Attorney Steve Brandli Applies to Be San Juan County Superior Court Judge

Steve Brandli – Contributed photo

Governor Jay Inslee posted a Notice of Judicial Vacancy, soliciting applications to be appointed as San Juan County’s next Superior Court judge to replace Judge Donald Eaton who is retiring at the end of this year. San Juan County attorney Steve Brandli is pleased to announce that he has submitted his application to Governor Inslee to be considered to take the bench after Eaton’s retirement, on January 1, 2018.

Steve has practiced law in San Juan County for the last 10 years. He has been in private practice for the last 8 years after serving as a San Juan County criminal prosecutor. He has built a reputation of integrity and of skill with complex legal analysis on a wide variety of legal issues both civil and criminal. Importantly, Steve believes he brings insight and compassion to the very personal impact that the legal system has on all its participants. Steve’s practice for the past 8 years closely tracks the types of cases heard by Superior Court judges involving family law, criminal law, probate and trusts, commercial law, and real estate issues. He has appeared in San Juan County Superior Court on a weekly basis for a decade representing clients from all walks of life—as well as the government.

If appointed, Steve will bring his diverse background and broad experience to the bench. He and his wife, BJ, have raised four girls on San Juan Island and fostered over a dozen children. In addition to his legal practice, Steve is an inventor, has owned businesses, and has served on business and non-profit boards. He has volunteered for several charitable organizations including as a Court-appointed Special Advocate for children, for Angel Flight, Island Rec, and most recently for the San Juan Lions Club.

Steve invites anyone to call him at (360) 378-5544 and welcomes input from members of the community on how their legal system can work better for them.

Local Musicians – Photo Doug McCutchen

By Peggy Sue McRae –

Music is good for your brain. Most of us have experienced hearing a piece of music and being transported in time. Play me the Rolling Stones, Jumping Jack Flash, and its summer, and I’m a teenager. That is because when we hear music, unlike other activities that are located in just one part of the brain, music is processed by a full network of neural activity that enlivens the entire brain enhancing memory function.

Parts of the brain associated with memory, emotion, creativity, and motor function all light up when the music is playing. According to research done at the Academy of Finland processing music activates motor activity supporting the idea that music and movement are very closely related. Not only does this mean that we were we born to boogie but music can even play a role in recovering motor function after a stroke.

Delphinia Liles – Photo Peggy Sue McRae

Meditation is also good for your brain. Senior Services is offering a new class starting June 15 at 10:00 am at the Mullis Center that will combine both music and meditation for the wellbeing of your brain. Practicing meditation for only two months, says Music and Mindfulness instructor Delphinia Liles, “can actually increase the density of your brain’s grey matter, especially in the hippocampus, resulting in improved memory and learning ability.” Ferris Jabr of Scientific American notes that this area of the brain usually shrinks as we age but “meditation counteracts this decay.”

According to Delphinia, “If you are trying to learn something new, you will remember it better if it is associated with music. Rhythm in music has an invigorating effect on us, helps our emotional health and releases endorphins which reduce pain, stress and depression.” All of the class activities will be easy for anyone to do. “Come join us for Music and Meditation. Your brain will love you for it!”

The barber pole rumor has it that most islanders are very specific: They either claim to love Barbershop music, or… not so much! But could it be one of those “I don’t know how to describe it, but I know what I like” things? For clarification – a definition of Barbershop singing:  Close four-part harmonies, sung A Cappella (without instrumental accompaniment). All that means is that the sweet harmonies are so beautiful, so full and complimentary, as not needing any musical instruments in the mix.

For example, the ‘alien’ bar-band in the original Star Wars movie made great music, but the human voice is an instrument we all connect with instinctively, “feeling” the music as much as hearing it.  

If the nay-sayers are expressing their feelings based on hearing old-fashioned ditties like “Sweet Adeline” or “Down By The Old Mill Stream” then I agree, those are of another era, and while the harmonies are sweet, they belong to our grandparent’s generation. Continue Reading

The San Juan Island Museum of Art is offering a 3 day pastel workshop, this summer: Introduction to Plein Air Landscape Painting in Pastels

Steve Hill is returning to San Juan Island to teach a 3 day Plein Air Pastel Workshop.  He is an International Award winning pastel artist and workshop instructor from Lopez Island, WA.  This class is available to all skill levels and students will learn the basic pastel strokes.  Each day Steve will provide a live demonstration.   Class size is limited to 12 and the deadline to register is July 7. 

Steve says, “My passion is to find special places… and explore these with every element of my psyche dialed into the joyous, expressive and interpretive language of painting onsite.” He is a signature member of The Northwest Pastel Society, and an active plein air painter and studio artist from Lopez Island, WA.

• Dates: July 21-23, 2017
• Tuition: $300
• Time: 9-5
• Meet at the Islands Museum of Art at 540 Spring Street
• Class size: minimum 8 students, maximum 12 students

Register online at www.sjima.org/learn
If you have questions call Malinda Dreyer at 360-378-2918.

Time Keeper, a sculpture by Susan Williams

by Keith Busha –

San Juan multi-medium artist, Susan Williams has always been fascinated with the animal form. She became obsessed with painting rabbits – if it didn’t have long furry ears she was simply not interested in the subject.

Rabbits became artistic narrators of periods of her own life. She quickly moved into sculpture as the preferred medium. Some examples of her work were recently seen by the editor of the nationally distributed Art Doll Magazine. As a result her rabbits are featured in the Spring 2017 Quarterly edition under the title A Journey With Rabbits. In the article Susan shares some her technique and passion for her art.

Continue Reading

Walking for the Salish Sea – Contributed photo

Liza Michaelson writes to say thanks and to recap her recent walk…

Thanks for your support! Glenn, John, Gretchen and I returned today from our epic Walk 4 The Salish Sea.

I want to thank all of you for your Generous support. Our San Juan Island team of 4 has raised well past our goal of $5,000 for the Pulling Together Campaign!

The Walk was 77 kilometers in 4 days from Victoria to the Kinder Morgan pipeline terminal in Burnaby outside Vancouver BC, including a ferry ride across Haro Strait and and a bus ride through a tunnel. It was hot and exhausting, uplifting and inspiring. My heart was opened and I was close to tears of deep joy inspired by humanity many, many times on the journey.

There were about 85 of us “through walkers” accompanied by a well trained volunteer staff of “walking marshalls”, a couple of bikes and cars with water and snacks, and a rally bus with an awesome mural painted on the ceiling carrying our overnight bags.

(more photos and a video below) Continue Reading

Charles Goodman Ayurvedic Physician – Contributed Photo

San Juan Island Ayurvedic Physician Charles Goodman will be giving a free public talk about anxiety and how to cope with it on Friday, June 9, at 5:30 pm at the Mullis Center.

Anxiety is the most common of all psychological disorders including, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, panic disorder, agoraphobia and certain other phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Goodman will discuss methods of coping with anxiety including, dietary changes that can bring relief, herbal combinations that can lower anxiety, simple lifestyle changes that can increase feelings of calm and security, and easy to learn meditation techniques that can reduce stress caused by anxiety.

Daniel Mayes and Helen Machin-Smith of Island Stage Left accept a gift from BJ Brandli and the LEOs – Contributed photo

BJ Brandli, advisor of the high school LEO Club, presents Island Stage Left’s co-founder Helen Machin-Smith with a $500 check. “The student members of our LEO Club have grown up with Island Stage Left’s summertime performances of “Shakespeare Under the Stars” and felt very strongly about giving this gift to the theater.”

Island Stage Left is experiencing a shortage of funds and a hardship in finding donated housing for their summer actors. A Shakespeare production requires a minimum 12 actors to perform and the housing for the actors simply could not be secured this year.

Because of these two unfortunate circumstances, Island Stage, in its 19th year, will abandon their traditional summer performance of Shakespeare and will present a smaller cast performing “Humble Boy” instead. In accordance with their mission, “to give the experience of great theatre to all islanders and visitors, regardless of their income or social status,” admission is free but donations are gratefully accepted.

The LEO Club hopes that this donation will encourage other service clubs and individuals to make donations to Island Stage Left and keep this treasured island tradition alive. The goal is to bring back “Shakespeare Under the Stars” for Island Stage Left’s 20th anniversary in the summer of 2018.

The view of Mount Baker from North Beach on Orcas Island – Tim Dustrude photo

Check out this article by Nancy Keates on the Wall Street Journal website…

The San Juan Islands, long cherished for remoteness and simplicity, is now the hottest luxury real-estate market in the country.

The priciest 10% of the area’s real-estate market rose faster last year than any other U.S. county, according to Realtor.com. The median home value in San Juan County is now $444,300, up from $377,600 in 2014, according to real estate marketplace Zillow . Right now there are four homes priced at $15 million or higher for sale, including one for $20 million.

Continue reading –

Paideia Classical School’s Board of Directors, staff, students & families would like to thank the San Juan Island Community Foundation for their generous donation to our Scholarship Fund.

Paideia is a private school in Friday Harbor offering an excellent classical education for Kindergarten through 8th Grade. These funds go directly towards tuition aid for families wishing to attend our school. 

We appreciate this wonderful community supporting our island families.

On behalf of our school, THANK YOU!

Jodi VanderYacht
Administrator

Town seeks proposals for allocation of Lodging Tax grant funds to promote 2018 tourism

The Town of Friday Harbor’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) is accepting applications for grants to fund tourism promotion. The promotions must be for events and activities specifically intended to promote tourism within the Town in 2018.   Preference will be given to those operations and activities that encourage tourists to visit during the spring and fall shoulder seasons. Summer activities are acceptable; however applicants are advised to give careful and strategic thought to the scheduling of their events to avoid what are recognized as high traffic weekends.

The grants are awarded annually and are funded with the State’s Hotel Motel Tax collected on all lodging stays of less than 30 days in length within the Town. Funds must be used to promote tourism within the Town of Friday Harbor. Grant proposals are reviewed by the LTAC which is made up of council members, lodging owners, and community members appointed by the Mayor. The LTAC then provides recommendations to the Town Council on how to allocate the grant funds.

Interested parties should review the Request for Proposal (RFP) and complete the LTAC Grant Application available at Town Hall, 60 Second Street, Friday Harbor, WA, and at the Town web site: www.fridayharbor.org. Applications must be submitted to Town Hall by 4:30 pm Friday, September 1, 2017.  

Getting There! is Half the Fun.

San Juan Island Library Art Show
Saturday, June 17 10:00 am – noon

Bring your ready-to-hang Getting There art to the library for the community to enjoy. The art can be about travel and transport, or a personal experience, or your definition of the topic. All media are welcome as are all talent levels.

If you have art in the Reflections In Art show, please pick up your art at this time. Questions? Call Diane 370-5814

The Friday Harbor Film Festival Proudly Presents the Last in Our Winter Series – Audience Favorites: Lost and Found

The Japanese tsunami of 2011 swept an estimated 25 million ton of debris into the Pacific Ocean. Some of it eventually washed up on North American shores, to be recovered by beachcombers who, in many instances, wondered about the back-story behind the running shoes, boat hull or volleyball they’d found.

See the heartwarming results at the Grange 7:00 pm June 6th. By donation only.

Folks had a great time at the SJIMA “Art for Fun” classes in May.
Check out the new paintings offered in June at www.sjima.org. Just click on “Learn.”

Fellow Film Buffs,

Here is the complete line up of films for this year’s Tuesday Night Film Series at the Community Theatre:

Date-Title-Rating
Language-Buzz

• June 20 – 20th Century Women – R
  English – Oscar nominee, original screen play
• June 27, 2017 – Music of Strangers – PG-13
  English – Critics Choice nominee,
• July 4 – Red Turtle – PG
  Silent – Oscar nominee, animated film
• July 18 – Abacus – NR
  English
• July 25 – The Salesman – PG-13
  Arabic – Oscar Winner Best Foreign Film
• August 1 – I Am Not Your Negro – PG-13
  English – Oscar Nominee Best Documentary
• August 22 – Neruda – R
  Spanish, French
• August 29 – The Wedding Plan ** – PG
  Hebrew
• Sept. 5 – Land of Mine – R
  German, Danish – Oscar nominee, Best Foreign Film
• Sept. 19 – Limbo – R
  English

**Subject to confirmation, but we do have an excellent backup!

These are all incredible and we are very pleased to bring them to San Juan Island. Admission is either by punch card or cash at the door. Punch cards good for 10 admissions are on sale at the Theatre for $55. As a special inducement, folks under 25 can purchase a 10 admission card for only $35. Cards can be shared. Single admissions are $8 the night of the show. In addition to the normal snacks, popcorn will be available for $2 with free refills. Talk about a bargain! We are talking to island restaurants and hope to announce special pre-theatre dinner pricing soon. So invite some friends and make a night of it.

Please spread the word and email me at [email protected] if someone you know should be added to our distribution list. Finally, please volunteer to lead a short discussion after a film. To date, we have volunteers for “Abacus”, “Neruda” and “Limbo”. Volunteers can see their film prior to its showing at the theatre.
See you at the movies –

Larry Soll
Film Series Coordinator
San Juan Community Theatre