Prepared for disaster? All County Picnic in Chimacum on Sunday to promote emergency preparedness in Jefferson

Published 12:01 am Monday, August 17, 2015

CHIMACUM — Neighbors will come together Sunday to enjoy music and free corn on the cob and prepare for the worst.

The third annual All County Picnic will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at H.J. Carroll Park.

More than 100 volunteers will man more than 40 booths, each designed to raise awareness about a different aspects of preparedness in the face of an emergency such as an earthquake, tsunami, forest fire or extreme weather.

The free All County Picnic also will offer live music, free corn on the cob, food vendors, speakers and demonstrations, a play zone and group activities.

“It’s amazing to see how this event has grown over the past two years, to see the relationships that have formed and that are being strengthened,” said Danny Milholland of Thunderbull Productions, who is co-coordinating the event.

The picnic is presented by Local 20/20 and Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management with support from a variety of community organizations.

“Talking about and preparing for disaster is difficult — it’s not something that you want to talk about with your family, your neighbors — but it is crucial,” said Bob Hamlin, director of the Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management.

“The beauty, the dichotomy of the All County Picnic is that we can have this difficult conversation in an environment that is fun, welcoming and supportive.”

Judith Alexander of Local 20/20 added: “And how can we not promise a fun atmosphere with having engaged local band, Locust Street Taxi, to be providing the musical backdrop for all of this?”

U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer of the 6th Congressional District and state Rep. Steve Tharinger of the 24th District are expected to attend.

Amateur radio operators will give demonstrations.

Cindy Jayne, co-chair of the Local 20/20 Climate Action Group, and others will be on hand to discuss local efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Jefferson County and to prepare for climate change.

Representatives of the city of Port Townsend, Jefferson County, Jefferson Healthcare hospital, Jefferson County Public Utility District and of law enforcement and fire departments will answer questions about emergency response plans now in place.

At the Best Practices Booth, volunteers will use county maps to help people identify their neighborhoods’ boundaries and whether their neighborhood has a designated “neighborhood lead or co-leads.”

Visitors to the booth can then connect with or create their neighborhood network.

Jefferson County has 160 neighborhoods and more than 260 neighborhood leads and co-leads, said Port Townsend Councilwoman Deborah Stinson, event co-coordinator.

“We’re a very active community in comparison to other Washington counties of our size, but there is still a need for more people to get involved,” she said.

For more information, see www.allcountypicnic.com.

To become a volunteer, visit L2020.org.