November 3rd marks the end of Daylight Saving Time.

Don’t forget to set your clock back tonight when you go to bed. This is also a good time to change the batteries in your home’s smoke alarms too.

Kate Stone – Gretchen Ganty photo

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

The Mullis Center has a new lead cook. I was delighted to learn the new cook is my friend Kate Stone.  Kate recently returned to San Juan Island after moving with her family to New Zealand for a 5-year adventure that stretched into 13 years.

I can vouch for Kate’s cooking. I first met Kate when she had Katrina’s, where Mike’s Wine Bar is now. It was a favorite meeting place for a circle of girlfriends and there was always something tasty on the menu. Later, I lived across the street from Kate and often enjoyed the joyful mayhem of her young family and always, there was something good to eat at Kate’s.

Kate began her culinary studies taking omelet and crepe classes at a department store in Portland then becoming her family’s omelet maker. Her Grandma Cora had a chowder house styled restaurant on Hood’s Canal. Kate grew up eating oysters and clam chowder and on special occasions Oysters Rockefeller. Continue Reading

Cotton Cotton Cotton is having a 10 Year Anniversary Celebration Sale this Saturday November 2nd.

It will be from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM – 20% off entire store (excluding jewelry and consignment items)

(Extra 20% off Sale items)

Raffle entry with each purchase to win a 4 Ocean Bracelet,  Seahawk Scarf and hand warmer and Gift Certificates!

Refreshments served starting at 1:00.

Hope to see you there to help us celebrate 10 Years!

(Notice: This article was originally published with an incorrect link to the Community Thanksgiving Website. This has now been fixed)

Thursday, November 28th  from 12:00 to 5:00 pm at the Mullis Center

We are happy to announce, like Mark Twain, the reports of there not being a San Juan Island Community Thanksgiving Dinner have been greatly exaggerated. We are excitedly preparing for the 21^st annual Free Community dinner, the turkeys are ordered, and volunteers are beginning to sign up.

Each year, for 21 years, the San Juan Island community has gathered together for a day of Thanks and giving islanders an opportunity to come together as friends, spending the afternoon in community. The feast will be held again at the Mullis Center, where we serve dinner all afternoon, so come for great food anytime between noon and 5:00 pm.

Jim and Minnie Knych began the tradition in 1999 and built it into an event serving over 500 people utilizing the talents of over 120 volunteers. This year they have decided to retire and spend some time with their family in Tennessee. Thank You, Jim & Minnie, for this wonderful legacy. Continue Reading

Kathlyn Horan, director of The IF Project, displays the Festival’s trophy, presented to her as winner of the Audience Choice Award. On her left is Kim Bogucki, the Seattle police officer who developed the life-changing program. From left to right are FHFF volunteers: Producer Karen Palmer, Board Member Susan Waters, Kim, Kathlyn, and Director Lynn Danaher. Matt Pranger photo

The results of voting by Friday Harbor Film Festival’s audience members were announced on Sunday evening, October 27, at the grand finale of the Festival that featured awards presentations and screenings of the top-winning films.

Awards were also presented to the Local Hero and the Laszlo Pal Emerging Filmmaker. The majority of the winning films are about women, directed by women, which is serendipitous and appropriate, as women in film are being celebrated this year by many organizations.

These are the winners in each category: Continue Reading

SJIFR Wildland Fire Crew – Contributed photo

San Juan Island Fire and Rescue Joins Multiple State Fire Agencies Deploying to Massive California Wildfires

Four San Juan Island Fire and Rescue (SJIF&R) firefighters have been deployed as part of a western Washington regional strike team responding to the massive northern California Kincade Fire disaster in Sonoma County.

SJIF&R Chief Norvin Collins said, “Our firefighters train to safely fight wildfires in all conditions so we are ready to serve our Islands’ communities. Throughout our country, the fire service is always ready to serve our neighbors, whether on another island, in another county, or in another state when they call for help in an overwhelming disaster. We are proud and grateful to our firefighters who volunteered to serve on one such disaster.”

Chief Collins added, “At this time of year, especially with the rainfall we have received, our island’s fire danger is extremely low. We have resources available to contribute to assisting this terrible tragedy while maintaining our full capability to respond to any incident in our community.” Continue Reading

This just in from the SJ County Newsflash wire…

Ballot Proposition No. 2 is asking voters to continue an existing levy lid lift first approved by voters in 2009 and renewed in 2014.  The current voter approved levy lid lift costs property owners 16 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in 2019.  Ballot Prop. No. 2 is asking the voters to approve 22 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for 2020.  An increase of 6 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.  

Under Prop. 2, the TOTAL current expense property tax levy would be 85 cents per 1,000 assessed value in 2020.  The TOTAL of 85 cents per $1,000 of assessed value is derived by adding together 22 cents (Prop. 2 voter approved portion) + 63 cents (base levy).        

Please refer to the County’s website, sanjuanco.com, to find a number of resources including a Property Calculator that calculates the difference in what one currently pays versus what one might pay under Prop. 2.

The winner, carved by Samantha Berkseth – Contributed photo

Halloween fun at Islanders Bank

Islanders Bank employees carved and decorated these pumpkins and then bank customers voted on the winner from each Islanders Bank branch (Friday Harbor, Lopez and Orcas).

The bank’s board of directors selected the overall winning pumpkin (above), carved by Samantha Berkseth.

Click below to see the larger versions of these others:

[Show slideshow]

Dianna Gibson, owner of B&D Lilies in Port Townsend, is coming to Friday Harbor Tuesday, November 5^th for a presentation on lilies and lily culture at the monthly meeting of the San Juan Island Garden Club.

B&D Lilies is a family owned and operated farm specializing in garden-tested bulbs for over 35 years. Known for Oriental, Trumpet, Asiatic Species and various types of hybrid lilies, B&D ships bulbs to a broad range of climates in the U.S. 

The Pacific Northwest is one of the finest lily growing areas in North America. Dianna’s presentation will cover lily varieties, culture, selections suitable for our climate and soil conditions and techniques for growing lilies successfully in containers for island gardeners who are challenged by deer.

She will bring a selection of lilies suitable for fall planting, available for purchase, handouts on lily culture, and some potted lilies for door prizes.

The meeting begins at 1:00 pm at the Mullis Community Senior Center on Tuesday November 5^th. Visitors are welcome.

Kathy Schwartz
San Juan Island Garden Club

Necia Quast shares this announcement with you…

A Hidden Problem, A Community Solution

Most Islanders don’t know many teens struggle to be stably housed in San Juan County. A small number shelter in vehicles or tents, but many couch surf, staying with friends or family members on sufferance, often moving from place to place. Some may depend on an exploitative relationship for a place to stay.

There are more than a dozen children ages 13-18 on San Juan Island without a stable, safe place to live. Their family may be homeless. More often the child is separated from their parents due to conflict with household members. Often substance abuse or mental health issues are a factor. Some stay to finish high school when their family moves.

A number of organizations provide services to unstably housed teens and often work together to help, but there is no shelter, foster care, transitional housing, crisis center or other program that offers temporary or medium-term safe housing for unhomed teens. Most have a provisional place to sleep and informal help from community members, but often neither the young person nor the household they are staying at are getting the services they need to provide a stable, workable situation.

An emerging solution for rural areas without shelter for teens is Host Home Programs. Building on the fact that many such teens find refuge with other community members, the programs seek to create a safe, stable alternate home by providing support and structure for the child and host household. Continue Reading

The Friday Harbor Chapter of the International Thespian Society would like to thank the generous support of the San Juan County Arts Council for their contribution to help bring an adjudicator to San Juan Island to see the high school’s upcoming production of Little Shop of Horrors.

For the past two years, members of Friday Harbor Thespian Troupe 8244 have been traveling to Lincoln Nebraska to the International Thespian Festival where high school students from all over the world converge to take classes and workshops, audition for colleges, compete for recognition and showcase their performances for a week in June. It is an amazing opportunity to see what other theatre students are doing and how our local talent measures up in the wide spectrum of performances, technical prowess and production styles on display. Continue Reading

Note: it’s a little earlier this year… Saturday, December 14, 2019

From Christmas Bird Hunts to Christmas Bird Counts –119 Years of Counting

In 1900 ornithologist Frank Chapman along with other conservationists were disturbed at the slaughter of birds in the annual holiday event called the “side hunt”. The team that shot the most birds and other small animals was the winner. As a protest, Chapman organized 27 friends in 25 locations on Christmas Day, 1900 to count live animals instead of shooting them.

This became an annual event called the Audubon Christmas Bird Count sponsored by the National Audubon Society. The CBC is now the longest-running citizen science survey in the world, providing critical data on population trends. An astounding 72,000 volunteer bird counters in more than 2,500 locations across the Western Hemisphere now participate and you can too.

Today’s Count – Each Audubon chapter chooses a 24-hour time period from the middle of December to early January for their count. The area covered is a 15-mile wide circle of about 177 square miles. San Juan Islands Audubon created its circle in 1987 and is centered at the University of Washington Labs in Friday Harbor. It includes parts of San Juan, Orcas, Lopez and Shaw. Teams divide the area into units to survey by car, foot and boat. Some people monitor their own backyard, neighborhood or bird feeder.  Continue Reading

In partnership with Rain Shadow Consulting, the San Juan County Economic Development Council (EDC) will offer a free 6-week training in tree work and arboriculture, beginning December 5th.  This course is sponsored by Walt Corbin and the Kiwanis Club of Orcas Island.

The course will be taught at the Rain Shadow Consulting office by Carson Sprenger, who has over 20 years of experience working in the forests of the San Juan Islands.  This program is intended to benefit participating students as well as local companies in need of skilled employees.  

The hands-on curriculum has been designed for students and career changers interested in working in the tree care/tree service and landscaping trades.  The class will cover: Continue Reading

Katniss is this week’s Pet of the Week – Contributed photo

Dear Fellow Islanders,

Much to my chagrin, I report Tiffany, at USPO, delivered news in the form of a Voters Pamphlet. This means our beloved TV programs are soon be the peanut butter in an endless political-ad sandwich, and beautiful Sunday drives will be peppered with signs howling “VOTE FOR [insert candidate/cause here].”

I get it; I’m originally from Texas, we breed politicians in the Lone Star State. If you also find election season trying, I offer COMEDY! Humor has helped me cope with many political situations that are outright impossible to appreciate. Read a funny book, watch cartoons, play games with kids, see a silly movie, or for the biggest comedy show, adopt a puppy!

– Katniss, APS-FH Pet of the Week #GoCowboys

Here’s what’s in the San Juan Update mailbag this morning…

To the Editor:

We usually fill out our ballots as soon as they arrive in the mail. However, we need more information before we can vote on Proposition 2. We completely support the programs funded by Proposition 2’s levy lid lift.

In 2009, during the great recession, the County Council had to cut $1 million to balance the county budget. The County Council then asked voters to approve a levy lid lift to generate approximately $960,000 to pay for highly valued community programs and services that are not mandated by state or federal laws (see Resolution 28-2009). The levy lid lift was the only way for these programs to be maintained at that time.

In 2009, the voters approved the proposition for the six-year levy lid lift and renewed it for another six years in 2014. The County Council is now asking voters for an increased levy lid lift that would generate $1.7 million, and to approve this levy lid lift without an end date. Continue Reading

Thanks to all of our Orca Recovery Day Volunteers!

We want to thank everyone who came out and celebrated Orca Recovery Day with us last Saturday. Our October 19th celebrations spanned two islands, with approximately 50 volunteers coming together to support natural areas and the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales that grace the Salish Sea.

Cattle Point Interpretive Area, San Juan Island: Continue Reading