Around town this sunny day….

Bob Reilly caught this guy napping in a tree on Spring Street early yesterday, downtown. Bob says he was gone an hour later....

Let’s see what’s up….

• Tracy says there’s a work party tomorrow at the gravel pit (the LaFarge property) from 4:30-6:30pm to remove scotch broom, fennel and blackberries. Be sure & bring water & gloves! (Call Island Rec for more info if you like – 378-4953.)

The ROV team: From left: Matthew Mazzarella, Nicki Le Baron, Michael Barsamian, Nick Roberts, Corwin Perren, Alex Halliday, Matthew Skeels. Not pictured: Brett Paul, Sam Waite, Sarah Clark

• The fun part about our ROV team is the way they did so well with ingenuity…Lovel Pratt dropped me a line: “Did you know that their $250 ROV beat out $15,000 and $20,000 ROVs?  Get the kids to tell you the story about the school bus stop at REI on the way to the soccer game to get a needed part for the ROV before the competition!” It’s all way cool – here’s the story from Michael Barsamian:

FHHS ROV Team Takes Third Place

Saturday, May 7, was the MATE Underwater ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) competition in Federal Way for the Friday Harbor High School Robotics team. Their team, led by senior Nick Roberts and junior Alex Halliday, didn’t have high expectations, due to it being their first year as participants. The team originally only had two hours on Sundays scheduled to work on the ROV, but the builders put in many more hours of work than that.

The competition itself in Federal Way consisted of two underwater runs. In each of these runs, the ROV had to simulate capping an oil well, collecting biological samples, closing a valve, etc. Completing tasks in these runs earned each team points. After taking the best score from both runs, each team had their poster reviewed by a judge, and gave a technical design report on their ROV. These presentations focused on the electronic scheme, special appendages, motors, and abilities of the ROVs.

After finishing the competition, the FHHS team was awarded with the Spirit Award, and the 3rd Place Award for the Ranger Class, finishing behind Team Endeavor and Team Neptune (both a part of the Skagit Sea-tech 4H Club). The FHHS team’s presentation and poster were both rated the second best in their class.

Unfortunately, the Friday Harbor Middle School Team was unable to participate in the competition.

The participants on the FHHS team would like to thank Nick Frazee and Marc Vermeire as well as the community members who helped mentor them. They would also like to thank the University of Washington Friday Harbor Marine Biology Labs and Public Schools Foundation for donating space and resources for the construction of the ROV.

• You’ve seen movies at the Palace Theatre, and may remember it when it was the Royal Theatre….but I’m glad to see that Dean Kinnaman is going to give a talk about the place that he pretty much grew up in. About a month ago, he told me stories about his time growing up on the island with the theater his dad Ray managed for so many years. It was called The Fribor back in 1915 when it was built by Alfterd Middleton…and you can come hear Dean’s presentation at 10am Saturday at the theatrer about all the time since, including how Lee and Milt Bave purchased and renovated the building, giving it new life and its current look.

See you there!

The Fribor Theatre, back in the day...come hear Dean tell about the history of the theater at 10am on Saturday, at the Theater.

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