At Large in Ballard by Peggy Sturdivant

"Create a link in our Chain of Connections," read the flyer next to the basket of Sharpies outside the Ballard Market. An employee at the table by the shopping carts further explained that in honor of Town & Country's 50th anniversary (Bainbridge location, not Ballard) all six stores were inviting customers to decorate a rectangle of canvas to become part of a chain.

I was struck by the cleverness, using actual linked fabric to symbolize the chain of connections, while also celebrating a small chain of local, independent markets. The bulk foods department had volunteered to sit outside on Saturdays from 10-3 to explain the project. After twice passing the table as a customer, I wanted to be on the other side. Guess where I spent last Saturday?

On the last Saturday of the project, Joanie was working the table. She's only been at Ballard Market a few months, but Central Market in Poulsbo was her home store. For three hours we chatted together, with other employees, with the Real Change vendor behind us, and with customers as they passed in and out. Joanie is 26 years old and studied photography at the University of Washington. She volunteers with Arts Corp, a non-profit that provides teacher artists for after-school programs and she lives in a converted West Seattle school. We ate blueberries and sipped iced drinks; I'm not sure which one of us was enjoying the day more.

Right off we discussed our mutual admiration for Ballard Market's role in the community: the food bank announcements on the reader board, the 1 percent of receipts to non-profits, huge commitment to local scholarships and their donations to local groups for neighborhood clean-ups and such. Then we moved on to low employee turnover and store friendships. Her boyfriend used to work at Ballard Market but is now preparing to attend Evergreen in Olympia. Her own family is bit scattered; her sister is 18 years older, "but I have this family," Joanie said, meaning her Ballard Market co-workers.

John from bakery brought us foccacia with pesto on his way to break. While she decorated a canvas strip, Amy from floral told me Saturdays are slow because they prepare flower arrangements earlier in the week, "the system is working," she said. Liz watered the outdoor plants. The noon bells rang at St. Alphonsus; Joanie and I traded life stories.

The adult shoppers eyed as warily, as though we were trying to sell them something they didn't want. The children were quick to spot the hard candies and assortment of color markers, but they carefully considered whether to take a strip of with them or risk sitting down with us to draw. Finally a little girl on her way to make a pineapple upside down cake for "poppa's birthday" doubled back to draw three cats on canvas, one with just one eye, because that cat only has one eye. Two boys drew while their mother shopped; we didn't recognize one image until the mother pronounced it inappropriate. I commented on the Small Faces Child Development t-shirt of a girl drawing a log; while the baby breastfed, her mother and I discussed the dilemma of properties declared surplus by the Seattle School District.

An older couple sat down abruptly and decorated strips with a double tribute - the 50th anniversary of Town & Country and The Norse Home. The wife has worked at Norse Home as a Certified Nursing Assistant for 10 years, before that she was at Ballard Convalescent. They've lived in Ballard for 30 years and remember when the site was a Lucky's grocery. We agreed that probably half of the Norse Home residents are original Ballardites; she reeled off the names of many Golden Beavers from Ballard High School. "Do you know Wes Ferris?" the man asked me. "Retired policeman. Last policeman to walk the beat in Ballard. Was at his 70th birthday party recently and asked him what he thought about all the changes in Ballard. You know what he said? 'Ballard isn't Ballard anymore.' That's all."

"I think it's going to be something different," his wife said, beneath a large straw hat. "Something more international." They jumped up as suddenly as they had arrived, announcing they had new computer games to try at home. "Don't forget," the gentleman said, as though he'd already reminded us several times. "There's the benefit dinner at Thai Siam later this month. They do it every year. $20, all you can eat. Make sure to get there."

The hours passed. Joanie and I continued to meet new people and talk to her co-workers. The cloud cover lifted and the sun became too hot. After a final passionate group discussion about red versus black licorice we finished exchanging email addresses with one another. I told Joanie to stay in touch. During our time together we talked about her college program in Rome, the shift of her interests from photography to glass-blowing to printmaking, an opinion piece that had stayed with her about providing art supplies to children, a co-worker's interest in metaphysics. She made me wish that I were 26 again. There was a pile of decorated strips on the folding table to show for our time, drawings that included flowers and soccer balls, a one-eyed cat, a dog pooping, a log. The newly decorated strips would be stapled one by one onto the existing chain, and then linked with the chains from Greenwood and Shoreline, Mill Creek and Poulsbo, finally linking with the Bainbridge chain in time for their anniversary.

It was nearing 3 p.m. - time to put away the table and chairs, time for a shift change. I walked slowly to the upper end of the parking lot. I could have stayed with the family all day.

Thai Siam's 20th Anniversary Benefit Dinner will take place on Sunday, August 19th from 12:30-8:30 p.m. with all proceeds from the $20.00 buffet to benefit Cancer Lifeline, Union Gospel Mission and Seattle Children's Hospital. Thai Siam is located at 8305 15th Avenue NW.

Peggy's e-mail is atlargeinballard@yahoo.com She writes additional pieces for the P.I.'s Ballard Webtown at http://blog.seattlepi.