By San Juan Island Library

The San Juan Island Library presents “Classic Films for the Holidays” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 9, online.

Join Therese Finn – that Elf of Entertainment, Hostess of Holidays – in reviewing a handful of classic holiday films. 

She’ll do a sled-by of the classic classics: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “White Christmas,” “The Miracle on 34th Street,” “A Christmas Carol” (Alistair Sims), and “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

Therese will then drop down the chimney into “Remember the Night,” with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray, and “I’ll Be Seeing You,” with Ginger Rogers and Joseph Cotten.

Sorry, you’ll have to make your own popcorn, but enjoy the holiday cheer! 

Email Boyd Pratt at [email protected] for a Zoom meeting invitation at least 30 minutes before the program begins.

By EDC

The San Juan County Economic Development Council is resuming regular programming with the return of our Business Recovery Zoom Meetings, now called Business Recovery Workshops.

This bi-weekly workshop, in a Zoom environment, will give business owners the opportunity to speak with professionals on a wide variety of topics related to the continuing economic recovery in San Juan County and stay on top of trends and data.

Please join us for our premiere meeting, from 9-9:45 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 8 via Zoom.

EDC Executive Director Victoria Compton will lead a conversation about ways to help businesses get through the winter. We will be joined by Val Curtis to discuss social media and marketing as more local businesses seek to find a way to pivot to an effective online presence.

To join the Zoom call please visit https://www.sanjuansedc.org/edc-resumes-its-business-recovery-workshops-starting-dec-8th/.

The San Juan County Economic Development Council strives to strengthen and diversify the economy of San Juan County. We believe a strong economy builds a strong community.

Contributed Image/CDC

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.

As indicated on that page, these numbers are only updated after case confirmation is complete, usually daily. It is possible that other information sources in the community may be quicker to report on new cases, but ensuring privacy and accuracy is critical for this official information source.

Orcas Island

Continue Reading

“FREEZER BURNED: Tales of Interior Alaska” is a regular column on the San Juan Update.

By Steve Ulvi, San Juan Island

Just how much difference can a few bunnies make?

Common notions when hearing of the place called Alaska, are a mish-mash of life experiences (or lack thereof), bookish knowledge and an active imagination. That place name has represented a dreamscape for people the world over thanks to the incredible popularity and widely translated prosaic tales of daring-do from Robert Service and Jack London. There were no photos and few drawings. Programs about Alaska using the incredible lenses of drones and modern cameras blow our minds but often underachieve with simplistic narration and silly wildlife sequence music.

Panoramic images flood and excite the brain far more than words. In my view, nearly all of the proliferation of so-called reality TV shows set in the north, play fast and loose with common preconceptions but invariably become farcical with production artifice to maintain ratings.

Admittedly, “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon” impregnated my imagination from a small black and white TV (and radio show) in the late 1950s, yet was as predictable and simplistic as any adventure show could possibly be. Even by that era’s standards.

A person cannot predict how the worm of imagination will turn in that part of the brain where wanderlust and vision quest are nurtured.

Today’s spectacular advances in science and technology shed light on old mysteries of the north, but more often open exciting new threads of inquiry connecting the dots in the web of northerly enigmas. Continue Reading

By San Juan Island Library

Receive “tech help” thanks to the San Juan Island Library, at 3 p.m., Mondays, Dec. 7, 14, 21, and 28.

Get help with computers, tablets and smartphones via Zoom.

After determining your needs, you will work one-on-one with a volunteer.

This class is designed to help you learn to use your technology and troubleshoot minor problems.

Visit https://www.sjlib.org/event/tech-help-via-zoom/all/ to complete a registration form to attend.

By San Juan County

Starting Jan. 1, a new Washington state vital records law and rules go into effect. This will change the ordering requirements for birth and death certificates.

The changes include:

• For increased security of personal information, only individuals with specific relationships to the person on the record being requested can receive a certificate.
• Identity and proof of relationship documentation will be required at the time of order placement.
• The fees for both birth and death certificates will increase to $25 per copy.

For additional information on the rule changes, see the Washington State Department of Health’s Frequently Asked Questions.

For information on how to obtain a birth or death certificate, see San Juan County Health & Community Services Birth & Death Certificates.

Santa’s Mailbox, Holiday Decorating Contest

Contributed Photo. Daniel Van Hamersfeld helped to build Santa’s new mailbox.

By Becki Day, Executive Director, San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce

Contributed Photo. Drop off a letter to be sent to the North Pole.

On behalf of the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and myself, we hope you all had a nice, although different, Thanksgiving weekend.

We also hope you got to enjoy a little bit of the holiday for yourselves!

This year has been difficult and business owners, managers and employees are working harder than ever to keep their doors open.

Our businesses need you now more than ever so please shop, eat and stay local for the upcoming holidays.

Small local businesses are the backbone of our economy. The owners are local people serving local people and are committed to the community and raising their families here.

Santa’s Mailbox

Since there was not the opportunity for Santa to visit in person at the usual holiday festivities this year, we have come up with a way for the kids to get their list to Santa.

Santa has a new mailbox located at 180 Web St. Continue Reading

If We Make It Through December – Collage by Peggy Sue McRae

“Island Senior” is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Peggy Sue McRae.

Pretty sure Merle Haggard was not thinking about a spiking global pandemic when he penned the lyrics to his classic country song, If We Make It Through December, yet I can’t think of a more fitting song for wrapping up the year 2020.

Can we hunker down for one more holiday? Can we resist all the hugging and singing that would normally be cheering us through the longest, darkest and coldest nights of the year?

According to Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “We’re in the middle of a steep slope” referring to the country’s current increase in coronavirus spread. In spite of being urged to stay at home this Thanksgiving millions of Americans did travel.

We won’t know for a few weeks yet what effect that will have on the number of new cases of coronavirus. With the December holidays approaching during that same time period we will likely, according to Dr. Fauci, “see a surge superimposed upon the surge we are already in.” He added, “It is not too late to do something about it”.

Local advice from San Juan County remains, “getting your flu shot, staying home with your household family, not traveling off island, not gathering indoors with others, covering our faces, and not having friends or family visit from off island.”

This virus is a real Grinch! Yet, if we hang in there, wear our masks, wash our hands, and keep on keeping our distance, vaccines for this disease are on the horizon. The beginning of the end just may be in sight.

As Merle Haggard sang it, “If we can make it through December, we’ll be fine”.

Photo courtesy of Maleka Ali

Vehicle drivers may not be aware of a recent law that allows bicyclists to treat a stop sign as a yield sign in some instances – and may be cynically assuming that the cyclists they see are breaking the law.

The so-called “Idaho stop” (also known as the “safety stop”) became law in Washington State in October. It means cyclists may legally treat stop signs as yield signs.

The new law does not make it legal to go through stop signs as if the sign wasn’t there. If someone is entering a crosswalk or if another vehicle arrives at an all-way stop before a bicyclist, the cyclist still has to stop and yield. This does not change the rules of the road regarding who has the right of way.

It also does not apply to school bus stop signs or stop signs at railroad crossings.

Rather, SSB 6208 simply acknowledges that when you’re on a bike your momentum is important, and it’s not just easier but also sometimes safer to roll through a stop sign rather than stopping completely. Initial acceleration on a bike is slow, and sometimes coming to a dead stop in mixed traffic can both put the biker in a vulnerable position and unnecessarily slow other traffic.

The change comes a year after Oregon passed a similar law and decades after Idaho. So now the law is consistent in the 3 states of the northwest.

The State House of Representatives voted 77–20 to pass SSB 6208 with bipartisan support, following an almost-unanimous 44–1 vote in the Senate, and was then signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee.

Contributed Image

By Brendan Cowan, Director, Department of Emergency Management

As part of an ongoing effort to increase community preparedness and self-sufficiency in the islands, the Department of Emergency Management has created a new online guide at www.islandsready.org.

This tool is designed to be simple, easy to navigate and smartphone friendly.

With specific sections for seniors and Spanish speakers, in addition to useful information about local hazards, the site is a great starting point for those looking to either begin or further their disaster preparedness efforts.

As always, if you need help preparing or have questions about emergency preparedness, please don’t hesitate to contact the San Juan County & Town of Friday Harbor Department of Emergency Management at [email protected] or 360-370-7612.

The Sutterman girls at Christmas. Contributed Photo/San Juan Historical Society and Museum

From the San Juan Historical Society and Museum

Not all of the photographs in the San Juan Historical Society and Museum collections are from the island’s pioneer days or the early days of Friday Harbor’s development as a town.

The snapshot above caught our eye as a classic Christmas image from the 1950s, tinseled tree and all. Posing in pretty dresses are three daughters of James and Elizabeth Sutterman.

On the back of the original photograph was handwritten this description (which may or may not be entirely correct, since we do not know who wrote it years ago): Continue Reading

‘Little Bit’ Receives First Dog Tag Of The New Year

Contributed Photo. 2021 Celebrity Canine Little Bit, receiving the first tag dressed as a snow monster.

By San Juan County

The dog licensing season has begun!

It was difficult to name just one celebrity dog this year, with so many of our canine companions providing much-needed support for their owners and friends.

The honor went to Little Bit, an 8-year-old mixed breed who comes to work with owner Robin Garcia every day.

In recognition of her service, Little Bit received the first 2021 dog tag. In her acceptance speech, Little Bit encouraged all San Juan County dogs to get their new tags. Continue Reading

During these difficult times, the San Juan Islands Sculpture Park, with 20 acres of outdoor trails, is a safe and fun experience for all the family (including the dog).

We now have a flock of “Fishnet Sheep”, a new toad changing into a Prince, a wonderful “Whimsy Woods” trail with shoes climbing trees and over 30 other delightful art surprises. Be sure to check out the new “Soundhenge”, where you can make outdoor music, and our giant grizzly bear “Large Marge” and her cubs, our “Starfish” where children of all ages can make driftwood art, a new Wescott Bay Nature Trail, and over 150 other sculptures.

Social distancing is easy at this spacious outdoor park, so come by and see us. We are open from dawn to dusk, 7 days a week, and we even have umbrellas you may borrow if some rain catches you off-guard. There is no admission, just a suggested donation of $5.00 or whatever you thought your experience was worth.

Please come and be safe and welcome.

Contributed Photo

By SJPT

Looking for a new solo activity that can enhance your environmental literacy?

Join one (or all) of San Juan Preservation Trust’s iNaturalist projects and help to contribute to what we know about our preserves.

iNaturalist is a network of users who share biological observations to learn more about the natural world. If you’re not familiar with iNaturalist, watch our tutorial on how to use this app on your phone: “Just a Minute” with iNaturalist.

With significant help from our volunteer, Kristin Tolle, we have created projects for our publicly accessible preserves. These projects act as real-time, citizen-led surveys of the wildlife, plants and fungi found within the boundaries of each protected area. Continue Reading

Skagit potlatch house, Whidbey Island, 1902. Contributed Photo

By SJIL

The San Juan Island Library will host a virtual Know Your Islanders event titled “Russel Barsh: The Land We Stand On,” at 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 7.

Thousands of Indigenous peoples already lived in the San Juan Islands millennia before the Pig War, building wood villages and sail canoes, clearing fields for camas cultivation, and raising vast flocks of dogs for their wooly hair.

Join Russel Barsh in exploring how this shaped the landscapes and ecology of the islands in ways that we can still see, honor and learn from today.

To register, email [email protected].

Contributed Photo

By Cynthia Burke, Owner, Cynthia’s Bistro

I am celebrating my daughter Claire Mira Burke’s upcoming birthday on Dec. 3 by giving back to our community!

Receive a free, kitchen sink dinner from 4:30-6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 3, at Cynthia’s Bistro at 65 Nichols St. in Friday Harbor.

We are offering free takeaway meals to anyone who needs a meal or wishes to have a home-cooked meal. No questions asked, just free food. It’s basic home cooking made with everything but the kitchen sink.

We will be stationed on the bistro’s front porch and hand out the meals. When we run out of food, we will close the doors until next time. 

Come by and say hello. If you care to join us and donate time or money to the cause, feel free to contact Cynthia at [email protected] or 360-298-8130.