Hospice of San Juan offers free training for new volunteers and paid caregivers on the first three Saturdays of October (the 6th, 13th and 20th).

Over the three days they provide hands-on training and instruction on a wide variety of situations frequently encountered when providing care to homebound people: handling dementia-related behavior, meeting nutritional challenges, navigating family communication, caring for fragile skin and bodies, protecting your own body when caring for bed-bound persons, when to call 911 and how to provide CPR, being mindful of healthy boundaries and aware of ethical approaches to uncertain situations. A full list of course topics and faculty may be found on their website http://hospiceofsanjuan.org/caregiver-resources.html

Hospice of San Juan’s primary mission is respectful care of those facing life-limiting illness; one of their five service areas is providing respite to caregivers. In order to provide the best respite care possible, they train all their volunteers and now offer this opportunity to primary caregivers. Thanks to funding from The Mary See Foundation and San Juan Island Community Foundation, they are able to provide training targeted toward hospice volunteers and community caregivers at no charge to participants. Everyone completing the three days of training will receive a Certificate of Completion that is honored by the Mullis Community Senior Center as well as Village at the Harbour.

Pre-registration is open now. Training is free of charge, and lunch is included. Space is limited so fill out your pre-registration (available on their website http://hospiceofsanjuan.org/caregiver-resources.html) ASAP!

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]

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

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Look at me! I’m Timbo and I’m almost 15 years old!

You should see the tricks I’ve learned since I arrived here at your animal shelter! I can make toys squeak, chase other dogs in the dog yard and even retrieve the ball if the mood strikes me.

I’m super loveable and would like to find my own loveable human to spend my golden years with. You seem nice…. we should meet!

Animal Protection Society of Friday Harbor
111 Shelter Road
(360) 378-2158

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

Stephanie Prima – Peggy Sue McRae photo

Three new classes are being offered at the Mullis Center this fall: Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance with Stephanie Prima starting Oct 4, Life Coaching with Sharon Hooper starting Oct 11, and Chair Yoga with Katerina Wen starting Oct 2.

Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance: I stopped by Stephanie’s Tai Ji Quan class to see what it was about and she very generously showed me a few of the basics. If you are familiar with Tai Chi, Tai Ji Quan may seem familiar and it is related but with some significant differences.

Tai Ji Quan is an “evidence based falls prevention program that includes slow, low impact, and controlled movements and body positions.” The program is designed specifically to improve balance. Along with improvements in the strength and flexibility needed for better balance the program has been shown to improve memory, cognition, breathing, mindfulness, and body awareness.

The course consists of 2 hour-long classes per week, or 48 sessions over a 6-month period. Because the sessions are specific and build on the previous sessions, new participants may join only in the first 2 weeks of the class. Participants will be assessed before and after the 48 sessions to measure improvement. Continue Reading

San Juan Community Theatre’s 2018 Playwrights Festival

What is the Playwrights Festival? It is an opportunity for new and veteran playwrights alike to develop and present their work onstage. Festival performances of new works, created by islanders, will take place September 6th through September 9th in the Gubelman and Whittier Theatres. Eight plays will be fully staged and performed the 6th through the 9th, and seven plays will be performed in a readers-theatre format matinee on September 8th. Don’t miss seeing your island friends and neighbors bring their original works to the stage!

Thursday-Saturday, September 6-8 7:30 pm (fully staged performances)

Saturday, September 8 2:00 pm (readings)
Sunday, September 9 2:00 pm (fully staged performances)

Tickets for the fully staged performances: $15 Tickets for the readings: Pay What You Can

The following plays will be fully staged and performed September 6th-8th at 7:30 pm and September 9th at 2:00 pm during the 2018 SJCT Playwrights Festival:

• A Rescue  by  Carolyn Jewett
• Letting Go by  Jan Zurcher
• The Dressmaker by   Courtney Kessler-Jeffrey
• The Depot  by  Jim Zurcher
• For What It’s Worth by Stan Matthews
• Island Man by Mike Buettell
• 9th Annual Centennial  by  Donald Pollard
• Relative Obscurity by   Nathan Kessler-Jeffrey

The following plays will be performed in a readers theatre-format matinee on September 8th at 2:00 pm:

• Home Exchange  by  Debbie Emery
• Mind Games  by  Carol Hooper
• The Diehard  by John Aschoff
• A Leak in the Plumbing  by  Pamela Herber
• A Cellular Prophesy by Wendy Shepard
• The Receptionist by Clayton Banry
• World’s Greatest Receptionist by  Tawan Shaller

*Warning: some plays in the festival contain adult language and content

Thank you Community Foundation,

The San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) was thrilled to participate in the County Fair Matching Grant Program by the Community Foundation of San Juan Island.

We were in the company of many worthy organizations that make our community more healthy, livable and cohesive. We all thrive due to the work, commitment to excellence and contributions of the SJICF.

And, thank you the individual donors who supported our Family Art Days, the island’s only free program for families. More FAD’s are coming soon.

The Board of Trustees of SJIMA

Mike Martin shares this notice with you about Wolverine football…

When the Friday Harbor High School Wolverines kick off the 2018 football season Friday night on the road against South Whidbey High School it will mark the 7th season for Friday Harbor Tiny Radio covering FHHS sports, the station’s owner and studio engineer Ken Norris announced this week.  

“As we have for the past seven years we will be covering – We have a fresh new broadcast crew for the 2018 FHHS football season,” Norris said.  “We will be covering all of the 2018 football season and the 2018-19 basketball seasons for the FHHS Wolverines.”

Norris says that Mike Martin will continue his duties as Executive Producer of high school sports.  They usually look for young and upcoming talent but this football season they’ve created a veteran lineup he said. Martin will also return to his play-by-play duties for football and basketball after a 2-year hiatus. He will be joined by John Volk Jr. as the game’s Color Commentary for football. The gameday crew is rounded out by statistician, Dave Rude. Kaila Olin will return for one football game and all of the basketball season as Color Commentator.

“Over the past seven seasons the San Juan Island community, as a whole, has been amazingly supportive of Friday Harbor High School sports on Tiny Radio,” Norris says.   Continue Reading

Birds of Chicago – Contributed photo

Americana Darlings! Birds of Chicago

Saturday, September 1st at 7:30 pm at San Juan Community Theatre

Recorded against a backdrop of political division and dread, Love in Wartime, the 2018 release from Americana darlings Birds of Chicago, is a rock’n’soul suite under the influence of the epic music generated by artists of the ’60’s and ’70’s.

Known for their “near perfect Americana” (No Depression), JT Nero and Allison Russell had recently finished recording the sprawling rock and roll circus of an album, but Nero had a suite of six songs that didn’t feel quite at home on Love in Wartime. Having recently relocated to Nashville, they decided to throw themselves their own welcome to town party by recording an acoustic E.P. at Steve Dawson’s Henhouse Studio. New friends like Kenneth Pattengale of The Milk Carton Kids, and Maya de Vitry of The Stray Birds got in on the fun, and the Birds emerged after a couple days with the raw, spontaneous, and warm American Flowers.

The E.P. is Love in Wartime’s cousin from the country, and it rounds out Birds of Chicago’s offering of healing, communion and celebration of life in a dark and troubled time.

Tickets: Adults $25
Under 25 $15
Student RUSH (at door only) $5

It’s the time of year when kids gear up for the start of school, filling their backpacks with new textbooks and school supplies. But they may be carrying more than just educational materials with them. Backpacks can be the source of neck, shoulder and back strain.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in 2016 emergency departments, doctors’ offices and clinics treated 35,937 people for backpack-related injuries.

“Children and teenagers are at-risk for musculoskeletal injuries by wearing backpacks that are too heavy, worn incorrectly or don’t fit properly,” said Sylvie de Rham Tortorelli, PT, clinical specialist with PeaceHealth’s Grabow Therapy & Wellness Center. “Parents can help ensure that their kids avoid unnecessary strain and pain.”

Monitoring backpack weight and use:

De Rham Tortorelli encourages parents to remain vigilant about overloaded backpacks. “Check frequently that your child is not carrying more than 15 percent of his or her body weight in the backpack,” she advised. To calculate the maximum weight recommendation, multiply your child’s weight by .15. The backpack should not weigh more than this number.

De Rham Tortorelli also offered the following advice: Continue Reading

In case you missed their grand opening at King’s a couple weeks ago, don’t despair, Eat Local will be here again today and tomorrow (Friday Aug. 31 and Saturday Sept. 1) from noon to 3:00. Greg and Matthew will be on hand to answer questions and serve up some free samples of their “remarkable frozen meals”. Just head over near the deli at King’s Market and you can’t miss ’em.

What’s this all about, you ask? Click here for the previous story on the SJ Update that announced their grand opening.

The 2018 Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative (CPWI) Community Survey is now open! Please add your voice by completing the survey below. Thank you for your time and support! The San Juan Island Prevention Coalition. sjipc.org

The Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative (CPWI) Community Survey is an anonymous annual statewide survey administered by all of the CPWI coalitions in Washington state.
The Community Survey captures our local San Juan Island attitudes about teen alcohol and drug use, as well as prevention programming. This data helps to inform our coalition’s strategies, as well as the state strategies.

This is an annual requirement for our San Juan Island Prevention Coalition funding, but more importantly, knowing the opinion of our community helps us to make informed decisions, and to help us better communicate the prevention work to the community.

ONLINE SURVEY ENGLISH
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SJSJEN2018

ONLINE SURVEY SPANISH
https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/SJSJSP2018

Art from Left to Right by: Dona Reed, BB McIntyre, Jan Murphy

The San Juan Community Theatre will host three San Juan Island Artists, Dona Reed, BB McIntyre and Jan Murphy, for a month-long show, entitled, “Incongruent Muse” from September 1-30.

All three artists are known for their work in Assemblage art, and the show will highlight several pieces of each artist’s work in this medium. The art will be for sale, with a percentage of each sale going to support the theatre.

Assemblage art (pronounced ah·sem·blahj) is a form of sculpture comprised of objects arranged in such a way that they create an art piece. These objects can be anything organic or man-made. Scraps of wood, stones, old shoes, baked bean cans, doll parts, vintage kitchen utensils – anything goes in this unique and creative art form.

Reed, McIntyre and Murphy will be on hand for an Artist Reception, Saturday, September 15 from 5:00 to 8:00 at the San Juan Community Theatre. Wine and light refreshments will be served.

San Juan Island writer Ian Boyden receives NEA Fellowship to support translation of celebrated Tibetan-Chinese writer Tsering Woeser’s poetry

Ian Boyden – Contributed photo

On Wednesday, August 29th, the National Endowment for the Arts announced that Ian Boyden of Friday Harbor, WA, will receive an NEA Literature Translation Fellowship. The fellowship is being awarded to support the translation from the Chinese into English of the poetry collection Minority by renowned Tibetan poet Tsering Woeser.

Woeser (b. 1966) is considered one of China’s most respected living Tibetan writers. Her Tibetan heritage is central to her work, whose themes include alienation due to the ongoing and often violent erosion of Tibetan culture. Minority is a 120-page collection comprising roughly 35 poems. The translation is particularly complex, as Woeser is conveying the Tibetan experience using Chinese language. As a young girl in the Cultural Revolution, Woeser was “re-educated,” meaning Chinese was taught in schools to replace the mother tongue.

Her poems confront sensitive topics, such as the wave of self-immolation that has swept through Tibetan society in the last decade, and the destruction by the Chinese government of Larung Gar, the largest Buddhist academy in the world. John Kerry of the U.S. State Department gave Woeser the International Women of Courage Award in 2013. In 2010, she was also was honored with a Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation. A human rights advocate, Woeser has been under intermittent house arrest for the past several years, and was only recently allowed to return to her Tibetan homeland for a limited time. Continue Reading

Merri Ann Simonson is back with another installment of her San Juan Island Lifestyle Video series. This one is about fishing; what goes on behind the scenes with the crew while fishing.

OPALCO crews trim tree branches near a power line right-of-way – Contributed photo

OPALCO tree trimming crews are at work throughout San Juan County clearing vegetation from around power lines for safety and to prevent outages this coming winter. This work is part of OPALCO’s routine annual line clearance program – also called Right of Way (ROW) clearing.

Trees and vegetation in the ROW, in proximity to high-voltage power lines, need to be pruned by expert, highly-insured professional utility tree crews. The long-term approach is to remove most trees growing in the ROW, identify and remove hazardous trees outside of the ROW that could fall into lines – and keep 15 feet to each side of the power line centers clear of vegetation that could impede access for maintenance and repairs. This approach makes best use of member resources by minimizing the number of times each area needs attention and preventing unnecessary tree-related outages.

Property owners can help themselves and OPALCO by planting trees and vegetation a safe distance away from power lines and equipment; avoiding known problem trees such as willow, pine and alder in favor of sturdier species such as western red cedar; and by cooperating with OPALCO and their tree trimming crews when line clearance work is necessary. Continue Reading

Thank you for making this year’s “Rockin’ the Salish Sea” themed Fair a splashing success!  

We’d like to pacific-ly thank our many volunteers, exhibitors, performers, vendors and sponsors who are otter-ly fin-tastic. 

We dolphin-ly couldn’t have done it without your support. 

Check out our “best of” the Fair awards listing and photos to reminisce on a rockin’ good time at the 2018 San Juan County Fair at: https://www.sjcfair.org/p/fair-event/382

Already have ideas for the Fair in 2019?  Want to volunteer, perform, or become a department superintendent for the Fair in 2019?  Email our office at [email protected] and share your thoughts. 

San Juan County Fair Staff