15th annual Christmas in the Country

The Blossom clan gathers to carve Jack-O-lanterns each Halloween at the family homestead on New Sweden Rd. Photo by Joel Sackett

                                                                           The Blossom Family

      In such a transitional environment in the USA of daily new inventions, progessive innovations, constant change, and relocation of homebase, it is stabilizing to revisit the historical roots of yesteryear, the people and projects that have contributed to the things of today.  One such Bainbridge Island family deeply rooted in Island history in the Lynwood Center and Eagedale areas is the Blossoms, Morrie & Kathy and their grown-up family Sarah, Matthew, Debbie and Bob.

     Let's go back to around the 1930s. On the knoll overlooking Lynwood Center a stately Tudor manor was built and lived in by Emmanuel and Edna Olson surrounded by linden trees and about 15 acres of  forest. With great vision, the couple then proceeded to develop Lynwood Center in the same Tudor style, a prototype of today's shopping mall, with small shops, a theater, and small living units on the upper story. Lynwood received its name in a contest in recognition of the linden trees. Emmanuel & Edna had no progeny but had a niece and nephew, Helen and Glenn Nolta. Helen married Maurice Blossom whose union produced Mick and Morrie Blossom. Morrie lived for awhile with his great aunt & uncle Olson in an upstairs room in the manor where later people used to dine at the former Pleasant Beach Grill & Oyster House run by Hussein Ramadan in the 1980s.

     When the Olsons died, they left their inheritance to the niece and nephew. Glenn married Lucille and together they ran the Lynwood Theater until it was sold in the 1980s. Helen lived in a small home behind the manor. Morrie & Mick also owned the Timber Lodge on south beach where in the 1970s you could go bowling as long as you were willing to set up your own pins. The Lodge is gone now replaced by beautiful, waterfront homes. The Blossom brothers also were involved in an earth-moving business.

     Morrie fell in love and in 1976 married a Bainbridge High School friend, Kathy Stone whose family lived in Eagledale on New Sweden Rd. where the picture of the Blossom clan with the jack-o-lanterns was taken. Morrie and Kathy own and run the South Bainbridge Water System.  Every Christmas the couple would place a Christmas tree on the corner of their property in front of an old gas station (now gone). In the early 2000s the Blossoms began to update the area and develop some of their land. The result was Lynwood Commons, a mixed used complex, that opened in 2002.
The Blossoms daughter, Sarah, now manages the complex, Matthew works in the earth-moving business and at the Water Company, Debbie is a nurse, and Bob, an attorney.

     Recently the Blossoms sold off the manor and and surrounding acreage to Bill Nelson, another longtime Islander, who
refurbished and updated the manor into Edna's restaurant. See Bainbridge Review articles.  Bill is building another mixed use complex to complement the style of Lynwood Center and named it Blossom Hill in honor of the Blossom family. It is scheduled to open sometime in late 2009.

Tudor-styled Lynwood Center in the snow. Photo courtesy of Bainbridge Island Historical Society

Lynwood Center ~ 1930s

     Lynwood Center is a quaint, Tudor style shopping village designed and developed in the 1930s by Emmanuel and Edna Olson who lived in the English manor on the bluff across the street ( now Edna's Beach Cafe).  In the last few decades the manor has served as a restaurant, noteably the former Pleasant Beach Grill.  The first Lynwood building housed a butcher shop built by George Beck, a former logger, who with his father and brothers built many of the homes in West Blakely including the Bombay House. Later they added a variety store, restaurant, hardware store, garage, and Bainbridge Island's first and for many, many years its only movie theater. Second story apartments were a later addition. It has been stated that Lynwood Center provided a prototype for the modern day shopping mall.

     Lynwood Center is now one of three service centers on the Island outside of Winslow.  Island Center and Rolling Bay are the others.  The site of the Treehouse House Cafe has had many different entrepreunerial endeavors including antique shoppes, a Suzuki School Studio and Julie's Frame Gallery. The theater has celebrated its 70th year anniversary.  Walt's grocery store was located next to the theater for many years providing groceries and assundries for the neighborhood. Walt Hannon and his Mom, Rhea, put the personal touch on providing groceries and it became a gathering place for conversation and coffee. The Hannons are also long time Bainbridge Island residents. Several years ago, Walt moved his grocery story across the street into the new Lynwood Commons complex and although modernized some, continues in the same family-style, personal custom service.

     Steve Romein and Ty Cramer purchased Lynwood Center a couple years ago and plan to restore it's structural health and reconfigure some of the space where Walt's Market was and adding apartments above.

     To learn more about Lynwood Center, please read the article "Just Looking Bainbridge Island"  written by Connie McDougall in the September 28th issue of the Seattle Times Northwest Weekend, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003277891&slug=nwwjustlooking28&date=20060928

Countryman Stables

Countryman Stables

     Open meadowland sweeps the landscape around the stables reminding us of former farms in Eagledale that grew and supplied vegetables and milk to the milltown of Port Blakely down the road.
Now Rick and Kathy Countryman operate a horse stables there. For the last nine years, and again this year, the Countrymans have generously offered free pony rides to kids 12 & under on Saturday and Sunday of the Christmas in the Country tour from noon - 2pm. The covered arena makes the activity suitable no matter what inclement weather might arrive.

Cyprion Wyatt

Kathy Countryman's maternal great grandfather was Cyprion Wyatt, an influential citizen of Bainbridge Island and captain of the Florence K.and Bainbridge steamboats, and the Liberty (the first auto ferry from Bainbridge to Seattle). He lived in the historic Wyatt House on Wyatt Way in Winslow.

Blackberry Hill Farm

     Norsk, Norsk, Norsk.  The Berg's Norwegian heritage is apparent. In 1922, Captain Thor Berg and his bride Bergliot arrived in Aberdeen, Washington from Oslo.  Their first son, Tom, Bart's father, was born there. Three more sons followed, Carl, Dick and Stanley.  In 1946 the family moved to Bainbridge Island and settled in the Hawley neighborhood of Wing Point near the ferry dock where their home was on the water. Carl helped to start the American Marine Bank, Dick was assistant govenor of Samoa, and Stan was a woodworker.

     Both Bart Berg and his wife Dana attended and graduated from Bainbridge High School. They married and built their classic house in 1986 on a piece of property originally owned by the Saveleskys. It sits in the area of Bainbridge known as Island Center and remnants of an old log cabin and dairy have been found. Berry farmers also worked the land nearby in the heyday of island farming, the first half of the 20th century. Today the setting is more woodland, with some open fields, a pond, a trout stream and some scattered fruit trees and blueberry bushes.  Just recently the Bergs purchased an adjoining 5 acres which sits at the south end of Wardwell. They are planning a public walking and biking path through their properties which will allow people to go straight through the middle of the Island and access the Grand Forest trails.  Blackberry Hill Farm, as they have named their homestead, is also a B&B, The Bicycle Inn.

     Dana graduated from WSU with a degree in interior design.  In 1977 she opened Dana's Showhouse, a home furnishing/decor store in an old house on Erickson Ave.  The store moved to the Molstad square on Winslow way and just recently moved into the old Roberts Jewelers space under new owenership.  Bart started a landscape business in 1975 after acquiring a Master's in Landscape Architecture from the U of Massachusetts.

     The Bergs are travelers and bicyclists. They have taken bike trips through parts of Europe and just recently returned from a trip to India. While in Paris in 1999 at the Millennium celebration, Dana was entralled by the elaborate lighting designs, 100s of different ones, covering the streets of Paris and other European towns. She brought back the idea and worked with Team Winslow (now the Downtown Association) to create the ornately scrolled, lighted banners that cross Winslow Way in November and December.

     Dana became involved with the nonprofit, Squeaky Wheels, www.squeakywheels.com, about the same time after becoming a bicycle commuter to Winslow and hearing about the good work the group had done with biking issues on the island.  Sales of "Bike for Pie" T-shirts and other products from the group during Christmas in the Country go to support the organization.

     The Berg's strong connection to their Norwegian heritage makes their Christmas celebration an honor to the traditions of Norway. Thirty-five or more Bergs get together for a traditional dinner featuring fiskeballer and lefse.   Many family members still wear the traditional bunads and everyone participates in a Christmas pageant and songfest. The various regions in Norway each have their own "bunad" or traditional national costume. To even acquire the material to fashion the bunad, one must prove a family connection to the region. It is rumored that some young ladies will search out a future husband based on the design of the bunad since it will become part of their wardrobe. Silver jewelry often accessorizes the bunad.  During Christmas in the Country the Bergs welcome you into their unique home to experience their Norwegian Christmas .

Bainbridge Island Creativity Center

     Mission Statement: Assisting individuals, of all levels, to open, expand, and be more confident in their creative expression.

     Thanks to dedicated, talented and visionary volunteers, Return to Creativity has opened the Creativity Center. The 1300 square foot warehouse has been transformed into a warm and inspiring enviornment. The space includes a loft, which provides a comfortable venue for writing classes, discussion groups or just sitting back and enjoying the art library. Another feature of the Center is the gallery wall. Currently a variety of work by the Creativity Center Faculty is being exhibited. The space will be used to feature student work and work of visiting artists and teachers.

     The Creativity Center is a multipurpose facility. There are ongoing classes, which include drawing, painting, encaustics, digital photography, and watercolor. In addition, the Center offers classes in movement arts. Using the beautiful dojo at The Art Center (next door) Integral Qigong, and Feldenkrais classes are conducted. A continued series of workshops are scheduled. These include sculpture and mask making. Visiting instructors are also scheduled.

    
     The Creativity Center also provides space for a variety of presentations. In February, Humaira Abid, a talented young sculptor from Pakistan, shared her work and perspective on art and creating from her part of the world. The Center welcomes local participation. In following the mission of Return to Creativity, the Center provides a space for community sharing. The Center will be moving their operations to and sharing space with the Island Music Guild in 2009

     Pam Christiansen is the founder of Return to Creativity which operates out of the Bainbridge lsland Creativity Center. Her undergraduate focus was sculpture and her graduate studies were in Art History at Cal State Northridge, the University of Hawaii and UCLA. She is an artist, teacher and workshop facilitator.

Fortner Home front view with new Gazebo

Sweetlife Farm

     Bob & Nancy Fortner invite discovery of their secluded, self-designed woodland home nestled within ten acres of forest land near the Grand Forest. Completed in 1999, the home resembles a scaled-down version of our nation's historic park lodges. An upgraded workshop and attic adjacent to and above their garage house their commercial kitchen for preparing the farm products. 
     The Fortners love of  "the natural" and their visionary and entreprenerial spirits have expanded their horizons within the confines of their rural retreat.  Fondly dubbed "Sweetlife Farm", the Fortners make natural skincare products, preserves, vinegars, sauces and herbal salts and sugars from their own honey, berries, fruits, flowers and herbs. This year they are adding a new Cocoa Local flavor to the wildly popular original flavors, and a new line of creamed honeys. There will be plenty of mouthwatering rosemary shortbread and assorted gift boxes of Sweetlife Farm products ready to share with the lucky people on your holiday gift list.  

Greetings from Bob  & Nancy:  

     "We live, cook and garden on 10 acres near the Grand Forest. Since moving the book business home in 1999 we have been able to focus on two of our passions: gardening and cooking, and maintain large vegetable, herb and flower gardens, along with a modest orchard and a few beehives. In 2006, our eyes got “bigger than our stomachs,” as Nancy’s father would say, and we went with the notion that if a few rows of berries and lavender are good, then a lot more would be great—we now have a bountiful harvest of both, and have added a new kitchen in which to process the farm’s bounty.
This year in order to focus primarily on the farm and farm products, we closed our online bookstore. We added a greenhouse, new raised beds, a chicken coop, and a wood-fired bread oven housed in a gazebo near the house.
     Our goal is to feed ourselves as much as is practical from our garden, share the excess, and supplement with foods grown as close to home as possible, from trusted sources. With just the two of us working our garden and producing food and other handmade products, our days remain full, and the quality of life superb. Friends and family occasionally show up to help us pick or help wrap and label products, but for the most part we are the “do it yourself twins.” There are those who would deny us the “farmer” label, but whatever we’re called, we’re all about homegrown, homemade and sharing the bounty! "

Little Yellow Farmhouse

Little Yellow Farmhouse, 1916

     On an overlook of Manitou Beach, Lucia Olson's little yellow farmhouse sits back from the road on Manitou Beach Drive. Entering the property one perceives that a home orchard had been planted years age. Mature apple trees continue to bear abundant fruit. One can't miss the 1949 International Harvester Farmall tractor in the front yard, now ornamental, but once a function of bygone activities.

     In 1997, Lucia and Carly Olson purchased the home from Larry & Rosalind Duthie. Larry worked at the Bainbridge Review and Rosalind was a local teacher. The Duthie's  added on the present family room & kitchen and Lucia added a sun room and porch. Now the rooms are named, the "rooster room" aka. family room and the "tractor room" aka. living room.

     Lucia adorningly claims it to be the "best house on Bainbridge Island"! Make sure you visit and see what you think and enjoy the arts & crafts of her guest artists.

Former Pedersen home now Hazel Creek Farm B&B

Hazel Creek Farm ~ 1921

     This twenty acre compound with charming remodeled 1921 farmhouse, barns, schoolhouses, and horse arena is home to the Hazel Creek Montessori School named for a small creek that runs through the property. Janice (the school director) and Ollie Pedersen (landscape architect and native Bainbridge Islander whose family has lived here for over 100 years) developed the property that now is the epitome of country elegance. 
      In June of 1989, Ollie & Janice purchased 5 wooded acres, began logging, and by March started to build the original schoolhouse using only a chain and skill saw:  

      "Ollie & I used to work together all day landscaping other people's yards and then come home and pound nails and saw boards as we labored together to build the structures on the Hazel Creek Farm. We'd go to bed with ace bandages around our wrists to help control the carpal tunnel pain."

     The acreage grew to 20 acres when in 1995 the Pedersens acquired their home, a 1921 dilapidated farmhouse which they redesigned and remodeled. They and their four children, Mitra, Adam, Ashley, and Alison, built each building on the property as funds and time allowed them.  Just this year the Pedersons redesigned one of the school buildings and moved into it and transformed their home into Hazel Creek Farm B&B.

    
     The rolling landscape and sweeping greens are interrupted by white pasture fencing, grazing horses, and buildings all circumferenced by tall fir trees and sylvan borders. The estate grounds were featured on the 2002 Bainbridge in Bloom Garden Tour. Dances and other special events are held in the large, heated barn where during Christmas in the Country, elves & Santa Claus will appear, artists will offer their unique products, and entertainers will livin the festivities!