It’s almost that time of year again—Drive-In Season! This season, the San Juan County Fairgrounds is featuring three films:

• June 23rd: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
• June 30th: Sixteen Candles
• July 7th: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Parking is first come, first served and will start at 8:30pm, taller vehicles and/or vehicles with storage containers, and cars planning to back in with an open trunk will be asked to park in the second and back rows. Movie starts after dusk, approximately 9:30pm. Learn more about our Drive-In movies on the Fairground’s website here.

Radio tune-in on FM dial for sound. $5/person, 5 and under FREE, Family of 5 is $20. 

Looking forward a wonderful season at the Drive-In, see you on Friday June 23rd !

The Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC) has released the results of the Voice of Washington State (VOWS) surveys completed in 2016 and early 2017. You can find links to the survey results below and can see how state residents like you voted on key transportation issues. 

2017 VOWS Statewide Survey on Transportation Needs & Priorities – Summary of Results: (PDF)
WSTC Public Outreach Program Report on Key Transportation Issues – 2017 

2016 VOWS Washington State Ferries Related Studies – Summary of Results: (PDFs)
General Market Assessment of WSF – 2016 
Ferry Naming Quick Poll -2016 

If you would like to read the full report for any of these studies, they are available on the Transportation Commission’s website at: Voice of Washington Statewide Survey Panel Current and Past Results. 

Thank you for your continued participation in our VOWS panel, and for making your voice heard.

Jerry Litt, Chairman
Washington State Transportation Commission
http://wstc.wa.gov/

Okay Oakies, this Sunday we have our work cut for us – Thom has big plans for Earth Day Weekend, so grab a buddy and lets get chopping! On the docket for Sunday is blackberry removal (bring those RUGGED gloves!) limbing and girdling trees and possibly even burning the piles from our last work party.

• When?
  Sunday, April 23
  10:00am to 2:00pm
• RSVP required (tanjaw [@] sjclandbank.org).
• Where?
  Base of Cady Mountain Preserve – turn on to Cady Mountain Road off of West Valley Road. We’ll meet at the triangle junction about 100 yards from West Valley.
• What?
  Blackberry removal
  Limbing trees
  Girdling
• Bring/Wear?
  Hand pruning saws
  Plant trowel or Hori Hori
  Weather appropriate clothing
  Water

Merri Ann Simonson shares this first quarter real estate report…

Merri Ann Simonson – Contributed photo

The first quarter results for San Juan Island were pretty exciting as the real estate dollar volume reflected an increase of 31% as compared to the same three month period in 2016; darn nice production for the start of the year.

The number of transactions reflected an increase of 30%. Overall, the County had a 23% increase in volume and 28% increase in the number of transactions.

Coldwell Banker San Juan Islands was up 49% as compared to last year same period.

The most obvious contributing factor to the healthy increase in volume is the volume attributed to the high-end sales. On San Juan, we had 5 sales close in the first quarter that were in excess of $1,000,000 each as compared to the 2 sales in 2016 for the same period. 

Continue reading here (PDF)

Gail Seitz shares this announcement with you…

Tinatruelove photo

Any Adult Softball players in Friday Harbor who are interested in putting some league play together this summer, please come out to the Elementary School Fields at 1:30 Sunday, April 23rd. 

It’s a good time to shake the cobwebs out, do some pick up play and talk about the options for putting together some league play here or travel to some league play nearby (Anacortes).

Spread the word! P.S. Don’t call Island Rec about this – this would be an independent league at this point – Island Rec is not involved. Look for the Facebook group Friday Harbor Adult Softball for updates or to leave a message.

Thanks,
Gail

San Juan Island National Historical Park is Recruiting for 6 Youth Conservation Corps Positions

San Juan Island National Historical Park is currently recruiting for the 2017 Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program, a work-based education program for young men and women between the ages of 15 and 18. Participants must live in the local commuting area.

Applications are available online at www.nps.gov/sajh or in person at 650 Mullis St. Suite 100, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. Completed applications must be received no later than May 12, 2017 and should be delivered to: Continue Reading

Come Listen to Emerging Island Talent at the SJI Young Musicians Showcase

Click to enlarge

What sounds are the next generation crafting under the radar? Join us at The San Juan Island Grange on Thursday, April 27th and hear for yourself!

The kids are alright! Music teachers at Spring Street International School and Friday

Harbor High School have been scouting local talent, seeking students who have been independently pursuing music simply for their love of it. You may have seen these kids busking at the Farmer’s Market, performing at local functions, or even playing The Community Theatre. Heck, they might even be your own kids!

We’ve done our best to encourage them to come out and show off their artistic ventures to the rest of us.

Expect to hear acoustic performances, lush harmonies, jazz ensembles, concert piano, group instrumentals, and full on rock bands!

The SJI Young Musicians Showcase will be held at the San Juan Island Grange Hall (152 First Street North) on Thursday, April 27th. It is featured as part of the Grange’s monthly Lecture Series, an outlet for the Grange to advance its mission to “support a resilient community of growers, makers, and keepers; to foster social and political engagement; and to maintain our Hall as a home for celebrations and programs.”

In traditional Grange style, bring a dish and share in a community potluck between 5:30 to 6:30 if you wish!

Music will start promptly at 6:30, most likely finishing before 9pm.

There will be seating at the sides and back of the hall, but standing room mostly.

This Program is open to all, with a suggested donation of $10 to help support school music programs!

Painter Joe Miller – Photo by Peggy Sue McRae

By Peggy Sue McRae –

If you are an athlete your career may end before you reach 40, other careers may offer retirement at 50 or 60, but if you are an artist, you may be hitting your stride at 80.

Michelangelo, Monet, and Matisse created some of their greatest works when they were in their 80s. Picasso and O’Keeffe continued working into their 90s. Octogenarian and ground-breaking African-American artist Faith Ringgold says of her career as an artist, “It is something one has a passion for, does, and then becomes – and can do it literally until they pass away. It’s an old-age thing. You become better with age.”

With age comes a greater wealth of experience to draw from. When I asked my friend, San Juan Island painter Joe Miller how his creative process may have changed over the years, he told me that every painting offers a new beginning. Miller echoed other artists in saying that the years brought with them the freedom of caring more about the work itself and less about what other people think. Continue Reading

Fish for Teeth sponsors a mobile dental van for two-day dental clinics on San Juan Island, three times a year – Contributed photo

Islanders unable to afford dental care can receive it for free thanks to the local nonprofit Fish for Teeth on Friday, May 12 through Saturday, May 13.

“Many volunteers and local businesses work as a team to bring this service to those who cannot otherwise afford dental care,” said Fish for Teeth Founder Matt Marinkovich, a San Juan Island commercial fisherman.

Fish for Teeth sponsors a mobile dental van for two-day dental clinics on San Juan Island, three times a year. The Medical Teams International’s van can handle dental hygiene appointments to root canals.

Patients are seen by appointment only. Pick up applications at the San Juan Island Family Resource Center or the county health department, or download them at www.fishforteeth.com. Submit applications to the San Juan County Health Department on Rhone Street. Volunteers, not the county health department employees, determine scheduling a week before the clinic, based on severity and space. Usually, about 30 people are treated during the two-day clinic.

To raise funds for the van, Fish for Teeth will sell fish tacos on Friday, May 12 outside the San Juan Island Community Theater Box Office. Tacos, which are as large as burritos, are $7 each and made with Alaskan rockfish harvest. They are topped with Pablitos Salsa, Tillamook cheese, fresh greens, and a squeeze of lime.

Marinkovich formed Fish for Teeth in 2007, after noticing a community need for affordable dental care. The Fish for Teeth board, comprised of local fishermen and dental professionals, sponsors the mobile dental clinic every January, May and October on San Juan Island. Fish for Teeth receives no federal funding and relies solely on donations, which are tax-deductible.

For more information, visit www.fishforteeth.com or contact [email protected].

The San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce the theme for the 2017 Independence Day Parade in Friday Harbor: “America… All That We Share”, celebrating our community and the common ideals that connect us.

While observing America’s independence, the parade will honor OUR island community and the amazing people and organizations that enrich our lives.

The Chamber of Commerce is once again expecting a full roster of participants who are encouraged to positively capture the spirit of the theme.

The parade will start at 10:30 a.m. on July 4th and proceed down historic Spring Street through downtown Friday Harbor. This event has been rated by national publications as one of the 10 best Independence Day Parades in the entire country, and is loved by both viewing crowds and participants alike.

More details will be forthcoming over the next several months, but we encourage all of those interested to gather your crew and begin plans now on your creative themed entries.

For additional information about participating in the 2017 Friday Harbor Independence Day Parade, please email [email protected] or call Traci Wilson, Parade Coordinator at 360-298-7760 or 206-595-5104.

The SJI Library is introducing Telephony, a new Automated Information Phone Line

Ever been heading away on vacation and wished you could renew your holiday reading but you have to catch the red-eye, your laptop is packed and the Library is not open? Well, now you can conveniently renew items by phone even when the Library is closed. Telephony is the Library’s automated telephone circulation system. You may call this number for information about your library account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You’ll need your library barcode number and a touchtone phone. The number is 360-378-0389.

Telephony lets you:

• Hear a list of materials you have checked out
• Hear a list of materials that are overdue
• Renew materials, if they are eligible for renewal
• List or cancel materials you have holds on
• Hear your total account balance and any charges

Telephony will call you, if you receive phone notifications, to:

• Tell you an item you put on hold is available for pickup
• Remind you about overdue materials

Why are we adding an automated phone line? Continue Reading

Canoes at English Camp – Tim Dustrude photo

Kids and Canoes: Build-Paddle-Share, Kick-off and Open House
April 21, 6 p.m., Friday Harbor High School STEM Building

Dean Washington – Tim Dustrude photo

Community organizations on San Juan Island have developed a pilot project with Lummi Nation member and Master Canoe builder, Dean Washington, to build Coast Salish style cedar strip canoes in the San Juan Islands with students in grades 5-12.

Students will work with a master builder and complete two 6 Seat-21 foot canoes and paddles while learning canoe history and use in the islands. In the summer, Island Rec will feature a new Voyager canoe program which participants will paddle throughout the islands while teaching navigational skills and paddle technique.

The purpose of this pilot program is to introduce island youth to Native American culture through hands-on canoe building with one of the world’s top canoe builders from the Lummi Nation.

Join us at the public Coast Salish Canoe building kick-off event on April 21! Students will start canoe building process on Saturday April 22-28 and share their final projects on Friday, April 28 from 4-5:30 p.m. in the STEM Building.

This project is a community partnership with Spring Street International School, San Juan Island School District, and Friends. To make a donation to this project, please call Friends at 360-378-2319 or visit www.gofundme.com/kids-and-canoes.

John Gossom is EMT of the month – Contributed photo

Congratulations John Gossom our April EMT of the month.  John is one of the kindest and accommodating volunteers around EMS these days.  He is always willing to stay later and take assignment giving up his valued personal time with a smile. 

Lately John has been a huge influence with our current EMT class acting as evaluator and patient preparing students for final testing.  You may recognize John’s smile from San Juan Healthcare Associates where he currently works. 

John is on track to head off island to paramedic school which has been a long dream of his.  We will miss his easy-going manner when he leaves the rank of EMT for school.  If you see John around town with his fiancé Rachel, be sure to shake his hand in congratulations.

For over 20 years, San Juan Safaris has been offering the highest quality whale watching tours with a focus on our guests’ experiences and respectful wildlife viewing. Both San Juan Safaris and San Juan Island Outfitters are owned and operated by Brian and Rachel Goodremont. The Goodremont family has called San Juan Island home since 2002, and live and work on San Juan Island full time, raising their two children while running their small family farm.

Brian grew up in Ohio and came out to San Juan Island in 1998 where he began working at San Juan Safaris as a Kayak Guide. Rachel, an Oregon native, spent summers in the San Juan Islands on her dad’s sailboat and met Brian here on San Juan. The two married at Roche Harbor in 2007 and enjoy living on a farm with their children Forrest and Aurelia.

Brian, Rachel and the kids enjoy spending time outdoors kayaking, hiking, adventure running or cross country skiing. Whether winter or summer, rain or shine, you’ll find them both either working or playing outside. The San Juan Islands and Pacific Northwest are the perfect location for an active lifestyle. Continue Reading

Friday Harbor pathways: Meet Tim Dustrude; town resident, Photographer and Editor. He will lead us through some of the neighborhood foot paths in downtown Friday Harbor. Tim walks whenever he can and will tell us about his passion for making Friday Harbor a more walkable place.

Saturday, April 22, 2017 from 1-4pm. Meet at the Fairgrounds.
Distance: 3-5 miles (anyone can opt out if the full route is too long)
Rating: Easy, sidewalks and paths
Dogs on leashes welcome

Hanging basket class – Contributed photo

Plant Now For Summer Glory!

Participants in this class will assemble a 12” hanging container with growing medium, choice starter plants for sun or shade exposure and plenty of free advice. Bring your own gloves, tools, beverage and snack.

Though a container and plants are provided you may choose to bring a favorite hanging container. Together we will plant a beautiful basket perhaps for Mother’s Day, to display at the fair and defiantly enjoy all summer long.

Families with aspiring gardeners are encouraged to participate. The first basket prepared by a youth (under age 16) is free of charge.

• Date:           May 6, 2017
• Location:    Mullis Community Center
• Time:        10:00 AM
• Cost:            $35

Instructors: Marguerite Bennett and Fiona Norris

Reservations required prior to April 28, 2017

To register contact:

Kathie Forsyth – 360-378-5071 – [email protected]
Vonnie Harold – 360-298-0859 – [email protected]

For more garden club news, visit the garden club website.