By Peggy Sturdivant

Someone gave me a magnet that reads, “Stop me before I volunteer again.” I picture volunteering as actually raising my hand and offering to take on responsibility. The reality usually occurs in a more sideways fashion, the way it did when I got an email asking me to be on a Department of Neighborhoods Small & Simple grant application with the Low Income Housing Institute’s Cheryl Chow Court to create an event series in Ballard.

I was flattered, besides LIHI might not even get the grant; they just needed to show support for the application. It wasn’t as if I’d actually volunteered to help create a yearlong program of community engagement, especially since I was already committed to a Ballard Historical Society application. Who knew both would be funded?

By November I found myself heavily involved in the grant kickoff for Ballard Historical Society’s Mapping Historic Ballard: Shingletown to Tomorrow (November 12, 2015) and the LIHI “Bringing in Ballard” Speaker Series (November 20, 2015). So much for that magnet by my back door.

By then I’d done the only sensible thing, which was to appeal to a friend who is even more inclined to volunteer for community events, and make them richer by including arts and crafts. Holly Gustafson-Gold, need I say more? The expression that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree was never truer than in the case of the late Carrie Gustafson’s daughter Holly. As with her mother’s studio and Lily and the People Art Camps anything to do with Holly comes with generational ties to Ballard, massive amounts of creativity and energy, and a huge mailing list of followers.

Once the grant was awarded in September the Steering Committee members comprised of LIHI staff, a Cheryl Chow Court resident, Sustainable Ballard, St. Lukes, Ballard Historical Society, Ballard Chamber of Commerce, Ballard Task Force on Homelessness & Hunger and Nordic Heritage Museum quickly saw the need for a project manager. Having seen Holly in action I asked her to apply despite the fact she’d just moved to Poulsbo and the pay would be minor. She applied, was selected unanimously and accepted the role even after we all learned that the budget for her work was half of what we’d told her.

Flash forward almost six months and Holly Gustafson-Gold has once again proved herself remarkable. She has pressed her husband into creating graphics, website and social media, brought in artists and speakers, and put more hours into pulling off these rich multicultural offerings than have been compensated since week one. She just can’t help herself. Creating events that bridge past, present and future Ballard speaks to her own passion.

The next Bringing in Ballard event is this Friday, April 22, at St. Luke’s at 6:30 p.m. featuring maritime. Holly’s 13-year-old daughter Ruby is preparing a Powerpoint for the Gustafson/Anderson talk on fishing for halibut. Holly is still putting up flyers all over town with her best friend’s daughter Sierra Berry and has met with each of the presenters/performers. Come Friday she will be setting up crafts, moving tables, putting out food and tending to every detail of a typically overfull program. The steering committee helps, especially Rev. Canon Britt Olson who has volunteered their space for two events.

Familiarizing longtime and new residents of Ballard with historical aspects to the Ballard’s evolution is key to the series’ mission. The kick-off event introduced various social clubs and organizations, the second featured stories of home. Friday’s Maritime event, the third of six total, will include Sea Shanties from The Whateverly Brothers, stories from longtime fishing families, the Pakker Family of the Shilshole Liveaboard community and special guest Native American Coast Salish Paul Che oke ten Wagner. The craft will be boat-making with paper and bottle caps, the food will be potluck, the dessert provided by Mighty-O Donuts courtesy of their maritime-themed café in Ballard, and to celebrate receiving a grant for their parklet on 17th NW.

Planning is already underway a garden-themed event on July 8, 2016, at Sunset Hill Community Association. For each event I try to convince Holly that she doesn’t need to pack in so much program, bake, and do all the shopping. But what can I do? I’m just on the steering committee.

www.facebook.com/bringinginballard
Friday, April 22, 2016 @ 6:30-8:30 p.m. Free. All ages event.
St. Luke’s. 5710 22nd Ave NW, Seattle, Washington 98107