Charlotte Dickison on her 25 years with the Olympia Jazz Festival

Charlotte Dickison retired as director of the Olympia Jazz Festival after the 2019 edition. She made many friends from all over the US and Canada during her 25 years in that capacity. A tenure of that length deserves an interview in this newspaper, especially as probably quite a large number of TST subscribers have attended the Festival and know Charlotte. It would have been almost impossible to attend and NOT know her. Bill Hoffman: How and when did you get started with the Festival? Charlotte Dickison: A friend knew I enjoyed dancing and called to ask me and my girlfriend (my husband had passed away a year earlier) to come to the jazz festival in Olympia. The minute I walked in I knew I was home, as that was my kind of music. Three years later I was the Festival Director and stayed until the coronavirus closed us down for 2020. But you plan on there being a festival in 2021, conditions permitting? Very doubtful that we will be able to have it. Our state (Washington) has not opened for gatherings of more than about 30, so we cannot even ask our venue, St. Martin’s University, if it’s available. In addition, the source of our largest donation, the Three Cities lodging tax,