moved to Vancouver and I got an agent, so I did film and TV for a while, did some commercials, film and TV things, and did a lot of radio drama while I lived in Vancouver.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Theater.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

That plays it today, right? The radio station that we'll talk about.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Yeah, later. Yeah. And then I moved to Pandora Island. And then I met David Fernie, who was from Del Arte, and then we got married, and then we had a baby and Del Arte Blue Lake. Yeah, Delarte Blue Lake.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Do you have Leo or your Leo? Yeah. How old is Leo now?

SPEAKER_01 7:41

26.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Wow, how quickly they aged.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

I know. We moved here when Leo was three. So we've been I've been here twenty-three years. Wow. And then we had another kid, Cora, who's now twenty.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

And then David and I got a divorce and we're still friends and work together.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

He doesn't work at Del Arte anymore.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

He does not work at Del Arte. Sometimes he does. He was in the summer show last year. Oh, cool. Yeah. So he's great. He's a great technician and he does video.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

Is he part of the Playhouse group at all?

SPEAKER_01 8:11

He is. I mean he's a founder, so you know.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

You guys founded it together.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Yeah, for sure. We founded the Playhouse together.

From Alberta Stages To Humboldt

SPEAKER_02 8:18

Is there so the Arcata Playhouse is in Arcata, which is on that map. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

And uh it's was there theater or anything there before you guys It was before we took it over, it was a Stargardden Theater, which was a small children's theater. But before that it was the Pacific Arts Center, which was a pretty big deal in Humboldt County. The Pacific Arts Center did a lot of stuff, a lot of really great performers doing and directors and um you know. Theater though? Theater, straight ahead theater, the Pacific Art Center.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

So that much music wise.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

I don't think so. What I think it was known for was theater, and the theater was set up differently. Uh-huh. So it took up the playhouse, the Bella Studio, and the big studio. So that was Yeah, it was bigger. And it was turned the other way. So there was a backstage and a shop. And Michael Foster, who's kind of well known for a lot of uh lighting designs in Humboldt, he lived in the little button factory house, which is now Haliyashi's hairdressing studio, which was a button factory. Right. He lived in that little house and was the TD. The little pincus? Yeah. Yeah. So it's nice to know a lot of those um Pacific Arts Center people who did a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Aaron Ross Powell My mind is going way ahead. I want to hear about all the bands and everybody that you've met and all this stuff, but we're we'll put that. But if you're just joining us, my new best friend Jackie.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

And I are here together talking about it. Here we are talking about her and Arcada and Humboldt. And I want to go back to Canada.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Yeah. Let's go back to Canada.

SPEAKER_02 9:47

So I'm I'm I'm kind of a little bit funny sometimes. Yeah. So I really like the Trailer Park Boys. Trailer Park Boys. Oh yeah. Is it the trailer?

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Trailer Park Boys.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

That's okay. Um Do you speak Canadian? I do. Sometimes I speak Canadian, but sort of I've got my American accent now. But when I listen to some of my my sisters, I hear a very big oh, sorry, yeah. Oh. Wolsa Gold? Yeah, that's right. I'm gonna throw that up on the roof.

SPEAKER_02 10:16

On the roof?

SPEAKER_01 10:17

On the roof. Um Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Our kids got to s our our older teenagers got to start a trailer park boys. So off the hook and and off It came out after I left Canada, oddly enough.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

I've been gone for 23 years. So you don't get a lot of CBC Canadian broadcasting stuff. I mean, you do now with some of the stuff that goes on, but I uh kind of missed a lot of the Canadian things about the biggest.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

CBC's really beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

It is really beautiful. There's a lot of really beautiful things in in British Columbia. Yeah, you go up and Vancouver's a beautiful city. It's got beaches. Right. Sometimes in Vancouver you can ski, go to the beach all in the same, like just with a bus ride. Fun. You can take the business.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

Literally. It can do both.

unknown 11:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

And then Bouchard Bouchard Gardens.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

That's in Victoria.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Yeah, my dad worked there. He said it was unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

The Victoria is really beautiful too. Big island. Lots of really Ycule and lots of really wild things there on the uh west coast of Vancouver Island. I lived on an island in between Vancouver and Victoria, Pender Island, which is the customs island. So it was a small island. So when I moved to Blue Lake, I was like, ooh, I've moved to the city now. I can just like drive and get groceries and come home. I don't have to like take a ferry or I'd go to Murphy's Market. Yeah, exactly. You know, market. Just before I moved, to be fair, just before I moved, we got a a new grocery store on Pender Island and it had one of those doors when you come to it and it opens. And you could actually have two shopping carts in the same aisle.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

So we were like Star Trek.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Look at us go big time now. Yeah. But so Blue Lake felt like a big city when we were.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

Oh, cool. Went to the brewery and just, you know, we'd have an hour on Wednesday nights and it was all the live music back in the day, and it was really the vibes it's shifted. It's there's still music.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Yeah. Um The casino, the sushi at the casino is really great. They have good sushi. Sushi blue.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Mm. It's delish.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

Yeah. I like the I like the casino. Everybody's going to cigarette smoke. I whatever. I don't think that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

They have one room that's or one section that is cordoned off, but sushi blue, you can just go in with your kids even.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

Right. Kids can go in. They have a good IPA too. The Dylan, what's his name? Shats?

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

He was the brewer master at Powers Creek Brewery. Correct. Very good. Shout out to Blue Lake Casino.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Yeah. And also the doghouse is really good too. Darcy at the doghouse right there in the city.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Oh, Darcy's our favorite.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Such good food.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Shout out to Darcy at the doghouse. Yeah. Go Dog House. Is that in Paragua Park? It sure is. Is that Blue Lake, California?

SPEAKER_01 13:09

It's in Blue Lake, California, which is just up the little black dot, about three inches from Cat from Al Qaeda.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Yep. Hey, Darcy, we love you a lot. She was our school bus driver for our special needs son Gabriel for a while.

unknown 13:20

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

Yeah. We always loved Darcy.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

She's a good egg. And then there's Jewel Jinn and Jewel, that's uh awesome. Jewel and Jack's chocolate is out there now in the U.S. Oh, they're out there too.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Tomas, too, right? Or his warehouses.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

And also Fish Brothers.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

Oh, they're there. Okay. Mm-hmm. Huh.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Yeah, we got to be.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

And Wallace and Hines.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Wallace and Hines. Here it goes.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Hey, bl uhger bar.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Yeah, the Lager Bar.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Is what's his name a cool guy, Michael?

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Yeah. Yeah, he is. The Lager Bar's great. He's a Del Arte guy, right? He was. He was one of the founders. Well, one of the original sort of staff of Dell Arte, Joan and Michael and Donald, kind of put the the name on the company there.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

That was a legend in the day.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

And I worked at Barrago Park as a rec recreation guy with Pete Shepherd and Greg Devaney. Oh, yeah. Back in the day.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Back in the day.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

One of my first jobs as a rec major, Humboldt State. Come on. Yay. That's cool. Not Cal Poly.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

I like the rec majors. We often have I mean, we have had in the past rec majors come work with the Playhouse. Oh, cool. Yeah. They're fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

We're fun.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

You get a lot of things with you being a rec major. You think, what the heck is a rec major? But they get like, you know, event planning and business and marketing and everything. They come with it all.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

Yeah. My kids go, Did you major in recess? Actually, you know who made that up was Janet Cole, Steve Cole's ex-wife. Yeah. And she introduced me in a Toastmaster meeting. And he was a rec major and he majored in recess. Nice. Oh my gosh. I don't know f I like that. I'll go with that. I don't I didn't mind majoring in recess. Recess was a cool major. I came out with about seven minors, but that's fine.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Well, I got a BFA, so you know. So what's a BFA? Bachelor of Fine Arts. Okay. Um, you know. Or Bachelor of you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

So what brought you and your ex to Humble? Did you guys come together? Mary in Canada?

SPEAKER_01 15:19

We did. We he was a Del Arte grad and he got a job being the booking um manager for Delarte, so he came and I taught voice there for ten years. So I um did vocal ensemble work and voice stuff.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Do you still sing?

SPEAKER_01 15:34

I still do.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Really?

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Can we sing the rest of the interest of the interview, don't we? Sometimes I just have today is a musical day, people. I'm gonna sing everything I do.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

I like it. Yeah, musical thing.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

Welcome to the meeting, meeting, meeting, welcome to the meeting.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Perfect.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Like you know somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Exactly. Keeps me interested. That's good. I'm interested anyways.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

But yeah. No, you're you're fun. So um You're really fun. So you guys came to Humboldt. Yep. Because he was here earlier.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

He had gone to school with Delarte and done some booking for them. So then they were looking for people to someone to book tours for them. They wanted they did a bunch of national tours. And so that's right. They used to tour. Yeah. He took over that and I taught voice and then we brought it.

SPEAKER_02 16:23

Who was the one with uh Joanne Joanne with the Mary Jane? Joan Shirley.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

That was not Mary Jane. That was Scar Tissue.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Scar Tissu?

SPEAKER_01 16:32

This is kind of her film noir. Is she still living? No, she died. She died almost three years ago, sadly. Really big loss. How old was she? She was I want to say six seventy.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Oh, not that old.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Not that old. I think. She was a good friend of mine. Nice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

All right. Good memory.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Yeah, good memories.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

So so then you guys branched out and and bought or Yeah.

Founding The Arcata Playhouse

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Well then we started the Playhouse because I had this one woman show that I wrote that was kind of um a mystery one woman show about how this restaurant started on fire on a small island. So I I wrote this show and so I wanted to do it. So we did it at what was the Stargardden Theater. And then we found out that they were at risk of losing their lease because they couldn't pay the rent. So we said, Oh, this would be great. We could rehearse, we could do our things. So we took it over as a star garden. And Cora, our youngest, was really young at the time. And I remember nursing and then the just being like, okay, look, if we're gonna do this, we just have to have control of it. Because I can't deal with people fighting or any nittly things. I got too much on the boil. So we took over the lease, and then that's where we where we uh where we are now.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Aaron Ross Powell Who owns the building then?

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Uh Melissa um uh Lisa, Brian and Lisa Tonson Finnegan?

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Yeah, yeah. They used to have the shoe shop.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Uh Melissa Lis Lisa Tonson and Brian Finnegan.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

Finnegan.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Nobody knows her as Melissa.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

I just have that in my head because I know I know them from they owned a business in Arcata.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Aaron Ross Powell Yes, they're woodworkers, amazing woodworkers. And her brother's a like world-renowned photographer who's just an amazing photographer.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

Is there a Kelly Townsend printer thing?

SPEAKER_01 18:26

I think so.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Aaron Ross Powell I know a lot of this because I used to call in all the businesses in Arcada. I sold it newspaper, which is a print product that had paper. Oh, yeah. We sold ads in the Tri-City Weekly. Oh, I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

I love the Tri-City Weekly.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

I thought he was great.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

They had those little jokes in the Tri-City Weekly. Oh, remember? They had like the joke column. You'd always get it like if you go to Pepper's or one, you know, whatever the restaurant was for breakfast, they'd have the Tri-City Weekly.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

I loved it, man. It was cool because we just kicked butt on the time standard because it was all about revenue and advertising. So you could do Pearson's would do the front page twelve times a year. It was great.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Right. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

And it was just uh and Ron Pellegi, my boss and f still friend, um, talked to him today. It's a great, great family-ran thing and it's positive. And how else do you support nine children on one income in Humboldt? Barely.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

Magical place. Anyway, I digress.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

So you guys took over the entire We started the Playhouse.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

We renamed it the Arcata Playhouse, and we started that, and then we went along with that. And then at some point, um, I I was a teacher's aide and I got laid off from my job. And at that point, you could go to the job market and they would help you find a job.

SPEAKER_03 19:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

And so I went through every personality. I did it all. Personality test, had a counselor, what what is my aptitude? What could I be good at? And they were like, well, it seems like you should be in the arts. And I was like, Oh, isn't that crazy? Weird. Weird. So uh I I made the choice. They were like, you could, you know, I was I was becoming a teacher or a bookkeeper. And I decided I would go for my business associate's degree because it would help me more to run the playhouse. So I got my business associate's degree from CR. I went back to school.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Lovely.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

And then I interned with the Ink people and Libby Maynard.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

And so uh We were next door neighbors, right? Yeah. That's when we were next door neighbors. That's when I first met you.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Scott Hammond State Farm located in Eureka, California, right over here on the map.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Yeah. Just three inches from the black line.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

Was your neighbor? Yeah. How long were you there?

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Because I remember You know, I think I was at the Ink People for uh almost eleven years total. I told Libby that I would stay with her until she retired, but the playhouse just kind of took off and I couldn't, I was not doing a good job there, and I was not doing a good job at the playhouse, so I had to step out of there. What was your role there? I was their bookkeeper. I worked originally when I first interned, I worked for them 20 hours a week. So I did admin and bookkeeping for them. And then I went down to be their bookkeeper for like five to seven hours a week. I came in one day and they were picking up and all these other revenue streams, like all of a sudden there was Venmo and PayPal and who knows what, all these things were coming. Yeah, and it just I kind of my head kind of exploded a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

That's the other side of the arts brain.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

The numbers.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

It was just like it needed more than five hours a week, is what it all came down to. And so I left and just started doing the playhouse full time. Uh well, I was already doing it full time, but um so then I just started doing the books there, and then I ended up giving the books away there too.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

So just too too much.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

And they just moved uh a couple well, pre-COVID, I think, and then Pottawat Dental has the building now. Oh it's all redone, it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Shout out to Pottawat.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Yeah. They um they just bought a new building. Ink people did.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Um yeah, Leslie Castellano is the ED of the Ink people, and they just bought a new building on um, I think it's third and they're down in Old Town somewhere, yeah. But they're not there anymore. They're now well, they're they're gonna be there for a bit, but they're got this new building and they're gonna move in.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Where's that at?

SPEAKER_01 22:15

It's in Eureka, and it's I think it's where the old um the old billiards place used to be.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

Oh, that's right there on the corner. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Yeah, right there on the corner. Club triangle, yeah. Yeah. So they just bought that building. And it's gonna be beautiful. That I I missed the the release of it and all their plans, but I've sort of heard via the snarky thing that no one's gonna sleep in the doorway anymore. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

It'll be actually a business that'll be.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

But they might sleep in the doorway, but it'll be okay. They'll be okay. They'll say, Hey, we're gonna open and they'll move. Pretty reasonable. Move it on down. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Move it on down. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

So Okay, so Playhouse. Yeah. The fun part.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Yeah, the playhouse, the fun part.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

So how fun city? What have you liked about doing the playhouse and running the show?

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Oh man.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Because it sounds like you're more than just shows and concerts and theater.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

We really are.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

Like you've branched out into like this other stuff with the city and like you were telling me outside the the um all the art displays and things. And painting hydrants?

Building Programs Beyond The Stage

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Yeah, we did we work with the city of Arcata on um we helped develop the Arcata Strategic Arts Plan through a grant that we got with the National Endowment for the Arts. So we kind of spearheaded that with Susan Ornellis, and then it completed with uh Gillen Martin and who else was on that? Gillen and I just drew a blank. That's okay. That's crazy. So yeah, we we did the strategic arts plan. So we're the local arts agency, so we help them, you know, connect with artists and put together an artist panel to make sure, you know, what the call to art is and and make sure that, you know, things are going and we administer the program for them. And then we also have a program called Our Space, which is an arts program for houseless people. So we use art as wellness. So giving people a place to be something other than a number or a thing to be dealt with. Cool. They come and we've made we're coming up on our fourth zine, so we do that.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Is that the creamery at the building?

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Well, you know, we were in the Presbyterian church, but we got kicked out. We didn't get really get kicked out by the Presbyterian Church, but it it became an uh uh we couldn't stay there. So now we're looking for a new place and we have some deets on some, but uh it's all sort of under wraps right now.

SPEAKER_02 24:35

So I want to do a shout-out to all the Presbyterians in the world.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

Yes, exactly. I only work in Presbyterian Church, apparently, because I use the Presbyterian Church in Blue Lake for the choir.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

Right. And then I think we're f uh full gospel choir. No, we're a small little No no, I mean the one the big one in Arcata, didn't they hang out at the Presbyterian for a long time?

SPEAKER_01 24:56

They were the Presbyterian for a long time. And now what are they called?

SPEAKER_02 24:58

Arcata full gospel choir?

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Redwood Interfaith Gospel Choir.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Oh, they've changed.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

Yeah, and they're at the Playhouse. They rehearse at the Playhouse.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

Oh beautiful. Did you ever know Marquita Sims?

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

Loved her. Yeah. Just go to church. I mean, I knew her through Barb, so just on that project. Yeah. Still is a sweetie. Yeah. We'll go with that.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Yeah. So um shout out to Marquita. Marquita. Marquita Sims. And then what else? Then we have artists in schools. So we put artists in schools. Right now we're in Blue Lake and Fieldbrook and um just signing contracts. We go to Whale Gulch. We've done Lolita. Where's Whale Gulch? Like so? South. Yeah. So hum, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Like Petrolea down that way?

SPEAKER_01 25:43

No, more like towards not Petrolea, Garberville, maybe?

SPEAKER_02 25:47

Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Garberville. In between Garberville and Petrolea.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

It's Soham. Yeah, Soham. It's right over Yeah. Can you see it? It's right over there.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

It's past. It's yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

It's on the map. On that argument.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

It's to the right of the lower black line.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

Dial it in. Dial it in, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

So we do that. Then we do a program called Skuyetch Sanina with the Yurok tribe, which translates to We Are Becoming Well, and we're in Auric doing that program right now.

SPEAKER_02 26:15

So cool.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Yeah. And then we have KHHA 94.7 Community Forward Radio in the heart of the Creamery District. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

Say it one more time.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

That's KHHA 94.7 Arcada L P F M in the heart of the Creamery District.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

Oh, I know. I know. What? My neighbor is one of your DJs. Greg Smith.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

Oh.

unknown 26:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

He does like a hip-hop show or something.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Oh yeah. Yeah. Probably. I think Marilee has like 60 plus. He knows Daryl.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

He's telling me all about her.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

I have a radio show there too.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

Do you really?

SPEAKER_01 26:47

I do. I do uh 11 to 12 on Tuesdays. It's called WhatsApp. It's called that so that I can talk about whatever I want to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

Is it just you?

SPEAKER_01 26:57

Yeah. Cool. Yeah. And come on my radio show. I don't have an engineer though. For a camera. No. So sometimes I push the wrong button where I'm like, yeah, we're going to hear from oops, okay. Wait, that's the wrong button.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

Sorry, Led Zeppelin.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

That's right. We're not going to hear from anyone because I have not pushed the computer button. No, so I'm my own engineer. It's fun. It's a great little radio station. Where's the studio? It's uh in the Creamery district, kind of across from Halayashi. It's in a converted storage unit.

SPEAKER_02 27:27

Aaron Powell Of course.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

Like all good radio stations.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

You started in radio.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

There you go.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

I even have a face for radio. Uh you've never heard that joke, ever.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Never. Never. Never.

SPEAKER_02 27:40

So tell me about the station. Is it like a hundred watt? Is it bigger?

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Not a very good question. It's LPFM, so it's really in Arcata. But I can get it in Blue Lake in my driveway, and I can get it coming coming here.

SPEAKER_03 27:54

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

I can get it along the waterfront. People can get it in Neeland. Some people in McKinley have got it. That's the 94.7 in your car. 94.7. But you can also, there's an app, so you can get it wherever you are.

SPEAKER_02 28:10

Then it streams is perfect.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

And it's the same programming.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Trevor Burrus, Jr. It's all digital at that point.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:15

Um tell me, has it kind of replaced KHSU? Is by giving it a that kind of credit for it?

SPEAKER_01 28:21

It grew out of KHSU shutting down where I was like, oh dear.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Were you part of that?

SPEAKER_01 28:27

No, I I just used them a lot. They were really, they really connected us to a lot of our people who came to shows, who supported the playhouse. So it was kind of like it was a uh we got together then and we're like, let's do another one. And you know, we talked about doing a radio station, and we're like, that's so much money. We don't it was discouraging. But then we started the the the streaming, uh Humble Hot Air online, humblehotair.org, and then narrowly went to a radio conference in New Orleans. And um people were like, they're opening up the, you know, the LPFM licenses. So she just was like, let's get one. And she applied and we got one, and she sort of took all the stuff and ran with it and worked with the engineers to get the equipment up and running.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

And her dad was Vinny.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

Vinnie Devaney, FOGU.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

FOGU.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

FOGU on KHA. Yeah, so she's been it's been quite astounding. Watching her narrowly came through the playhouse with Apprentice Entertainment. We used to have a teen program called Apprentice Entertainment. So she was heavily involved with Apprentice. And then she went away and came back.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

And I ran into her at Murphy's and I was like, Hold up, are you back in town? And she said, Hold up. Hold up, I am. And I said, Hold up, you should take over this radio station. Because she had so much experience in radio with her dad. She's surrounded. And also she had a a show called Queen Beats in Santa Cruz, where she went to school. And my kid loved Narrowly's Queen Beats show. Wow. So it all just shout out to Narrill. Hey, Narrowly. I want to meet her. Yeah. You should have her on. She's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

Maybe I'll do that.

SPEAKER_01 30:13

She might be your new best friend.

SPEAKER_02 30:15

Well, I need as many as I can get.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

Exactly. We need so many best friends. It's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Can I tell my Greg Devadey story?

unknown 30:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

So Greg and I um worked together at the rec program, Humboldt Rec program with Pete Shepard, doing conversations. Kind of like what you're doing. Oric, Manila, rec programs in Trinidad, where I worked. And then uh also um Bryceland and all these low-income kids that couldn't get to Camp Kim to save their life. But we did we staffed people for like six, eight weeks every summer. And Pete and Greg, come on, made it happen through grants through Manila West Haven Parent Council and John Woolley and Amazing Sue, what's her name, and just amazing people that we have in our community. And uh Greg would do uh t-shirts. He would do screen prints of t-shirts. And one of the classics was don't eat the stew at Camp Kim to. Every kid got a shirt, brought a shirt, screened it. And one of the beautiful things I'll never forget is he was dying. He was having a beer at Mad River. I'm like painting a story like I'm out there all the time, you know, not a big beer drinker at all. Um and he's and I I sat with him and I knew that he was perishing, but he was having a beer with his caregiver. I don't know who it was. And he goes, Yeah, he could sit down. He's a Christian, but he's not an asshole.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

That's good.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

I go, I love you, man.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

Stamp of approval.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

I ended up praying over him and with him, and it was beautiful. It was just a really it's who I am, man. I just showed up and I was present with a man I loved and who who was dying.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 31:53

And um transitioning. So it was just a there's my moment. Um That's a good moment. It's a great moment.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

It's a great moment.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Let's go on to rock and roll. Because I want to hear the I want to hear the shows that have been memorable at the at the playhouse. Um Hold Up. Let's talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Hold up?

SPEAKER_02 32:10

If you're well, that's what you said to narrowly, right? Hold Hold up, narrowly. Was it hold up? Hold up. Was it hold up?

SPEAKER_01 32:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

Hold down. Hold up. Hold up. Hold up. Are you living here? So Hold up. So what are the best I don't know, five best shows that just come to mind that were just like a powerful night that got anointed and they're the supernatural and the natural got really close that night.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

You know, mariachi Lindas is an all-female mariachi band. Oh, cool. And they came for the women's fest. And that to me stands out as something that was like so much work and so much negotiations and so many travel, everything. How many people? There were uh nine of them, ten of them, and we had to fly them from LA.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

And they did a workshop at Cal Poly, and we had to find housing for them. And they were so awesome. It brought in so many people that weren't normally at the playoffs. And all these people where they'd say, This is from Oaxaca, and people would be like, Wow, and they'd sing along with them.

SPEAKER_02 33:11

That's so international now.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Yeah, yeah, it was great. That was a really, really great, great show. Um, you know, there's been so many great shows. Patty Larkin's show is really great. Um, you know, John Doyle show on Tuesday. The the one thing that really makes the shows Is John Doyle good? He was really good.

SPEAKER_02 33:33

Johnny's gonna be bummed when she sees.

Shows That Shifted The Room

SPEAKER_01 33:36

John Doyle. He was really great, really like personable and so skilled. And he's the Irishman. Yeah, and really generous. And but the thing, you know, when I think back on all the shows, the thing that really sort of makes it for me, and I know it's gonna sound corny, but really it's the audience. It's the people that show up to come see what is brought forth for them.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Aaron Ross Powell Or they're really into the band.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Yeah. Even if there's like 30 of them, the people, the musicians who tour through, pretty hands down, are like, this is a gem.

SPEAKER_03 34:12

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

Both the room, the way it sounds, and the people who show up on a Tuesday or a Thursday or a Friday, Saturday. But just um Earl Thomas was pretty good. Earl Thomas. I wasn't there for that one.

SPEAKER_02 34:24

His guitar player, man, that dude.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

Oh, he's awesome too.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

San Diego. Yeah. He came with him last time. You know what he did that was cool? What? He actually has a uh Oh, wait. Oh, wait. He doesn't have a Dick Taylor bar, but he has a business card. A Baileys Toledo? What just happened here? Look at that.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

Dick Taylor.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

You know they were a big sponsor. Oh, nice. You know, they just won a bunch of contests like for the last 10 years. Like they win everything. Yeah. Voted best chocolate on the West Coast by somebody. I don't have any idea what I'm talking about. But I do know it's good chocolate. Do you like chocolate?

SPEAKER_01 34:55

I like every like everything except for pork hawks. It's the only thing I don't like.

SPEAKER_02 34:58

You don't like what? Pork hawks. Oh, like a hawk, like the like No, like the pig's feet. Like a pickled pig seeth. And they roll the fat down and boil them. Oh, they're gross. You don't like the pickled pigs' feet in the bars. No. Those are Midwest. That's neither. Trevor Burrus, Jr. So we're going to we're going to compete here in about fairly shortly for a Dick Taylor bar. Oh. If you're ready, do you like a good contest?

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Yeah. I'm a little nonlinear for a contest, but you know, we'll give me a whirl.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

Watch this done linear. I'm going to go back to Earl Thomas.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

Okay, great. I'm paying attention to the Trevor Burrus.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

So as guitar player goes, here's my guy here's my I said, Manny, bro, you're good. I'm from San Diego. He goes, I'm from Fallbrook, man. And I go, Fallbrook? I totally live. My aunt and uncle lived there and avocados. I was just going to say avocados. And I go, hey, bro. You know, and he goes, here's my business card. So I've never had a musician have a Instagram everything uh what's that called? The the symbol that you scan? Oh, QR code. QR code. He had the whole nine. But this guy could play guitar like nobody's business. He's pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

I remember him from last time where Thomas came and played.

SPEAKER_02 36:03

Funny thing is I looked like him. I go, see what I look like now with see see the no hair guy? I go, I had hair exactly like yours, like down to my waist. Wow. And I was that in a bag of chips. I go, this is what you have to look forward to, bro. I think he walked away at that point. He just turned around. No, they were fun. That was a good show.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

Cool. Yeah. I was out of town that weekend on the.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

You know, the the funny story about the Wardens is we had this young man from Humboldt State, when it was Humboldt State still. Oh. Uh it wasn't Cal Poly yet. He uh we did this speed dating thing to find us like speed kind of a speed dating thing to find someone to work with our teens for Apprentice Entertainment. His name was Eli Baum, and he came and worked with our teens, and then he stuck around and he was involved with us, and then he was like, Jackie, there's this band called The Wardens. We should bring them in. And I was like, okay, let's give it a world. They're from Canada? What? Yeah. So it was his first show kind of that he he produced a skateboard show with um.

SPEAKER_02 37:12

But he did their show.

SPEAKER_01 37:13

But he produced Because it had video, it had a whole video screen.

SPEAKER_02 37:16

It was fabulous.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

It was fabulous. So he brought them to the playhouse. And they were so great.

SPEAKER_02 37:21

They've been back, right?

SPEAKER_01 37:22

Yeah. They came once and then they just came back like not that long ago, like monthly.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

And their slideshow is Banff and Beauty and Jasper. By the way, how far in inland is Jasper from the Pacific? Like in hundreds of miles?

SPEAKER_01 37:36

Like I don't know, miles. But it's probably about another province. It's Jasper's in Alberta.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

Aaron Powell So it's two over three.

SPEAKER_01 37:44

No, one. So BC is shaped like this, and Alberta is shaped like this. Okay. And Jasper is right here. So it's center. Kind of where the two provinces are What's after uh Alberta? Saskatchewan.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

Saskatchewan. Is Edmonton in Saskatchewan?

SPEAKER_01 38:01

No, Edmonton's in Alberta. Edmonton is the capital of Alberta.

SPEAKER_02 38:04

I should know that. My neighbor's there now.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Regina is Saskatchewan.

SPEAKER_02 38:09

Yeah. That's the capital. Oh, it reminds me of a song. Exactly. So anyway, uh I really digress on that one. Um This for you. Oh. Chocolate. Yeah. Tick Taylor Downtown, Old Town. And all around the world.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

I like those guys. I also like uh what's their band?

SPEAKER_02 38:27

Huckleberry Flint.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

That's it.

SPEAKER_02 38:29

They played at your place.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

Yes, they did. They played a Christmas show at our place when our Christmas set was all up.

SPEAKER_02 38:35

Heard about it. Couldn't get tickets. No, it sold out because it's only 150 seats. Haven't missed a show since.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_02 38:41

Yeah, they're great.

SPEAKER_01 38:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

They're playing at the steeple.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_02 38:43

Do you know Paul Beattie that was on the show? That runs the steeple?

SPEAKER_01 38:47

I know. I've spoken to him on the phone, but I don't know him. I know they do great stuff out there. What a great idea.

SPEAKER_02 38:52

The other lady we saw at the um at the playhouse was Lori, what's her name? Bluegrass? Lori Lewis. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

Also good.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Yeah, she couldn't come back to the playhouse this time. It was just a little booking.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

Great sign up. Okay. First. Yeah. Uh-oh. For all the dollars, at least it's chalk them up.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

It's too far away for me to ding it. That's an unfair competition.

unknown 39:17

No, I'll.

SPEAKER_02 39:17

Oh, you're gonna be the dinger. I'll be doing the digging. Okay. I thought it was gonna be like who dings first. No, no. No, you don't I already know the answer to the question.

SPEAKER_03 39:24

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 39:25

Actually, I don't best day of your life.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

Mmm. They're all so good. That's the hard thing.

SPEAKER_02 39:36

What a good answer.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

You know, because I'm nonlinear, I don't have a like a a beginning and an end.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

You could circle back.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

I have like a a milieu. Um I guess meeting my kids uh on my trip across the country in my 1997 Toyota Tacoma with my dog.

SPEAKER_03 39:54

Sweet.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

When we were all together for a hot second. That was really fun. That was a good moment. How old were they? Uh Leo was probably 22. So Cora was 16.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

Like a road trip.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

Yeah. They uh Leo was graduating from college. So we drove I drove there and Cora flew in and we had some moments. That's a cold memory. I don't know why that one came to me. There's so many those, Scott. I feel so grateful for my life. It's full of a lot of really good things. And so to pick one is hard.

SPEAKER_02 40:29

Somebody said uh do a gratitude journal every day.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

Oh, yeah. Life changing. Great. That that means you'd have to be linear. That means you'd have to do the same thing every day.

SPEAKER_02 40:37

Yeah. That's kind of that'd be a habit. A habit. Maybe it's habit forming in a good way. Yeah, maybe. Maybe you could do it at different times of the day.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

Exactly. Wake up. Oh, I forgot to do my journal.

SPEAKER_02 40:47

You run it in different ink every day. Okay. Yeah. Question number two. What's soul crushing for you?

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Uh injustice. That is soul crushing for me.

SPEAKER_02 40:57

Which means you're a justice person.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

I am a justice person. That's good. I hate when things are unfair. But uh it really um it doesn't it sits really hard with me.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

We have an a justice joke in our house. Right. Which is like, what? Injustice is really bad. I really hate it, but I really hate it when it happens to me.

unknown 41:18

Yeah.

Gratitude, Joy, And Justice

SPEAKER_02 41:19

So it becomes personal. Hey. Dream Day and Humboldt. You go nine to nine a.m., nine p.m. unlimited funding, stay in Humboldt. What are you doing for twelve hours? Go.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Uh getting up. I'm probably going for breakfast, kind of go for a walk, maybe a little hike in something around, sit on the beach, draw things in the sand, watch my dog run. Um, then have food outside with a whole bunch of people. Uh hear some great music outside. That would be really great. Just to sit and not do anything.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

And then do that.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

Not do anything. Follow my nose wherever my nose takes me. That is a really great day for me. When I don't have any meetings, I don't have anything going on, and I can just be like, huh. Maybe I feel like having a coffee now. Maybe I'll lie in my backyard and look at the leaves of the lilac. In blue lake. In blue lake, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:14

Where it's sunny, not right now, but Yeah, I think it's raining right now.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

It's lesser rain. Wow, good answer. So that's mine. Good follow-up.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

I love the free flow. Yeah. All right. For all the marbles. I would I would give you the chocolate bar in that last answer, Brett. But one more. What's life giving for you? What really feeds your soul in terms of refreshment, renewal, recreation.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Um oddly enough, my job, not oddly enough, it's my job and my passion are so closely aligned that I that I am filled with gratitude that I get to do the thing that I love the most.

SPEAKER_03 42:49

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 42:49

You know, standing and seeing people enjoy something that you've put together or that you've been a part of. To me, that's really an amazing feeling, like Porch Fest. Or sometimes when I walk in the theater and I turn on the lights and I'm like, look at this.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 43:07

Look at this.

SPEAKER_02 43:08

That's a big moment for me, too. So uh congrat by the way, congratulations. Oh, thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm a winner. When I win a chicken dinner.

SPEAKER_01 43:16

Yay! I hardly ever win anything.

SPEAKER_02 43:18

This is a t from Toledo, not Ohio. Uh 72% dark. Let me give you the notes. Maya Mountain cacao, dried plum, tart cherry, and jasmine tasting notes. Taste that jasmine. Congrats.

SPEAKER_01 43:30

I'm gonna wolf this down while I drive back to my meeting in Arcata.

SPEAKER_02 43:34

No, no, no. We we've actually polished close to full bars. You know, it's funny because they're actually pretty low cal, and the and the wire the wiring up of the sugar, not that bad. Oh, that's good. Pairs with red wine, very magnetic.

SPEAKER_01 43:50

That's great. I'll have this when I'm on the beach. It's Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, which is a harvest festival. So I'm going to have Thanksgiving dinner at my house. On Monday. On Monday. And so I will be giving thanks for the harvest and and the change of seasons and moving into winter.

SPEAKER_02 44:07

Aaron Powell I get in a gratitude uh sort of thread here.

SPEAKER_01 44:11

There's so much to be grateful for.

SPEAKER_02 44:12

You gotta look and you gotta make an effort. There's so much to be about to. Yeah, but I think I think gratitude's training. It's just soul training. Yeah. I gotta get disciplined and just really do it. Because otherwise, what's the opposite of gratitude? It's pretty ugly.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

Oh, that complaining complainer. Oh. Oh, yeah. Who wants to be around that person?

SPEAKER_01 44:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

Get out of here with your bad vibes. Go on now. I know you're hurt, you're broken. Yeah. But are you but we could choose.

SPEAKER_01 44:45

Yeah. And also, uh I mean, I think of gratitude not in the absence of pain and in the absence of brokenness, but gratitude as the small balm within the brokenness and within the pain. So where am I right now? I like it. Am I, you know, do I have s sun on my skin or rain on my fingers right now? What is one thing that I can have gratitude for? Because I think all of us are broken and all of us have pain. And and all of us have gratitude. No matter the person who's sleeping in the doorway at the Ink people is filled with gratitude and community. And we are all connected in that web of um, you know, in that web of humanity.

SPEAKER_02 45:32

Amago Day.

SPEAKER_01 45:33

Yeah. What's that? Amaga Day.

SPEAKER_02 45:35

Amago Day? Huh?

SPEAKER_01 45:36

What's that?

SPEAKER_02 45:37

Image of God.

SPEAKER_01 45:38

Oh. Yeah. CD.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

I know a little Latin.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

I don't know the I'm not I'm a rec major.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

I have no idea what I just said.

SPEAKER_01 45:45

I'm not a very good I think I'm I don't know what I am. I never grew up with any religion. I just developed my things as I went along.

SPEAKER_02 45:52

You grew up with people.

SPEAKER_01 45:53

I grew up with people and a big family and a lot of community that says this is what this is the thing.

SPEAKER_02 45:58

Aaron Powell I like your comments on brokenness and holding space for love and gratitude and grace and all those things in brokenness because I think that's kind of closer to my definition of joy.

SPEAKER_03 46:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:11

And happiness has the lucky element of haphazard within it. Because it can go I can be maybe happy or not.

SPEAKER_01 46:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:21

But joy is kind of an attitude and a hate place of the heart. So um let's let's call out all all of the other concerts really fast. And then let's call out all your marketing and where we can go to find out more about the Playhouse. Great. And then I want to know about your legacy, what you want to be known for, and when you're when you're gone, what are we gonna s what what's what kind of talk are we gonna talk about you?

Legacy, Succession, And What’s Next

SPEAKER_01 46:44

They're gonna talk shit about me. Oh the good shit. Exactly. You know, uh I I think generosity, that would be the big thing that if people thought that I was a generous person. I love it. And that they said I shared and I was willing to roll up my sleeves and help out and be generous with both my time, my energy, my spirit, my visions. Um and that leads to, you know, the playhouse, what's gonna happen with the playhouse? Secession, looking at secession, who's coming in, how you loose the reins, how you give over, how you say, Yeah, that's great. How about you do that? And I won't be involved in telling you how to do it. And so looking really, really a lot at secession, because I turned 61 this year. So I'm like, I want it to be a legacy that lives on through the eyes of everyone. So trying to make a scope that can do that.

SPEAKER_02 47:32

You look great for 61.

SPEAKER_01 47:34

Hey, thanks. I just got my hair cut, that's why. I just turned 51. Uh, really? So my nose my nose is I think that it's good to embrace your age because you worked hard for it, and the other alternative is not so great in this moment. How do we know? Exactly. We don't know, but at this moment it wouldn't be a great alternative.

SPEAKER_02 47:57

We'll get curious later.

SPEAKER_01 47:58

Because we wouldn't be having this conversation.

SPEAKER_02 47:59

That's also true.

SPEAKER_01 48:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:01

Okay. I'm be I'll be 66 in January.

SPEAKER_01 48:03

Good job. Yeah, look what I high five of 66.

SPEAKER_02 48:06

I don't know. I just showed up. Yeah, exactly. I just woke up today and went outside and breathed some air.

SPEAKER_01 48:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:12

There I was.

SPEAKER_01 48:12

There you are.

SPEAKER_02 48:13

And grace. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

I know. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 48:15

So tell us how to get a hold of the playhouse.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

Oh. You can find us online at playhousearts.org. That's playhousearts.org. You can phone us at 707 822 1575. That's 822 1575. Very nice. You can find us on Facebook or Instagram. You can find us at info at playhousearts.org. You can knock on our door. We are open 11 to 2 Tuesday through Friday. We have an operations person there.

SPEAKER_03 48:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 48:44

You can come to the Arcata Playhouse, find us at your local school, find us at the City of Arcata. Wow. Find us at Fairyfest, Porch Fest, Zero to Fierce, the Family Fun series. We have a holiday show coming up.

SPEAKER_02 48:58

You're everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 48:59

We have a lot of things on the boil right now. We're um doing a book launch with um the Big Read, NEA, National Endowment for the Arts, Big Read. We're giving away books of poetry by Ada Lamon called You Are Here, Poetry in the Natural World. And we have 350 books to give away so people can read poetry about nature across America, and then we can meet up later in the marsh in May and talk about what we love about our environment and where we live.

SPEAKER_02 49:29

And poetry.

SPEAKER_01 49:29

And poetry. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:30

So who's coming fourth quarter to the playhouse?

SPEAKER_01 49:33

Because I remember coming up, we have Jeffrey Fulcold, we have Robbie Fulkes.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

Got tickets for that.

How To Get Involved And Upcoming Events

SPEAKER_01 49:39

This weekend we have um Ponies of Harmony, uh Benny Sidlinger, and blah la la, I'm forgetting the other priest there on Friday night. That's the Christmas show. Creative Sanctuary, jazz on Saturday night. The holiday show opens the first two weekends of December. What's that about? Um, well, it's called Dungeons, Dragons, and the Wizard of Doom, a Playhouse Holiday Pantomime. So it is a wacky piece of original theater with a nine-person cast, a choir, a band, lots of business going on. So that's the first two weekends of December. Danny Gone is doing a fundraiser for North Coast Children's Services. Um, and someone else on December 20th. You can rent the playhouse. We're renting it out for your holiday Christmas party. Oh, that's right. And it'll be all decorated and ready to roll. You just show up. The Christmas tree is there. Bring your children. Everything's ready to go. Yeah. We can run the bar for you.

SPEAKER_02 50:36

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

Um, so we're doing that for the holidays. I'm trying to think if I'm missing somebody else.

SPEAKER_02 50:42

That's quite a good idea. I like that, especially if you have any sort of like bigger crowd or crew.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

Yeah, like if you have a small, like like I'm thinking, you know, Dennis Real Los Payles, that you have these smaller satellites, but to bring everybody together. Real exactly.

SPEAKER_02 50:56

Peter German.

SPEAKER_01 50:57

Exactly. What's the phone number again?

SPEAKER_02 50:58

822?

SPEAKER_01 50:59

822-1575. That's 707-822-1575.

SPEAKER_02 51:06

I like that. Steve Oh, Steve Justice was an insurance guy in Arcata. He would go 822, you know, 87793-822-PA bucket.

SPEAKER_01 51:16

Pa bucket? Pa bucket. That's funny.

SPEAKER_02 51:19

Oh, it's quite funny. We had it on Kins Radio forever. It was quite um It took a little bit for people to get it, but they did.

SPEAKER_01 51:25

We're also doing radio ads for the holiday show. So you, Scott Hammond, could uh enlist us to write a radio ad for you. We will write it, we'll perform it at the Playhouse during the show, and then you can have a digital copy of it. Very cool. We have Tim Randall's, Jeff Kelly, Marla Joy, Charlie Itell, and a 14 to 20 voice choir and actors to Tim Randall's really execute uh quite a skookum ad, as we say in Canada.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

Skookum. Skookum. Yeah. Wow. That's a BC thing. I think that's an Alaska thing. It might be. I had a pastor friend that goes past her in base side and he goes, this coffee is scook. I go, I haven't heard that one.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

It must be Northern Vancouver Island. It's a subject. But I think I got it in the Queen Charlotte's.

SPEAKER_02 52:13

I mean it's killer.

SPEAKER_01 52:14

Yeah. Skookum.

SPEAKER_02 52:15

That's scookum coffee.

SPEAKER_01 52:17

So we can make you a skook em ad.

SPEAKER_02 52:19

I'm all about scookum ads. Yeah. The trouble right now is you don't really want to hear about your insurance or your insurance guy because it it's a whole nother.

SPEAKER_01 52:25

If it's fun, you definitely want to hear about it.

SPEAKER_02 52:28

That's true. It's just gotta be fun. You know what they taught me in insurance school? What? If you're not having fun, Scott. You're just selling insurance. I go, I go, Darla, you're amazing. Darlene. Darlene, you're amazing. That was a great quote. If you're not having fun, you're just selling being a janitor. You're just running a theater.

SPEAKER_01 52:53

Yeah, it's true. I I motto one of my mottos is if you can't have fun, what can you have?

SPEAKER_02 52:59

Yeah, what are you doing here? It's not fun. Well, what a delight you are. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_01 53:04

You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 53:05

Appreciate you. Yeah.

unknown 53:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:06

I know we've got to get you to your next meeting and everything.

SPEAKER_01 53:08

I know. I gotta go eat pizza with artists and talk about an upcoming call to art for the city. I'm gonna eat this chocolate on the way there.

SPEAKER_02 53:16

Oh, you're the not for the camera.

SPEAKER_01 53:19

I think that's the camera.

SPEAKER_02 53:24

Jackie, thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 53:26

Thank you so much for having me, Scott. Come on What's up one day, KHA 94.7.

SPEAKER_02 53:31

I I will take you up on that.

SPEAKER_01 53:32

Put it on your car.

Closing Thanks And Local Media Shoutouts

SPEAKER_02 53:33

Yeah. Hey everybody, thanks for joining us. Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt. We'll be back next time. If you want to like us, love us, give us money, do all the things, um, uh please adore us. At uh uh we're on all the socials. Nice. We're on all the podcast platforms. Nice. We are on YouTube under 100% Humboldt. Yeah. And you know that we're we're on, we didn't even talk about Access Humboldt.

SPEAKER_01 53:55

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 53:55

All those other channels?

SPEAKER_01 53:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:57

Yeah. Oh, lovely. That's that's they're a great outfit.

SPEAKER_01 54:00

That's true. They are.

SPEAKER_02 54:01

They're really cool. Shout out to Access. Anyway, thanks for Yay Local Media. Yeah, yay, local media.

SPEAKER_01 54:05

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 54:06

Thanks for coming.

SPEAKER_01 54:07

Thank you. Boom.