In the SJ Update mailbag today we have this letter from Patricia Rasmussen…

It has come to my attention that Island Physical Therapy (Joyce Thompson) is closing. This is of great concern for me, and to many others. I have been going to this facility for years. It is equipped with the highest quality equipment and is staffed with top-notch therapists. What will we do when it closes? The clinics employees, will lose their jobs and myself and many others, will not be able to complete our recommend therapy because of this closure.

There is one other physical therapy facility on the Island that is at full capacity and is not accepting new customers.  Considering the elder age of the Islands population there is a definite need for more than one physical therapy operation.

What are the elderly patients that need physical therapy going to do? Is it possible for Peace Health to fill the void, can they fill this urgent need? It is very difficult for elderly patients to go off island for their therapy. The cost is high, and the scheduling is difficult, if not unmanageable for most of us. I understand that it may not be the policy of Peace Health to take over private facilities, but why can’t this policy be changed when it provides so many positive benefits?

Please, consider taking over Island Physical Therapy so its patients can continue to receive the important services that are essential to our health and wellbeing.

Thank you,

Patricia Rasmussen

Zylstra Preserve – Contributed photo

Saturday, September 7, the San Juan County Land Bank and San Juan Preservation Trust board members and staff are hosting another open house at the preserve from 10am until 4pm. Walk the preserve, hear what we’ve learned from some our ecological assessments – including wildlife, wetlands, and water quality – AND share your vision! 

Directions: From Friday Harbor, take San Juan Valley Road for just over three miles. Look for event signs alerting you to the turn onto the property.

Please call Tanja Williamson at 360-378-4402 or email [email protected] for more information.

Native Wildflowers – Contributed photo

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to purchase locally grown wildflowers native to San Juan County! The Land Bank is hosting three sales in September featuring native plants produced by The Salish Seeds Project. THIS SUNDAY, September 8, nursery gates will open to the public 12pm to 2pm on San Juan Island.

Sale offerings will include harsh Indian paintbrush, camas bulbs, Canada goldenrod, Henderson’s checkermallow, and many more. Limited quantities on hand. Click here for species descriptions.

Directions to The San Juan Preservation Trust’s Red Mill Farm Nursery: From Friday Harbor, take San Juan Valley Road for about two miles. Turn left (south) onto Valley Farms Road. Take the first driveway on the right at 1/4 mile. Parking will be near nursery, on left.

The Salish Seeds Project is dedicated to restoring native wildflowers and grasses in the San Juan Islands. Plants and seeds are produced at a nursery located at Red Mill Farm in San Juan Valley.  In a fruitful partnership, The San Juan Preservation Trust owns the property and the Land Bank runs the nursery.  For more information, visit https://sjclandbank.org/the-salish-seed-project/ or contact the Land Bank at 360-378-4402. 

Community-Based Long-Term Care Needs Survey Extended from August 31, 2019 Until September 15, 2019.

A survey of county residents over the age of 70 being conducted during the month of August by the Inter Island Healthcare Foundation is being extended to September 15th to allow more time. The organization collecting and analyzing the information by phone, online websites, and by paper surveys is Health Facilities Planning & Development (206-441-0971). Please watch for their call. This is just one of the steps in planning for our long-term care needs.

If you have not taken the survey yet or been called via land line by Health Facilities Planning & Development, please consider taking the time to complete the survey online. A link to the survey can be found on the SJCPHD #1 website, and on the Inter Island Healthcare Foundation website.

Each of the three Public Hospital Districts in San Juan County also has information about the survey on their websites.

Paper surveys can be found, completed and/or dropped off at each of the Senior Centers on Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan Island, and at the San Juan County Library in Friday Harbor.

Please take the survey. Be a part of the solution for community-based long- term care needs in the San Juan Islands, WA.

As is the gallery’s tradition of reinvention, for the 2019 show season we introduce the concept of the ART AiSLE.

The gallery dedicates a specific area on a monthly basis to host a new body of work that highlights female artists from the Pacific Northwest. Our featured artist for September is Cloud Oakes. Cloud emotes resonance in layers of human habit with encaustic and oil on birch wood panels.

We hear from Becki at the Chamber…

Let’s celebrate Chamber of Commerce Week…
Lakedale Resort and Cynthia’s Bistro will be co-hosting the Chamber social on September 9th at 5:30 pm. Please join us at the Lodge at Lakedale and let’s catch up after a long season! Let’s meet, relax and enjoy! Karl and staff will be giving us a tour of their new yurts after we have had some of Cynthia’s appetizers!

Lakedale Resort, 4313 Roche Harbor Road, September 9, 5:30pm

Dear Friday Harbor Friends,
We will be closed Sunday, September 8. Chef Bill is off to the races!
(Actually, he is running the Seattle Beast and Sprint!)
We are open for counter service on Saturday. 
Thanks, Richard, Sherri and Chef Bill

This fall Island Rec is offering 2 new dance classes taught by Rachelle Radonski! Rachelle has been teaching tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, and lyrical dance for 24 years. She has also designed multiple programs for organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA. Her passion and love of teaching makes her a fun, caring, and dedicated dance coach.

Lil’ Hipsters for ages 5-7 is a class that features a fun and energetic introduction to the world of dance. Kids will learn the basics of body movement, musicality, and how to work as a team all while dancing around to their favorite tunes.

Intro to Jazz Dance for ages 8-12 will be focused on learning the graceful, sassy style of jazz dancing. Learning turns, leaps, and musicality is just the beginning. Join this class for a great workout and a ton of fun. Classes located at Wayfinder Wellness in the Surina Business park 50 Malcolm St. #711.

• Lil Hipsters: Tuesdays Sep 24, 2019 to Oct 29, 2019 4:15-5 pm
• Intro to Jazz Dance: Thursdays Sep 26, 2019 to Oct 31, 2019 4:15-5 pm

Both classes have an early fee $42 expires September 12^th, $47 thereafter.

For more information or registration visit our website at www.islandrec.org, stop by the Island Rec office Monday-Friday, 11am-5pm, or call us at 360-378-4953.

The Music Weekends Continue –
Get back to the GARDEN
Friday & Saturday 4:00 to 7:00
Music Lineup for this week –

• Friday – 9/6 – 4:00 to 7:00
  Nickie Davis & Nomi Ross

Nickie and Nomi are a Friday Harbor based singer/songwriter duo with strong harmonies and a broad range of covers and originals!

• Saturday 9/7 – 4:00 to 7:00
  Shawn D. Rose

Shawn Rose is a guitarist and vocalist from Snoqualmie, WA. He was taught to play guitar by his mother who was in and out of various bluegrass bands during his childhood and has had many other great teachers along his journey. He draws influence from artists including but not subjectively to, Julian Lage, Jimi Hendrix, and Tom Waits.

The San Juan Island Community Foundation has awarded just over $65,000 to 9 local nonprofits, thanks to the generosity of islanders visiting the fair! The Fair Matching Grant program is a popular feature every year at SJICF’s fair booth, and this year was no exception. More than 140 local donors contributed toward the match to fund the following local efforts:

• $9,520 to the Animal Protection Society of Friday Harbor/Water Catchment Tank
• $3,675 to FHHS/FHMS Band Families and Friends/Instrument Replacement and Repair
• $4,475 to Islands Oil Spill Association: Oiled Wildlife Assistance Trailer
• $9,040 to San Juan Island Family Resource Center/Building Expansion
• $8,195 to ‘RoundTowner/Expanded Island-wide Service
• $10,850 to San Juan Community Home Trust/11 Permanently Affordable Homes
• $6,047 to San Juan Head Start/Facility Upgrades
• $3,698 to San Juan Island School District/Baseball Field Outfield Safety Padding
• $9,506 to San Juan Island Women’s Fund/Membership Drive

Carrie Unpingco, Executive Director of SJICF said, “The fair grant program is such a fun way to work with nonprofits and to meet with donors at an event where the whole community gets involved. We look forward to it every year and are constantly amazed at the generosity in our community. It grows every year, and we’re so happy to be able to showcase the work of a great group of nonprofits.” Continue Reading

It’s that time once again for this month’s history column from the San Juan Historical Society and Museum…

It’s not often that a tiny slice of local history becomes part of an international story of considerable fame, but this is one of them. The Stuart Island portion begins on March 27, 1909 when the mail boat from Bellingham arrives on the island, bringing with it a new school teacher.

This is 23-year-old Louise Bryant (pictured above in 1904). It is the same Louise Bryant who would go on to become an internationally known foreign war correspondent, marry activist John Reed (then after him, William C. Bullitt, the first U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union), and be played by Diane Keaton in the 1981 Academy Award winning film Reds.

But back to Stuart Island…

On that spring day in 1909, many family members of the 20 or so children of Stuart Island School are gathered at the mail dock, waiting to greet “Miss Louise,” coming from Portland, Oregon, after graduating from the University of Oregon with a degree in history. Louise’s salary of  $50 a month will have room and board taken out to compensate her host family. This is the family of the Turn Point lighthouse keeper, Louis Borchers, Sr., and it is his daughter Leila we can thank for a first-hand account of Louise’s time on the island.

Although only seven years old at the time, Leila would have much to share decades later when she was interviewed in her 70s by a writer researching the story beyond the headlines of Louise Bryant. In Leila’s words, “Nobody on the island had ever seen anyone dressed so beautifully as she was, except maybe in mail order catalogs.” Leila also remembered the pleasant scent of Louise’s perfume, about which her mother Callie Borchers said,  “Good girls and ladies don’t wear perfume.” Continue Reading

It is with much sadness that Islanders Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation will be closing  its doors on Friday, September 13, 2019 and will no longer be providing rehabilitation

 services.  We have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the healthcare community and  working with so many of you as patients, along with your families.  Joyce Thomson will also be retiring at this time.

We want to thank you for being such a supportive community and we appreciate your  trust in our care along with the friendships we have made with you over the years. You have given us many fond memories.

Our very best wishes to each of you.

Joyce Thomson, RPT, MBA – Owner
Kim Flack – Office Manager
Tyler Howe, PT, DPT
Patti Bjarnason, MS, CCC-SLP
Patricia Schnier, OTR/L, CHT
Tina Barnes – Billing
Tara Plank – Receptionist

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]

Back in 1981 in Friday Harbor, a group of high school grads joined up and formed a rock n roll band named Export. Members at different times included Dennis Michael, Rick Wiltse, Mike Ingalls, David (Rusty) Longley, Caitlin Suzanne, Greg Henion and Chris Lawson. And later this month at the Grange they are holding their first ever reunion show. Here’s more from Dennis:

OK, it’s set in stone. EXPORT will play an all ages show at the San Juan Grange Hall on September 28.

It is our official 38 Year Reunion. Please visit the Export Reunion Show Facebook page and leave a comment, tell us you will be there and let us know what kind of tasty dish (optional) you will bring to share.

Doors open at 7:00PM and music starts at 8:00-ish (it’s rock and roll. who’s ever on time?) This is a free show, meant to be a party with folks, some of which we have not seen in many years and some that might just wander past the door to see what kind of awesomeness is going on inside.

Please share this with your friends and plan to join us. This is going to be fun!

FREE September 5th Ferry Sing featuring the “Island Chordsmen Plus” chorus and “Sound Vibrations” ensemble from San Juan Island.

The Island Chordsmen Plus (mixed gender) barbershop chorus from San Juan Island is presenting for the first time, a second free FERRY SING gathering this summer.

The first was on August 1st and the last is coming up on September 5th. That’s a Thursday afternoon/evening and will feature both the chorus and the all women ensemble “Sound Vibrations” that you’ve heard on the Whittier stage in both the Barbershop Bonanza and San Juan Singer’s shows.

There is a huge selection of A Cappella songs by both groups that will evoke recent memories and those from more than sixty years ago! The ensembles take turns singing every three or so songs, so enjoy the variety!

This free concert takes place on the inter-island ferry leaving Friday Harbor at 5:30pm. You’ll walk on the boat (no charge for foot passengers), so plan time to find a parking place uptown or have a friend drop you off at the ferry landing. The ferry returns at 8:20 for you clock-watchers. Enjoy a stress-free evening while the songs mingle with the scenery sliding by the windows.

A free sea cruise with experienced entertainment, it doesn’t get any better! Again: Thursday, September 5th leaving Friday Harbor on the 5:30 inter-island ferry. See you aboard!

Want to make the world a better place for one dog? Give Jordy, a wonderful little APS-FH Chihuahua mix a foster or forever home. Through no fault of his own, Jordy has been at the shelter for too long and is still looking to be in a ‘home’ home where he can get and give the love and attention shelter hours can’t allow.

Jordy came to our shelter from a partner shelter in Bellingham several months ago and has had a hard time finding his forever home because he tends to be shy.  He was abused at an early age by a man and struggles to not be fearful of other men and new people.  However, after proper introductions are made, he’s very sweet and playful.

He’d love to find a quiet home with someone who understands fearful dogs and can be patient with him while he learns to trust again.   Living at the animal shelter is proving to be too stressful for Jordy, and we’d love to help him feel safe and loved again.

If you have room in your heart and home for this sweet, 9-year-old Chihuahua mix, he’ll repay your kindness a thousand times!

Contact the Animal Protection Society of Friday Harbor at (360) 378-2158 for more information on Jordy, or if you can help.

“Fosters are a critical part of animal rescuing, helping APS-FH to help animals in need. When you foster, you allow animals to shine; you teach them they’re loved; even though they may not be in their forever home, they learn they are safe and cared for. Fostering is an impactful way to help save lives, where each goodbye is a road to their happy ending. Foster families are true heroes in our animal community.” – Bethany Anderson