Merri Ann Simonson is back with another entry in her San Juan Island Lifestyle video series. This one is all about the pros and cons of living here.

From February 17 to May 7, 2018, The San Juan Islands Museum of Art is presenting several exhibits created by five artists under the title “The Female Gaze”.

The “Substrate: underlying currents” group of three artists Susan Singleton, Hannah Alex-Glasser and Kandis Susol, have as women artists, over many decades, shared an enduring commitment to their work. We feel that particularly in today’s world, this work carries an urgently-needed and important counterbalancing voice. 

One of the significant works of the exhibition is Kandis Susol’s piece “Take Refuge,” inspired by the documentary Human Flow, a film by Ai Weiwei about the 65 million refugees world-wide seeking refuge.  Moved by the suffering presented in this film, Kandis invites anyone to sit with her in silence at the Museum to raise awareness regarding this human tragedy, and to acknowledge all manifestations of suffering caused by war, famine, genocide, and environmental degradation. 

We come together to sit in silent meditation and prayer with the intention to raise up the consciousness in order to create a more compassionate world.   Continue Reading

L-R: Meg Carrie, Marcia King – Photo by Jack Cory

This story was submitted by Carla Wright from the Rotary Club of San Juan Island…

“Hydrogen” was the correct spelling for Marcia King, a 7th grader from the Friday Harbor Middle School, the first-place winner at the 13th Annual Rotary Spelling Bee on March 1.

Marcia received a trophy, a check for $100. Her 7th grade class, taught by Mr. McMain, was awarded $200, and her school received $300.

In second place was Meg Carrier, a 7th grader from Friday Harbor Middle School. Meg received a trophy, a check for $75. Her class taught by Mr. McMain, received $150, and her school was awarded $200.

The other 20 participants received a medal in appreciation for their participation. The calmer of nerves was Bob Jarman, pronouncer: Carol Linde, judges: Mary Sliger and Carla Wright. Medals were given by Cyndy Gislason and Yvonne Swanberg. Cookies by Carrie Unpingco.

Winner of the 2017 Audience Choice Award

In the depths of South America, where the Andes, the Amazon and the Equator collide, a wilderness exists that is one of Earth’s most bio-diverse areas – a place where mammals (including humans), birds, plants, and amphibians all thrive.

Yasuni Man documents a conflict raging deep within this area, pitting biodiversity and human rights against extractive industries and human consumption.

Winner of FHFF Audience Choice Award: Explorers & Adventures Category.

Join us at The Grange, Tuesday, March 6th at 7:00 pm.

SJI Chamber of Commerce Featured Member of the Month

Spa d Bune, a relaxing warm retreat, a place to be nurtured. We all here love to empower others to seek the balance between inner and outer wholeness and wellness. We are enjoying our 10th year in business and we are excited to be featured this month with the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce  

We invite you to come enjoy the beautiful decor and rustically rich interiors that the spa has to offer. Take a tour, meet the staff, relax, restore and renew.  

Our service offerings are hair design, nail and foot care, facial treatments, wedding services, hair removal, massage and wellness therapy, and a private steam shower. Also available are fine hair and skin care products from Kevin Murphy, Glo Professional Skin Care and Mineral Makeup, and Skin Care by Pevonia Botanica.

Dana Bune, owner
669 Mullis Street
(360) 370-5027

Have you ever wondered about alternative ways to support the Fair? Maybe you would have liked to volunteer but have never had the time. Consider supporting the Fair by becoming a sponsor! If you consider sponsoring, your support earns you Fair sponsorship benefits (complimentary tickets and more!) and is tax deductible.

Curious about what goes into the production of entertainment at the Fair?  There are staging and equipment rentals, sound operators, negotiated artist payments, overnight accommodations and sponsorship.  

The Fair strives to bring in as many local performers as possible, and intersperses as many regional performances as the budget allows.  In order to provide this level of entertainment, the Fair is on the constant lookout for sponsorship. In addition to performer sponsorship, we are asking if anyone has a bedroom, guesthouse, studio, vacation rental and/or R.V. or camper trailer during the week of the Fair: August 15th through 18th, 2018.

If you are interested in the Fair’s sponsorship program or may have available accommodations, please contact the Fair team at [email protected]. Your consideration is greatly appreciated!

More information available on the Fair website.

Schedule Change: OPALCO Candidate Forum Thursday, March 15 only

There are two open positions in this year’s OPALCO election and only two candidates. Because this is an uncontested election, OPALCO has scaled back the candidate forums; there will only be one forum: Thursday, March 15 at Oddfellows Hall on Orcas Island at 6 pm. The cost savings are significant.

All members from any island can still participate by:

• Submitting questions for the candidates before March 15th (send to [email protected])
• Watch the forum on Facebook Live
• Watch the Orcas forum on video (available by March 29th online)
• Watch video statements of each candidates (available by March 29th online)

Richard Christmas and Jeffrey Struthers are running for the two open spots in District 2. District 2 includes Orcas, Armitage, Big Double, Blakely, Fawn, Little Double and Obstruction islands. All members vote in all elections regardless of which district they live in. Voting opens March 29^th.

Don’t forget to attend the annual meeting on April 21st aboard the interisland ferry!

Don’t miss this year’s Senior vs Staff Basketball game Friday March 9th! This hilarious event is a full evening’s worth of fun including:

• shooting contests
• raffles for firewood and soil
• raffle for a weekend stay in a condo in Glacier Washington near Mt Baker
• dessert auction
• throwing your friends and family in “jail”
• a dinner option of waffles and chicken

and of course… the basketball game!  All this fun for a great cause—Grad Night 2018. 

Doors open at 5:00, Dinner at 5:30, Tipoff at 6:30. See you there!

Our next “Art for Fun, a paint pARTy!” is coming up on March 16th.

Kristen Abramson will lead folks in a step-by-step process to complete their own painting in just two hours. Welcome spring with this beautiful painting of wisteria and a hummingbird, “The Garden Gate”.

The time is 5:45 pm to 8:00 pm and the cost is $35. Location is the San Juan Islands Museum of Art. All supplies will be provided by the museum.

Visit www.sjima.org to register and for more information.

Sandy is this week’s Pet of the Week – Contributed photo

Well. It isn’t going to throw itself. I know, because I’ve been watching it for a long time, and it hasn’t moved a bit. I’m pretty sure it’s afraid of me. If you wouldn’t mind stopping by and throwing it about one thousand times, I’d be most grateful. I promise to bring it back promptly, almost every time!

My name is Sandy, and I’m here at the animal shelter. Before I got here I wasn’t treated very well, and folks expected me to live outdoors and make puppies. Now things are really looking up. I get to cuddle with the staff and go for long walks with my volunteer friends. Best of all, there are lots of cats to watch and then dream about later.  

I don’t suppose you’d like to make me a part of your family? I’m only three years old and I have really good dog manners. We could have something very special, you and me. But, I guess you won’t know unless you come meet me. What are you waiting for?

Animal Protection Society of Friday Harbor
111 Shelter Road
(360) 378-2158

Oly Archibald and Kaila Olin – Contributed photo

In the SJ Update Mailbag this morning we find this letter from Kaila Olin…

On January 16th I put on my headset for the first time as your Friday Harbor High School basketball color commentator for Friday Harbor Tiny Radio. Little did I know how much I would actually learn and experience over the course of six weeks/8 games total.

I learned how hard-working the athletes at Friday Harbor High School were and how likable each and everyone of them are. I learned how dedicated Friday Harbor fans were to their sports and their student athletes. I learned there are mentors like Mike Martin, Oly Archibald and Ken Norris (to name a few) who will do whatever for those like me to succeed. Most importantly, I learned I could love an amazing and small community like I loved my own hometown and the people.

I got to experience highs with the Friday Harbor community, like the overtime wins that both boys and girls pulled off in Orcas Island and the boys being district champions and punching their ticket to state. I also experienced the lows of tough losses with the girls regional game versus Tri-Cities Prep and the boys state game versus Morton-White Pass.

If it weren’t for the support from sponsors, FH tiny radio, players, parents, and the Friday Harbor community—I never would’ve gotten to learn or experience the things that I did.

That being said—thank you Friday Harbor. You took me into you’re island community as one of your own I’m eternally grateful. I couldn’t imagine my life without this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Kaila Olin

Here’s a note from the Washington State Ferries’ Weekly Update which includes an opportunity for you to comment on the Summer Contingency Plan…

At WSF, ridership is highest in the summer, when tourists from near and far join daily commuters; WSF transports 50 percent more people in summer than in winter.

When ferry service is disrupted in the summer, WSF tries to keep as many people moving as possible in a safe and cost-effective way. To help guide operations during a service disruption, WSF looks to its Summer Service Contingency Plan, which outlines the criteria and considerations that affect WSF’s ability to operate.

In preparation for the busy summer ahead, we will be reviewing and updating the Contingency Plan – (PDF). We invite the public to submit comments on the 2017 plan which we will consider as we prepare for summer 2018.

Two Plays in Next Readers Theatre

Two short American plays that expose, explore, mock, and mourn the way we relate to each other will be presented in San Juan Community Theatre’s On Book! Readers Theatre series.

Susan Glaspell’s Trifles and Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story will be read by island actors on Wednesday and Thursday, March 7-8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Gubelman Theatre.

Trifles, a murder mystery first presented in 1916, tells the story of a farmer strangled in his bed as his wife lay beside him. The wife is now in jail, claiming to be innocent. Glaspell, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1931, was the founder of Provincetown Players, a Massachusetts experimental theater company. Featured readers are Deb Langhans, Susan Williams, Scott Mapstead, Stan Matthews, and John Davis.

Albee’s first major play, from 1959, premiered at the Provincetown Players after numerous New York theaters rejected it. It opens with a stranger walking up to a man on a Central Park bench and saying, “I’ve been to the zoo.” What follows is considered one of the wildest, most brilliantly written conversations in American theater, a no-holds-barred skewering of social prejudices and indifference, delivered with reckless humor and profound sadness. Featured readers are John Davis and Scott Mapstead.

Both plays are directed by Georgia Smith. Admission is free, with donations accepted at the door.

Coming up on Friday, March 9th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Fairgrounds there will be a Housing Town Hall to explore the topic: Affordable housing in San Juan County

This event is being coordinated by the San Juan Island Women’s Group, and sponsored by many local businesses, all listed on the attached flyer. It has been very gratifying to us that the event is being welcomed with such support, and the feedback we have received so far from the community has been overwhelmingly positive. Folks are very eager to learn about this issue, and are grateful for the opportunity.

For our neighbors on Orcas who wish to attend, the San Juan Island hostel has promised to give a “deep discount” to residents who would miss the ferry and need to stay overnight on SJI (there is a ferry going to Lopez after the event).

As promised on the flyer, there will be door prizes and free food and refreshments. We will be giving out raffle tickets at the door and draw for the door prizes throughout the evening.

There will be a stage for easy visibility of the panel, and at least two wireless mics; both for taking questions from the community and for panel members to answer them.

Jim Hooper has agreed to be the emcee, and will keep the event moving smoothly and productively. There will be many members of the Women’s Group attending to help set up, facilitate questions, and clean up afterward.

To give the panel an idea of what kind of questions to prepare for, we solicited questions from the community. Below are some of the questions we’ve received. Continue Reading

The San Juan Islands Conservation District serves all of San Juan County and was founded in 1947. Our Mission is to work with San Juan County residents and partner agencies to develop and implement sustainable natural resource practices that protect and conserve our environment for today and tomorrow. 

As one of the States 45 non-regulatory Conservation Districts, we help residents throughout the San Juan Islands achieve their goals for land stewardship and productivity. We are committed to conserving and enhancing natural resources in the San Juan Islands for farming, wildlife, public health, forestry, recreation and residential uses.

The Executive Director/District Manager of the San Juan Islands Conservation District is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the District, identifying and securing grants and other funding resources, and supervision of all district employees, projects, and programs. He/she serves as a member of a dynamic team of natural resource conservation professionals working together and with the San Juan Islands community to enhance, protect, and restore our Islands’ natural resources as directed by the District Board of Supervisors.

For a complete job description and to apply, please go to our website at https://www.sanjuanislandscd.org/news/2018/1/26/san-juan-islands-conservation-district-executive-director-district-manager-position-description