Excerpted from the SJI Community Foundation website… Each year, the San Juan Island Community Foundation hosts an exciting matching grant program in their booth at the San Juan County Fair. This tradition gives local nonprofits heightened visibility in the community and a chance to raise funds for current projects. More than $65k was awarded to  Continue Reading

COVID-19 updates from San Juan County around subjects on the minds of islanders This Hot Topic will provide a broad overview of confirmed positive cases to date in San Juan County. This information is very general in nature to ensure privacy, but hopefully is a useful way to convey the nature of cases in San  Continue Reading

We are pleased to announce that Jesse Nye, DO, has joined PeaceHealth Medical Group Friday Harbor in the Family Medicine clinic. He is an experienced physician who will provide comprehensive acute, chronic and preventive medical care services for his patients. Nye grew up in Washington state and graduated from Central Washington University (CWU) in Ellensburg  Continue Reading

Click to enlarge photo. FREEZER BURNED: Tales of Interior Alaska is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Steve Ulvi… During the summers of the 1970s, a trickle of newcomers of disparate backgrounds, wheeled into the timeworn town of Eagle, Alaska.    Less than twenty years prior, a seasonal road had been blasted  Continue Reading

In those days parking was right there on the Fair Grounds.  The Ferris Wheel was a main attraction in 1954.

Waterworks gallery presents The Nature of Dreams featuring the work of artists Robin and John Gumaelius and Michael Dickter. “The gallery comes alive with kinetic ceramic creatures from Robin and John that cavort and play in an imaginary world created by this wife and husband team. The gallery walls reverberate with beautiful flowers and flying  Continue Reading

We hear from Leslie Baker with the SJI Library… Your New Library Needs Your Help Now! 2020 Virtual County Fair Donations Needed. Donate online August 12 – 15, 2020. A lot has happened since our last update in October 2019, and we are asking for your help now to fill an urgent need to prurchase the  Continue Reading

Mary Frances Smith, longtime resident of Friday Harbor, passed away on July 21, 2020 at the age of 92 in Seattle, Washington. She was preceded in death by her husband Vincent “Smitty”, sister Jean Kink, and brother Tom Meehan. She is survived by her brother Joe Meehan, daughter Jean (Michael) Rogers, sons Paul (Carolyn) and  Continue Reading

The Regional POF Study launched early in 2020 assesses POF service across the 12-counties bordering Puget Sound and on Lake Washington and Lake Union. The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) hosted a webinar on April 15 to kick-off the study. Since the webinar, PSRC has gathered feedback through a 12-county online survey exploring potential routes  Continue Reading

At last evening’s special board meeting, the San Juan Island School District Board of Directors approved a fall reopening plan for schools.  After several months of planning with the district workgroups and steering committee, Superintendent Fred Woods recommended to the Board that the San Juan Island public schools begin the 2020-2021 school year under a  Continue Reading