Notes around the island….

Deer in the snow, out near Kanaka Bay. Photo by Deb Langhans, not this year (yet).

In the waning hours before Christmas, here a few things you might want on your radar:

• After a busy month since Thanksgiving, Printonyx will close for its annual winter break beginning December 24th at 4:00 p.m. and continuing through January 3rd. We use this characteristically slow time to visit family, clean and get ready for year-end accounting.  All customers with jobs to pick-up will be called or e-mailed with a reminder of our closure.

When we reopen on January 4th at 8:30a.m., we’ll have Customer Appreciation Days (Monday  through Wednesday) which will include healthy munchies and beverages along with 25% off all paper products in stock. That includes preprinted holiday border papers, envelopes, card stock and label stock. Absolutely no rainchecks as this is limited to stock on hand.

We appreciate your continued support and hope you have a blessed time with your family and friends.

The Staff of Printonyx
Kristine Brown, Jeff Fitts, Jonathan Reed, Clinton Gauthier and Susan Schwinge

Matt & Barbara from Gallery San Juan....photo by John Sinclair.

• I had heard that Barbara at Gallery San Juan had hung a commissioned job earlier this month – and she responded with the details:

I was commissioned by Horizon House, which is a large retirement facility in downtown Seattle, next to Swedish Hospital, to create two large bodies of work for the Chapel and Social Rooms. Horizon House has over 600 residents and the rooms are used daily by many. It was my good fortune to meet a couple this last summer who visited our gallery and liked my work.

Coincidentally, they live at HH and were on the art selection committee for this project.  They gave my card to the Director of the Chapel and she called me and invited me to come and talk to them about the project.  I submitted renderings based on the theme, which was Calming Waters of Compassion.   I was given colors and got to know the rooms where the art would live.  My renderings were approved and sizes were decided.

I started work in early November and Matt and I delivered the work on December 16th. I am amazed and honored that my work will be featured in these special rooms for many to enjoy.  Horizon House has been collecting original art for decades and they have an amazing collection.  Matt and I were given a tour of the main floors and we recognized many artists as well as one of his instructors from the Seattle Art Institute.

The Watercolor Collages are on Canvas and each Triptych is 9′ x 4′. Matt built a special 10″ easel in my studio to create the pieces.

Thanks to everyone that stopped by my studio and encouraged me along the way!
P.S.  Benji, my sweet dog  was with me every step of the way.

All my best for a wonderful New Year,
BJ Dollahite
Gallery San Juan

• Local heroes – Dodie & Jonathan sent this in to me a while ago, but it’s a good story about people who do good things here on the island:

When an unknown distressed and injured animal (in this case a big old shepherd mix) crawls into an inaccessible corner under your deck, who you gonna call?

We placed a “Lost/Found Dog” ad in the sanjuanislander and called the Sheriff’s office and the Animal Shelter.  It took several attempts over two days for Rina and Michelle from the Animal Shelter to retrieve the dog, with the aid of equipment borrowed from Deputy Ron Krebs, who was standing by to assist.  This was not an easy task but the dog, although terrified and in pain, turned out to be sweet natured.  Rina and Michelle got cold, wet and muddy, but they eventually got the dog to the Shelter.

There was no ID on the dog, no response to our advertisement, and nobody reported this sad old dog missing.  We do not know how long it had been hiding under the deck.

What next? We can only encourage everyone to think more about what our Shelter does for distressed island animals and how far beyond the norm the people there are willing to go.  Our biggest hope is, as always, for all domesticated animals to be cared for properly for the whole of their lives by their owners.  Until then, donations to the Animal Shelter will help them to continue to step in where we fail.

Dodie & Jonathan Taylor

• Keeping the auto tech program alive at FHHS – the San Juan Cruisers are the key. Here’s more from Larry Wight:

The San Juan Cruisers, led by President David Stegman, has donated the $3000 required to significantly remodel the FHHS Tech Building, which hosts most of the school’s technology classes. The Cruisers wanted to support the Auto Tech program and learned that funding was an obstacle to adding a garage door and some partitions to the building. Without hesitation, they offered to pay for all the materials for this remodel. They also offered to help with the labor to complete the remodel but, as it turned out, FHHS teacher Cecil Dent donated all the labor for the remodel himself.

As a result of the remodel, the Auto Tech capability has expanded significantly. We can now support larger classes. In addition, before the remodel we were limited in the size of the projects by the width of the doors. As a result we could, with effort, bring an engine into the shop but nothing bigger. Now we can bring an entire automobile into the shop where we can develop skills around brakes, steering, transmissions, charging and electrical systems, and auto body repairs.

Current projects in the shop include rebuilding a 1970 Ford 400 cid engine, working on a 1966 Buick GS, rebuilding an outboard motor, and repowering a lawn tractor with a diesel engine. If you would like to visit the new shop and, perhaps visit one of the classes, please contact Larry Wight at 622-6586

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