Have you been to the Lighthouse lately? Here’s more from Jeanne: The 6th Annual Tours to the Top of the Lighthouse at Lime Kiln Pt. State Park. It began in 2004 and that first year 130 people came. Rain or shine we’ll be there, decorated for the holidays with hot cider and home baked goodies.  Continue Reading

Just got this little story from Leslie at the Animal Shelter: Do you know me? I was hiding under a porch of some very nice people near San Juan Valley. I got frightened and was under their porch for 3 days until the girls from the Animal Shelter crawled under the house and comforted me and coaxed  Continue Reading

Last night I heard that Superior Court Judge John Linde passed away while vacationing in Hawaii. Apparently he was snorkeling, and something went wrong. Here’s the story from the Hawaii tv station. This is a great loss to the community. We’ve all watched John as an umpire at baseball (he had one of the best  Continue Reading

Ace photographer Kevin Holmes shot these pictures last May at Jakles Lagoon here on San Juan Island…wow. Great detail & good composition…you can feel the power of these great birds.

We have a lot of tough decisions over the next few years ahead of us, made tougher by a continuing drying-up of public money. In the face of that (and after listening to the permanent Farmer’s Market discussions over the past month or so), I find myself drawn to this little essay by Derek Sivers,  Continue Reading

Well, the Rocky Bay decided to do something daring last month – complement its already popular breakfast & lunch with staying open three nights for dinner. (Popular, by the way, is island-speak for “you gonna have to wait on the sidewalk outside for a table. That’s ’cause so many people dig the place.”) So, they’ve  Continue Reading

I asked Vernadel what was the deal for the tree lighting’s tonight – there was more going on than I thought. Here’s the scoop: Join the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce for the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony at Memorial Park in Friday Harbor on Friday, December 4.  Plan to come down early in the  Continue Reading

Last night the Town Council had the siting of a permanent Farmer’s Market on its agenda. One piece of news – which should be a pretty big chunk of the discussion – is that the Fair Board would rather see it at the Fairgrounds. Well, yeah. Here’s more from Josephine Bangs, who sent this along  Continue Reading

Last night the Town Council had the siting of a permanent Farmer’s Market on its agenda. One piece of news – which should be a pretty big chunk of the discussion – is that the Fair Board would rather see it at the Fairgrounds. Well, yeah. Here’s more from Josephine Bangs, who sent this along  Continue Reading

Jan at the Community Theatre says there are still tickets left: CATS Festival of Trees celebrates “20 Magical Years” We still have some tickets left for THIS Saturday’s big event at the Theatre, kicking off the island’s holiday season in great style.  Make sure to make your reservation NOW by calling 378-3211, ext. 32. As  Continue Reading

Did you see the sunrise this morning? Sandy Buckley did – here’s more of her work. And here’s a song to go with it…

Just got this from the EDC, and thought you’d like to know: San Juan County Economic Development Council Announces Staff Changes The San Juan County Economic Development Council (EDC) is pleased to announce the hiring of two new employees. The EDC welcomes Victoria Compton as their new Executive Director.  Victoria has been an island resident  Continue Reading

There was good food at the Holiday Marketplace last week, and Cynthia was why….here’s a note from her, because she’s glad you were there! Here’s more: An appreciative thank you to all who imbibed in my holiday food at the Artisan’s Faire this weekend.  This is such a great venue to kick off the holiday  Continue Reading

Last month the League of Women Voters held their regular meeting with something special – first of all, the Statue of Liberty showed up, as you can see. (That’s Susan Dehlendorf, I think…) The other interesting thing was they offered a test that’s like the one folks who are becoming new citizens get to take…so  Continue Reading

I hear that one of my favorite singers is playing this weekend – Daniel Finn takes the stage at The Naked Bean this Saturday at 7pm (donations accepted). He’ll be performing selections from the Daniel Finn Playbook….don’t miss this one!

Little bits here & there for you: • Pat & Becky Nash have a slew of Christmas trees for sale out front of where Latitude 48 used to be (or maybe you remember it as the Fat Cat?) Fresh cut trees  – check ’em out! • Rhonda Scott has opened a shop for the season  Continue Reading