By San Juan Island Library The San Juan Island Library District has completed the purchase of 660 Spring St. in Friday Harbor for the future library building site. The site is the location of the former Life Care Center. The district considered alternative locations for a library for several years given the limitations of the  Continue Reading

By Rep. Rick Larsen’s Office On Dec. 21, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted to deliver much-needed relief to families and small businesses in Northwest Washington who continue to struggle from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. “With a third wave of COVID-19 spreading across the country, this long-overdue pandemic relief package addresses the continued public  Continue Reading

Jeff and Dana Altman are the owners of the new island restaurant The Top of the Town Lounge. The Altmans shared their holiday takeout menu, below, with the Update. The restaurant, located at 669 Mullis St., Suite 101 in Friday Harbor, has “a speakeasy feel,” according to its website. Their goal, states www.topofthetownlounge.com, is to  Continue Reading

By San Juan Building Association Join the San Juan Builders Association in celebrating the holiday season by entering or just viewing the entries to its first annual gingerbread competition. Today, Sunday, Dec. 20, is the last day to drop off your gingerbread creations between 11 a.m.-1 p.m at Sundries Court at 260 Spring St. Register  Continue Reading

By Cynthia Burke Starting at 9 a.m., this Tuesday, Dec. 22, winter coats will be hung on a fence in Friday Harbor for those who need them. Anyone can take the coats; no questions asked and nothing in return. Cynthia Burke has offered the fence on her property, left of Cynthia’s Bistro, located on Nicholas  Continue Reading

By event organizers An online class to train family caregivers will be offered from 1:30-3 p.m., Wednesdays, Jan. 20-Feb. 24. The instructors for the class titled “Powerful Tools for Caregivers,” are Jami Mitchell, senior services specialist, and Gail Leschine-Seitz, aging and family case coordinator. The family caregiver training is supported by the San Juan County  Continue Reading

By Skagit Regional Health and United General District 304 Board members of Skagit County Public Hospital District No. 1 (Skagit Regional Health) and Public Hospital District No. 304 (United General District 304) each voted on Friday, Dec. 18 to discontinue further consideration of a potential purchase agreement for Hospice of the Northwest. The two public  Continue Reading

By Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor is well-known known for its educational awards and scholarships available to local women and girls. They also supply ferry tickets to cancer patients and their caretakers traveling to the mainland for treatment, as well as a women’s emergency fund. These and other Soroptimist programs  Continue Reading

By San Juan Island Fire and Rescue According to sources close to Santa Claus, Santa really missed seeing the wonderful and always well-behaved children of San Juan Island. Some clever elves contacted San Juan Island Fire and Rescue requesting help while allowing the reindeer to rest before their annual trip around the globe to deliver  Continue Reading

“Island Senior” is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Peggy Sue McRae. Any way you look at it, 2020 has been one heck of a year. Times have been tough for many islanders. For some of us, staying at home without our usual social interactions has been the brunt of it.  Continue Reading

By Port of Friday Harbor A special Port of Friday Harbor meeting will be held at noon, Wednesday, Dec. 16 via Zoom. Visit https://www.portfridayharbor.org/december-16-2020-special-meeting-documents/ for instructions on how to log into the meeting. The Port of Friday Harbor has completed a conceptual design for a 15,000 sq. ft. Marine Technical Center and Island Oil Spill  Continue Reading

Jeanine Earnhart is one of the masterminds behind Nana’s Holiday House in Friday Harbor. With the ongoing pandemic, Earnhart, along with her daughter Laura Earnhart Holden and friend Debbie Cutting, opted not to open the longstanding holiday store this year. Earnhart spoke with the Update about Nana’s Holiday House’s current socially distanced options; how the  Continue Reading

By Peace Island Volunteers In March, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peace Island Volunteers organized a mask-making project that would eventually include over 50 individuals making more than 4,400 masks.  The sewers were dubbed the Masketeers. Like the Musketeers, their efforts were helping to protect their community from the COVID saboteur. For the  Continue Reading

By EDC San Juan County software and web professionals, including retired or aspiring, are invited to a virtual meetup hosted by the Economic Development Council on Thursday, Dec. 17. Our archipelago is home to many people in information-focused professions who work remotely or in local businesses. The goal of this event is to help people  Continue Reading

By San Juan Island Library The next Open Mic Night will be held at 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 12, on Zoom. Held on the second Saturday of the month, Open Mic Night is for anyone interested in writing. Don’t be shy, come read your work or just listen. You will be inspired to write more!  Continue Reading

By Friends of the San Juans You are invited to a virtual town hall at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 16. The town hall meeting will be led by Brent Lyles, Friends of the San Juans’ new executive director. Lyles will introduce himself, share some highlights of Friends of the San Juans’ activities, and open it  Continue Reading

By San Juan Island Library Join the Mullis Center Book Club at 1:15 p.m., Dec. 14, online. This month, the club is reading “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman Print, large print, audio CD, and downloadable ebook and e-audiobook copies are available through the San Juan Island Library. Email bhelstien@sjlib.org, for the Zoom meeting invitation  Continue Reading

By San Juan Island Prevention Coalition We want to extend an invitation to add your voice to prevention! Your input help’s the San Juan Island Prevention Coalition and the state to continue funding wellness promotion in our community, which includes: Youth Leadership Development, the Student Assistance Professional in the San Juan Island School District, LifeSkills  Continue Reading

This year’s 22ndAnnual Community Thanksgiving adapted to our covid circumstance and was appreciated by many islanders in the form of a free “take-out” Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings. The event was sponsored by King’s Market, Printonyx, Islanders Insurance and the Mullis Center and organized by Diana and Kevin Porter. Diana says a hearty “Thank  Continue Reading

By San Juan Island EMS San Juan Island EMS Community Paramedic Lainey Volk spent a portion of her day on Thanksgiving delivering dinners to 15 of her patients/clients who are vulnerable and shut-in. Several of these people have no other family on the island. The meals, including turkey with all the trimmings, were procured from  Continue Reading

By Town of Friday Harbor The Town of Friday Harbor thanks the community for supporting the local food bank with their generous contributions to the Harbor Life Ring program this November. Town utility customer donations of $3,010 were matched with a $2,000 grant from the town for a total donation of $5,010 to the Friday  Continue Reading

By San Juan County Since the last update on Friday, Nov. 25, total cases in San Juan County have increased from 63 to 66. Two of these new cases are on San Juan Island, the other is on Lopez Island. Current positive case numbers are available online at the San Juan County Case count page.  Continue Reading