It’s always fun to get a lot of people together, but it was really fun last Tuesday when Peggy & Oren Combs had a free buffet as they mothball the Front Street Ale House for three months or so to completely remodel the place. Prepare yourself – the place is gonna look completely different when  Continue Reading

Hey, when you get a chance in a couple of weeks to vote on the school district’s M&O Levy (the ballots come to your mailbox on January 21), don’t forget to mail it back with a big YES checked. The Maintenance & Operations levy accounts for about 20% of the district’s budget, school board member  Continue Reading

There are a few things happening around the island…let’s check what’s going on: • It’s always good to see the old graduates around town during & after the holidays – WSU sophomore (FHHS ’08) Kevin O’Connor caught the game Friday night before heading back to Pullman. • John Sinclair tells me he’s got his house  Continue Reading

Just received this notice to share with you: Johan Elias Moe (Johnny) passed away January 7, 2010 at the age of 81. He was born in Seattle, WA to Elias and Dagne Moe on January 29, 1928 and grew up in Mount Vernon and Stanwood, graduating from Twin City High School in Stanwood. Johnny played  Continue Reading

What’s happening as we head into the weekend: • He who hesitates is lost – Jan from the Community Theatre tells me: “All of the shows for Peter Pan this weekend are sold out!  People can come an hour before each show (6:30) or (1:00 on Sunday) and get on a waiting list to try  Continue Reading

Stan Matthews from the County says there’s a lot of interest in the death of an islander this week of meningitis – here’s more: County Health Officials Following up on Meningitis Death: San Juan County Health Department is following up with relatives and others who may have come into contact with a 54-year-old Friday Harbor  Continue Reading

David Bentley of St. David’s Episcopal Church sent over this writeup about Mary Jane Leche, who passed away this week… she was married for 55 years to Father Leche, who was the long time Vicar of the Episcopal Mission here that became St. David’s Parish. The Requiem Eucharist will be at 2 pm on Saturday,  Continue Reading

It was fun to hear folks singing at the New Year’s Eve hoorah put on by the Prevention Coalition & Island Rec – Shahn & Clint supplied the karaoke setup, and it was a hoot.

Dan Paulson just told me the Irish Music Camp is in its ninth year (wahoo!) and that this year the camp will set up at Roche Harbor from March 8-13th. Previously, the camp has convened at the Marine Labs (the dining hall is a great place to dance, with that nice old wood floor), but  Continue Reading

Just got this note (Tuesday evening) from WSF about the ferry schedule for tomorrow – read it & start planning: On Tuesday, January 5th, the MV Sealth was taken out of service to assess mechanical damage. After troubleshooting, engineers have found damage to the engine output shaft, requiring the vessel to be out of service  Continue Reading

Things here & there you might like to know about: • It was January 6, 1930 when John Dustrude was born – Happy Birthday! Congratulations, John, & many happy returns! • As you know, I supported the ban on styrofoam here in the County, and wahoo! The County has passed it! Here’s more from Stan  Continue Reading

Stan Matthews from the County tells me there were 73 folks identified last year, and the number is expected to rise….here’s more from Stan: Homeless Count Scheduled for January 28 San Juan County Health & Community Services will participate in the state’s annual Point in Time Count of Homeless Persons (PIT) on Thursday, January 28th.  Continue Reading

You probably heard about it – Matthew Gray Palmer’s sculpture of an elephant was leaving the island, so I went down & shot a photo of it. Wow! He did an awesome job! Look closely & you’ll see the individual butterflies in the design… the driver said the pachyderm is gonna end up in Virginia…

At the Island Rec New Year’s Party, folks were given a chance to get their photos taken for the Olympics, which are next month in Vancouver. Wahoo!

It was cool to go by the Farmers’ Market on Saturday at the high school & see all  the produce, especially for this time of year….that’s Margaret & Joel Thorsen with their offerings from Thousand Flower Farm on Waldron Island. (Here’s more about the farm, and here’s Margaret’s blog.) The next Market is the first  Continue Reading

We probably have more artists & photographers on this island than anywhere in the world, and they all are way above average, as you can tell by the Wilson family portrait above…but I’m not gonna tell ya who shot it.