To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.
Terry Tempest Williams

The folks from the Park Service helped lead the parade....

What a beautiful way to start the day…

Handing out candy - great way to make friends....

When Pat O’Day & Doug Bison do the announcing of the Fourth of July parade in Friday Harbor, they mention that there are over a thousand people in the parade. As I counted the folks in the nearly sixty floats/entries, I got over two bazillion…it felt like there were more people in the parade than live here. It was a beautiful day with an enthusiastic crowd…and it set the tone for an upbeat, musical, sunny day on the island, topped by fireworks at both ends of the island, at Roche Harbor & in Friday Harbor.

Josie & I got a chance to shoot pictures of folks in the parade, and we decided to concentrate on the smiling faces of folks walking & riding & dancing by. We ended up with two portfolios of friends from the island – look & see who you know! By the way, the pictures aren’t in the order of the parade, exactly – I mixed ’em up a little – but if you weren’t here, it’ll give you a pretty good feel for the flow of the day!

Portfolio One of Pictures from the Fourth of July Parade in Friday Harbor

Portfolio Two of Pictures from the Fourth of July Parade in Friday Harbor

This year's Community Band in the Fourth of July Parade

Didn’t the band sound great this year? Here’s a bit more from Janet Olsen, FHHS Band Director & teacher & the one who pulls it together:

The Community Band was most definitely a real community event!

Thank you, Rex Guard for giving up your time to whip our drum line into shape; thank you, David Eden for giving us your expert whistling-blowing, baton-waving leadership; thank you to all the high school and middle school students who willingly participated; thank you to the many high school graduates and community members who showed up to help me give our young, first-time marchers helpful criticism and fortification.

Thank you Printonyx and Kris Brown for making a fabulous new banner; thank you Lin and Pam Pearson for paying the band’s entry fee; thank you, Vern Howard, for  providing shirts for every band participant; thank you Bob Brunko for letting me use your golf cart during the parade and Becky Shanks for driving me; thank you to every person who showed up and marched so that this community could experience a marching band in the 4th of July parade.

And finally, thanks to so many of you for your expressions of support and appreciation. The Band appreciates YOU!

Most sincerely,
Janet Olsen

Brenda is always smiling at Friday Harbor Seafood...

Have you been down to Friday Harbor Seafood yet this season? It was cool to see Eric & Brenda so busy, down at their place on the docks in the Port of Friday Harbor Marina this past month.

If you’re looking for fresh seafood, this is the place to go!

Inside the expanded cafe...that's the "old" cafe in the background.

Have you seen the new addition to the Lime Kiln Cafe? I checked it out on Sunday & it’s great – the new addition makes the prviously cozy cafe now big & cozy – there’s plenty of room for everyone, and it has a nice warm feel to it that will serve it well come December! The new space is some 75% bigger – you’ll see! Looks good!

How it looks from the outside...

Peggy Sue

When I hear about new blogs, I take my responsibilities seriously & only tell you about really cool ones.

You may have noticed that. Hope so.

But here’s a new one that caught my fancy – islander Peggy Sue McRae already does a blog called “On San Juan Island” (click here to check it out), and now has started one called American Seeker: A History of Religion in America. In it she explores, well, religion in America, and she has started with a review of different aspects of shamanism.

See what think. And get ready…it’ll make you think.

Pamela from the San Juan Island Community Foundation wanted to let you know:

Critical Needs Task Force to Award Grants to Local Non-Profits and Agencies to Alleviate the Effects of Economic Hard Times

The impact of the economic downturn has affected many lives in the San Juans.  Lost jobs, closed businesses and mortgage foreclosures have sent many of our working and retired citizens into a tailspin.  Use of community support services has dramatically increased.  Organizations such as the Food Bank, Family Resource Center and Senior Services are faced with an ever growing list of clients. Now, through the diligent work of over 300 local volunteers working under the structure of the Critical Needs Task Force, many of those needs will be met.

The Task Force, formed early this year under the sponsorship of the San Juan Island Community Foundation, has developed a list of short term funding priorities which will help lessen the impact of the crisis and support the process of local economic recovery.

Based upon these recommendations, The San Juan Island Community Foundation has developed a special fund and will be awarding over a dozen grants, totally more than $50,000 at a special Critical Needs Awards Ceremony.  The funds will be used to support range of existing and new programs, including basic food distribution, healthcare and improved access to safe and enriching environments for children.  A portion of the funds will be dedicated to improving the capacity of our existing community organizations that are faced with rapidly growing requests for services.

The Critical Needs Award Ceremony and Celebration will be held on July 15th, from 5:30 – 7pm in the Steele Garden/Gubelman Room at the San Juan Community Theatre.  Light refreshments will be served.  All are welcome.

The Community Foundation serves as a non-profit philanthropic umbrella organization helping donors, non-profits and public organizations to achieve their goals through direct grants, organizational assistance and philanthropic resource management.  The Critical Needs Task Force grew from the Foundations’ desire to address the immediate critical needs in the community as a result of the economic downturn.

For more information contact the Community Foundation office at 378-1001.

If you missed the fireworks, you can get a taste from Quilly’s slideshow from her blog (click here).

If it's not one plane, it's another...

Sure, the ferries were busy over the weekend (and today!), but some people beat the rush by flying in with Kenmore Air…I had never seen two planes landing in the harbor right after each other before. Busy enough! Photo by Josie Byington.

Bob's collection is on display and includes photos from Southeast Asia...

Besides all the cool performances that have graced the Community Theatre stage the past few years, there is also always someone’s visual art hanging in the lobby, and it serves as a reminder how talented islanders are. This month island photographer Robert Stavers has his photography there for you to see – check it out!.

The exhibit is called “Photographic Journeys”  and it represents images from the islands, the Northwest and from a number of beautiful spots  around the world: Thailand, the Seychelles, Bhutan, Antarctic, and South America.  His wife Judy curated the show and arranged the exhibit.  The display runs through the month of July.

Bob's composition & use of color are shown off in this sunset photo in the Seychelles...

Bob's collection is on display and includes photos from Southeast Asia...

Besides all the cool performances that have graced the Community Theatre stage the past few years, there is also always someone’s visual art hanging in the lobby, and it serves as a reminder how talented islanders are. This month island photographer Robert Stavers has his photography there for you to see – check it out!.

The exhibit is called “Photographic Journeys”  and it represents images from the islands, the Northwest and from a number of beautiful spots  around the world: Thailand, the Seychelles, Bhutan, Antarctic, and South America.  His wife Judy curated the show and arranged the exhibit.  The display runs through the month of July.

Bob's composition & use of color are shown off in this sunset photo in the Seychelles...

That's Tim Schumm's "Rain Shadow," acrylic on canvas 48 x 48

He’s got great stuff – if you haven’t seen Tim Schumm’s vibrant and evocative paintings, you can go to this page (click here) to get an idea – better yet, drop by the gallery this weekend & see  his work in person. Here’s more about Tim from Ruth at waterworks:

The july show features the bold, expressive, colorful, and stylistic acrylic landscapes of tim schumm. by using expressive and impastoed strokes, tim conveys to the viewer his deep love of nature. his paintings often the cover the full range of tonal values to achieve the maximum drama both visually and emotionally.

a self-taught painter of over 28 years, tim’s experience of portraying the land and seascapes is original and engaging. tim schumm has mastered painting pacific northwest landscapes.

july waterworks gallery exhibit: tim schumm – july 11 / 26, 2009
our artist preview of paintings has arrived, please note there might be a few more. and paintings are subject to artist’s change.

Tim Pope

People around the island do something that is actually illegal in Colorado & some other states: Capture the rainwater that falls from the skies to use.

Apparently folks in Arizona are catching on in Tucson, in this Forbes.com article that features islander & water guy Tim Pope (in the picture shown, dressed up to sing in Barbershop concert last month.)

If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse gift will find a fitting place.
Margaret Mead

There are activities going on all day at Roche Harbor (above) and Friday Harbor on the Fourth

It’s time for you to get outside & play – check the San Juan Calendar for all the stuff that’s going on (and to get ready to go to the bbq or the beach or the fireworks, or wherever your part of the tribe is collecting) – see ya there!

There are activities going on all day at Roche Harbor (above) and Friday Harbor on the Fourth

It’s time for you to get outside & play – check the San Juan Calendar for all the stuff that’s going on (and to get ready to go to the bbq or the beach or the fireworks, or wherever your part of the tribe is collecting) – see ya there!