Mears, along with her partner Susie Beek, owns and runs the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse in Poulsbo. Her intention in creating the Poulsbohemian, besides to serve the best coffee in the area, is to provide a gathering spot in the community -- a place with a sense of welcome. She wants to create an opportunity for writers, artists, musicians and other with a cultural bent to meet, mingle and exchange ideas. That's her picture of the ideal coffeehouse.
Mears comes by that vision honestly. Steeped in the European tradition of neighborhood coffeehouses while living with a family in Paris, she checks out local coffeehouses wherever she visits. On a recent trip to San Francisco she visited eleven coffeehouses in one morning!
Mears is a writer and went to Paris to, as she says, "find my own language." She experienced the "poet's life" in the Parisian cafes and took up writing poetry herself. After being immersed in another culture and language for several months she craved the English language again. She returned to the U.S. and decided to move to Kitsap County.
In Poulsbo, she suddenly saw the possibility of bringing her long-time dream of a coffeehouse supportive of the arts to reality. Mears is a board member and vice president of Cultural Arts Foundation Northwest, 1993 chairman for Arts by the Bay and a member of the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council. The Poulsbohemian allows Mears to combine her personal and business interests with her interest in the arts, simultaneously enhancing the art community.
The coffeehouse is, at present, the site for open mike nights once a month, book club meetings, poetry readings (see below), and chess/scrabble nights. Mears has also applied for a Centrum grant to fund Common Rhythm -- intended to sponsor readings by writers at the coffeehouse. Mears, vice-president of the Cultural Arts Foundation, is always interested in ideas to help those in the arts share their talents, and welcomes input concerning other ways the Poulsbohemian might be used to facilitate that exchange. For more information on scheduled events or to share new ideas stop by the Poulsbohemian or call 206-779-9199.
