Originally published Saturday, May 23, 1998

By GIL BAILEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

One word -- "nice" -- seems to sum up the pleasures of living here.

"Poulsbo is certainly growing, but it has not lost its feeling of community. You are called by name in the banks, the stores and on the street," says Darla Kitchens, who works in the Christ Memorial Church office.

"I've lived here off and on since I was 6 years old," says Patricia De Lapp as she passed out school levy ballots in the North Kitsap Memorial Armory on a rainy election day.

"My grandmother was paymaster for the construction company that built the Hood Canal Bridge, and my mother was a Bailey from Ballard, and I am half Norwegian."

She smiles and points out the programs offered by the Poulsbo senior center on Front Street, the Marine Science Center nearby and the delights of some of the city's bakeries.

Sharing De Lapp's penchant for bakery treats is Army Sgt. 1st Class Holly Allen, assigned to headquarters of the 341st Military Intelligence Battalion (Linguists) in the armory.

"I can come to work in the military and on a sunny day walk to the waterfront," says the Sarasota, Fla., native about duty in Poulsbo where she has been stationed for a year. "And the bakeries are great."

"We have 52 people who come here to train," says Allen, an 18-year veteran who plans to retire in the area. "We have all sorts: Korean-speaking, Japanese, Italian, Arabic." The Poulsbo area has a good pool to draw on for language skills, says Allen.