Big Dream, Many Thanks

We dreamed big when planning our First Fed Centennial Celebration, a once-in-a-lifetime event to commemorate our bank’s 100 years in the PNW. Our dreams evolved into a one-day festival with live performances on two stages, a food zone, and a fun zone with free kids activities. Basically we took over a full city block worth of space along the Port Angeles waterfront to provide entertainment, activities, food, beverages, seating, sanitation, and water stations for 5,000 people on September 3, 2023.

We had one shot to pull it off. And we did, thanks to the time and talents of many community leaders and volunteers.?

My heart is filled with gratitude for everyone who contributed to the success of this event. It took a massive amount of teamwork - collaboration, communication, responsiveness, and perseverance.?

Thank you to everyone involved in what was literally thousands of hours to pull off an event of this magnitude. I wish I could thank everyone by name, but I don’t even know all the names! That’s how many people contributed! Wow!

However, I must list a few specific thank yous to people and organizations.

CEO Matt Deines and CHRO&CMO Derek Brown , for empowering us to host a massive event celebrating the talents, interests, and diversity of our region. Thank you to CFO Geri Bullard for not cutting our budget.

Victoria Jones and Jen Swanson , my exceptional event managers who each brought their valuable skills and ideas to realize the vision. Victoria is the logistics queen who fully realized the “outdoor festival” part of the vision and had all the right connections on speed dial (City of PA, PAHS, Sequim HS, parking lot owners, etc.) Jen is our community engagement champion who rallied 16 organizations to host free activities for families.

Rose Thompson, for recruiting and wrangling the food trucks. Lindsay Fox , for managing the alcoholic beverage sales, proceeds of which were donated to Olympic Medical Center Foundation and Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Education Foundation.

Kyle Bartholick-LeMaire and Kari Chance at Juan de Fuca Foundation for the Arts for bringing their organizational skills, communication, and enthusiasm to the mainstage production. So fun seeing you and all the JFFA volunteers in action behind the scenes and working the merch booth! Thank you to R90 LIGHTING and Tunz Sound for professional concert lights and sound.

Thank you to the entire staff at Field Arts & Events Hall , a new world-class venue on the PA waterfront. It was wonderful to have such an elegant space for our Love Local Showcase, team photo, and team dinner catered by Coyote BBQ.

Thank you to our videographer Matt Longmire , my partner on the Our First Fed documentary video. Everyone loves his upbeat energy, willingness to try things, and attention to detail.

Thank you to Jennifer Richard , our event photographer who regularly delivers magazine-quality images. We love the team photo. Event photo gallery coming soon!

Thank you to Zo? B. for managing social media and photography. Thank you to Ryan Hirokane , for managing the prize drawing as well as working late with Jen Swanson to help us close out use of Field Hall. Two amazing go-getters!

Thank you to all the Love Local performers - Olympic Peninsula Ukelele Strummers, The Rhapsody Project , Studio360 , and the Washington Diamonds Drill Team ! Delightful to see you shine on that stage!

Also, thank you to these community leaders for sharing their journeys during the Resilience Story Hour. Loni Grinell-Greninger spoke about cultural resilience of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe , Billy Price about how he turned a personal challenge into the mission-driven BILLY Footwear , and Robert DeCou about how he perseveres as an endurance athlete.

Shout out to my fellow emcees rocking the mic - Christopher Riffle , Crystal Marvin (Radwanski) , Jody Copeland , and Matt Deines! Thanks also to Cindy Finnie and Zelby Gloria, a young leader who gave the land blessing on behalf of her tribes.

Mainstage bands - wow! You all delivered. 10s across the board.

Abbygail Sill - thank you for getting the band back together for this event. So cool to see Abby Mae and the Homeschool Boys performing on the stage that you designed!

Lady A - thank you for giving life to everyone who heard you. The spirit of Tina Turner lives on in your performance. Many new fans. Plus Lady A graciously sang a song on the Field Hall stage with The Rhapsody Songsters, who she mentors.

Snotty Nose Rez Kids - thank you for waiting out the rain, which had pooled dangerously on the stage. After the rain passed and the stage was mopped, SNRK delivered a high energy set of back-to-back hits that one longtime fan said was her favorite show yet. SNRK stayed for over an hour at the merch booth to sign merch and take photos with fans. Also, thank you SNRK for uniting people of diverse backgrounds through your catchy lyrics and sick beats.

The Daddies - thank you for getting everyone to dance in the dark! Fun to see all the glowing First Fed bracelets being twirled around by the kids to the swing music. A fabulous end to a memorable day.?

Thank you again to everyone else who contributed to this community celebration. "Teamwork makes the dream work" is what I always say to my kids. I’m happy we dreamed big and had the team to make it happen. #communityspirit