Hey, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading the Update. Each day is a little celebration of the cool things that make us all glad we live here, and I appreciate that you’re along for the ride. Without you, I’d be just another San Juan Island islander writing in his  Continue Reading

Local activist & all-around great person Emily Bayuk-Johnson is heading for a four-minth stint in Peru to help build a community center. The folks who live in San Francisco de Asis need a place for child care, education and skills-development training, so the Lake Union Crew Outreach Foundation (Emily rows for ’em, too) is extending  Continue Reading

It’s in December, but I reckon this is as good a time as any to get started with your planning. The 20th Anniversary has the Community Theatre bringing in a famous auctioneer named April Brown…here’s more, from SJCT’s Jan Bollwinkel-Smith: Its theme of “20 Magical Years” also means shaking things up for the annual Festival  Continue Reading

To start, here’s the posting on the County website with the latest news for H1N1 – be sure & read it! Then, I found & wanted to post the listing below to help you & me tell if we had the flu…here’s the scoop: From American Red Cross: The Difference between Cold and Swine Flu  Continue Reading

There were still a bunch left out front of the Market Place this morning, as you can see…get yours soon!

Last week’s session had a good turnout, even with the the rain. Here’s more from San Juan Healthcare’s Susan, for Thursday’s free class at 5:30pm at Village at the Harbor (these classes are a community service): Hope you can come to the Healthy Heart community meeting to be held Thursday evening. We had a wonderful  Continue Reading

Gotta admit – I liked going to the League of Women Voters‘s forum last week to hear the folks running for things, and the discussion of the local ballot questions. It was civil & respectful, and it looks like we’ve come a long way since the Election of 1800 (probably helps that we don’t have  Continue Reading

You saw all the rain on Saturday….grey & wet & muddy & really wet. Later in the afternoon, Josie & I were heading to the mainland on the ferry when the clouds broke…she caught the picture above, right as we swung past Blakely, as she ran to the stern of the ferry & got the  Continue Reading

I had heard that Jared from the ferry had gone skydiving but I couldn’t catch up to him, so I swang by Wells Fargo to ask his partner Leila what was the deal…she said she had gone, too! Jumped from 14,000 feet, with both of them together…she said it was great & she’d do it  Continue Reading

You know, I’m always telling you about cool stuff to do (things, of course, that I think you are gonna love), and I think this is one of ’em… Last summer, Helen from Island Stage Left was telling me how excited she is about Rabbit Hole, which opens the Thursday before Halloween at Roche Harbor.  Continue Reading

Ever since longtime islander Leigh Freeman married Julian Thorsteinson a few years ago, he & she have been living in Vancouver where he’s still selling real estate, like he did here for ages… his website there tells all about it. It was cool that he was in the islands last week, which included the chance  Continue Reading

It’s that time of year! Here’s the scoop, from Amy Wynn: Are you ready to be a competitive swimmer? If you are between 8 and 18 you are invited to try out for the San Juan Island Fitness Swim Team. In addition to regular practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the team is scheduled for an  Continue Reading

Bringing awareness to problems is the first step for solving ’em…Cathy Cole wanted you & me to know about this, which is happening this weekend: “Shop affordably and support the fight against human trafficking.” Who: Carrie Gendron, Blink Handbag, and Aleejoop Handbags When: Saturday Night, October 17, 6:30 p.m. and Sunday Morning, October 18, 10:30  Continue Reading

When you see all those posters & photos at the Palace Theatre while you’re waiting for the movie, it’s pretty cool to see the movies that were directed by islander Andrew McLaglen, with a who’s who of stars from the 1900s under his direction. So it’s pretty neat to still be able to catch one  Continue Reading

Couple of weekends ago, Yvonne & the good people of San Juan Vineyards had their annual grape picking, where volunteers & friends come help gather the Siegerrebe grapes, followed by a barbeque and get-together. Mark Gardner was there and shot the picture above, and a great time was had by all.

Located on San Juan Island, Mike Cohen’s Project Nature Connect just added 15 new students to the program. Here’s more from MMD Newswire: Project NatureConnect (PNC), an online, natural lifestyle degree training program, today announced that fifteen new students have started their courses for learning and teaching lifestyles that walk nature’s path to simple living  Continue Reading