The County sends along a request for volunteers in advance of the publishing of the voter’s guide for the November general election.

San Juan County is seeking volunteers to create supporting and opposing statements regarding a proposed road levy to place in the voter’s guide for the November general election. The arguments will be published in the print and online versions of the guide.

The San Juan County Council is expected to pass a resolution submitting a single-year permanent county road levy lid lift to the voters in the November general election. The resolution proposes to increase the county road levy from $0.56 to $1.00 per $1,000 of assessed value. The $0.44 increase is expected to generate an additional $4 million for the road fund, which will support repairs and replacements of damaged culverts, updates to deteriorating marine facilities, and widening of shoulders for multi-modal transportation.

Each committee may have up to three members, though members may seek the advice of any number of people to assist in developing the statements. Each committee’s statement must be submitted to San Juan County Elections no later than August 9.

If interested in serving on one of the committees, contact Erin Wygant before August 2 at [email protected] or 360-370-7404.

• Here’s the lineup for today’s farmers market, which includes seven farms from San Juan Island.
• The Master Gardener Foundation of San Juan County will be answering questions about gardening, plants, and insects from 10 a.m. to noon today in their demonstration garden, located next to the Family Resource Center, across from Market Place.
• The San Juan Islands Sculpture Park’s Summer Series continues today from 1 to 3 p.m. Join islanders of all ages to help create the island’s biggest spider web and a giant spider to go with it. The event is free. Children under age 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
• California Guitar Trio performs at 7:30 p.m. tonight at San Juan Community Theatre.
• The 25th annual San Juan Island Jam takes place today at the Tanglewood Amphitheater, 11 Tanglewood Lane. Tickets are $25 and are available at the gate. The gate opens at noon and the first show starts at 1 p.m.
• There are still a few spots left in the EDC’s youth web development course, which starts on Tuesday.

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

Transition San Juan Island’s Waste Reduction group shares today’s habit shift inspiration from the global Plastic Free July campaign.

Reduce

Reducing dependency on single-use products that we’re in the habit of buying can feel like hard work. And yet, focusing on how satisfying it feels when we do make a shift in the right direction urges us on. The effort it takes to reshape our thinking becomes less and less as we begin to replace the throwaway mentality with a reduce mentality. There’s no doubt about it, reducing our dependence on single-use throwaway products results in less waste to think about in our daily lives and less waste ending up in the landfill. 

Here’s the adoptable animal of the week from the Animal Protection Society of Friday Harbor — Grantham, a 30-pound (and growing) mystery mix.

Grantham has the nose of a Hound, the paws of a Boxer, and the gentle disposition of a Lab. Quite the superior mix if we do say so ourselves. He may have some more growing to do yet, but this young lad is an old soul through and through. His sweet eyes, friendly hugs, soft kisses, and the tiniest little love bites are enough to win just about anyone over on the first impression.

Grantham enjoys the finer things in life, but has been exceedingly lonely without his sisters: Lady Mary, Lady Sybil and Lady Edith. That being said, he is extraordinary at making fast friends and has expanded his social circle immensely since arriving at the shelter.  

Grantham is currently working on his manners and is making splendid headway in his studies. Intelligent and food motivated, this classy pup is an easy train. He has it all — looks, smarts and motivation. The only thing this dapper dog is missing is you. So come down to the shelter and join him for high tea in the green fields where he plays. He will be patiently waiting for you, minding his Ps and Qs.

Learn more about Grantham here.

Slow Food Land and Sea Garden — Contributed photo

San Juan County’s Department of Health and Community Services sends along news about their early learning garden program.

This summer, the Slow Food Land and Sea Garden on San Juan and Turtleback Farm on Orcas, in partnership with the San Juan County SNAP-Ed program, will be hosting an early learning garden program for preschool-aged children.

Sessions are free and drop-ins are welcome. Each session is one hour long. We will be drawing and crafting, planting, harvesting, and reading books. Kids will be able to plant a variety of vegetable seeds and watch them grow over the season. Each session we will harvest a featured vegetable for participants to take and try at home.

Wednesday, July 27 will be our next session on San Juan, and we will be looking at pollinators in the garden and harvesting new potatoes.

San Juan sessions will be Wednesdays from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on July 27, Aug. 3, Aug. 17, Sept. 7, and Sept. 21. The Slow Food Land and Sea Garden is located across from the high school, next to the old apple orchard.

Orcas sessions will be Aug. 10 and Sept. 14, at Turtleback Farm from 4 to 5 p.m.

Children must be accompanied by an adult. Families are welcome.

For more information, contact Zoe Froyland at 360-370-7519 or [email protected].

Alchemy Art Center shares news about three free arts events taking place over the next two weeks.

Friday, July 22
4-5 p.m., The Dome, 1255 Wold Rd

Alchemy is hosting an artist talk by local and international collaborators Nikyta Palmisani, Juniper Blomberg, Anya Gleizer, and Pablo Fernández Velasco, all visiting from Lopez Island. This group will discuss their projects addressing ecological boundaries, sense of a place, and local food systems. Nikyta and Juniper are local Lopez artists, Anya is an artist and researcher at Oxford University, and Pablo is a researcher at Trinity College Dublin. This presentation is the culmination of their collaboration.

Thursday, July 28
6-8 p.m., The Dome, 1255 Wold Rd.

Come to Alchemy for this culminating pop-up art show featuring the work of June and July interns and residents Ananya Bernardo, Vince Cuadra, Maya Djiji, and Sulli Yost. These young/emerging artists will be showing prints, pottery, ceramic sculpture, soft sculpture, fiber arts, jewelry, t-shirts/wearables, and more. Bring your wallet and snag some original art for your collection. Also featured will be art by youth mentees who have been working with this team this summer. Light refreshments will be served.

Sunday, July 31
5:30-7:30 p.m., San Juan Islands Museum of Art, 540 Spring St.

This third installment of Alchemy’s summer artist talk series (in partnership with the San Juan Islands Museum of Art), will feature visiting artists/interns Ananya Bernardo and Vince Cuadra, and local artist and Alchemy Founder/Co-Director Maria Michaelson.

Ananya Bernardo is a visual artist from Silver Spring, Maryland who is currently exploring different mediums. She mostly works with silkscreen prints but is learning mediums like textiles, collage, ceramics and digital art. Her work uses bright colors to delve into personal growing pains as a means of expression.

Vince Cuadra is a queer-trans Costa Rican-Argentinian multimedia artist born and raised in the magical city of Miami. He creates playful and colorful work mostly focusing on identity, queer joy, nostalgia, social issues, and documentation. He makes art using a variety of media including clay, collage, painting, photography, video, and soft sculpture.

Transition San Juan Island’s Waste Reduction group shares today’s habit shift inspiration from the global Plastic Free July campaign.

Refuse! Refuse! Refuse!

Breaking and making habits are no small feat. Keeping things simple so you can successfully build on repetition is key. The simplest way forward is to start refusing single-use plastics. For example, keeping produce and grocery bags in the car or by the front door helps our future selves to not bring home the endless clutter of paper or plastic bags. With each little step forward and each plastic-free win experienced, you’ll be feeling very successful in your simple habit shifts. 

Photo credit: Center for Whale Research

The Center for Whale Research has published a pair of reports about their recent encounters with the J, K, and L pods of Southern Resident killer whales in Boundary Pass and Haro Strait. Read the July 11 report and the July 12 report.

The OPALCO delegation at the state capital in Idaho, with Satchel Bourne, McKenna Clark, August Moore and Valeria Villareal — Contributed photo

OPALCO sends along an update about one of their education initiatives.

More than 65 students representing electric co-ops from Alaska to Nevada attended the 2022 Co-op Youth Rally at the College of Idaho in Caldwell from July 11 through 16. The week-long event is a leadership camp and scholarship program for rural electric cooperatives and public utilities.

Four high school students from the San Juan Islands represented OPALCO, including McKenna Clark and Satchel Bourne from Friday Harbor High School, and August Moore and Valeria Villareal Orcas Island High School. Luke Fincher of Friday Harbor was accepted into the program but was unable to attend at the last minute.

The students had busy week of learning, leadership development, teambuilding, and summer camp fun. They took part in classes about the electric industry, governance structures, business challenges, renewable and electrical generation, as well as leadership activities and the opportunity to make connections with peers throughout the region. Each student also received $1,000 from OPALCO to put toward their post-high school education.

OPALCO’s Nourdine Jensen Cooperative Youth Scholarship Program is supported by the family of Nourdine Jensen, a long-time OPALCO board member who was committed to supporting the youth of our island communities in learning about public power and providing opportunities to explore outside of San Juan County. Nourdine Jensen served on the OPALCO board for 37 years, from 1965 to 2008.

The County shares some kind words about the public service of Drs. John Geyman and Dale Heisinger.

San Juan County Board of Health recognizes and thanks Dr. John Geyman and Dr. Dale Heisinger for their years of service on the Board. At the July 20 meeting, County officials, staff, and board members celebrated the doctors for their 21 combined years of service with a goodbye reception, speeches, and a small gift.

During their tenure, both Dr. Heisinger and Dr. Geyman focused on access to care – advocating for patient rights, equity of access, and increased research in public health issues. They drafted a patient bill of rights that was adopted by the Board in 2014, oversaw changes to medical clinics around the islands, supported increased access to mobile dental clinics, supported the long term care feasibility study, and were instrumental in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is a real changing of the guard,” said Health and Community Services Director Mark Tompkins. “Each with over 10 years of community service, they’re two stalwarts who have been influential in advancing access to public health and the scope of the health department here in the county.”

Dr. Heisinger began his time as a BOH member in January of 2012 and served as chairman of the BOH from 2014-2021. Under his leadership the Board was active in legislative and advocacy work, writing letters to state representatives and senators on the topics of young people’s use of tobacco and vape products, gun violence as a public health issue, single-payer health care systems, and increased support for foundational public health services, among many other issues.

“Dr. Geyman has been somebody I’ve looked up for a long time. He’s a national leader and we’re so lucky to have had him,” said Dr. Frank James, San Juan County’s Health Officer. “He’s an astounding intellect and he’s been a dear friend and mentor to me.”

Dr. Geyman began his time as a BOH member in October of 2011. As a family physician, he practiced in rural communities for 13 years, including in Friday Harbor where he worked at Inter Island Medical Center from 1990-1997. As an islander, Dr. Geyman was instrumental in establishing The Eagles, a group of pilots on San Juan Island who fly cancer patients to and from the mainland for treatment.

“You’ve been constant advocates for children and families and the delivery of medicine,” said councilman Jamie Stephens. “Both of you have kept us on our toes as to how we should be focusing on the bigger health care system in our county and in our state. Thank you.”

The parting gift to the retired doctors and avid readers was a leather bookmark donned with the saying, “Never underestimate the difference you made and the lives you’ve touched.”

Individuals looking to serve their community via the Board of Health are encouraged to apply. The Board of Health generally meets on the third Wednesday of each month. Member terms are four years.

The parents (black) present their kit (red) with food, showing submissive behavior — avoiding confusion about who the food is for.

Learn more about Brad’s perspective on the foxes of San Juan Island.

Transition San Juan Island’s Waste Reduction group shares today’s habit shift inspiration from the global Plastic Free July campaign.

Be a Change Agent

Broaden your impact and share the changes you are making with your family, friends, customers and co-workers in choosing to refuse single-use plastic. Most people are eager to learn about how they can make positive changes for the environment and their life and only need the alternative to be shown to them to make the shift. Together we can make a difference.

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

Sonny’s Journey Unfolds

(Authors note: Previously in this novella — beginning with No Matter What and The Confines of Heaven parts I-III — young Sonny Johns rode a sled pulled behind a snowmachine from his remote village of Tonasket Crossing, up the recently frozen Yukon River to turn up the winding Kuuk River. There his uncle Jimmy turned back leaving him on his own to make his way on foot into the front range jumble of wild peaks and drainages of the central Brooks Range.)

Sonny’s eyes flickered open to take in the new day but instead took in a dim, musty sleeping bag liner. In moments his fingers fumbled with the drawstring at the hood of his thick mummy bag; he cussed some when he found it cinched behind his head. Turning side to side, feeling for the twisted zipper he felt a claustrophobic panic before he unzipped enough to birth his head, then shoulders to sit up and breathe deeply. It was a sharp, invigorating cold; the insulated comfort of the bag was easily about 120 degrees warmer than the ambient air.

The sky was deep blue above, a cold sun skittering above the trees far to the south; he would only have four and a half hours of low daylight to move without a headlamp. Then another long night beneath of the blur of the Milky Way. A whisp of smoke coiled from the punky overnight fire, rising up through the feathered canopy of snow-frosted spruce boughs. Somewhere far upriver; ravens loudly argued with their own echoing cries.

Sonny had seen these Cayou Islands for years; from a boat at distance anyway. Now he understood the magic of the many miles of intertwined sloughs and islands. From an early age he had peered over the gunwales of a long wooden riverboat packed with gear, tents and food; his extended family smiling and talking; his mother and aunties pointing out places of memories, cousins playing or sleeping while his revered elders sat shoulder to shoulder, wrapped in a heavy blanket facing back, aged eyes remembering and seeing what the others could not.

In those years, his dad and uncle Jimmy usually piloted another boat to provide support, but mainly to have access to hunt white sheep and early migrating caribou as the morning air sharpened and leaves took on the brilliant colors of fall. A short but glorious season in the far north. Catching animals along the banks or swimming the river was the best of all hunting scenarios. Continue Reading

• Night Flowers: An Evening of Flamenco, with Savannah Fuentes and Diego Amador, Jr., comes to the San Juan Island Grange this Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $27 to $55 for adults, $18 for students, and $12 for children.
• Bill Robison performs a physical comedy show for children and families today at 1:30 p.m. outside in the play shed at Friday Harbor Elementary School.
• The F Street Project performs at 6:30 p.m. this evening at the San Juan Historical Museum as part of Island Rec’s Music on the Lawn series.
• Due to staffing limitations, the new visitor center at American Camp will be closed on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• Friday Harbor Family Clinic is now scheduling fall sports physicals on July 28, Aug. 2, Aug. 4, Aug. 9, and Aug. 11. Call 360-370-5971 to make an appointment.
• The Island Writers group is accepting submissions for the San Juan County Fair now through Aug. 1.
• Here are the weekly specials from Market Place and Kings.

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