prepared
weekly or so by Ian Byington if anything happens around here
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or view
it.
August 5, 2002
Today, tomorrow: Just
got a note from Susea McGearhart that Tami Oldham Ashcraft will
be on the Today Show in the morning (Tuesday) discussing her
book, Red Sky in Mourning.
Another local author makes good!
August
3, 2002
Books sold:
Gotta love it - the Library's annual book sale last weekend was
its usual awesome self, with a gymfull of books, a ton of people,
and much quieter week on the island as everyone settled down
to read for the rest of the week.
Because of the construction stuff at the grade
school, the sale was held in the gym at the high school for the
first time in a long while (right), and it was a good thing:
it was pretty crowded.
By the way, Principal Carolyn at the elementary
school says that the mold-removal project at FHES is going well,
and school should open on time just fine. That's why the sale
was held at the high school this year instead.
Events of the day:
Perhaps you heard Tina Fisher and Bruce Robinson got married
last month, and that former Friday Harbor House boss Tori Zehner
had her twins last week...meanwhile, expectant moms Stacey from
Haley's, Kim from Coldwell Banker, and art teacher Leisha Holmes
all are due at the end of this month or the first part of September.
Have you been to the music at the Port that's
been going on all this summer? It's at the little park near the
Port office at the marina...they have open mike from 12:30 till
1:30pm, then bands till 4pm. Cynthia Elliot (and Gordon and Dan
Paulson) tells me they're the band tomorrow, which makes me want
to go listen. Drop by.
Another fire: There's
been an outpouring of support for Bill & Nancy Thomas, whose
house burned down last week, including a benefit thingie at Herb's
this weekend. Stephanie Picconi tells me they're doing OK, and
dealing with the loss well.
Quote: The Miss
Universe pageant must be fixed, because the winner is always
from Earth. (Dale Jenkins, Ruminations)
(Click here
for a bigger version of the boat picture to the right, by Olivia
Freeman.)
Boating: My
friend Mary Kate tells me she and her partner Ken went fishing
last week, but the boat was surrounded by orcas, who kept hanging
around & scaring off all the fish, or eating 'em.
She said at that point they were boating,
they were not fishing.
Election selections detected: I called Christine Friday over at the Elections Department
to see who's running for what, because I wanted to scoop all
the papers & online guys, but then I forgot to upload this
report.
Told you this was a laid back town. Or at
least a laid back election season. At least, for me.
Anyway, here's the folks who are running:
- County Commissioner from Lopez/Shaw -
Rhea Y. Miller (D) will be opposed by LuLu Johnson, Gary
Franco, and David Anderson (all R's).
- Assessor - Paul G. Dossett (R) will be challenged
by Dylan Stephens (D)
- Auditor - Elections maven & Democrat
Sandy Baxter will make her first run for the office Republican
Si Stephens has held for years...Si currently oversees the Elections
Department, so I'd think there's a question about who's gonna
run the balloting.
- District Court Judge - Stewart R. Andrew
tries for another four years, with Frank LaSalata running against
him.
- Democrats Jeff Asher and Bill Cumming will
settle things in the September 17 primary in the sheriff's race...all
the other races except the Republican run for Rhea's seat will
be attended to in November.
- The other incumbents are unopposed....I think.
The hills are alive:
Over at the Community Theatre,
things are happening, as RuthE checks in:
Hi, Ian! I'm attaching information on two events coming
up at the Theatre.
This weekend, we're presenting an opera-in-a-nutshell (that
is, all of the
story and none of the arias) with a sparkling young cast. Mozart's
"Cosi
fan tutte" (women are like that) is a story of young lovers,
and the cast
includes to fresh faces from Friday Harbor High School (Gretchen
Wilhelm
and Julie Geiser), two seniors from Western Washington University,
and a
dozen more local folks. This is a perfect beginner opera, both
for
audiences as well as singers, with gorgeous music throughout.
Next weekend, Uzume Taiko brings their energetic show to
our stage. It's
part jam session, part martial arts, and completely mesmerizing.
A cadre
of local drummers will be jamming on the sidewalk before the
show to help
"drum" up interest. Stop by and see them!
Thanks,
RuthE.
The heart of art:
Island Rec's Sally Kerr
tells me the Camp Eagle Rock kids have prepared a beautiful mural
to odorn that place out front of where the fire was in May...it
will unveiled on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, one of the things they did at Camp
this week was to do experiments about eggs & what happens
when you drop 'em. Each kid got an egg and could package it however
they thought best so it would survive a fall...from a couple
of feet, from the truck, from the top of Ace Hardware, and finally,
from an airplane (Camp Director Dawn got FAA approval.)
Kids came up with schemes that offered varying
dgrees of success, including the Ace drop, but Sally hadn't heard
how the plane drop - into the Guard's field - turned out.
We'll keep you posted. Egg-zactly.
Last Twelfth Night:
It's tonight. Don't miss it,
or you'll be sorry.
Which reminds me - it was cool when I went
a couple of weeks ago to run into a woman named Julie, who reads
this all the time, and comes to the island each summer. She came
up & introduced herself at the play. Great to meet her &
her daughter, and glad someone's reading this.
More theatre plans:
Oh, yeah, RuthE sent me another note about something to plan
for:
Ian -- Your "Update" readers might be interested
in a couple of
opportunities coming up at the Theatre.
On Aug. 19 -- following her Aug. 18 concert -- Kathy Chiavola
will offer a
vocal master class (covering all styles). Kathy is classically
trained,
and is a successful bluegrass recording artist. Plus, she's gorgeous
-- I
can forward a beautiful color photo, if you want, or you could
direct
readers to our web site: www.sanjuansrts.org.
Another study opportunity for local stage directors is
our first guest
director in the Andrew V. MacLagen Director's Lab project. Claude
Giroux
will be in town Aug. 25 to meet prospective workshop participants,
as well
as actors who wish to read for the fall play (which Giroux will
direct).
Both items are newsworthy *now,* as people need a little
advance notice to
clear their schedules in order to take advantage of the
opportunity. Details (essentially, these release) for both are
posted on
our web site under
the Announcements section.
RuthE
July 23, 2002
Roche Harbor & art: It was neat to run into Rachel (right) the other
day at the place next to the garden where artists set up &
sell their work. She drew a likeness of Cameron (also right)
that turned out pretty well. Rachel returns to art school's last
year in Baltimore, but judging by how her work turned out, I'm
not sure what they'll teach her - she's already pretty good.
If she looks familiar, that's because you've seen her at Felicitations
some mornings...
Hostel baby:
You know Paul & Andy who run the Wayfarer's
Rest hostel - they delivered their first baby about three
weeks back - his name's Jack, and he's doing well, thank you.
Mom & Dad are doing fine, too.
Get out: Perfect
weather over the weekend, eh? It was cool in the evening &
pleasant in the day...looks like it'll be nice this week, too.
If you're off-island, book yourself to visit
soon.
Speaking of books:
This weekend it's the Friends of the Library's Annual Book Sale
on Friday and Saturday. The event's been moved to the high school's
gym (probably because they're working on the mold-removal project
at the elementary school). They get rid of - for incredible prices
- tons of used books & out-of-circulation stuff. If you haven't
been before, you're really missing out.
Be there now.
In other library news, the summer
reading program continues apace, with new stuff every week
(like Magic Charlie the basketball whiz a couple of weeks ago
(below). Drop by this week and see what librarian Laura Tretter
has going on - everyone else is. And quit saying there's nothing
to do around here, willya?
Dogs: I heard
over the weekend that Kathryn at the Wine
Shop's great black lab Beulah passed away last week, and
that Catspaw's
Kathy Farron's Clipper also died. It's hard to lose a friend....
Stage Left scores again: The boys and I went to see Stage
Left's Twelfth Night on Friday and let me tell you - it was
wonderful.
Cameni Williams was a delightfully nuanced
Olivia, while it was cool to see Tyler Ryan back from college
on stage here on the island again. Kate as Viola was charming
(remember her as Peter Pan a few years back?), while Dan Mayes
redfined Malvolio & his yellow socks. And yes, Daniel Finn
can sing...and act. Then there's the ever-roguish Ken Surratt
as Sir Toby. Great show.
Funny, poignant, and very well acted and directed....make
sure you don't miss it or MacBeth (reprised from April's run)
in the next few weeks.
Shakespeare, well-done, and the stars out...
be there.
Music on that lawn:
Island Rec's irrepressible Sally Kerr has set up a winner this
summer with the Music on the Lawn series each Wednesday night
over at the Historical Museum. Check the schedule
and take a blanket and some chow and get over there this week.
See ya there.
Get physical: I
hear the Medical Center is offering $35 sports physicals July
30th/31st. 6-8pm. No appointment necessary. First come, first
serve kinda thing. High school kids - get yours now!
Or, you can get it taken care of at HealthCare
Associates the next week - here's the San
Juan Islander write-up.
Moyer moves:
You know Mike who works at Moyer's Jewelry, just down from the
Theater? (He used to own Vic's....) He tells me (and Leigh Freeman
confirmed) that Betty Moyer will be moving out from that spot
this fall (to a yet-unfound place), and that ReMax will be re-locating
to that spot at that time.
It'll look like real estate row when you go
up Spring Street....
Which reminds me - back when Darrel Kile died
and folks were talking about how his parents ran the Donut Shop
back in the early '90s, someone who will remain unnamed told
me that Moyer's was related to Mariner pitcher Jamie Moyer.
It was a couple of days before I found out
she was pulling my leg.
Bumper stickers
seen around Friday Harbor lately (plastered pithily on local
cars, mostly, I think):
* Jesus is coming - look busy!
* I'm not lost - I'm just exploring
* We don't give a shit how you do it on the mainland (from Orcas,
naturally)
* Every mother is a working mother
* I love Virginia (who is Virginia?)
* If you can't feed 'em, don't breed 'em
* Soccer rules
July 15, 2002
Matt remembered:
Tom and Tami Doenges told me they sang at Matt McCutchen's memorial
service at the family pond just outside of town Saturday. Tami
said the afternoon was very moving, with some 500 people in attendance.
Pane in the glass: Have you been down to see Lawrence (right) at the
ferry dock, making glass? He makes everything from scratch, and
some of his figures are totally unique and amazing. He tends
to stay till the last ferry, and has a little crowd watching
most of the time. He has plans to teach classes out at Roche
Harbor this fall, so ask him about that if you're interested.
Mount Young sunset:
The sunset above was sent over by Wendy Harford and her friend
Gene, who shot it last week. They hiked to the top of the hill
from British Camp, just up from Garrison Bay - same hike the
English soldiers took when stationed here back in the 1850s.
Springer sprung:
Well, they caught Springer (A-73), put him on a boat, and carried
him for 12 hours to north Vancouver Island on Saturday. News
reports Sunday
and today
indicate she's pretty happy with his new digs, and appears to
be open to the idea of rejoining his family. The Whale Museum
is also putting up reports about the capture/release, which may
open up a whole new arena in interspecies connection if it proves
successful.
Meanwhile, I was told Saturday night that
the three resident pods were collected out at Lime Kiln Park.
It's pretty remarkable to see one pod or subpod, but all three
is an amazing sight. Over 200 people collected to see the show
the superpod put on.
Port Cam: Take
a peek at the marina with the Port of Friday Harbor's new
webcams, pointing two directions over the water.
July 10, 2002
Passing: Many
people knew Matt McCutcheon, who passed away in a car accident
in the middle of the night Saturday. Crowds of friends collected
at his family's home on Argyle Street most of Sunday and Monday,
and during the little remembrance out on Roche Harbor Road where
the accident was. Twenty four is just too young....
His friend Chris Connelly survived the wreck,
and is now resting comfortably at his dad's house out at Portland
Fair, or however comfortably one can rest being that bunged up.
His aunt Chris tells me there's no head injury damage, but a
lot of bruises and cuts.
Settling back in:
After the excitement of the Fourth and what seemed like either
a VERY long weekend or two little weekends (if you had to work
the 5th), folks seem to be settling back down into the rhythm
of the tourist season again. The downtown area is bustling, with
sales and restaurants open, and music in the cafes, and a lot
going on. THIS is the fun
Play's the thing:
It's not often I can tell you I've previewed a play, but in this
case I've seen two: Stage
Left opens its summer run of both Twelfth Night and MacBeth
next week on the 19th out on their place on Wold Road. There's
a nice writeup about the shows in the Journal this morning...check
it out.
Last summer, I went out to see Twelfth Night
on a rainy, cold night...Helen Machlin-Smith simply carried the
show indoors at her house, and put it on for the 30 or so of
us who hung around to watch it. It was great fun, and it'll be
cool to see it staged outside as planned. The group is running
that show in repertory with MacBeth, which they put on in April
at the Fairgrounds. That was a masterful achievement - a tight,
well-paced dark rendering of Shakespeare that was clear &
easy to understand, and easy to be moved by.
The shows are put on for free - donations
accepted. Make your plans to see them both. They're awesome.
July 4, 2002
The day at a glance:
You gotta click here to see if your dog was in the parade, Eugene
as the Statue of Liberty, Bob Low and the fire guys in the parade,
little April as an angel eating ice cream, what King's looked
like after the parade - a zoo! - a famous person juggling eggs
at the egg toss, and more. See if you're in here - you probably
are.
Photos
of the parade | Photos
of the Pig War Picnic
One of the biggest days that shows this island
as a community is the Fourth of July, with the parade, the barbecues,
the community picnics at Sunken Park and the Historical Museum.
The weather stepped up & cooperated, with
sunny skies & just enough clouds to cool things off. The
morning's parade seemed to feature most of town (with the winners
probably listed on the San
Juan Islander site - check 'em), with a big hand coming for
the fire department folks who successfully contained the May
fire.
It was cool to see so many folks eager to
let people know what they're doing, whether it was the Animal
Shelter, the bands, the Amnesty International group, and much
more. People like Stepping Stones Child Center's Dean (above,
with the usual ubiqitous child) and the new owner of the restaurant
that's in Madelyn's Bagels' spot which opens next week, Laurie
Paul, were enjoying the picnic over at the Historical Museum.
July 3, 2002
Weather or not: Nice
as it's been for the past few days - like porridge, not too hot,
not too cold - we should have another nice one today. The weather
report suggests showers for tomorrow, but the weather people
often confuse this island with Whidbey or Vancouver Island, so
don't count on it.
Meanwhile, get out outside and play.
Fire hole: As
you can see from the picture on the right, there is still a hole
in the middle of town from the fire. The cleanup has allowed
folks to begin plans to re-build, while some of the shops are
already going again - San Juan Florist is open on the corner
across from the ferry, and Stacey & Christina opened the
Hungry Clam this week down across from the ferry terminal.
These photos were shot
last week by By Design's Tim Dustrude from the second floor at
Coldwell Banker. Click here
and here for a large, screen
filling shot.
Fourth activities:
The parade in Friday Harbor starts at 11am. The fun part about
the parade is trying figure out whether there are more people
in the parade from town or watching. See you there - in it or
on the sidewalk.
There are also activities all day out at Roche
Harbor, as well as in town at the Historical Museum's Pig War
Picnic (from after the parade till 4 or so), Sunken Park, and
later, down at the Port, where the Rock the Dock dance'll be
held. Fireworks later in the night, at Roche, in the Harbor,
and over on Lopez.
Usually there are more people on the island
on the Fourth than any other one day in the year...it's a well-attended,
much-anticipated party. Wahoo!
Get outside and have fun.
Kathleen sighting:
It was great to run into former head librarian Kathleen in town
the other day. She's helping out at Browne's nursery this summer....
Quote: "Traces
of nobility, gentleness and courage persist in all people, do
what we will to stamp out the trend. Resolve then, that on this
very ground, with small flags waving and tinny blasts on tiny
trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours,
he may be us." - Walt Kelly, "The Pogo Papers."
Happy Canada Day:
As we move towards the Fourth, it was fun to watch the fireworks
across the water in Victoria Monday night. Eric (who helps with
volleyball at FHHS) said he saw them from Roche, while The Whale
Museum's Leslie reported they were microscopic from South Beach,
where she and some friends went to see what they could see.
Not in danger - ha: The
feds' decision not to list the orcas as endangered last week
- much documented in the other papers & online news organs
around here - is nutty, at best. If a human population dropped
20%, there would be some attention paid...The Fisheries guy even
says the whales may be extinct later this century, but don't
warrant protection now.
The Whale Museum's press page (kept up to
date by Tracie Hornung) has the background on this at http://www.whale-museum.org/pressroom.html.
Eating out:
It's great to eat here on the island. There are three Mexican
restaurants, as well as Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, British,
and those of you celebrating the Fourth discriminately, American.
One of our secrets is on top of the building
behind Friday Harbor Yachts, where Adnan and his family run Maloula's, which
is a nice mix of Mediterranean chow. Close to the ferry and even
closer to the concept of fine food - drop by and check them out.
(His webpage was done by his talented freshman kid, Tony.)
Get out and eat.
Remembering Darryl:
It was nice to see the town doesn't forget - most of you knew
that St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile died a couple of weeks ago.
His folks had bought the Donut Shop and moved here as he got
his career going with baseball - native Joe Bongiorno remembered
they got cable into the shop so they could watch the Astros'
games at the time.
His dad died in his early forties with heart
trouble, as well.
Stuff to look at:
The mailbag overflows with interesting stuff - John and Louise
Dustrude just got back from England, and he writes:
Hi Ian - Look what I found in a newspaper article whilst
in England. Your readers might enjoy a "heads-up" on
this little puppy:
http://www.enhelion.com/index.html
- John
Meanwhile, Lisa Brown from the school district
passed on this one:
YIKES!
> Hi,
> I was just sent this. Now you can see anyone's Driver's
License on
> the Internet - including your own! I just searched for mine
and there it
> was...picture and all!
> I don't think this is a good idea at all! Do you? I think
we should
> maybe start up a petition or something protesting this.
> What do you think? Go to the web site and check it out.
> It's unbelievable!!!
>
> http://www.license.shorturl.com/
June 20, 2002
Extra! Extra! Read all about it: This news update just in:
Island Rec Trails Committee is holding a hike
this Sunday, June 23, on the new Phase II section of the Roche
Harbor to English Camp Trail. "This is a great new trail
section that the Roche Harbor people have just put in,"
said Lee Sturdivant, of the trails committee, describing the
second part of this public/private joint venture between the
Roche Harbor Village,
the National Park Service,
and Island Rec.
Phase one is a flat grassy trail that runs
along Roche Harbor Rd., between the resort and the Opalco Sub
Station near the corner of Roche Harbor Rd. and West Valley Rd.
This second phase runs from that corner along
Roche Harbor property to the edge of the park boundary. Phase
three will all be inside the national park property. That last
phase of the trail was agreed to by Cicely Muldoon, previous
National Park superintendent. The exact location and timing will
now be determined by the new superintendent.
Anyone interested in the hike should meet
Sunday at 11 am at the parking lot at the corner of Roche Harbor
Rd and West Valley. Rd. For information, call Island
Rec 378-4953.
June 16, 2002
Weather or hot:
Hasn't this been a great weekend - up to nearly 67 yesterday,
with more sun scheduled for the short term.
Get outside and play. And Happy Father's Day
to you & your dad.
Other big change: The ferry schedule changes
today. Click on the link above if you're not sure when you're
coming.
Whale capture goes well: Springer, that calf that's hanging out down near Vashon
Island, was in the news yesterday . It looks like the capture
and re-location of the baby orca - to save its lfe - is working
out.
You can see the online reports on the Whale
Museum's ongoing
press-coverage page.
In the NPR report from public radio Friday
morning there was an unidentified authoritative voice talking
about all this who I thought sounded a lot like Kari Koski, but
I saw her last night at the pub & she said it was someone
else.
She also told me her boyfriend Doug has been
named girls soccer coach at FHHS for the next fall, which is
cool - he's been helping with the program for the past couple
of years and is a great guy.
Eclipse, redux:
After mentioning this week's eclipse, I got this little note
from Maude at FHHS about another eclipse you won't want to miss:
Hey Ian - Could you mention (as a tag to your eclipse entry)
- our own little Eclipse, the high school literary and
fine arts magazine, is out and available for purchase for ONLY
$7.00 at the high school office. This money goes toward publishing
costs for next year. If you've ever wondered what goes on in
the minds of teenagers, now is your chance to find out!
Thanks, Ian. We (the kids and I) appreciate the support!
Other mail:
Got a note in the e-mail bag this week asking if I had any honeymoon
tips.
No, but there are books you can buy.
Longest day: Solstice
is next weekend - make your plans, because the days are all shorter
from here on out.
Quote: The Miss
Universe pageant must be fixed, because the winner is always
from Earth. - Dale Jenkins, Ruminations
Quote: "Too
often we...enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort
of thought." - John F. Kennedy
Dive in: You
know the Dive Shop has a new website
and a new name, right? They're now called Island Dive and Water
Sports. Check 'em out.
About those tips:
Oh, I get it. Tips about places to stay, and stuff like that.
Heck, just look at the Directory at http://www.friday-harbor.net.
It's all there. Any other tips, ask your friends.
Gotta run. See you in a week or so. If anything
happens.
June 10, 2002
Eclipse today:
Looks like there's going to be a partial eclipse of the sun this
afternoon around 4:30 or 5...check out the details
about what it will look like from here.
June 3, 2002
Ferry early: Looking over the crowds of folks loading and overloading
on Sundays after a weekend on the island down at the ferry landing,
I remembered a good friend of mine told me last year, "You
know you're never really late for a ferry - you're just early
for the next one."
Ready: I got
this picture (right) of Clark at Outdoor Odysseys getting ready
for the season from his website
(he's actually cleaning the boat...)
After the fire:
Christine from the Hungry Clam says she's excited about the prospect
of what the new building could mean for business. She and Stacey
are making plans now for the new Clam...meanwhile, Julie &
Lisa from San Juan Florist are re-opening on the 15th in the
place where the old Sweetbriar's was, on the corner of First
& A Streets (that's across from the ferry parking lot.)
Passing: Linda
Hahn-Tate, former principal at Friday Harbor Elementary School,
has succumbed to cancer...Linda served as FHES' boss back in
the mid-1980s, and lived down at the south end of the island.
She is survived by her daughter, who is a freshman at the high
school.
FHHS' finest hour: Make
plans to come to graduation on Saturday at the high school. It's
great to see so many people - it's the best-attended event on
the island besides the Fair and the Fourth - and a good chance
to send our great kids off in style. See ya there.
New babies on the way: If it seems like a number of folks are expecting,
that's because there are - Andrea (who owns Wayfarer's
Rest Hostel), Betsy Lee (this is husband Wawan's and her
first), Tori Zehner (just left years of managing Friday
Harbor House, she's expecting twins), art teacher Leisha
Holmes (former University of Oregon football player Garrett and
she expect to deliver near Fair-time in August), Kim Fitts (she's
a mainstay at Coldwell
Banker, this will be her and Jeff's first), and Stacey (you've
seen her at Haley's).
Whales get together:
Bill & Colleen from San
Juan Safaris wrote to say the whales are definitely back
last week, and apparently got together for a super pod (all three
pods together). I saw the whales Saturday night when some friends
invited me out to South Beach for a potluck - the boys and I
were the first ones there (we had to start the fire), and the
orcas were cruisin' by...
You can see them on Bob Weimer's OrcaCam
which he updates continuously through the summer.
Old Architects Week:
Talented people continue to come to the island - you know former
architect Lauren over at the library is now the head librarian
- former architect Leslie Strom started about a month ago as
manager of the Whale Museum
store. She's got Jen & Jenny working with her - stop in an
say hi.
Workshop offered:
Write Joe for more on his workshop - sounds like a good one:
I'm writing to let you know about a workshop I'm helping
to arrange for June 7-9. The topic is Nonviolent
Communication, an approach that helps people communicate compassionately
and cooperatively and avoid the usual attacking, blaming and
defensiveness that often come up. Just giving you a "heads-up."
Joe Tein ([email protected])
May 29, 2002
Great weekend: Hope
you had a pleasant weekend...it was cool & nice for walks
outside, with just enough rain for the gardens, flowers, and
kids in the mud.
Asher takes on Cumming: Both the Journal
and the San Juan Islander
filed reports Friday that Detective Jeff Asher will oppose incumbent
Bill Cumming in the September primary. See those reports for
more details...
Market's open:
Yep, the Farmers' Market started up this last weekend - opns
at 10am every Saturday from here on out at the Community Theater
parking lot. Great people, great food, great time.
By the way, last year someone wrote &
asked where the theater parking lot was...they were out in front
of the Royal Theater (now the Palace), out in the middle of Spring
Street.
Don't park there.
New names: Elections
supervisor Sandy Gillespie is now going by Sandy Baxter, and
newly married Lisa McCormick is going by Lisa Brown. Reports
that Dan Gillespie is going by Ringo are probably unfounded.
After the fire:
Talked to the Mystical Mermaid's Wendy & she says they hope
to re-open in 12-14 months in the same spot. She said it's been
a tough month, but she's pretty fired up about the new building
that's planned for the burned-out spot - she described it as
"awesome!!"
By the way, the well-known wood sculpture
of the mermaid that was saved from the fire was stolen a couple
of days later by some insensitive morons. It's still missing.
C'mon, people, give it back.
Reservation service: There's
a new reservation service on the island - The
Strait Scoop, booking lodging, activities, dining, and transportation.
Fifth-graders take over ferry: That was the
FHES fifth grade on the red-eye this morning, off to visit the
Pacific Science Center in Seattle for the day. Pretty mature
group, as you get to know them.
May 22, 2002
On the street: Honest,
I heard someone say this over the weekend in front of King's:
"I dare say floral prints are back with a cold, steel vengeance
this year."
I hope they were visiting from Seattle, or
Kirkland, or Auburn or somewhere hard-edged. I'm not sure we
could handle much in the way of amped-up fashion statements here.
Gotta go get dressed now. I have an appointment
this morning & need to find my dress sweatshirt.
Giving way to the morning: Isn't the best part of getting up to a rainy morning
the part where the sky - after a while, and the garden is watered
- turns partly blue, and you can feel the clouds start to give
way? Like this morning.
Tami's signing: One
of the big success stories in our little self-publishing community
here on the island is Tami Oldham Ashcraft (with Susea McGearhart)'s
"Red Sky at Mourning," which sold well in its first
release, has now gotten picked up by a major publisher &
will be released next month. Susie tells me there will be a book
signing in late June for the new one...way to go, Tami!
Flyway lecture: Ron
and Liz Keeshan periodically set up the Web of Life Along the
Pacific Flyway, a natural history lecture series...the next is
at the Fairgrounds Building tomorrow at 7pm, with Alexandra Morton.
Have you thought about fish farming....really? You'll see it
in a whole new light after tomorrow.
Here's the story, from Liz:
Ms Morton's talk is entitled "A Life Listening to
Whales." She is an award winning author who has studied
whales for a quarter of a century, much of this time spent in
a remote bay on the British Columbia coast across from the northern
tip of Vancouver Island. In recent years she has concentrated
her studies on the harm caused by fish farms to whales and the
rest of the marine web of life.
Autographed copies of her new book "Listening to Whales"
will be available.
Admission is free.
Extension site is up:
Speaking of natural, Tom Schultz has done a super job getting
the WSU Extension site
together, and he just launched his re-design yesterday. These
are the folks who do master gardener training, 4-H stuff, and
much more...check 'em out.
Top dog: You
saw that newsletter about a month ago from the Fire Department
folks with the little Dalmation on the top? That's a picture
of Dottie, who belongs to Carolyn who works there.
I thought you'd want to know.
Quote: "Light,
where is the light? Light the fire, if you have desire! Thunder,
rushing wind, nothingness. Black night, black stone. Don't let
your whole life go by in the dark.
"Evidently the only way to find the path
is to set fire to my own life." Rabindranath Tagore
May 20, 2002
Town still there: I got a couple of calls wondering if town had burned
down in the fire, because that's
the impression left by tv news stories, perhaps. Hey, ya gotta
listen to the rest of the story. We're still here....come visit
this weekend and see.
Wet & gray:
Pretty wet & gray this morning...it rained most of the evening
and early morning. Good for gardens and our little farms. Not
as good for baseball, but we've gotten used to playing between
the drops.
A lot of people ask me what color gray we
have here, when it's rainy, so I drew the picture to the right.
That color gray, there.
Ball no more:
Speaking of which, both softball and baseball ended their seasons
over the weekend in the playoff hunt... the girls had a creditable
first season of fast pitch ball, while the boys scampered into
the playoffs again as league champs (a tradition begun in '99
- this is our fourth time in four years to end the seson on top.)
Super job by both teams.
Island
Rec grabs John: Sally Kerr tells
me her new hire John Pachuta's working out great...John (right)
was working for the past several years over at Shaw School, and
has settled in as a program person with our local Park &
Rec. Drop by and see him, Dodie, and Sally at their new digs
on Guard Street, in the bottom of the old Journal Building.
Browne's party: The
traffic was backed up Mullis Saturday as folks from all over
the island dropped by the new Browne's Home Center to check it
out - and Claudia and Rob (and Ryan & Justin) know how to
throw a party. Free hot dogs & cotton candy, those blowup
things the kids play on (all kinds of kids, including 48-year-old
ones), and music all day you could hear from my house - well,
I live next door, but didn't mind a bit.
It's neat when things like this pull people
together.
Retiring & moving on: Over at the school district, 6th grade Humanities
teacher Cathy Hunter's moving to Florida with her husband, Spanish
teacher Señora Pam Rogers is retiring, and PE teacher
Dave Anderson's moving his family to Las Vegas...
Art maven Leisha Holmes is set to deliver
her & Garrett's first kid in August, so she'll be away for
the first of school, and Cathy Bordi's taking a year's leave
of absence to do some writing on a novel (you knew her knitting
book is selling really well, didn't you?)
History lesson: Brenda
Pratt wrote a nice article a few months back about where our
Town got its name - it's reproduced online
with some pictures from the 1880s... who WAS Joe Friday, anyway?
Marine life: The
Whale Museum does a
great job of keeping folks up-to-date with the latest about the
orcas here, but occasionally there are visitors who aren't sure
what the difference betweeen a Dall's porpoise and an orca is...take
a quick peek at Deer
Harbor Charters' page about local marine life for a quick
primer.
Us on TV: Have
you seen the local public access TV lately? They've added in
coverage of local events and more....see their programming schedule
at http://www.sjctv.org.
Math Olympics: You
know, it was cool to see the kids on the ferry heading for the
regional Math Olympics a couple of Saturdays ago. We had fith,
sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, most of whom received ribbons
and medals at the awards deal at the end for solving the problems
(as a group) they were given.
Thanks to the teachers & parents who made
this happen!
Friends update:
If you haven't looked over the Friends
of the San Juans website lately, you might want to. They're
doing a good job of keeping it up to date, and I keep hearing
good things about new director Stephanie Buffum. Check it out.