Events are free and held on the third Friday of each month except December. In-person events are located at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 700 Callahan Drive in Bremerton. Sign-in begins at 6:00, with introductions at 6:30. Zoom link now has its own page on our website with multiple options for signing in

June 20, 2025: Mary Lou Sanelli, “In So Many Words,” An Author Presentation. Mary Lou Sanelli is the author of 14 books of nonfiction, fiction, memoir, poetry, and a children’s title. Her newest title, In So Many Words: Three Years, Two Months, One Me, was nominated for a 2025 Pacific Northwest Book Award and a 2025 Washington State Book Award. She also is a columnist, speaker and master dance teacher.

July 18, 2025 – Christine Rolfes, Kitsap County Commissioner, will present: On Local Leadership: A Window into Regional Priorities and Politics. During her talk, Christine Rolfes will draw from her experience in local and state elected office to update us on regional initiatives in health care, housing, transportation, and environmental protection, and provide commentary or insight into topical items of interest to the group.

August 15, 2025 – Joel Underwood, That Ribbon of Highway: Woody Guthrie in the Pacific Northwest. Folksinger and activist Woody Guthrie composed 26 songs in 30 days while riding along the Columbia River and touring the Grand Coulee Dam Project in 1941. With his unique, authentic voice, he chronicled both the grandeur and the perils of what he called “The Greatest Thing That Man Has Ever Done” as an employee of the Bonneville Power Administration. His time here in the Pacific Northwest inspired a swell of patriotism that led Guthrie to enlist in the U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II, after which he returned home to fame and notoriety, but also to tragedy and tremendous personal loss. Historian, teacher, folksinger, and actor Joel Underwood performs an hour that is part concert, part theatrical drama, and part lecture. Sing along to “Roll on Columbia,” “Pastures of Plenty,” and of course, “This Land is Your Land,” and learn the—sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic—stories behind the songs.

November 21, 2025 – Robert Horton, Hollywood and the Blacklist Era. “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”  The answer to this question—or the refusal to answer it—cast hundreds of lives into turmoil at the dawn of the Cold War. This presentation, illustrated with film clips, tells the stories from this heartbreaking and scandalous era, and how notables such as Humphrey Bogart, Elia Kazan, and Charlie Chaplin were swept up in the frenzy. We’ll also ask a question: With today’s politics at a boiling point, are we living in such a period again?