Madeline McClure was born in Virginia, but moved to Port Townsend at age 11 and graduated from Port Townsend High School. “I have always loved theater,” she says, “and I really was passionate about directing.” While still in high school, she directed Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff with an independent theater group. She also directed and helped produce a series of locally written one-act plays about the city of Port Townsend called Four on the Town. “It was such an interesting project,” she remembers. “We chose four different locations in downtown PT and the audience had to walk to each place for the next act. I cast all kinds of people to perform in it, even homeless folks, or people who had never acted at all. It was a real stretch for everyone!” In 2014, Madeline graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, receiving a BA in Theater with a focus on playwriting.
She started at Nash’s in 2011, and has been with the farm on and off ever since, working for a season and then taking time in the winter to travel or live in Mexico or Central America. She took classes in Spanish at Evergreen, but her travels and her work with the harvest crew here has made her quite fluent in the language, to the point that she has given Spanish lessons to other co-workers. Today she volunteers at the Clallam Bay prison once a week, teaching English as a Second Language to inmates.
Social justice is a passion for Madeline, and she has been active in various causes throughout her life. “Since June, I have been co-facilitating a discussion group on Thursday evenings in Port Angeles on racial justice. It’s an open group, so if anyone wants to join, please email me at oldshirt@gmail.com!”
Madeline is a hard worker and very reliable. “I have learned my work ethic from the harvest crew at Nash’s over the years,” she admits. “They have taught me how to work as part of a group, and to take pride in what we accomplish together. Each person has to carry his or her own weight, but at the same time we all support each other.” Above, Madeline with her new puppy, Ramona.