Downtown Poulsbo
Two downtown Poulsbo galleries have closed this year — Magal &Louis at 18961 Front St., and the Native American Marketplace at 18827 Front St. But the gallery scene and the arts are still well-represented.
There’s Liberty Bay Gallery, Kitsap Mosaics, The Dancing Brush, Sticks &Stones, Front Street Gallery and Verksted Gallery. Not to mention Poulsbo City Hall, Hot Shots Java and Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, which display works by local artists.
Recently, there have been reports that Liberty Bay Gallery, 18830 Front St., might be on the market.
Liberty Bay Gallery co-owner Brooke Dalton said she and her business partner, Holly Duggan, had been considering selling, but no longer.
“It is open for the foreseeable future,” Dalton said. “We’re hoping to have a great summer. The new building owners say they’re not in any hurry to make changes.”
Sound West Group is in the process of buying the building — historically, it was the Olympic Hotel — from the Sluys family.
Liberty Bay Gallery is now exhibiting two artists from Magal &Louis, including Leigh Knowles. Earlier, Liberty Bay Gallery took on several artists from the Blue Water Artworks when it closed.
“We’d have loved to add more, but we don’t have the space,” Dalton said.
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The former Hare &Hounds site has been an English-style pub and a New Orleans jazz venue. Soon, it will have a Southern California touch.
Joan Samson, owner of Starling Diner in downtown Long Beach, California, is in the process of purchasing the site from Bill Austin.
Starling Diner was featured on The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” A reporter for the (Long Beach) Press-Telegram wrote of Starling Diner on Jan. 15, 2015: “The Starling has a pleasantly homegrown feel to it, with comfy bistro chairs, random bits of art on the walls (with many of the picture frames rakishly askew) and odd wall signs that read ‘Eat’ and ‘Be Nice.’ This is the sort of neighborhood cafe where the servers greet you as an old friend even if you’ve never been there before. There’s good coffee, hot and strong, poured quickly — and refilled quickly as well. And, if you’re lucky enough to get there before they run out, you can get an order of the ‘baked-every-morning’ basket of scones, served with ridiculously good lemon curd.”
A message was left for Samson on June 12. More information will be reported later.
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Leo Fried of Blue Heron Jewelry Co. in Poulsbo received the “Responsible Practices Distinction” award for his Tanzanite and Diamond White Gold Ring from the MJSA, a U.S. trade association for jewelry designers and makers.
He was one of 10 award recipients of a 2017 MJSA Vision Award, in May.
Fried’s center stone was purchased from a co-op of Masi miners; the white gold was sourced from Hoover &Strong’s Harmony metals; and the accent diamonds were either recycled or purchased from dealers who adhere to the Kimberley Process, a cooperative system that works to reduce the flow of conflict diamonds, or diamonds used to finance wars.
The award judges were Michael Coan, chairman emeritus of the jewelry design department, Fashion Institute of Technology; Ann Cahoon, jewelry making and repair department head, North Bennet Street School; Victoria Gomelsky, editor of JCK magazine; consultant/author Marlene Richey; and jewelry designers Michael Bondanza and Barbara Heinrich.
Fried’s ring and the other winning entries will be exhibited at the 2018 MJSA Expo at the Javits Center in New York City.
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Jaks Cafe and Espresso on Jensen Way in Poulsbo Place celebrated its 10th anniversary on May 19.
Owner Julie Krucek’s daughter, Alisa, organized a surprise celebration for her on the cafe’s patio, inviting members of the community, family and friends. In her invitation, she wrote of her mother, “She always dreamed of opening a cafe in which to put her amazing talent to work serving fresh, wholesome, organic foods and a big helping of down-home hospitality. With an immense amount of hard work and dedication, her dream became a reality.”
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Sugar Flower Market, specializing in farm, house, vintage and goods, will soon open at 18827 Front St., formerly occupied by Native American Marketplace.
HIGHWAY 305
Sound Reprographics celebrates 25 years … Twenty-five years ago, if a business on the west side of Puget Sound needed blueprints or large-scale printing, they had to take their business to Seattle.
That’s the problem Sound Reprographics founders Joe Cardosi and Rick Huggins set out to solve with just one piece of equipment in 1992.
Now, a quarter-century later, Sound Reprographics has two locations, 10 employees, and equipment to create just about anything their customers can dream up.
The company started in Poulsbo, with just one blueprint machine, at the end of the dock at Liberty Bay. The company kept pace with technology: to their original blueprint machine they added black-and-white copying, then color, then high-speed digital printing. Soon, a second location opened on Bainbridge Island. The Poulsbo location has shifted and expanded, recently re-opening to a new, larger space at the front of Poulsbo’s 305 Plaza.
Sound Reprographics now offers self-service printing stations, and is an authorized FedEx shipping and drop-off centers.
“From signs, banners and trade show displays, to business cards, fliers, mounting, laminating, vehicle graphics, clothing, and promotional products, we do it all,” Huggins said in an announcement of the anniversary. “Our motto is ‘Everything Printed’.”
But it’s the relationships with clients, many of whom have been around since the beginning, that is the most rewarding for the Sound Reprographics team, Cardosi said. “We’ve grown our businesses together. We know each other’s families and spend time together in and out of work. It’s great to live in a community where we all see each other every day.”
BOND ROAD
Dr. Ellen K. Stehouwer, D.O., is accepting patients at Kitsap Medical Weight Loss, 20730 Bond Road NE, Suite 104, Poulsbo (http://kitsapmedicalweightloss.com).
Stehouwer is the only board-certified bariatric physician in the West Sound region. She treats obesity and overweight like the chronic disease it is now recognized as, and is accepting new patients. According to Stehouwer, Washington is one of the healthiest states in the union, and “yet over 27 percent of adults are obese.”
According to Stehouwer, this type of medical practice is new to this area.
COLLEGE MARKETPLACE
Payless ShoeSource in College Market Place has closed. The nearest Payless ShoeSource is located at Kitsap Mall.
— Richard Walker is managing editor of Kitsap News Group. Contact him at rwalker@soundpublishing.com. With reporting by Terryl Asla, tasla@soundpublishing.com.
Liberty Bay co-owner Brooke Dalton hangs a work by artist Leigh Knowles, formerly of Magal & Louis Gallery. Terryl Asla/Kitsap News Group
