Auburn on Main

You may be asking yourself -- wait a minute, did they skip over episode 75? And you'd be correct. Yes, we did. Why? Because when we first recorded this podcast with our guest Dorsol Plants, who you're about to hear from, there simply was no audio. So, we decided to move on and record with a different guest, which we did. We then discovered that there were two audio tracks recorded side by side, like an annoying echo you can't get rid of. So long story short, we moved on from 75, which is obviously cursed, and went straight to 76. Apologies.

Anyway, Angee and Jonathan are joined by South King County Housing and Homelessness Partners (or SKHHP, pronounced like skip) Executive Manager Dorsol Plants. He joined us to talk about this year's round of funding, which will lead to hundreds of new affordable housing units, the work that's been ongoing since SKHHP formed a few years ago, and how folks can get involved in their communities.

We end on some plant trivia (cause of the name) so make sure to stick around!

Jonathan and Angee are joined this episode by Human Services Director Jody Davison and Anti-homelessness Supervisor Drew Conley, two members of a four-person department who directly oversee the homelessness services at the City of Auburn. It's a unique department for the City of Auburn, and indeed, a unique situation for any municipality -- while the City does contract with service providers, it keeps the majority of its outreach in-house, allowing us to pivot quickly and provide help throughout the process, rather than rely solely on contractors. Learn about the ins and outs of this approach, why it works, why the work is so difficult, and the dogs they see along the way. Stick around for end of summer trivia and don't forget -- Party on the Plaza is THIS Friday.

Have you ever wanted to run? Hide it away? Run because they're chasing you down? Do you just wanna run, throw it away? Run before they're finding you out?

Well, good news, Downtown Friction enjoyer, because our Poker Fun Run is THIS FRIDAY and we're runnin', makin' poker hands, and having a blast. You also don't have to run -- you can walk or stroll or roll or shuffle or dance, it's up to you. From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., we'll be hanging out at Les Gove Park in Auburn, running and making poker hands, and the top 8 win it all! So finishing quickly has no benefit—just luck (and fun).

Parks Coordinator Mackenzie Mullen joins us to talk all about it, and also the Farmers Market, happening each Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Les Gove Park. The market runs through the end of summer, with its last day on September 20. So much fun to be had, so little time.

Stick around and test your knowledge with gambling and Vegas trivia!

Angee and Jonathan are joined this week by Noah Gillan and Kenzie Jordan, two big-time players in A Sucker's Shakespeare, a completely student-led, student-acted, and student-funded Shakespeare in the Park troupe that is planning MULTIPLE shows at Game Farm Park this summer! Shows are July 30 and 31 and August 1, 7 and 8. Shows all start at 6 p.m. at the Game Farm Park amphitheater. And yes, they're COMPLETELY fre, but if you wanted to bring cash, the group does take donations so they can fund the next round of shows!

Learn all about their acting journeys and where that's taking them, and then also maybe a bit about pickles and vinegar (at least two people on the show absolutely love both).

Stick around and test your knowledge at Shakespeare trivia in Angee's Arena.

Angee and Jonathan are joined this week by the Economic Development team! You know, the folks in charge of ensuring new businesses not only come to Auburn, but thrive here! Listeners will know and recognize Emerson Folker well, but we also have a brand-new guest -- intern Jillian Orm! Jillian runs track and field at Vanguage University and is entering her junior year as a communications and political science major. She's been with the City of Auburn as the Ev Dev intern since the middle of June, and already has so many fun and interesting adventures and milestones to share.

She also happens to be a swifty, which means we couldn't resist testing her knowledge on Taylor Swift trivia! I wonder how she did....

This week Angee and Jonathan are joined by Lawand Muhsen and Rowan Santos, two incredible members of the Auburn Junior City Council. Lawand is graduating and headed to, wait for it....HARVARD UNIVERSITY! The heck? And Rowan is still a junior so she'll be coming back to the council and who knows, maybe chairing it?????? Hard to say for sure but we have a pretty good feeling about this one.

Anyway, Lawand and Rowan have both been on the council for a few years and have accomplished some pretty incredible things, all while taking a full high school course load, doing extracurriculars, applying to colleges, visiting colleges, getting great scores on the SATs, you name it, they do it, and they still have time to have a little fun.

Listen to their high school journey, hear why the AJCC is amazing and why you (yes you) should join, and stick around for Harvard/college movie trivia.

Who knows, maybe you'll be the next Rowan and Lawand????

No, our interns don't have worms. But they do have can-do attitudes and a full head of steam heading into this year's Next Step Auburn internship program! Jonathan and Angee are happy to welcome Narina Pogosian (if that name sounds familiar, yes, she's been on the show before) and Kylie O'Donnell. Narina is interning in Human Services, helping Auburn's homeless residents with resources, while Kylie works in Communications! She's been incredibly busy taking photos and videos, and she can't wait to show you all of the cool stuff. Listen to their lively conversation about work, life, work-life balance, and all things in between.

Stick around till the end to test your recent-ish musical knowledge!

Parks, Arts and Recreation's Curtis Carlson and Paris Van Quill join us on the pod this eposide to talk about recreation. Yes, that thing you can do as an adult for pennies on the dollar, that will fill your life with so much joy and laughter you'll hardly know what to do with it. But why stop there? Why not let your children in on the fun -- we offer youth classes after all. Everything and anything for all shapes and sizes, ability levels, and attention spans (thanks, TikTok). Hear about all that the City of Auburn has to offer, and all of the ways you can get invovled in something ACTIVE. Let's get physical, physical.

Stick around to the end to test your Park knowledge (no, not just the green spaces -- think outside the box here) and see if Curtis or Paris will exit Angee's Arena on top!

Angee and Jonathan are joined this week by Matthew Stone, the City of Auburn's newest Communicaitons Assistant! Matthew joined us in early April and he came all the way from the Salt Lake City area of Utah! Mathew enjoys long walks on the beach, Costco snacks, a well-timed joke with a biting sense of humor, and video games and TV shows and movies and reading. Basically, he's already one of us. Tune in to find out what he thinks about the Pacific Northwest after having lived here for a month and a half, and stick around till the end to test your knowledge of PNW trivia.

We have a few things coming up to be aware of as well --

Food Truck Tuesdays! Every Tuesday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at City Hall Plaza.

Auburn Art Showcase -- showcase your artwork alongside the Auburn Junior City Council at the Postmark Center for the Arts. Saturday, June 6 from 1 to 4 p.m. FREE to attend!

No, we aren't flipping cups and clapping our hands before joining a collegiate a cappella group (could you imagine???), but we are doing the next best thing! We're joined by the next generation of Miss Auburn and Miss Auburn's Teen, Maddie McCarthy and Haley Murray! We actually recorded this episode a few weeks ago, so we're excited to finally share it with ya'll -- we kept the energy high despite being in an interview room literally minutes before recording.

Angee, Jonathan and the Miss Auburns talked about school success, learning confidence, the power of competition, sisterhood and camaraderie, and the lifelong friendships we all make along the way.

This is Maddie's second time on the show (we commemorated it with a small four-part harmony singing session) before ending it with some spring trivia. Make sure to stick around till the end to test your knowledge!