Around the island, plus some dog news….

I have “Who Let The Dogs Out? playing, to kinda set the mood…

•  Val Curtis tells me: “Eric Ellison, has been missing his best friend, Jacob, a dear black lab with grey muzzle and belly, since Saturday. Please call (370-5208) or e-mail Eric at [email protected] if you see Jacob anywhere. 85 lbs. black collar with rabies tag.

 

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• Meanwhile, my friend Jack Gibson tells me he’d love to find someone to take in his sweet dog, Zoey…here’s more from Jack, about Zoey:

Zoey is an 8 year old spayed female Border Collie. All shots current.  Free to good home.  I have future commitments off island and will be unable to care for Zoey.  Zoey is a well behaved high energy dog.  Needs exercise and place to run. write me at warjack44 (at) gmail or call 378-4178 if you’d like to meet her! You’ll love her!

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• One of the stronger Friday Harbor Wolverine basketball squads in a few years continues to roll along – the guys thumped Shoreline Christian (5-5) at their place 44-36 on Tuesday night to run their record to 8-1 (5-0 in league) this year.

Meanwhile, our talented girls beat SC 48-40 to run their season record to 7-1. Both teams are fun to watch, and are making a bit of a statement in the first half of the season. Get down to see ’em.

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• In other news…have you seen those nice writeups about Serendipity Bookstore on Yelp? I love it when people think what we’re doing here is cool, and Dilys & Carol do it well – here’s the reviews, and here’s one of ’em:

The name is eerily true. Every time I step into this place, I find some treasure that is so perfect at that moment, yet I’d never heard of it before. If you’re not ready for such magic, the staff are very well-informed about what might appear to be unmanageable heaps of books sprawling through a labyrinth of rooms. It’s all on their computer, and it’s all available online.

Still, I prefer to just wander around until fate strikes!

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• Oh, yeah, another thing – did you know that Serendipity’s phone number is 378-2665, and the 2665 spells “book” on the phone keypad? THAT’s serendipity…

The San Juan Update. News you’ll never read anywhere else.

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• Tomorrow: The Writers’ Café open mic will be held from 5:00 – 6:30pm at The Bean on Friday, January 6th. Bring your fiction, nonfiction or poetry to read, or just show up to listen. Coffee, tea, pastries and such will be available for purchase.

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• It’s this weekend – The Farmers Market, at the high school (inside) from 10am-1pm…see you there!

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•  Here’s a bit of a writeup about a cool project – another way to make things better for our kids. Here’s more from Matt Marinkovich:

It all started back in 2005 when an 8-year old girl walked up to a classmate’s father and said, “Wanna see my cavities?”  She opened her mouth for inspection.  After viewing a mouthful of rotten teeth, Matt Marinkovich, an opportunistic commercial fisherman, came up with an interesting idea: capitalize on the occasional opportunities when the fishing industry has extra cash on the table, and use that money to fix kids’ teeth in San Juan County.

A year later, Fish for Teeth was born, with a five-member board consisting of commercial fishermen and dentists.  The goal was for the 501(c)(3) organization to cut through the red tape, and start fixing teeth.  Fish for Teeth has worked closely with the County Public Health Department, and the Dental Coalition of San Juan County.

The group had high aspirations in the beginning, which soon were quashed by the realization that the cash-on-the table opportunities were actually quite few and far between.  They had a trickle of income from selling fish tacos, and managed to do a couple small teeth projects, but mostly they hunkered down and waited for an opportunity to make a big bang with their limited bucks.

The opportunity has finally arrived, in the form of a Dental Van sponsored by Medical Teams International, based out of Redmond, WA (see below).  For $800 per day, the RV-sized van, fully stocked with supplies and two dental chairs, will travel to most anywhere there is a need for dental care.

Fish for Teeth seized this opportunity, and the van is coming to Friday Harbor to fix people’s teeth on January 13 and 14, in the Marketplace parking lot.  The van is fully booked for this first visit, but the Fish for Teeth team is hoping to bring the van back to Friday Harbor, and other Islands as well, at regular intervals.

Fish for Teeth’s main fundraiser is preparing and offering (for a donation) fish tacos to the public.  They have done this twice before, and will be doing it again when the van is providing its services next Friday, January 13.  Tacos will be on sale from 11:30 to 2 p.m.  Suggested donation is $7.00.

These delectable fish tacos are prepared on a flour tortilla, with sustainably harvested Alaskan rockfish, caught, cared for, and prepared by Matt Marinkovich.  Accompanying the fish is fresh salsa from Pablito’s Taqueria, and fresh cabbage donated from Heritage Farm.  Throw in some cheese, mayo, and a squeeze of lime… YUMMY!!!  Thanks go to Earth Box Hotel and Spa for donating their kitchen to prepare the ingredients.

Fish for Teeth T-shirts, created by Loea Design, will be for sale for $20 at the event, or at Loea Design, located next to Whidbey Island Bank at 535 Market Street.

The team of volunteer dentists and their assistants are from San Juan Island.  Although our local dentists will give generously of their time, dental professionals from off-island may also volunteer their time on future visits, if funding is available to bring the van.  Accommodation donations are crucial to making this happen.  The van always has one off-island staffer, whose accommodations were donated this time by Nichols Street Suites.

There are many ways to support Fish for Teeth.  Help is always needed when the dental van comes to town, either in making fish tacos or helping in some capacity with the dental van. On a more committed level, Fish for Teeth is looking for a volunteer to act as manager, which would take about 10 hours a month.

Of course, donations are always welcome.  You can donate at fishforteeth.com with your paypal account.  You will also see our “Adopt a Mouth” program, which addresses specific cases.  You can make a donation in person at this event—simply enjoying a fish taco is a donation in itself, or Fish for Teeth T-shirts are available for a $20 donation.

Please spread the word about this organization, and this event.  And, as always… THINK FISH !!!

Contact Matt or Maureen Marinkovich 378 4686 or 472 0392

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Categories: Around Here