One performer. Six guitar styles. Saturday, June 30th at 7:30 pm, Virtuoso guitar player Chase Padgett performs six different guitar-playing characters, each sharing their own style of music. Each genre (blues, jazz, rock, classical folk and country) is showcased with breathtaking musicianship… and there are plenty of laughs too! Ranging from a 19-year-old rock prodigy  Continue Reading

Friday Harbor has turned into “quilt central” as the quilt walk engendered by the Conversations With Gee’s Bend exhibition at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) gets underway. Fourteen businesses and establishments feature 21 quilts made by San Juan Island quilters, primarily from the Rainshadow Quilting Arts Guild (RQAG). The quilt designs include  Continue Reading

Ruth Fothergill, MD, has joined PeaceHealth Medical Group Family Medicine at PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center. She provides clinical care to patients of all ages, as well as care to patients who are hospitalized. Dr. Fothergill comes to Friday Harbor from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she concurrently provided care for residents in five long-term care facilities  Continue Reading

SJC Superior Court extends this invitation to you… Please join us in recognizing the Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteers who serve in dependency proceedings in San Juan County Superior Court, and in recognizing the importance of family reunification. Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. in the San Juan County Superior Court Jury Room, at  Continue Reading

Larry Soll invites you to the next film in the series… Fellow Film Buffs, I trust that everyone who saw “Lucky” truly enjoyed it.  To those who missed it, don’t let that happen again!  Also please encourage your friends and neighbors to come along; the bigger the audience, the more fun we will all have.   Continue Reading

Hello Friday Harbor. Allow me to introduce myself. I am “Buns”.   I’ve just arrived in the world but I’ve already made up my bucket list. Here it is: Catch the red dot Climb to the top of the screen door Visit the cat toy factory Try catnip. At least once Run for president of the  Continue Reading

The Town is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Lane to the Friday Harbor Arts Commission (FHAC). Lane owns an art consultation and logistics company and brings 20 years of experience in the visual arts. He is a board member and volunteer at San Juan Island Museum of Art and participated in an artist  Continue Reading

The next SJIMA art pARTy will be June 25. The painting is a fun, whimsical one, titled, “Rooster Jubilee.” Time: 5:45pm – 8:00pm. Cost: $35. All levels are welcome. Following step-by-step instruction, participants will go home with their own work of art. For more information and to register, go to http://www.sjima.org. Class size is limited.  Continue Reading

WSDOT is about done with Sharpes Corner construction but get ready for the next project west of there… Sharpes Corner second lane opening Saturday! You read that correctly. By the time you head out for Saturday errands, baseball games or weekend adventures – you’ll encounter the finished two lane roundabout. Crews are finishing some concrete  Continue Reading

Curt VanHyning shares this update with you on the ‘RoundTowner… The ‘RoundTowner Celebrates Ten Thousand Rides The ‘RoundTowner, the only affordable transportation on San Juan Island, is excited to announce the ten-thousandth customers – Mollie Heath and Simeon LaRiviere of Harbor Ridge, Friday Harbor, WA. Little did Mollie and Simeon know that their reservation to  Continue Reading

San Juan County Health & Community Services Issues Varicella Outbreak Update Six cases of Varicella, or “chicken pox,” have now been confirmed in the Orcas Island community. San Juan County Health & Community Services is working closely with medical providers to identify additional cases in the community. We are also continuing work with the Orcas  Continue Reading

Ruth at Waterworks Gallery shares this invitation with you… Please join me in welcoming Pete Kuentzel to the gallery on Saturday, June 23rd from 11 to 1pm. Pete will chat informally about what inspires his work and how he creates his ceramic sculptures. Pete is a retired professor of ceramics, and has a studio on  Continue Reading

This summer Island Rec will be offering two youth soccer camps: Western Washington University Summer Soccer Camp and Summer Soccer Technical Training with Coach Van. Click to see dates, times and details about each camp…

Hear that beat?  That should be the quickening heart rate of all you Island Writers preparing your entries to the drum beat of the 2018 “Rockin’ the Salish Sea” San Juan County Fair! But, you say, the Fair is months away—August 15-18.  True, but the deadline for the Written Word entries is July 20th —only  Continue Reading

San Juan County adopted a new Shoreline Master Program (SMP) in November 2017.  Friends of the San Juans appealed the SMP to the Growth Management Hearings Board (Board) alleging seven issues Friends claimed did not meet the requirements of state law.  Friends asked the Board to invalidate the SMP.  The Board held a hearing in  Continue Reading

San Juan Community Theatre’s Beauty and the Beast Breaks Records and Launches New Fund San Juan Community Theatre is excited to announce that their 2018 Spring Musical, Beauty and the Beast, was a record-breaker for the Theatre, with a total of 2,580 tickets sold, making the production SJCT’s all-time best-selling show. During the run of  Continue Reading

News outlets nationwide have described the problems arising from the epidemic in the use of opioids.  Whether it is the overuse of powerful addictive prescribed painkillers or the illegal use of a cheaper cousin, such as heroin, there is large human and governmental cost. “Families are ripped apart. There is a real cost to county  Continue Reading

Here’s a note from Loren DeShon sharing some new developments at Westwind Aviation… Westwind Aviation will have scheduled flights from Friday Harbor to Boeing Field on Thursday and Friday afternoons departing at 4 pm (through the summer) beginning Thursday June 21. Introductory fare $109. Call (360) 378-6991 to make a reservation. New Pilot – Westwind  Continue Reading

Islanders, thank you for “Getting Outdoors” and joining the Land Bank at our Zylstra Lake Preserve Open House last weekend. The response was incredible, with almost 200 visitors over the six-hour event, and on a busy June Saturday to boot! It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying the property and to hear the community’s positive  Continue Reading

Island Rec is very excited to announce the 2018 Music on the Lawn Summer Concert Series. This long-standing concert series is on Wednesday nights from 6:30-8:15, located at the San Juan Historical Museum, which is at 405 Price Street. It is a perfect time to grab a blanket or bring a chair and have a  Continue Reading

From lively jigs and reels, to songs with rousing choruses and heart-wrenching airs and ballads, the Canadian Celtic band Blackthorn brings their music to life with luscious harmonies and complex instrumentations. Their repertoire is rooted in the musical traditions of Scotland and Ireland as well as the folk music of English and French Canada. Blackthorn features  Continue Reading

In the SJ Update Mailbag today we find this letter to you from Steve Ulvi… Friends, Now that the County Council has adopted in principle the draft Housing Plan, approved by resolution that plan’s all-important Financial and Administrative appendices and placed the housing initiative real estate excise tax on the ballot for the November elections  Continue Reading