Did you know there are over 30 different soil types in San Juan County? Soils can differ over even a small landscape in physical, chemical, and biological properties, impacting what, when, and how we grow, and whether our efforts are successful. Fortunately, we can alter many soil properties to our benefit. Knowing what’s in your soil – its strengths and weaknesses – can help make you a better gardener and steward of your most important resource.

Join Stephen Bramwell, soil scientist, avid gardener, and Director of Thurston County Extension, at the San Juan County Master Gardeners Annual Gardening Workshop. His workshop, titled “Bountiful Soil,” will discuss the makeup of good soil, how to properly sample for a soil test, how to interpret the results, and how to amend with only what your soil truly needs. A good soil test can reveal a wealth of invaluable knowledge about your dirt, such as its pH and whether primary and secondary nutrients, including micronutrients, are lacking or overabundant.

The Annual Gardening Workshop is a day-long event, with noted authorities speaking on a wide variety of topics of interest to PNW coastal gardeners. Multiple choices allow you to plan your day to attend workshops of interest to you. The keynote speaker is Linda Gilkeson, noted Entomologist and gardening author, speaking on “Resilient Gardens in a Changing Climate.” Additional workshops include planting for pollinators, restoring island wildflowers, dealing with wireworms, growing berries and fruit trees, small space vegetable gardens, camellias in our climate, and gardening with children.

Visit GardenWorkshop.org for complete descriptions of each workshop.

Purchase tickets here. Tickets are $40 online, $45 at the door. Advance purchase recommended.

San Juan County Master Gardeners Annual Gardening Workshop Continue Reading

San Juan Center of Skagit Valley College offers US history course

Could there be a more interesting course to take than one covering the recent US history of the 20th and 21st centuries?? Study the events in history that lead right up to our doorstep of current headlines.

The title of the course is: History Spotlight: 1914 – Present

Register and participate in this class of in-depth, interesting, fun and involved lectures led by expert Skagit Valley College faculty member Ralph Hahn.

The content of this course will focus on three major themes:

1. How history shaped the foundation of America
2. The historical role of conservatism and liberal/progressivism
3. The role of government.

Some historical events and milestones among others to be covered will be: World War I; The Roaring Twenties & The Great Depression; World War II; The Cold War; The Civil Rights Movement; Vietnam War era; 1970s: disillusionment and malaise; The New Conservatism of the Reagan Era; The 1990s: prosperity and uncertainties; and our path into the 21st century. Continue Reading

Mary Kalbert shares this story about Gordon Steele…

Gordon Steele, 1912 – 2015 – Contributed photo

San Juan Islander Gordon Steele has been selected by the Manhattan Project Oak Ridge National Historical Park as one of a group of fourteen scientists being recognized posthumously in a month-long exhibition for their contributions to space exploration.

All the selectees participated in the Manhattan Project during World War II prior to their work in space science and astronomy.

Gordon’s primary contributions to the Manhattan Project were discoveries of tests to isolate nitrogen and carbon from Uranium 235

In the field of space exploration, Gordon’s work on electroluminescent lamps, made under his direction, were aboard the LEM’s (Lunar Excursion Module) that landed on the moon. Continue Reading

Notice of Special School Board Meeting – Budget Workshop/Public Hearing

All interested parties are cordially invited to the budget overview and SJISD financial condition workshop on Wednesday, September 13, 2017, at 5:00 pm, at the high school library.  This board meeting will be held in a public hearing format. Thank you for your interest in our schools.

John O. Linde Community Park – Tim Dustrude photo

San Juan Island Park and Recreation District (Island Rec) and the Linde family invite you to attend the official dedication of John O. Linde Community Park on Saturday, September 16th at 4:30pm. The ceremony, which is open to the public, will begin at the front entrance of the park, followed by light refreshments at the fieldhouse.

John O. Linde, a longtime resident of San Juan Island, District Court Judge for 21 years, and San Juan County’s first Superior Court Judge, had a rich history of involvement with youth sports on the island. Linde was a Little League coach and umpire-in-chief for many years. He was a member of Purple and Gold, and an active board member of Friday Harbor Athletic Association. John was also part of the committee that brought lights to the high school football field. Linde was passionate about youth involvement in sports and he was a key player in the early development of the community fields project.

The 30-acre park, which is still in development by Friday Harbor Athletic Association, currently features a playground, four completed fields, trails and fieldhouse. The operations and maintenance of completed areas of the facility is managed by Island Rec.

The park is located at the end of Carter Avenue. We ask that you park in the main parking lot of the park for the event. We hope that you can join us for this special dedication.

Michael Peterson
Coastal Stack XV, 2017
H=28″ W=24″ D=24″
Carved, sandblasted, pigmented madrone burl
Ten Hollow Elements

Art-packed galleries open Part 3 of Dialogues From The Forest at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) on September 16th at 11:00 AM. This exhibition spotlights five artists whose works have been featured nationwide.  All of the artists interpret the natural world and honor the abundant Northwest resources in their personal statements of celebration and concern.

From Rocky Outcroppings: Jean Behnke, Michael Peterson and Peter de Lory, features familiar yet refreshing treatments of our Pacific NW landscapes. Behnke is a printmaker and sculptor, Peterson a sculptor, both from Lopez, and de Lory a photographer.

In the North Gallery, Aboreal Beauty: Kathy Gore-Fuss portrays our characteristic forests in lush paintings. Burnt: Lee Imonen fills the glass atrium with an interpretation of an everyday object and a message about consumption of resources. Continue Reading

“On An Acre Shy of Etermity, Micro Landscapes at the Edge”

Be sure to set aside some time to stop in Griffin Bay Bookstore on Saturday, September 16, 2:00—4:00 pm to see what Orcas Island author and photographer, Robert Dash, has created in his gorgeous book, On An Acre Shy of Eternity, Micro Landscapes at the Edge. He’ll be there to talk to customers about his foray into his own landscape and the magic he captured there.

In On An Acre Shy of Eternity, Micro Landscapes at the Edge, Robert Dash takes nature exploration to new depths. He views the mystery of this land as one might read a book, promoting a visual, poetic, and ecological literacy that he calls “locavore art and ecology”—the art, science and discovery that beckons in one’s own front yard. Over a three-year period he traveled from bluff to tree, feather to seed on a near-acre of forest, meadow and cliff shouldering the Salish Sea. Using metaphors, a camera, and a scanning electron microscope, Dash features beauty at scales ranging from craters on the moon to grains of pollen a few thousandths of an inch wide.

Griffin Bay Bookstore, Saturday, September 16, 2:00—4:00 PM

About the Author

Robert Dash – Contributed photo

Robert Dash is an Orcas Island photographer, naturalist and educator whose book invites readers on a wild, contemplative, miniature hike. His photographs have been published by National Geographic, Time, The Week, and Lensculture, and have appeared in galleries and juried shows around the country. Dash presented the Orcas TedX talk, “The Intercourse of Nature: It’s What We Are” in 2016. Several images in his book were created with the scanning electron microscope at Friday Harbor Labs.

The Friday Harbor Film Festival Needs You!

September brings the promise of changing seasons and new activities. The  Friday Harbor Film Festival crew is stepping up the pace in preparation for the upcoming festival. 

There are volunteer opportunities right now in the FHFF Office. Help is needed 7 days a week from 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Volunteers will help to staff the office to prepare for the festival.  The festival would not be possible without volunteer support.

Want to be a part of the team during the festival? There are plenty of ways to be involved.

For more information or to sign up, visit: http://www.fhff.org/volunteer/

More updates at this link.

Kate Schuman – Contributed photo

Kate Schuman writes to let you know she’ll be on the radio again…

Tonight, Tuesday, September 12th, at 7pm, on Ellensburg Community Radio, I will be Don Shriner’s guest musician on the Americana Live show.

This is the same program I was on in April, and folks can listen in by Googling “Ellensburg Community Radio”, clicking on the link, and then clicking on the “Listen Now” button. Or – just type in “eburgradio.org” in the address bar, then click on the “Listen Now” button.

It’s live streaming and is usually just an hour long. I’ll be debuting some new tunes. Lots of fun!

Shiny new stainless steel brewing equipment – SJ Update photo

Full and part time kitchen help for year round employment. Lunch and dinner positions now available. Competitive wages, benefits package for full time employees (30+ hours/week, includes medical, dental, 401K, and vacation pay).

Contact Sean Anderson at [email protected] or apply at 410 A St between 3:30-5:00.

Applications available at the brewery or sanjuanbrew.com.

Frank H. Mullis – Photo Collage Peggy Sue McRae

Have you ever wondered what it was like here over 100 years ago? This excerpt from 19 year old Frank Mullis’s Journal of 1905 reveals that in some ways things remain the same. There is still a lot of fruit to pick and process this time of year. What about his cure for the common cold? 

Sept. 11 1905 – I picked pears in the morning. After dinner I hitched up the rig and mama and I went for a drive. We went to the south end of the island, where Roy and I went last Saturday. I would not have gone all the way if I had not left the halter out there Saturday and so I went all the way and got it back. Mr. Hall came home today, so the rig went back in the evening.

Mama and I had a very enjoyable time. The view was just grand from some places. I never saw such a beautiful view of Mt. Baker as I did today. 

Sept. 12 – I helped do the washing in the morning. After dinner Ella and I picked a few prunes and finished picking the pears.

Sept. 13  – Ella and I finished picking the prunes today. I have got a very bad cold. I took some hot gin and went to bed at 8:30.

Sept. 14 – My cold is better but I am feeling pretty sick and weak. I did not do much today.

Sept. 15 – I picked apples in the morning and helped Mama and Ella put up fruit most of the afternoon. I also made some fine cider.

San Juan Islands Museum of Art is currently closed for the installation of the upcoming exhibit, Dialogues From the Forest: Part 3, opening Saturday, September 16. This will be the final exhibition of the Dialogues form the Forest series exploring and honoring the natural resources of the Northwest landscape. 

This exhibition spotlights five artists whose works have been featured nationwide. All of the artists interpret the natural world and honor the abundant Northwest resources in their personal statements of celebration and concern.

Rocky Outcroppings by artists Jean Behnke, Michael Peterson, and Peter de Lory, features familiar yet refreshing treatments of our Pacific NW landscapes. Behnke is a printmaker and sculptor, Peterson is a sculptor, both from Lopez, and de Lory is a photographer.

In the North Gallery, Aboreal Beauty, by Kathy Gore-Fuss portrays our characteristic forests in lush paintings. Burnt by Lee Imonen fills the glass Atrium with an interpretation of an everyday object and a message about consumption of resources.

Museum Hours: September 16 – 30, Thursday to Monday 11 to 6 p.m.
October 1 – November 6, Friday to Monday 11 to 5 p.m.
Admission: $10, members and under 18 are free.

NEW: Mondays are now Pay What You Can!

A Beach Walk with Flossie Mullis – Photo Peggy Sue McRae

If like me, you work (and play) at a computer, if you spend even more sitting time driving (luckily we do not have long commutes here on the island), or watching television, you are being warned. Especially as we get older, we need to move more or be at risk for a host of diseases and losing our mobility as we age.

In a study recently featured on NPR, epidemiologist Loretta DiPietro and her colleagues warn, “those who tended to sit the most and move the least had more than three times the risk of difficulty walking by the end of the study, when compared to their more active counterparts.” The antidote is to “shake a leg.” Getting up every half hour and moving for as little as 2 minutes, they say, would be “phenomenal, to mobility and be at least a start toward heart health, too.” 

This message to move must be in the zeitgeist right now. On Wednesday September 13 at 7:00 pm Katy Bowman author of Don’t Just Sit There, Movement Matters and Dynamic Aging, will explain why it’s so important to keep moving in our all-too-often sedentary lives. “Bowman explores the difference between exercise and movement, and delves into the idea of sedentarism, what enables us to live in a sedentary culture, and how our personal movement can change more than our physical health—it can change the world.” Explore Bowman’s ideas further on her blog, Nutritious Movement.

Delphina Liles – Photo Peggy Sue McRae

You don’t have to run a marathon to move in ways that are beneficial. Even “puttering” around can be an antidote to too much sitting. Of course here in our island paradise we have beaches and trails to walk. Finding something you enjoy enough to do regularly is key.

At the Mullis Center keeping seniors moving is a priority. On Fridays at 10:00 am join Delphina Liles for Chair Yoga. Yoga has long been valued for how even the subtlest of movements can be very beneficial. On Thursdays at 1:00 pm there is a Balance Group and the first Friday of the month is Swing Dance with instruction offered as needed.

At this point, right now, I think I have been sitting for longer than a half and hour writing this article. It will take some retraining to insert movement into my computer time. Maybe I can program one of those irresistible rock and roll songs to come on every half-hour reminding me to move or like we did in pre-school, stand up and “shake my willies out”. The message is clear. It is time to get moving. 

David Lind – Contributed Photo

An afternoon of music for the organ will be presented by Richard Lind at 3 pm on Sunday, September 17, at St. David’s Episcopal Church, 780 Park Street, in Friday Harbor. 

He will perform a wide variety of original music for the organ composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, Samuel Barber, Dietrich Buxtehude, Richard Lind, and Guy Morançon.  In addition to the music, brief descriptions of the compositions, period, style, and “organ facts” will be offered. 

Mr. Lind, a member of the St. David’s Parish, is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Music in organ performance.

There is no charge to attend, but donations will be accepted to be used for instrument maintenance at St. David’s. St. David’s Church is located on the corner of Park and Marguerite with a parking lot off of Marguerite and a lift for those unable to negotiate stairs. For more information, call 360-378-5360.

A message from San Juan County Auditor F. Milene Henley…

A “Logic and Accuracy” test of ballot tabulating equipment used in San Juan County for the November 7, 2017 General Election is scheduled for September 20 at 11 a.m. The test works by tallying the results of a prepared set of ballots to see if the results match the votes cast. The test will take place in the Elections Office located at 55 Second Street, Suite A, in Friday Harbor.

A representative of the Secretary of State’s Elections Division will be present for the test. The test is performed before every local, state or federal election to ensure that tabulation hardware and software equipment are compliant with Washington State rules and will accurately count the votes.

All interested members of the public are invited to observe.