On this episode of Local Whidbey with Magsy, we’re taking a delicious little detour… straight from the Food Network to Bayview Corner.

If you’ve been anywhere near Langley lately, you’ve probably heard whispers — or full-volume raves — about Japonica, the new Japanese comfort-food spot created by chef Joan Samson and her sommelier husband Ed Hodson.

Joan trained in one of the toughest Japanese culinary schools, cooked her way through California’s restaurant scene, landed on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, and recently competed on Morimoto’s Sushi Master. Ed brings the beverage magic — from sake to unicorn champagnes — and a level of hospitality that makes every guest feel like the night was designed just for them.

Together, they’ve built their fifth restaurant, and their most personal one yet — right here on Whidbey Island, where comfort, craft, and community meet at the table.

Today, we’re talking about the journey that brought them here, what it takes to build a restaurant as a couple, and why Japonica is already one of the most talked-about dining experiences on the island.

So settle in… this is a story about mastery, marriage, and making something unforgettable in a little corner of Whidbey.

Let’s dive in!

FOLLOW Japonica at WEBSITE, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com. 

On the southern end of Whidbey Island, tucked inside 106 acres of moss-lined trails and cathedral-quiet forest, sits a place that’s been quietly shaping hearts and ideas for fifty years.

It’s called The Whidbey Institute, and it’s where leaders, artists, scientists, and seekers gather to ask the kind of questions that don’t always have tidy answers — questions about belonging, purpose, resilience, and what it means to care for both people and the planet.

At the heart of this work is Rose Woods, the Institute’s Co-Executive Director and self-proclaimed “Welcomer.” Rose’s story winds from California theatre stages to Whidbey’s forested classrooms — a journey that began when she came to care for her mother and stayed to nurture something much larger: a living experiment in community, leadership, and land-based learning.

Rose is also a Board member of South Whidbey Pride. She’s a Writer. A Teacher. An Activist. And a Theatre Director. She is the Founder and former Artistic Director of Island Shakespeare Festival. The Former Artistic Director for Whidbey Children’s Theatre and she has served as Artistic Director for three theatre companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and has worked across the country with both professional and youth theatre companies. She is a professional screenwriter and playwright. Awarded a commendation from Barbara Boxer for her work in teaching tolerance with youth theatre and is the recipient of a number of awards for both her writing and directing, including the Elizabeth George Foundation Grant, Humanitarian Teacher Award from the Humane Society, and a variety of national and international awards for her writing. She strongly believes art and social justice are necessary.

In this episode, we talk about what drew Rose to Whidbey Island, how the Institute grew from a bold 1970s vision into a national model for generative leadership, and why transformation often begins with something as simple — and sacred — as an open door and a warm hello.

I know you will enjoy meeting Rose.

Check out THE WHIDBEY INSTITUTE, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com. 

When we think of neighborhoods, most of us picture long rows of houses, driveways, and maybe a park down the street. But what if there was a better way to live — one that put connection, belonging, and beauty at the heart of community design.

Today’s guest has dedicated his life to re-imagining how we live together. Architect Ross Chapin is the visionary behind the concept of Pocket Neighborhoods — intimate clusters of homes gathered around shared green spaces that foster connection while still preserving privacy. His work has been called both revolutionary and timeless and has influenced how people are thinking about housing not just here in the Pacific Northwest, but across the world.

Ross’s book Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World has become a blueprint for architects, developers, and everyday dreamers who want more than just walls and roofs — they want communities where people actually know and support each other.

From award-winning projects on Whidbey Island to neighborhoods that have taken root across the U.S. and beyond, Ross has shown that small-scale design can have a large-scale impact.

In today’s conversation, we’ll dive into the origins of the pocket neighborhood idea, why human-scaled design matters now more than ever, and how these kinds of communities might be one answer to the challenges of affordability, sustainability, and connection in our modern world.

So whether you’re dreaming of a new home, wondering how neighborhoods can evolve, or just curious about how architecture shapes our daily lives — you’re going to want to lean in to this one.

Visit Ross Chapin's WEBSITE as well as FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com. 

Hello Listener,

You know those writers whose words literally shape how we live—public notices, policy briefs, the fine print that keeps a community running?

For years, Janice Cummings O’Mahony was one of them.

She wrote for government agencies and civic projects where every word had to be factual, clear, and airtight. And then she did something beautifully unpredictable—she crossed the line from policy to poetry.

Now her sentences don’t just inform; they breathe. At this point in my intro, you may be thinking “hmmm, don’t know if I really want to get into poetry on my way to work or while I’m cooking dinner”.  I suggest you keep listening. Janice does not wax poetic … hahaha see what I did there. Let me describe her this way ‘she’s not your average poet and she doesn’t care for Mary Oliver’, if you know who that is.

Her new collection, Raise Your Hand If You Hear My Voice, is part memory, part witness, and all heart. In this conversation, Janice shares what she carried over from her policy career—the discipline, the empathy, the precision—and how she learned to loosen her grip enough to let language sing. Her greatest thrill is when she sees a response that tells her “I get this and it speaks to me.”  She loves to write poems that make the reader chuckle and definitely adds a bit of snark. My kind of gal. Janice also has a deep appreciation for those in the military. She grew up with her father being in the Air Force, and participating in 3 wars. You will thoroughly enjoy her poem D-Day that she reads to us.

We’ll talk about what happens when a rule-book writer learns to write for resonance instead of regulation, and why her years of crafting government documents might just be the best training ground a poet could have. You can buy her book locally at Moonraker in Langley, Kingfishers in Coupeville and Village Books in Bellingham. It is also in Sno-Isle, Seattle and King County Libraries.

By the way, Janice also co-wrote ‘Whidbey Island: Reflections on People and the Land’ (which is a book on local land-use approaches).

Lets meet your local poetry maven, Janice.

Follow Janice on FACEBOOK and her website https://janiceomahony.com/.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com. 

Today’s guest has truly taken life to new heights—literally. Robert DeLaurentis is not only the owner of DeLaurentis International Airport in Oak Harbor, but he’s also a record-setting aviator, accomplished author, and philanthropist.

He was the first solo pilot to fly a small, single-engine plane, around the world in 2015.The flight covered 26,000 nautical miles and 23 countries in 98 days for a fundraising campaign to support aviation programs. the global peace mission was called, "One Planet, One People, One Plane: Oneness for Humanity" in a modified 1983 aircraft named "Citizen of the World".

In 2019, Robert achieved what many thought impossible—flying from the South Pole all the way to the North Pole, a journey that tested endurance, courage, and imagination. He flew the longest distance in a twin-engine or single-engine turboprop—18.1 hours in flight—and became the first and fastest polar circumnavigation in the world in that type of airplane. That’s a mouth full but he did it and if you’d like to watch the documentary about this flight, head over to Amazon Prime, Apple TV or Youtube TV. I’ve watched and it is very interesting.  It is called Peace Pilot: To the Ends of the Earth and Beyond. If you head over to his website, https://flyingthrulife.com, you can also watch the documentary. While you are on his website, you will learn so much more about Robert, besides my interview today.

When he’s not in the cockpit, Robert is writing and sharing those stories with the world through his publishing company, Flying Thru Life, and supporting causes through the DeLaurentis Foundation, the charitable arm that channels his adventures into real-world impact.

Robert’s life is a rare mix of vision, adventure, and purpose—and today, we’ll explore not just the flights and the feats, but the mindset that fuels them, and how all of it connects back to Whidbey Island.

So, fasten your seatbelt, because this conversation is about to take you from Oak Harbor to the edges of the earth—and maybe even into your own next adventure.

FOLLOW ROBERT DELAURENTIS AT: INSTAGRAM, and FACEBOOK.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com. 

Hello Listeners—today’s guest is basically the Beyoncé of breath support. We’re talking about someone who’s turned the mysterious, often intimidating world of voice training into an open door for, well... all of us. Shower singers, Broadway hopefuls, reluctant public speakers—Jana Szabo has coached them all.

She has a background that starts in New York, winds through Seattle, takes a deep detour into Indian classical music, and then—because of course—lands right here on our beloved Whidbey Island.

Jana doesn’t just teach people how to sing. She teaches them how to show up—fully, bravely, unapologetically. Whether it’s kids in the Whidbey Children’s Choir or adults terrified of a karaoke mic, she guides them to find their voice... and not just the one in their throat.

And here's the kicker—her method? It’s like yoga met music school and had a really emotionally intelligent baby. We’re talking vocal technique, movement, healing energy, and yes—some straight-up scientific voodoo called vocology.

I cannot wait for you to meet her. Get ready to breathe a little deeper and maybe even sing in your car with the windows down. This is Jana Szabo.

Find Jana at FACEBOOK, WEBSITE and ARTS ALIVE WHIDBEY.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com. 

What if real estate wasn’t just about transactions—but transformation? What if the way we buy, sell, and steward land was less about square footage and more about soil health, community connection, spirit, and story?

Today’s guests, Alissa and Neal Collins, are doing just that. As co-founders of Latitude Regenerative Real Estate, they specialize in life-giving, ecologically rich properties that challenge the conventional real estate model. Think permaculture compounds, forest farms, land trust models, biophilic design, and homes built with both community and the cosmos in mind.

They didn’t just choose Whidbey Island—they’re investing in its future. From their own biodynamic homestead to local projects, Alissa and Neal are helping reimagine what it means to live well, live lightly, and live with intention.

They also co-host the the Regenerative Real Estate podcast, where they explore regenerative ideas, interview fellow trailblazers, and ask big questions about home, belonging, and place.

One of the areas that really stood out to me in this conversation, was the modality biophilic design. The concept includes making your home sustainable and all the things to do that are available to you right now. However, as you listen to them iterate how they have planned their life to be totally invested in community, the most important part of biophilic design is the community component. It is subjective because it's how we are and how we behave and how we choose to be. What kind of neighbor would you like to be? Have you ever been in a situation where it wasn't necessarily your family, but you were in your neighborhood and things were going really well. Like what were those elements that made for a good neighborhood? And then what were those things that didn't? How do you bring that into your neighborhood to be neighborly at very minimum? In my opinion, this is what is lacking to me in so much of our country. We can make sure our homes are as sustainable as possible, but ask yourself ‘what are you here for? Do you want to be cared for? Do you want to be worth the trouble?’ If so, create a community that knows you want the same for them.

Let’s dive into the vision, values, and adventures of this dynamic duo—and why Whidbey Island is such a perfect backdrop for their work.

Connect with Alissa and Neil Collins at their WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com. 

Today on Local Whidbey with Magsy, we’re climbing aboard one of Coupeville’s most beloved maritime treasures — the Schooner Suva. My guest is Mark Saia, who not only has helped keep Suva’s sails billowing but also keeps her stories alive for the community.

Suva herself is a piece of living history. Built in 1925 and designed by the renowned naval architect Ted Geary, she has sailed Puget Sound for a century. Today, she’s the pride of the Coupeville Maritime Heritage Foundation, offering both locals and visitors a chance to experience Whidbey’s seafaring past firsthand. Mark has been at the center of that mission, welcoming people aboard, sharing Suva’s remarkable journey, and ensuring her legacy continues.

But Mark’s story doesn’t end on the water. As the longtime owner of Island Quality Construction, he’s built a reputation for craftsmanship and reliability that echoes the same care he has brought to Suva. His dual role as both builder and sailor gives him a unique perspective on what it means to preserve heritage — whether through wood, water, or community.

Mark is also a long-time Whidbey resident, deeply woven into the island’s fabric. He’s seen it change, grow, and adapt, and through both his business and his maritime work, he’s contributed to the story of Whidbey Island itself.

And here’s something you may not know — Mark is also a musician. He’s a member of the maritime singers, the Shifty Sailors, a beloved group that carries forward the traditions of sea shanties and maritime music. Beyond that, he writes and records his own music, blending storytelling with melody in a way that feels like a natural extension of his life at sea. The intro music today “Home to Suva” was written and sung by Mark. At the end of our interview, I have added a song that Mark wrote, that I just love. He is talented. I hope you enjoy ‘Old Rowboat’.

Today, we’ll talk about Suva’s history and adventures, Mark’s own life on the island, and the balance of honoring the past while building for the future.

Let’s get to it.

Follow Mark on FACEBOOK and book a ride on the SUVA at https://www.schoonersuva.org/.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com. 

Hello listener!

So, here’s the scene: You’re on Whidbey Island, and have decided to stop at a few of the Island Grown Cooperative Farm and Food trail locations.  Driving just north of Clinton, hang a left on Cultus Bay Road to go to Glendale Shepherd, a beautiful property in the woods, above the Admiralty Inlet facing Mukilteo.  At the heart of these sheep lovers are Lynn and Stan Swanson, the kind of people who somehow make running a Grade A dairy, producing world-class cheese and yogurt, raising sheep, and practicing sustainable agriculture look easy. (It’s not. But they make it look like it is, I’m sure.)

This is a working family farm rooted in deep care—for the land, the animals, and the people they feed. Their lineup? Artisan sheep milk cheeses, pasture-raised lamb, and a yogurt that could convert the most loyal Greek yogurt die-hard. And if you’re thinking, “Wait, that sounds like a full-blown culinary trifecta,” you’d be correct.  By the way, don’t jump off too early because there is a 4th product that is the first in Washington.

Today on Local Whidbey, we talk to Lynn about how Glendale Shepherd came to life, what it means to steward a truly sustainable farm and how choosing the slower, more intentional path led them to international cheese awards and a devoted community right here on Whidbey Island.

I’m Magsy, and this is Local Whidbey—where we get to meet the makers who prove that integrity, taste, and a little bit of island magic can go a long, long way.

Let’s talk to Lynn on the farm.

Check out GLENDALE SHEPHERD website, and INSTAGRAM.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com. 

Today on Local Whidbey, we’re welcoming someone who has been quietly (and not-so-quietly) transforming Coupeville into a cultural cornerstone of the Pacific Northwest—Lisa Bernhardt, the Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Art School and administrator of the Coupeville Creative District.

Lisa isn’t just running an art school—she’s running a movement. Under her leadership, the Pacific Northwest Art School has become a hub for creative learning and artistic innovation, drawing talent from across the region. But she’s also been working behind the scenes on something big: helping Coupeville gain official designation as a Creative District through the Washington State Arts Commission.

Now, if you're wondering what a Creative District is and why it matters—don’t worry, we’re going to get into that. Because it turns out, creating one isn’t just about pretty murals or art walks. It’s about building a lasting infrastructure for the arts, encouraging economic growth, attracting cultural tourism, and making space for local creativity to thrive.

I’m Magsy, and this is Local Whidbey—the podcast where we talk to the movers, makers, and cultural catalysts shaping the spirit of this island.

Let’s dive into creativity, community, and Coupeville with Lisa Bernhardt.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Art School and Coupeville Creative District.

Follow LOCAL WHIDBEY WITH MAGSY at @LocalWhidbeyPodcast ... Link: INSTAGRAM and on Facebook.

You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com.