PORT ANGELES — Leslie Kidwell, two years out of Port Angeles High School, had California on her mind.
“I decided I wanted more adventure,” she recalled.
With $200 to her name, she took off for Los Angeles. It was 1985, and she found a retail job and a place to rent right away.
“It was really fun — for about five years,” she said.
She met Tom Robertson, a captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. They married and started a family.
Which was about when Leslie Robertson realized: She’d left her heart in the other Angeles.
“I got really homesick. I just ached for this place,” she said.
Tom was almost ready to retire, so they started making plans. She would move up here with their two girls, Lily, then 6, and Annie, then 8.
Tom would keep working, two weeks on at the fire station and two weeks off — in Port Angeles.
They’ve since built a house in the country east of town. Annie and Lily are in high school, and their mother has the time and energy for something else again.
It all began last October.
Revitalize Port Angeles, a Facebook page Robertson and a crew of volunteers put up, just to start a conversation.
In eight months, this organization — with no formal nonprofit status and no board of directors — has taken on a city full of issues.
RevitalizePortAngeles.org lists projects such as the Spruce Up effort, which included cleaning and painting around the Laurel Street stairs in May, alongside Light Up the Lincoln, the campaign to raise $235,000 toward the purchase of downtown’s Lincoln Theater.
Organizers Scott Nagel and Karen Powell credit Revitalize with helping them bring in $175,000 thus far toward their plan to convert the shuttered movie house into a performing arts center.
Robertson is the unstintingly positive Facebook presence, posting messages to support people and businesses all over town.
“Hey Revitalize members, Sweet and Salty Fro Yo could use a little love this week as they take their turn being impacted by the downtown construction,” she wrote recently on the Facebook page.
Sit down with her for a long chat, and Robertson will not utter a downbeat word.
“Positive,” she said, “is what works. It’s always easy to find the negative,” and blame others for whatever is wrong on any given day.
Yet “positive is what gets things done.”
Revitalize’s profile rose considerably in May and June during Outside magazine’s “Best Town Ever” contest, in which Port Angeles bested Santa Barbara, Calif.; Bainbridge Island; Glenwood Springs, Colo.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; and Bar Harbor, Maine, before reaching the final round against Chattanooga, Tenn.
When the contest ended at 9 p.m. June 4, Port Angeles, population 19,000, garnered 62,130 votes; Chattanooga, population 170,000, emerged as the winner.
But the margin wasn’t huge: The southern city got just 5,302 more votes than Port Angeles did.
With the contest ended, Port Book and News owners Alan and Cindy Turner hailed it — and Robertson’s crew — on the blackboard in front of their store.
“This whole process that has brought our town so far should demonstrate one thing to us all. It is not the old guard, the old associations, the out of touch leaders who will bring our town into the future.
“Unfortunately, they hold the purse strings. But they are not the heart and soul of this community.
“Rather, it is the good people at ‘Revitalize Port Angeles’ giving their time and energy, and the many young people investing their own money creating small businesses, to whom the future belongs,” read the message.
Robertson posted her own morning-after remarks.
“Winning this contest would have been great, but it’s so obvious that the real win happened long before 8:59 last night. Coming together to celebrate our love for this amazing place, and more importantly for each other, is worth far more than any formal accolade or award,” she wrote.
“We’ve been here all along; we just needed something to bring us all together. Now that we’ve found each other, there will be no stopping us!”
That’s classic Leslie Robertson, said Carol Sinton, a retired educator who spearheaded the Laurel Street stairs project.
“She has such enthusiasm for Port Angeles. Her love for the town is evident from the moment you talk with her,” said Sinton, adding that Robertson also is a keen listener.
“Instead of censoring ideas, Leslie encourages debate, only asking that it remain civil and on topic,” Sinton said.
Robertson has no degree in urban affairs, marketing or public relations; “college didn’t stick,” she said.
She is a 1983 high school graduate, a member of a big family: Her mother, Kay Clark, and her stepfather, Brian Clark, raised her and three sisters, Kathy, Jenny and Rachel, here.
As a teenager, she was active in Port Angeles High School’s drama program and sang in the Vocal Unlimited choir.
And for all of her posts on Revitalize Port Angeles’ Facebook page and website, Robertson’s email address starts with “Mom to two girls.”
Port Angeles is where she wanted to raise her family, naturally. And Annie, who will be 17 in July, says it has been a good place to grow up.
The town’s strength, Robertson believes, is in its people, who value community.
To her, the Outside magazine contest reminded local residents of Port Angeles’ natural beauty, yes, but it also pointed up their ability to work together.
Revitalize Port Angeles has spread beyond even Leslie’s expectations.
The Spruce Up project continues, she noted, with a team of volunteers painting the First Street breezeway alongside the Cabled Fiber & Yarn shop.
And while the city supplied paint for the Laurel Street stairs project, Clallam County Habitat for Humanity donated 60 gallons of anti-graffiti sealant, which Robertson said is available to business owners whenever they want it. The RevitalizePortAngeles.org page has contact information.
Revitalize has also given birth to PA CAN, the Port Angeles Citizens Action Network, to address the drug problem afflicting the city (see sidebar).
Angie Gooding, a teacher at Stevens Middle School, took the new group’s helm. She’s one of many determined to tackle the community’s troubles rather than complaining about them.
Robertson has the gift of allowing people to take on the tasks that fit both their passions and their skill sets, Gooding said.
And “she’s a terrific cheerleader. Feeling frustrated? Overwhelmed? Just talk to Leslie.”
Richard Schneider, an administrator of the Revitalize page on Facebook, met Robertson at the group’s first meeting in October.
“I think her success comes from an ability to connect to, and between, people with widely differing opinions and ideas,” he said, adding that she’s the right person in the right place and time.
“Some people were tired of seeing negative attitudes, tired of hearing Port Angeles getting bad-mouthed, ready to meet up with others to start fixing it,” he said.
Schneider and Robertson don’t agree on every little thing, but they’re of like mind when it comes to the Facebook page: They want a safe, productive forum with civility as the cardinal rule.
“Anything really useful can be said respectfully,” he added.
A town reinventing itself needs energetic leaders — “working outside the boxes of government and formal organizations,” said Schneider.
“Leslie is a great example.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.