Coast Salish Speaker Series, 2018, Tulalip Tribes — Contributed photo

The San Juan Island Library shares the details of their Coun­ty Fair fundrais­ing project.

The SJI Library is devel­op­ing new ways to cel­e­brate a vari­ety of voic­es in our com­mu­ni­ty, and you can help. While you’re enjoy­ing the excit­ing return of the San Juan Coun­ty Fair you’ll have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to sup­port the San Juan Island Library’s grant fea­tured in the pop­u­lar San Juan Island Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion Coun­ty Fair Giv­ing Campaign.

Your sup­port of this year’s fair grant will help the Library launch pro­gram­ming invit­ing BIPOC and LGBTQNIA2S+ writ­ers, his­to­ri­ans, and artists to share their sto­ries. A por­tion of the funds will also pur­chase a ser­vice to trans­late the online library cat­a­log for Span­ish-speak­ing patrons.

The total goal is $8,000, and SJICF will match the first $1,000 donat­ed. To donate, sim­ply stop by the SJICF booth dur­ing the four days of the fair Aug. 17 through 20. You can also donate secure­ly online at sjicf.org. All dona­tions must be received dur­ing the four days of the fair, made payable to SJICF, and des­ig­nat­ed for the library grant to qual­i­fy for the match.

Thank you for your sup­port of the library’s Inclu­siv­i­ty Ini­tia­tive. We look for­ward to see­ing you at the fair!

Contributed photo

Arch­i­pel­ago Col­lec­tive shares news about their return to Fri­day Har­bor this September.

This Sep­tem­ber marks Arch­i­pel­ago Collective’s eighth anniver­sary per­form­ing exhil­a­rat­ing clas­si­cal cham­ber music on San Juan Island. Our 2022 fes­ti­val week will present four con­certs in a cel­e­bra­tion of cham­ber music both old and very new.

Our musi­cians are unpar­al­leled vir­tu­osi who come from across the coun­try, and this year you’ll be able to hear them all around Fri­day Har­bor. Our home venue is Brick­works, where we’ll per­form three con­certs. We’ll also per­form at the San Juan Islands Muse­um of Art in an excit­ing pro­gram of con­tem­po­rary cham­ber music. In addi­tion, the young stu­dents at Fri­day Har­bor Ele­men­tary school will get to meet our musi­cians and share in their joy dur­ing an edu­ca­tion­al assem­bly. As always, our con­cert venues are small and inti­mate, bring­ing the per­form­ers and audi­ence togeth­er for a tru­ly col­lab­o­ra­tive experience.

This year’s pro­gram­ming includes tra­di­tion­al favorites like Brahms and Mozart, in addi­tion to works by liv­ing com­posers which we hope pro­vide the audi­ence with new and thought-pro­vok­ing expe­ri­ences. In col­lab­o­ra­tion with the San Juan Islands Muse­um of Art, we have com­mis­sioned com­pos­er Ha Yang Kim to write a piece that takes inspi­ra­tion from the nat­ur­al envi­rons of the islands, and uses the fer­ry sched­ules as a struc­tur­al back­drop. Our ensem­bles range from the beloved string quar­tet, to the less con­ven­tion­al clar­inet, bas­soon, and piano trio. The stage will be graced as well by harp and piano, in vary­ing combinations.

Tick­ets can be pur­chased online for $15-$25 each, or $80 for a week­end pass to all the con­certs. Arch­i­pel­ago Collective’s vision is to be an inte­gral part of the rich artis­tic com­mu­ni­ty on San Juan Island. Our annu­al cham­ber music fes­ti­val pro­vides top-tier pro­fes­sion­al musi­cians the time and free­dom to explore small ensem­ble music and delve into the cre­ative process. Through­out the week we per­form in var­i­ous venues at which inti­ma­cy and inter­ac­tion with the audi­ence are para­mount. In avoid­ing the tra­di­tion­al con­cert hall par­a­digm, Arch­i­pel­ago Col­lec­tive presents clas­si­cal cham­ber music in a way that invites audi­ence par­tic­i­pa­tion and inquiry.

Cham­ber Music 1
Fri­day, Sept. 9 — 7 p.m.
Brickworks
150 Nichols St., Fri­day Harbor
Jen­nifer Hig­don — Dark Wood — bas­soon, vio­lin, cel­lo, piano
Hen­ri­ett Renié — Trio for Harp, Vio­lin, and Cello
Felix Mendelssohn — String Quin­tet No. 1, Op. 18

New Waves
Sat­ur­day, Sept 10 — 2 p.m.
San Juan Islands Muse­um of Art
540 Spring St., Fri­day Harbor
​Alex Shapiro — Inter­mez­zo for Bas­soon and Harp
Frey Wha­ley-Cohen — Blu-Tack
Ha Yang Kim — World Premiere

Cham­ber Music 2
Sat­ur­day, Sept.10 — 7 p.m.
Brickworks
150 Nichols St., Fri­day Harbor
WA Mozart — Kegel­statt Trio, K. 498
Paul Schoen­field — Cafe Music — vio­lin, cel­lo, piano
Johannes Brahms — Clar­inet Quin­tet, Op. 115

Cham­ber Music 3
Sun­day, Sept. 11 — 2 p.m.
Brickworks
150 Nichols St., Fri­day Harbor
Mikhail Glin­ka — Trio pathé­tique — clar­inet, bas­soon, piano
Mur­ray Schafer — Wild Bird — vio­lin, harp
Antonín Dvorák — Piano Quin­tet, Op. 81

Photo credit: Jim Corenman

Peg Ger­lock and Jim Coren­man share an in-depth look back at this year’s Shaw Island Clas­sic yacht race, host­ed by the San Juan Island Yacht Club.

Blue skies, sun­shine and pre­dic­tions of uni­form, norther­ly winds blow­ing eight to ten knots in San Juan Chan­nel had rac­ers smil­ing in antic­i­pa­tion of a per­fect day for the long-await­ed 50th annu­al Shaw Island Clas­sic yacht race. Host­ed by the San Juan Island Yacht Club, cel­e­bra­tion of the 50th race was delayed two years due to COVID. The unof­fi­cial 49–1/2 and 49–3/4 Un-Shaw races in 2020 and 2021 pro­vid­ed an oppor­tu­ni­ty to escape the crazi­ness, enjoy fresh air sail­ing, and keep rac­ing skills sharp.

This race is unique in that Shaw Island is the only mark and can be round­ed in either direc­tion. It is only a 13-mile course, but shift­ing winds, vari­able cur­rents, nar­row rocky chan­nels, and fer­ry traf­fic often turn it into a nau­ti­cal chess game.

The fleet of 31 boats was split on the best way to round Shaw with 17 head­ing clock­wise up San Juan Chan­nel into the wind on a light flood. The oth­er 14 hoist­ed chutes, put up spin­nakers or stretched out on a broad reach in hopes of clear­ing Turn Rock and pick­ing up the flood in Upright Channel.

“One of the things that makes this race spe­cial is meet­ing the counter course fleet halfway,” said Mike Kamin­skas, skip­per of Home­less Hare, who placed first over­all on cor­rect­ed time and first in the PHRF‑B divi­sion. “I always love find­ing out how we are doing. If we are not yet at the halfway point, I say Here comes the easy part, but if we are beyond the halfway point it’s, Here comes the hard part!”

Nigel Oswald, skip­per of Maki­ka and first place fin­ish­er in the mul­ti­hull divi­sion added, “Clock­wise was def­i­nite­ly the way to go! I think we may have had one of the most pleas­ant Wasp Pas­sage pas­sages in mem­o­ry, just a hole at the entrance and exit but a love­ly kite run through.”

The mid-course com­mit­tee boat report­ed that all the clock­wise boats passed the halfway point before any of the coun­ter­clock­wise fleet, which was stalled in Upright Chan­nel. “The hard­est part was Upright Chan­nel,” said Bet­sy Ware­ham, skip­per of Pur­ple Mar­tin and first place fin­ish­er in the PHRF‑C divi­sion. “No wind, puffs from any direc­tion. We just tried to con­nect the puffs and man­aged to get through.” Con­tin­ue Reading

The Fri­day Har­bor Film Fes­ti­val shares news about their ongo­ing Direc­tor Series.

Janis: Lit­tle Girl Blue, Fri­day Har­bor Film Festival’s next offer­ing in The Direc­tor Series, will appeal to lovers of music, espe­cial­ly rock & roll.

This film doc­u­ments Janis Joplin’s evo­lu­tion into a star from let­ters that she wrote to her friends, fam­i­ly, and col­lab­o­ra­tors. One of the most revered and icon­ic rock & roll singers of all time, she thrilled audi­ences and blazed new cre­ative trails before her death in 1971 at age 27. Oscar-nom­i­nat­ed direc­tor Amy Berg exam­ines Joplin’s sto­ry in depth, pre­sent­ing an inti­mate por­trait of a com­pli­cat­ed and dri­ven artist.  Nar­rat­ed by musi­cian Cat Pow­er, the film uses Joplin’s own words to tell much of the film’s sto­ry through a series of let­ters she wrote to her par­ents over the years, many of them made pub­lic here for the first time.

“The only way to tell Janis’ sto­ry was through Janis’ voice,” Berg says. “Her let­ters show the vul­ner­a­ble artist, daugh­ter, and lover Janis was in her short but impact­ful life.”

Joplin was a pow­er­house when she sang, and her mete­oric rise and untime­ly demise changed music forever.

Fol­low­ing a free online show­ing tomor­row from 6:30 to 9 p.m., stream the film on demand from Aug. 12 through Aug. 24 for $1.95.

Freez­er Burned is an ongo­ing series for the San Juan Update, writ­ten by Steve Ulvi. Read the pre­vi­ous sto­ry in this series.

The Hen­der­sen Homestead

Son­ny had been unex­pect­ed­ly ener­gized by meet­ing Natal­ie Hen­der­son on the riv­er. It dawned on him that he could be reju­ve­nat­ed by stay­ing over with this dynam­ic fam­i­ly. Besides, there were sim­ple ameni­ties that he had not even con­sid­ered. The delights of a hot show­er, soak­ing the stink out of his clothes, a com­fort­able bed and sit-down meals for starters. Repair­ing his clothes and equip­ment. He could give of him­self freely with­out regard to a social bal­ance sheet as tend­ed to be the case in a small village.

Some­thing else stirred with­in him; a slight flut­ter of emo­tion­al attrac­tion. He felt a sub­tle thrill; that warm sen­sa­tion, endor­phins, mag­net­ic attrac­tion or what­ev­er it was, in encoun­ter­ing Natal­ie in her ele­ment, out on the Kuuk. For the first time he saw her as an intrigu­ing young woman. His per­cep­tion of her had been based upon infre­quent youth­ful encoun­ters over the years and had been unre­mark­able. In the moment, the set­ting stripped away pre­con­ceived notions and for the first time saw her as a grown woman com­plete­ly at home in the woods; con­fi­dent, strong and brim-full of life, with a cap­ti­vat­ing light ema­nat­ing from her pale blue eyes.

As the sound and exhaust odors of the machine died away he picked up his pace on the fresh machine trail that lined along the east bank. No need for a head­lamp as yet. The sky had dimmed to murky grey to the south and now bright stars over­head began to blur. The green cur­tains of north­ern lights over the dis­tant Brooks Range would soon be obscured by cloud lay­ers silent­ly invad­ing. The tim­ing of tak­ing a need­ed break, embraced in the warmth of fam­i­ly and com­fort­able lodg­ing dur­ing a storm, was a wel­come coincidence.

His shoul­ders felt less fur­rowed by his pack straps as he found a sec­ond wind while pick­ing up his pace, deter­mined to make a mile or two before Natal­ie returned. Some pride on the line. He real­ized the clar­i­ty and ela­tion result­ing when a person’s world view is cleansed; social fil­ters and pat­terns of close rela­tion­ships in vil­lage life, fam­i­ly dynam­ics, cul­tur­al expec­ta­tions all reordered by alone­ness and the clar­i­ty of wilder­ness immer­sion. Con­tin­ue Reading

• OPALCO says that the Aug. 6 pow­er out­age on San Juan Island was due to a for­eign object inter­fer­ing with the island’s trans­mis­sion line. The crew spent sev­er­al hours nar­row­ing down and patrolling the line sec­tion where the fault hap­pened, although the object that caused the issue was nev­er found. After patrolling and ensur­ing the lines were clear, crews began re-pow­er­ing the island in phas­es, restor­ing full ser­vice by 12:30 a.m.
• Jane Fuller — who is run­ning for Coun­ty Coun­cil in Dis­trict 3 in the Novem­ber elec­tion — will be attend­ing each day of the Coun­ty Fair, from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Gaze­bo near the Food Court. She invites com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers to share with her their thoughts and ideas on the future of the County.
• Peace Island Med­ical Cen­ter is hold­ing a half-day sports phys­i­cal clin­ic for estab­lished patients in grades 6–12 in the after­noon on Mon­day, Aug. 29. The exams cost $40 and are not typ­i­cal­ly cov­ered by insur­ance. Call 360–378-1756 to sched­ule an appointment.
• Togeth­er with San Juan Island Nation­al His­toric Park, the Library is host­ing a vir­tu­al event titled Anato­my of a Prairie tonight on Zoom at 7 p.m. The event looks at what prairies are, how they work, and why they mat­ter. Email sbenson@sjlib.org to register.
• Island Rec is look­ing for pad­dlers ages 16 and up that are inter­est­ed in get­ting on the water through its intro­duc­to­ry out­rig­ger canoe class, which hap­pens on Wednes­day, Aug. 24 from 5 to 7 p.m., leav­ing from Ship­yard Cove. No pri­or expe­ri­ence is need­ed and life jack­ets will be pro­vid­ed for pad­dlers who do not have their own. The ear­ly reg­is­tra­tion price of $27 expires tomor­row; after that it’s $32. You can reg­is­ter on the Island Rec web­site.
• The fall edi­tion of the Great Islands Clean-up will take place this year on Sat­ur­day, Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Here are the week’s spe­cials from Mar­ket Place and Kings.

Have some­thing to share with the Island? Whether the news is big or small, let us know!