CHIMACUM — The sixth annual All County Picnic will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at HJ Carroll Park in Chimacum.
A free, all-ages community celebration, the picnic is designed to inspire preparedness and strengthen resiliency, as well as heighten awareness of local emergency resources throughout Jefferson County.
Presented by Local 20/20, Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management and Thunderbull Productions, the All County Picnic features live music, free corn on the cob, information booths, demonstrations, a play zone and group activities, food vendors and plenty of room to connect.
The All County Picnic began as a “Gathering of Neighborhoods.”
It grew out of Local 20/20’s Neighborhood Preparedness Action Group, which had been working to organize neighborhoods around preparing for an emergency.
This year, more than 100 volunteers will collectively host more than 45 booths, each designed to raise awareness about a different aspect of resilience and emergency preparedness — including emergency sanitation, rain gardens, solar displays, electric bikes, best practices in emergency preparedness, amateur radio and other activities.
Children can enjoy a play zone and obstacle course, and the public will be invited to participate in group activities.
To round it out, local musicians will play throughout the day and food vendors will keep everyone satiated.
Jefferson County is susceptible to earthquakes, tsunamis, forest fires, extreme weather and volcanoes — all of which local communities could be better prepared for, according to a news release.
The county Department of Emergency Management staff members believe that neighbors and friends are the best resource in the case of an emergency, with each individual contributing different skills and resources.
“Talking about and preparing for disaster is difficult — it’s not something that you want to discuss with your family or neighbors, but it is crucial,” said Bob Hamlin, former director of the Department of Emergency Management.
“The beauty and the dichotomy of the All County Picnic is that we can have this difficult conversation in an environment that is fun, welcoming and supportive.”
Port Townsend Mayor Deborah Stinson added: “Our citizens are our best resource in the event of an emergency; each individual contributes different skills and abilities.
“Who has medical training?
“Who has a wood stove, a generator or other sources of light and heat that don’t require electricity?
“Who has engineering, mechanical or construction knowledge?
“Who has clean water and food storage?
“Identify these resources within your family and your neighborhood before a crisis, and plan to share with and care for one another.”
An opening ceremony will kick off the picnic at 11 a.m. and bring together all event partners, volunteers and attendees for a ceremonial honoring of local youth and adult leaders.
Then the party will begin with live music all day, free corn, speakers and presenters in the Upper Pavilion and more than 45 groups and organizations from around the region ready to share information and connect.
Upper Pavilion presentations
• 11:30 a.m. “Hour 48 Post Disaster” Forum
A forum of elected officials, first responders and neighborhood volunteers will discuss their transition from addressing immediate needs and collecting information to sharing agency specific responsibilities and strengths.
Participating agencies will include the Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Port Townsend Police Department, Jefferson County Public Utility District, HAM, Jefferson Healthcare, NPREP, county Public Works and the Navy.
The forum will be moderated by Bill Beezley, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue public information officer.
Following the presentation will be 15 minutes for questions and answers and then 30 minutes to mingle with the presenters.
• 1 p.m. Earthquake Relay
Back by popular demand, the “Earthquake Relay” will engage community members in a variety of tasks, include shucking 500 ears of fresh corn, hauling water and assembling a community resources puzzle in an effort to simulate a collaborative community response in the event of an emergency.
• 2 p.m. Chimacum School/Community Preparedness
Chimacum school and community members will talk about how the schools and neighborhood are joining forces to prepare for both man-made and natural disasters.
• 3 p.m. Plastic shredding machine demo
Roark Jennings and Andrew Eisenberg will demonstrate their newly created plastic shredding machine, “The Shredder.” The shredder is the first of three machines needed to turn plastic waste into usable products or materials.
The intention is to design small-scale, decentralized solutions that would allow for re-use of plastic locally rather than shipping it off to a landfill or recycling plant across the world.
• All day — meet political candidates
The picnic will provide a candidates booth where local political candidates can share their perspectives on community resilience and emergency preparedness.
Supporting the picnic
The picnic is presented at no cost to the public but attendees are encouraged to make donations and purchase water filtration Life Straws and All County Picnic stainless steel water bottles, which will be available.
Every Life Straw purchased not only supports the picnic but also provides a child in Kenya with clean water for an entire school year. Since 2014, Eartheasy has provided 316,000 school children in 631 Kenya schools with safe, clean water.
Ready America, a provider of disaster preparedness supplies, earthquake fasteners and outdoor survival kits, will be selling a variety of emergency preparedness supplies.
Twenty percent of all Ready America sales during the picnic will go toward supporting the event.
Henery’s Hardware and Hadlock Building Supply also will have booths on site with emergency preparedness supplies.
For information, call Daniel Milholland at 360-385-0519 or visit allcountypicnic.com.
