Around the island, around town, and around the sound….

Last night's Knowledge Bowl was great - that's the 11th/12th Grade team of Chadwick, Guard, Snow & King. It's neat to be a place that takes the time to celebrate learning & knowledge...and to have a Schools Foundation that helps raise what's needed to give our kids an extra hand. I know you're wondering who won - the kids did, silly. A whole school district of 'em. (And the Lions edged the 11th/12th Graders at the end.)

Lots of comings & goings…let’s see what’s up….

• I hear Kristina Anderson (FHHS ’01) is expecting a son in the summer – congrats, Kristina!

• Seems to me I’ve been hearing of islanders going all over the place, to wit: Juan & Heidi Lopez (Spain, this week), Mike & Sandy Buckley (Hawaii, couple of days ago, probably to shoot pictures of THEIR whales), Laura Tretter (Australia), Cindy from the Whale Museum (Baja, to work as a gray whale naturalist), Sondra Nash (home to Honduras), Ken from Xtreme Fitness (coming back from Singapore next week),  and more, as the Spring Street International School kids head for Asia (last week) and Peru (next week.)

• Remember Lauren Holt? She’s living in Bend these days…getting married next summer.

• I hear that Peggy & Oren have resigned from San Juan Brewing after 18 years…they tell me they’re excited about the chance to do new things, and are happy for the happy fellowship the pub provided all those years.

• Yep, it was Caitlin Keys‘ 18th birthday yesterday, so they celebrated at Pazzo Vivo where she works last night during open mike.

Takin' the pain away - I had a cracked tooth that was killin' me this week, and Michael Horn at Friday Harbor Dentistry fixed it - thanks! That's Dr. Horn with his girl Lila at last fall's open house at his place.

• Pam Herber says the Writer’s Cafe is tonight (Friday) at the Naked Bean at 5pm…come read your original fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or come listen. Usually runs till about 6:30 or so.

• Debbie at Roche Harbor Market says the 7th Annual Roche Harbor Salmon Classic got underway yesterday – wahoo!

• Nice quote – I like what Meg Wheatley says about making things new: “The things we fear most in organizations – fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances – are the primary sources of creativity.”

• Play in the pool! Here’s more from Sally at Island Rec:

Come play with your baby or young tot in the warm water of San Juan Island Fitness small pool.  Register now for Island Rec’s Parent and Tot Open Swim held on Monday mornings beginning February 22.  Registrations must be received by February 12!  Cost for the six week program is $30.  Scholarships are available for income- eligible families.

For more information about this swim program or other learn to swim classes contact Island Rec at 378-4953 or visit www.islandrec.org

• Carrie at the Medical Center wanted to tell you about a program to help folks with cancer:

There is a very exciting program offered on San Juan Island for women suffering from cancer. The program is called “Look Good…Feel Better.” A trained local volunteer cosmetologist teaches women how to cope with skin changes and hair loss using cosmetics and skin care products donated by the cosmetic industry. Women also learn ways to disguise hair loss with wigs, scarves, and other accessories. These parties are held at the San Juan Island Library.

Our community contact is Geri, an islander of 20 years. She can be contacted at 378-5872 for any questions or concerns you may have. She can also register you for the class, or you can call 1-800-277-2345 and register yourself.

If you know of any women this would help, please forward this information on to them. This program has changed the way so many women feel about themselves while battling cancer. To learn even more, you can go to www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org.

Thought for the day, from Softwear's window on Spring Street....

• The Playwrights Festival continues this week – here’s the scoop for Week 2, from Jan at the Community Theatre:

Centennial Stories, the 2010 Islands Playwrights Festival, continues this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. inside San Juan Community Theatre’s Gubelman Theatre.

This week’s offerings include the staged reading written by Wendy E. Shepard: Walking to War.  Co-directed by Wendy and Ernest Pugh, the reading is a dramatic dialogue on how the human family can transform itself into one that settles conflicts without violence.  The cast features islanders Chinmayo, Dorian Oliver, Maureen See, Jacki Altier, Tom Phillips, Shannon Kelly, Lynda Guernsey and Brittany Kane

After the reading, San Juan County storyteller and playwright Antoinette Botsford will provide insight into the fine connection between storytelling and playwrighting.  Antoinette has spent her life as a story worker–sometimes working with plays, sometimes telling stories, often bridging the terrain between partially improvised and partially texted performances inspired by historical characters.

Jim Sesby traveled to Olympia to offer his sense of things....

• Jim Sesby from Heritage Farm here was one of the folks testifying in support of State Senator Kevin Ranker’s bill to get more folks involved in farming – here’s more from the senator’s office:

Dylan Johnson said he has learned more about farming during his short time as an intern at Synergy Farm in Friday Harbor than he could during a lifetime in the classroom.

Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-San Juan Island, is sponsoring Senate Bill 6349, legislation that would provide aspiring farmers with firsthand experience in their future line of work.

“The average age of a farmer in Washington is 57-years-old,” Ranker said. “If we’re serious about promoting agriculture in Washington we’re going to have to encourage younger people to get into the farms and get their hands dirty.”

Farmers from throughout the 40th District arrived in Olympia on Thursday to testify on behalf of Ranker’s farm internship bill. The measure would allow farms with gross sales of less than $250,000 annually to establish internship programs for future farmers who are not enrolled in classes to work on farms throughout the state.

“Those that weren’t going to a university, they wanted to learn a trade. They deserve an opportunity as well,” Ranker said. “We must encourage young folks to get onto the farm. We must develop a way for these internship programs to take place.”

Farmers interested in employing interns would be required submit a written application for certification to be reviewed by the Department of Labor and Industries. The farm would be required to specify the nature of the work interns would do and how the experience would provide them with vocational knowledge and skills.

You can support the San Juan Update by doing business with our loyal advertisers, and by making a one-time contribution or a recurring donation.