Snohomish River Film Festival Held at Luckie Farms

Back in January/February, a group of brave storytellers joined virtually for a two week training that generated 12 digital stories now known as Tales of Two Rivers. This group of stories was split between the Snohomish and the Stillaguamish basins within Snohomish County. On Thursday, June 9, the first of two film festivals was held to feature the Snohomish basin stories.

Anyone around the Puget Sound this year knows that the weather has been consistently wet and cold for months. Thursday’s weather was no exception. In fact the irony of ironies is that an “atmospheric river” cruised through right as set up began. This term, to describe a “flowing column of condensed water vapor,” is not a new term, but has only recently been in the vernacular of the Pacific Northwest. The result for us was lots of rain. Thankfully, there were many tents, and a 1907 barn in which to stay mostly dry.

The six films shown in order were:

  • A River Dream by Monica Van der Vieren

  • Coral’s Story [of the 1975 flood] by Coral Christenson

  • Farmers Forever by Ralph Quaas

  • A Sense of Place by Kevin Conley

  • Blue Heron Slough by the Port of Everett’s Kate Anderson

  • I Will Be A Farmer by Tara Luckie

You can view this playlist here.

After a brief intermission to get some more popcorn, Lindsey Desmul, co-lead of the Sustainable Lands Strategy Communications Group, led a panel discussion with four of the filmmakers. We also heard from a couple of community members to remind us of the impacts of the 1975 flood on the farmers, and current day recreational use on the Snohomish River, which has disrupted salmon runs, and the peaceful life.

Thank you to Meatheads Smokehouse and Brew Works for providing food and beverages.

Thanks for the support and teamwork of the Sustainable Lands Strategy (SLS) Steering Committee, and the SLS Communications Group.

Thank you to our hosts, Tara and Scott Luckie, for sharing with us their beautiful farm.


These Digital Stories were produced in a training supported by: Snohomish Conservation District, Snohomish County, Floodplains by Design, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sustainable Lands Strategy, and Creative Narrations.

This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement PC-01J22301 through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency or the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.