Single mom Jodi Bardinelli made raising three girls look easy.
If her daughters needed clothes or a new Halloween costume, Bardinelli was quick to pull out her needle and thread. And while building up the Kirkland Wednesday Market as its director, Bardinelli still found time to cater friend’s parties and spend time with her girls – Jessi Dickason, 28; Ornella, 20 and Oriana, 17.
So when their mother was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer seven weeks ago, the three didn’t hesitate to become Bardinelli’s round-the-clock caregivers.
A full-time University of Washington student, Ornella even took winter quarter off to help take care of her.
“It’s hard, but I don’t think we’d have it any other way,” said Ornella, who sat next to her sisters on the couch in the living room of their mother’s Kirkland home Wednesday afternoon. Bardinelli, 49, would pass away that night, with her family at her side. “She’s been such an amazing mom to us that we just want to take care of her and make sure she’s happy and comfortable and know she’s loved.”
Jessi said, “We’ll do anything we can because she’s such a good mom to us. She would do anything for us. She’s always put us first so this is the smallest way we can repay her by just making sure one of us is with her all the time.”
The community recently stepped up to help out Bardinelli’s daughters, realizing their financial hardship and that their mother – who owned a freelance catering service, Bardinelli Fine Foods – did not have health insurance.
A bartender at Russell’s Restaurant in Bothell, Jessi went to work a few weeks ago and restaurant owner Russell Lowell approached her.
“He asked me, ‘how’s your mom,’ and I just broke down,” Jessi recalled.
A long-time friend of Bardinelli, Lowell contacted other mutual friends and decided to host a benefit dinner and auction at his restaurant. The event, which will include some of Bardinelli’s favorite recipes, will run from 6-9 p.m. Jan. 11 at Russell’s, 3305 Monte Villa Parkway, in Bothell. The minimum donation is $50, with all proceeds going to the family.
“This month is tough because my mom passed away of breast cancer this month last year,” said Lowell, who is on the Advisory Board of the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center. “When I have an employee where this has happened to their mom, I feel compelled to help out.”
He added Bardinelli has “ring led” all the farmers markets in the region and “it’s important to honor her as best we can and help her daughters out.”
Linda Neunzig, a Kirkland Wednesday Market vendor who owns Ninety Farm in Arlington, is also helping to organize the event.
Over the years, she has become good friends with Bardinelli, who was also active in the restaurant industry for nearly 30 years, managing such restaurants as Settebello, Sostanza and Italianissimo.
Bardinelli also came out to Neunzig’s farm to pick pumpkins and get fresh food to cook for her kids.
“I’ve never done a farmers market and she asked me for years,” said Neunzig. “Finally, I did (the Kirkland Wednesday Market) this year and it turned to be a great thing and good for our business.”
She added the community “loves Jodi very much” and she wants to do anything to help her.
Moving the market to a new level
Kate Butcher, who has worked alongside of Bardinelli as KWM president, says her friend’s restaurant background and community connections helped drive some of the new ideas Bardinelli brought to the market. Some of the new events Bardinelli implemented include: cooking demos with local chefs; bringing the MaxMobile to the market so people could adopt pets; inviting the City of Kirkland Waste Management to talk about recycling; Sprouts story time where local leaders such as Mayor James Lauinger read favorite stories to children; and Dog Halloween parade.
One of her biggest events was introducing the annual Harvest Supper and Grape Stomp to the market. In addition, Bardinelli recruited quality vendors to the market and managed to get the market as one of the pilot markets for a new EBT service, so vendors could take credit and debit cards and give out Wednesday Market tokens to spend at the market.
Bardinelli also became well-connected in the Washington Farmers Market community and King County, “where she met many folks and brought to the board new ideas for the market,” said Butcher, adding, “I think everyone would agree that her impact to moving the market to a new level was immense.”
With the KWM’s move to Marina Park this season, Bardinelli “managed the new move so well working with the city and vendors to make it one of the best seasons we have had,” Butcher said, noting the market attracted around 2,500 new customers each week.
Butcher, who is helping to organize the Jan. 11 benefit, says the event is “a celebration of all the work Jodi did at the market and in the community.”
Kellie Jordan, former president of the KWM Board, said beyond the market, her good friend was active in the Kirkland community. She catered events for the Kirkland Arts Center and a recent fund raising event for Councilmembers Amy Whalen, Joan McBride, Doreen Marchione and Penny Sweet.
She also recruited chefs such as Russell Lowell to do cooking demonstrations for Kirkland Uncorked.
“She’s the best chef we know,” said Jordan, adding Bardinelli also hosted an annual Tomato Day, where she would bring in about 700 pounds of tomatoes to her house and would can tomatoes and make tomato sauce with other members of the community. During the event, she would cater an Italian luncheon and feed everyone.
Ornella and her sisters said they will miss their daily phone calls to their mother, going over their day or simply asking her what they should make for dinner.
“I call my mom, I’ve got $8 and four people to feed and she can come up with something,” Ornella laughs.
Jessi added: “Yeah, I’ll be like, I have this, this and this in my fridge and I don’t know what to do and she says, ‘well, just do this,’ and all of a sudden I have homemade chicken pot pie!”
The oldest sister of five, Bardinelli has always naturally played the role of mom, Ornella said.
“All she ever wanted to be was a mom. And I think part of the reason why she’s such a big person in Kirkland and known for being such a good friend and caring mother is she wants to be a mom to everyone.”
More information
To RSVP or volunteer, e-mail Kellie at kajordan@isomedia.com.
To donate food or drink, contact Linda Neunzig at ninetyfarms@aol.com or 360-631-1286. To donate auction items, e-mail Kate Butcher at kate_butcher@live.com.
