It’s back to the roots with a modern twist for Choochokam this year.

Patricia Friedman was hired to be the new director of the annual arts festival and her experience and poise leave no doubt that the new and improved Choochokam will be a success.

“Choochokam has been a great experience for my family, so I am very excited to be involved with this year’s festival. As always, and even more so in 2007, it will be a terrific weekend event in Langley,” Friedman said.

As a newly established non-profit organization, the festival faces some challenges, such as vendor recruitment and financing. But it also boasts droves of new supporters and motivated helpers.

Friedman said the festival is going through changes — positive changes.

“The festival has been in existence for 31 years and now, under the guidance of a committee of volunteers from the Langley community, a nonprofit organization is being established to keep the tradition for another 31 years,” she said.

When organizer Chris Adams announced last summer he no longer wanted to be the event’s producer, a transition team took over the organization and management of the event. The group is made up of Langley Mayor Neil Colburn, City Administrator Walt Blackford, representatives from the Langley Chamber of Commerce, the merchant association, Whidbey Island Center of the Arts and the Langley Community Club and MUSEO. Recently, they hired Friedman to run the show.

Choochokam Arts has a mission to create a nonprofit organization that reflects the richness of Langley’s artistic community and encourages participation in this local celebration, she said.

That includes promoting more local artists, broadening the range of entertainment, and developing youth activities, including an arts program.

Most of all, the festival will be a celebration for neighbors, friends and families to come together for a good time, Friedman said.

“The South Whidbey community is truly extraordinary. Businesses, as well as individuals, always reach out to make our island a better place to live. You see it in the community supported fundraisers and local events,” she said.

“Choochokam Arts already owes a great deal of thanks to both the Port of South Whidbey, who granted the start-up money for the festival, and the Langley Community Club, whose donation funded the incorporation process,” she added.

As a nonprofit, Choochokam Arts will be a volunteer-based event. Friedman said it’s a great opportunity for people of all ages in the community to get involved.

“As we move ahead, we look forward to all the community contributions that will make this festival uniquely Whidbey,” she said.

Friedman and her husband, Brent, moved to the island during the summer of 2005 with their two children and dog.

“Our first visit to the Choochokam festival came just hours after the moving van had left,” she recalled.

“We were overwhelmed by boxes, our fridge was empty and, as excited as we were about our move, we wondered what great leap of faith we had taken to move some place we didn’t know a soul,” Friedman said. “As we walked down to Langley, where the town was bustling with good music, interesting artists, fun food and even singing children from the Children’s Theatre, we were convinced that this was the perfect place for us.”

“We moved here for the quality of life; to give our kids what we had when we were growing up. So in a sense, moving to Langley was like coming home.” she said.

When the opportunity arose to get involved with Choochokam, Friedman jumped on it. And it couldn’t be a better fit.

“I worked in Los Angeles as a film and television producer and spent much of my free time volunteering with a large nonprofit organization as a project manager. I have spent years organizing events on location, and all that experience is what I will bring to Choochokam,” Friedman said.

So far, the pace of life on Whidbey suits her.

“Like many islanders, we love spending time outdoors at the beach, hiking or gardening,” she said.

Friedman is also involved at the co-op preschool for her daughter and she is chairwoman of the Art Docent Program for the primary and intermediate schools, where her son is a second grader.

“If I had more free time I would spend it working on my photography and dancing in the living room with my kids,” Friedman said.

The 32nd annual Choochokam Arts will take to the streets of Langley on July 14 and 15. Organizers expect more than 120 booths filled with unique crafts, including fine jewelry, art and photography, pottery, leather crafts, apparel and other items. There will also be live music and food, as well as a beer garden sponosored by the Langley Chamber of Commerce.

Visitors may spot a young vendor among the sales folks – Friedman’s young son.

“Last year, we had spent Saturday at the festival and my son had seen a handmade toy he wanted. We told him he had to earn the money to buy the toy” Friedman recalled.

“The next morning, he was up at the crack of dawn picking cherries. He then coerced his little sister into helping him wash and bag them. By lunch time, both kids, chaperoned by my husband, were strolling through the festival selling cherries.”

“It was a comedy routine that earned them both enough money to buy a toy,” she said. “Now, my son would like a vendor stand at this year’s event.”