We hear from Merri Ann Simonson…

Continue Reading

San Juan County residents! There is still time to make the fair entry deadline of August 8th! Visit the SJC Fair web page for information on how to participate in this year’s virtual Fair.

Check out Online Entry by Department rules and to upload photos of all the awesome things you have made, created, grown, or produced this year!

Check out online portals for: Open Class Exhibits, Vendors, Entertainment, Education and Demonstration, Fair Food, and 4-H.

Link to San Juan County Fair Website
Link to: Online Entry by Department
Link to: Online Portals

The County Council is searching for San Juan County citizens to fill current and upcoming vacancies on various boards and commissions. Additional information about each committee is available on the County’s website at: http://sanjuanco.com/641/Board-Committee-Vacancies. Persons interested in serving on a board or advisory committee should fill out an Advisory Committee Application or Contact the Council Office at: (360) 378-2898 [email protected]

We hear from Miles Crossen, San Juan County Fair Photography Co-Superintendent…

Budding Photographer – Tim Dustrude photo

Attention all you photographers out there! You have about 10 days left to enter your pictures in the First Ever San Juan County Virtual Fair.

Link to: Virtual Fair Online Entry

The San Juan Update is pleased to reprint this interview by Minor Lile with San Juan County Public Health Officer Dr. Frank James as published 7.30.2020 in Orcas Issues News & Views…

Dr. Frank James – Contributed photo

As Public Health Officer for San Juan County, Dr. Frank James has played a prominent role in the community response to the Coronavirus pandemic. This past Tuesday we talked for about an hour in a conversation that touched on a wide range of topics, including the most significant COVID-related challenges facing the County, reliable sources of information, the balance between public health and economic health, tourism, prospects for a vaccine, the opening of local schools, and other topics.

The interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

Minor Lile: My first question is what is the role of the public health officer?

Dr. James: The Public Health officer is the one person in the county who is legally responsible for public health decision making, particularly in an emergency. So in every county, there’s a health officer and a Board of Health. And they are given broad powers and in emergencies extremely broad powers to control diseases that might impact everybody’s health.

Public Health Officers also have a role in the day to day work of public health in terms of controlling communicable diseases that might not rise to the level of being an emergency. For example, if there’s an outbreak of measles, pertussis or chicken pox. Those are things that can become quite serious if not controlled and so we certainly have a role in that. And then we supervise all the clinical staff and registered sanitarians that do the health and hygiene stuff in restaurants and septic systems and all that. And we also supervise the nursing staff and others that provide community health services. That might be immunizations for kids or other public interventions, or the Link program. Things like that are all in the health department. Continue Reading

Be sure to get your ballot in the mail by August 4. You can also pop it in the ballot box by the courthouse by 8 pm August 4. Better yet, get your ballot in early. No postage is necessary. Need help? Link to the online Voters pamphlet (see link below) or to register go to Vote.org.

Link to: Voter’s Guide – Primary 2020
Link to: Vote.gov

Below are Washington State guidelines for safely recreating outdoors…

Great news from San Juan Preservation Trust! Record gift expends Turtleback Preserve plus the precedent-setting donation also returns land to the Lummi Nation.

View from Turtleback – John Miller photo

The San Juan County Land Bank and San Juan Preservation Trust today announced the acquisition and permanent conservation of a 36-acre addition to the Turtleback Mountain Preserve on Orcas Island. Concurrently, an adjacent six-acre parcel was returned to the Lummi Nation. Purchase of all 42+/- acres (total) was prompted by the vision and generosity of Malcolm Goodfellow, whose $5.2 million gift is thought to be the largest charitable cash donation in San Juan County history.

Goodfellow, an island resident, took note when a property referred to as “Haida Point” was listed for sale in April. He spent hours researching the background of the area of West Sound where the property is located. “The connection to the Turtleback Mountain Preserve was obvious, and both the Land Bank and Preservation Trust confirmed that they have long considered it of highest priority for land conservation,” Goodfellow said. “But after researching the history of the property, I came to see that it was also an important part of the ancestral homeland of the Lummi people. After talking this through with the Land Bank, Preservation Trust, and representatives of the Lummi Nation, we found a pathway to meet everyone’s objectives.” Continue Reading

John Lackey, Shannon Lackey, Megan Mulhall with daughters Mia and June raising the new flag – Contributed photo

A new flag is flying over the Mullis Center. The flag is a gift to the Mullis Center from the family of Margret Lackey in honor of their mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

Not only has the Lackey family provided the Mullis Center with a new flag, they also generously oversaw long needed repairs to the flag pole replacing the damaged lanyard and installing a solar light at the top to illuminate the flag for 24 hour display.

“My mother, Margret Lackey, loved living in Friday Harbor and she LOVED the Senior Center.” said her daughter Marilyn (LaBar/Krabbe) Nasman.“It provided her friendships, belonging, and purpose as she diligently worked in the fundraising campaigns for the Mullis Center.“ Lackey, an active member since the days when senior lunches were served at the old Gray Top Inn at the Fairgrounds, worked tirelessly for 18 years fundraising to make the Mullis Center a reality. 

New Flag at Mullis Center – Contributed photo

Devoutly patriotic Lackey was given the honor of hoisting the American flag over the center grounds for the first time. “Mom proudly raised the first flag on that flag pole. The first flag was given to the Center by our then representative, Jack Metcalf, it had flown over our nation’s capital.”

Hearing that plans were afoot to get the Mullis Center flag-pole back in operating order, islander Carol Marston mentioned it to other friends who supplied a new documented flag that also has flown over the nation’s capital.

In keeping with the family legacy and tradition John Lackey (Margret’s son) with his daughters Shannon Lackey of Denver, Colorado and Megan Mulhall of Sacramento, California plus Megan’s daughters Mia and June were the first to raise our beautiful new flag.

Many thanks to the Lackey family!

The Friday Harbor High School Aerospace Team is at it again! The 2020 International Space Settlement Design Competition just finished, though without travelling to NASA as in the last two years. The Aerospace Team’s name this year is “Grumbo” (think Grumman mixed with Boeing) and the Friday Harbor High School Team joined with teams from Australia, India, Uruguay, and Arizona for a total of 50 people on the combined presentation team. It is significant to note that out of 50 team members, four of the eight leadership positions were held by Friday Harbor High School students. 

Sunday was a big day. Team Grumbo ran through a design review at 1 p.m., and then had until 4 a.m. to turn in final designs for a 50-page slide design of a growing settlement on Mars. Locally, the team was working at the FHHS STEM building all night long. The team designed everything from construction processes to power needs, to habitations to computer systems. Continue Reading

OLYMPIA–Communities wanting to conserve forestlands now have a state grant program to help, the Recreation and Conservation Office announced today.

Beginning September 1, communities can apply for grants of up to $3 million in the newly created Community Forests Program.

The grants must be used to buy at least 5 acres of forestland and the land must be maintained as forestland forever. The land must be actively managed to include timber harvest and other income generating activities. Grants also may be used to restore the land or provide recreation opportunities, such as trails, when combined with land purchases.

“Forests in Washington serve many purposes. We use them for timber for our homes and as places to hike, mountain bike and do a whole slew of other outdoor recreation activities,” said Kaleen Cottingham, director of the Recreation and Conservation Office, which is administering the grant program. “In addition, forests provide important wildlife habitat and other benefits such as clean air and clean water. Conserving forestlands ensures they remain part of our heritage for generations and that Washington stays the Evergreen State.” Continue Reading

I know very little about Fire District Commissioner Frank Cardinale, but last afternoon during our first joint meeting with the Fire District to discuss integration, Commissioner Cardinale showed me everything I need to know about him. He is disrespectful, attacking, accusatory, aggressive, and clearly not interested in getting to know our new hospital district board or being remotely collaborative.

He also chose to not show his face for our joint video meeting, but he clearly could see all of us. Thinking his audio was “muted”, he chose to speak in a way which showed not only absolute disrespect for our board chair, Anna Lisa Lindstrom, but he demonstrated his misogyny and the culture he chooses to live in, by calling Chair Lindstrom a “bitch”. And by the way, Commissioner Cardinale never owned that he made this comment. However, it was confirmed moments later by Board Chair Bob Jarman.

No one on the fire district side took a stance on calling out their colleague for this behavior during the meeting. That was a disappointment. Continue Reading

I am writing on behalf of San Juan Island Fire District #3 to extend our board’s full and deepest apology for the offensive comment made by Commissioner Cardinale during last night’s joint commission meeting. The commissioner’s comment was offensive, disrespectful and completely inappropriate.

Fire District #3 does not in any way condone the use of words, phrases, gestures or anything that amounts to statements of hatred or discrimination from anyone in this organization. Commissioner Cardinale is personally apologizing to the Public Hospital District.

Fire District #3 has and always will be a public service agency that respects everyone we serve and work with, including our public, our elected officials and our membership.

I am deeply sorry for the offensive, disrespectful and inappropriate words expressed during the joint meeting of our two commissions.

Sincerely,
Bob Jarman, Chair
Fire District Board of Commissioners

Editor:

Something shameful happened Tuesday afternoon. 

The San Juan County Public Hospital District Commissioners (PHD) and the San Juan County Fire District 3 (FD3) Commissioners held a virtual joint public meeting to discuss the possibility of resuming discussion of integrating San Juan Island Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and FD3.

The meeting was progressing with some friction.  About 70 minutes into the meeting Fire Commissioner Frank Cardinale apparently believed that PHD Commissioner Lindstrum had rolled her eyes at something another fire commissioner had said. Under his breath, but not far enough under, he said, “Roll the eyes, you bitch.”  Hospital Commissioner Lehman reacted with outrage, as did other hospital commissioners. The meeting ended abruptly after that. Commissioner Cardinale did not apologize. FD3 chairman Jarman did apologize on behalf of the fire commission but only after all of the PHD commissioners had signed off. Continue Reading

SJ Historical Museum with their History Column for August…

San Juan County Fair Inaugural Chicken Race 1981 – Steve Wilhelm photo

It was pretty easy to choose a topic for this month’s history column. Last month’s column suggested a theme when we came upon the fun photo from the 1981 Fourth of July Parade and decided to use it, since we didn’t have a parade this year. Deciding to stick with 1981, a simpler time, we were delighted to find a good image and a few stories from that year’s San Juan County Fair, held August 19-22. Its theme was “The Old and the New,” featuring the fair’s first ever Chicken Race.

May we present to you a flashback to the inaugural Chicken Race – which turned out to be a bit of a scandal, with feathers flying in more ways than one! Here’s how it unfolded. 

A crowd gathered at the arena on Friday, the highly anticipated race day, to cheer on twenty feathered entries, managed by their 4-H handlers. Apparently, the excitement of the moment hyped-up some of the handlers, who were observed to be chasing their birds at the start of the race, thus giving them a head start. In addition, the race was won by “Man-of-War,” but the crowd cried foul since the winner happened to be owned by Leonard Knowles…who was in charge of the race. Wanting to move past the controversy and ruffled feathers, it was decided to scratch the results and run the race again on Saturday, without the Knowles chicken. There were fewer entries this time, but “Macho” the chicken, owned by Edward Leche, fairly won the blue ribbon after leaving ten chickens and two ducks behind in the dust.

We are grateful that Steve Wilhelm captured the above image for the Journal to document the Chicken Race’s first year. Do you recognize anyone in the photo? Did you have an entry in the 1981 chicken race? Please let us know at the San Juan Historical Society and Museum.

One more thing. We hope you enjoy the San Juan County Virtual Fair, August 12-15. This year’s theme is “2020: A Fair Odyssey.” It’s making history.