Keeping up with Jeri….

Jeri shows her handpainted ceramic masks at the Village at the Harbour…amazing work.

There’s an exhibit over at Village at the Harbour showcasing one of the island’s leading women’s work – here’s more about Jeri, in a little writeup from the Village:

Geraldine (Halverson) Lawson grew up on San Juan Island. The Halverson family owned a dairy and as a young girl “Jeri” helped her father Gunder deliver milk. Jeri married Gilbert Lawson, and they worked a farm on Beaverton Valley Road where she raised their three children – Victor, Richard, and Ruthie. When her children are grown, she opened an established Jeri’s Department Store or Jeri’s and provided islanders with yardage, notions, work clothing, shoes, and dress clothes.

You can still drop by “Jeri’s Mall” on Spring Street….

Jeri was not just a store owner – she also helped her husband develop and market the Hillview Terrace subdivisions, the largest of its kind in the San Juan Islands, and as a businesswoman, she was also one of the founders and directors of Islanders Bank, a position she held for a number of years.

At Jeri’s Mall, you can’t forget who originally got it all going….

Even with so many responsibilities Jeri found time to create works of art, whether it was ceramics, knitting or gardening. She loved to work with ceramics, painting and firing the detailed works of arts. She would also make, by hand, Afghans, scarves, sweaters and even rugs.

There wasn’t anything that Jeri could not do when it came to knitting or artwork. Using her “green thumb” and hothouse, Jeri grew many varieties of flowers, including some very delicate plants like orchids.

The next time you attend a Friday Harbor football game check to see if you can spot one of the many handcrafted purple and gold scarfs that Jeri knitted for the Purple and Gold.

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