Connecting in a technologically-obsessed world is the theme behind San Juan Community Theatre’s winter play. Auditions are being held on Wednesday, November 9 at 6:00 p.m. for Sarah Ruhl’s contemporary comedy, Dead Man’s Cell Phone.

Director Tyler Ryan will be casting two men and four women for the play, which is set in a quiet café, with an incessantly ringing cell phone, a stranger at the next table who has had enough, and a dead man with a lot of loose ends.

Auditions will be held at SJCT’s PARC Studio, 70 Saltspring Drive off Beaverton Valley Road. Registration for auditions at the SJCT Box Office is required; perusal scripts and sides will be available with a $10 deposit. The box office is open Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.  More information is available on-line at www.sjctheatre.org.

PERFORMANCES for Dead Man’s Cell Phone will be held in the Gubelman Theatre February 17 through March 4, 2017.

WaterWorks Gallery in conjunction with Seattle Metals Guild presents:

The Art of the Earring
November 5 – January 4, 2017

Jewelers were selected from members of the Seattle Metals Guild, juried by Micki Lippe, Virginia Causey & Ruth Offen.

Those selected jewelers created earrings using more or less traditional materials to some unconventional materials.

Reception for Jewelers
Saturday, November 5th 2- 6 pm

About Seattle Metals Guild: “The Seattle Metals Guild is dedicated to promoting educational and networking opportunities for metals artists at all career levels and skill sets through lectures, workshops, social gatherings, and other enrichment opportunities, in order to strengthen our creative community.”

For more information: Seattle Metals Guild

Anniversary Open House on Saturday, November 5, 10:00 am—6:00 pm

20% off on all books in the store

It’s that time of year again, and Griffin Bay Bookstore will hold its annual Open House and Sale on Saturday, November 5, 10:00 am—6:00 pm to celebrate 37 years of bookselling. You’ll find the bookstore brimful of the latest in fiction and nonfiction, with 20% off on all books on the shelves.

The annual Open House and Sale is Laura Norris’ way of thanking our island community for loyal support and ongoing patronage. Be sure to stop in for homemade cookies and coffee or apple cider, and shop to your heart’s content.

If you want to start on holiday shopping and take advantage of the sale, check these out: Continue Reading

Big fish, small pond: An atypical development strategy in a local fish species — no bones, all bulk!

by Daniel Geldof

The Soft Sculpin – UW Labs photo

Daniel recently finished his undergraduate studies at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences. He attended Autumn quarter 2014 at FHL, and continued his research there through 2015. He visits the Labs regularly, most recently this August for the scientific diver training program. Though engrossed by all marine life, he is most commonly found in Lab 8, pursuing knowledge of all things fishy.

Marine fishes usually start life with a larval phase, during which they are known as ichthyoplankton. Tiny and typically transparent, these animals experience an alien world and often bear little resemblance to their parents (Figure 1). With survival rates around 1%, being a larval fish is anything but easy. Born without skeletons, they are poor swimmers and worse hunters. Drifting in open water, unable to swim against tides and currents, their fates are often dictated by luck. The standard fishy solution to the survival problem is to lay huge numbers of eggs (tens of thousands to tens of millions), increasing the odds that a handful of offspring will pass through the larval phase.

Those that survive become juvenile fishes, capable of powerful swimming and effective feeding. They exit open water, moving to their adult habitat. For most fishes this transition is rapid, the larval stage lasting only a few weeks. Our study focused on development in two species of sculpin, linking morphological changes with behavioral shifts. Continue reading

The building at the corner of First and West Streets – SJ Museum photo

It’s time for the November edition of the SJ Historical Museum’s history column…

This weekend’s Friday Harbor Film Festival has its office all abuzz with action, so we offer a bit of history about its building at the corner of First and West Streets.

Pictured here is a charming but undated photo from a much earlier time, when these four unidentified citizens posed in their finery at the corner door entrance of what was then the island’s first automobile dealership. The dress styles we see are hints that it could have been 1916, the year painted above the door today. Other more general clues are the wooden plank sidewalk and the model of the car, partially visible in the scene.

We do know that A. J. Paxson opened this building in 1906 to house his Overland and Studebaker showroom, in combination with an adjacent garage owned by Calvin Lightheart and George Franck. The Boede Cement Company provided the cement construction “bricks” made in a building we know today as Brickworks on Nichols Street.

In time, Paxon’s showroom was taken over by George Franck and John L. Murray for a Ford dealership. Perhaps it was then that extensive remodeling was done, including the addition of several second story windows and the painted numbers denoting the year 1916. The most recent improvement to the building has been the return, just this year, of its corner door as seen in the present day photo. For many decades, a window had anchored the corner position.

When you walk or drive by this building, now home to the Friday Harbor Film Festival and its neighbor The Toy Box, remember a time of wooden sidewalks when the excitement was all about automobiles.

Brad Fincher and Deb Langhans – Carol Hooper photo

The issues of aging are highlighted in the next featured play of San Juan Community Theatre’s On Book! Readers Theatre series.

Eric Coble’s The Velocity of Autumn will be presented in the Gubelman Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday, November 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Artist Alexandria is nearly 80, and being pressured by her family to move to a nursing home.  When she booby-traps her 2nd floor apartment with homemade Molotov cocktails, her estranged son, Chris, climbs a tree, enters the apartment through the window and attempts to mediate.  Mother and son work through past and current issues in this comedy/drama look at the very real problems of aging for both generations.

Directed by Carol Hooper; featured readers are Scott Dow, Brad Fincher and Deb Langhans.

Doors open at 7:00 p.m. with festival seating. Admission is FREE. For more information on the series and other Theatre events, visit www.sjctheatre.org

Just heard that Black Fish Bistro is starting a weekly event to encourage wine tasting and socializing.

Starting this Thursday they are launching “Thirsty Thursday”. Come and taste wine, socialize, and enjoy appetizers from Chef Dutch from 4-6 pm.

The cost is $5- per person. Diners will also enjoy half off on bottles from the wine list with dinner.

140A First Street (next door to The Bean)
Friday Harbor

Dear Friends & Supporters of the Friday Harbor Film Festival,

We wanted to extend to YOU, plus our honored guests at this year’s festival: 

• Richard Chew, an academy award winning film editor and recipient of our Lifetime Achievement award for his 50 years in the business of filmmaking.  
• Bruce Barr our Local Hero award for his lifetime of high adventure and living each day to its fullest!  
• Pete Freeland, actor, astronaut, and special guest at each screening of The Last Man on the Moon,

and our Explorers Club members, our Board of Directors and our rock star volunteers – A personal invitation to attend a Sunday evening reception. 

Sunday, November 6, 6-7:30 at Mikes Wine Bar and Cafe in Friday Harbor, located at 135 2nd Street, only a block from our FHFF office in downtown Friday Harbor.  There will be food and libations.

The Film Awards follow at 8PM at the Whittier Theatre only a block and ½ away. Please do not miss this important event!

This year we are very proud of this years Friday Harbor Film Festival NOV. 4-5-6. It promises to be a great event with 51 films, in 6 venues over 3 full days!! Almost every film will have a Q & A session immediately following with either the filmmaker or a local expert.  Guaranteed engaging conversations ensue!!  

Please go to our web site to check out the films we will be screening as well as the special events… fhff.org

Also please go to our FB page to; like us, see film summaries and daily updates on our special events.   facebook.com/FilmHarbor/

If you plan to attend the reception Sunday night: 

PLEASE RSVP to [email protected], our fabulous and very capable assistant – (we need to know how many to plan for)

We hope to see you at the MOVIES!

Sincerely,    

Lynn Danaher, Director
360-472-1050

Karen Palmer, Producer
360-298-2240

Friday Harbor Film Festival

The Woodstock Generation – Photo McRae family

My generation was born after World War II. They called us the “baby boom”. They still call us “boomers”. We were the youth revolution of our time. I like to think of myself as the Woodstock generation though that might be a slightly smaller demographic. If like me, you are a hippie who moved to the Island in the 1970s and you are still here, we are the new seniors. Oh, I know, in spite of our grey hair and grandchildren we don’t think we are old. We reserve that honor for the courageous and honorable generation who fought and won World War II, our parents. But, time marches relentlessly onward and here we are, entering our senior years.

We are blessed to be coming into our senior years on this island. Although we have lost a few friends along the way, for the most part, thanks to modern medicine and healthy living most of us are still in pretty good shape and maintain active busy lives. We have an excellent variety of health care options, the best emergency care, good food, and many ways to enjoy the beauty of nature. We also have a fabulous senior center.

For only $20.00 you can become a member of the Mullis Center Senior Center and it is worth paying attention to the benefits available. Besides the well-known lunches and the twice-monthly low cost mainland trips (now only $10, funded by membership dues), there is a loan closet if you have a temporary need for a wheelchair, or crutches and more, legal assistance for low-income seniors, dental assistance for low-income seniors, a veterans advisory board, support for care givers… and much, much, more.

Just last week at the free Medicare forum I learned that because I have already started getting Social Security I need to be alert for a large white envelope a few months before I turn 65. It will contain my Medicare card. Then if I need to make a decision I can make an appointment for good, free advice. I might have tossed that out with the junk mail if I didn’t know.

I look forward to growing old with you my friends, those who have been here all along as well as those who have recently arrived. We have a beautiful place to spend our golden years. Let’s lean on each other when we need to and help each other out when we can. Together, may we live long and prosper!

Be sure to mark your calenders for the Mullis Center Pancake Breakfast Sunday, November 6th! From 9:00 am to noon, eggs, crispy bacon, and all the pancakes you can eat. $6 for adults, $4 for kids (12 and under). Yummy Cinnamon Rolls and good company!

Saw this when browsing the web and just had to share it with you…

You couldn’t go anywhere in town today without seeing someone in costume. Click to see some of the people I ran into today…

[Show slideshow]

Stillpoint School wishes you a Happy Halloween – April Embler photo

Stillpoint School shares this photo to wish you a Happy Halloween!

The 2016 FHES Halloween Parade went through town this morning in spite of the rain. And what a long parade it was! Click the link below to see 214 images – your child is probably in there somewhere…

Continue Reading

PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center Hosts ‘Fireside Chats’ –
Free Community Education Events – Louise Dustrude photo

Self-harm and suicide is topic of PeaceHealth’s upcoming Fireside Chat

PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center’s fall series of Fireside Chats continues on Thursday, November 10, with the topic “Understanding self-harm and suicide.” The chat, led by Gary Waters, MSW, Ed.S., DBH, is from 4 to 5 p.m. in the medical center’s main lobby. There is no fee to participate.

Self-harm and suicide continue to be a major public health concern and leading cause of injury and death for many health populations, especially in rural areas. Additionally, there are many myths and beliefs about self-harming behaviors and the causes and responses to suicidal thoughts and gestures. This informative and brief presentation will discuss self-harm and suicide from the public health, psychological and medical perspective, as well as provide a broader and more in-depth understanding of their causes, effects and treatments.   

Fireside Chats are free community education sessions offered by PeaceHealth Peace Island. The next Fireside Chat is on Thursday, Dec. 8, from 4 to 5 p.m. Topic is “The holidays are crazy: A discussion of feelings and emotions.”

Gary Waters is a behavioral health social worker at PeaceHealth Peace Island. He has experience in educational psychology, clinical social work, family therapy and chemical dependency treatment.

By Louise Dustrude

Facing the end of life, most people would prefer to die at home surrounded by their loved ones rather than in a hospital hooked up to modern-day machinery.

Hospice exists to help people make that choice.

The official Medicare-affiliated Hospice of the Northwest, in Mt. Vernon, can provide pain medication. It offers doctors and nurses, pastoral counseling if desired, and various therapies.

Medicare requires hospices to provide a volunteer component, but it’s obviously impractical for volunteers to come here from the mainland — perhaps for a one-hour visit — and so we have a second group here, Hospice of San Juan, comprised totally of volunteers.

There are currently 41 volunteers, not all available at all times of the year. The volunteers have the choice to accept a particular “case” or not for any reason.

They can provide caregiver respite, help with chores, education, various therapies, grief support, and a service called music and memory for patients with dementia. Some will walk dogs; others will bring their dogs to brighten the patient’s day. They may drive patients around the island or to medical appointments.

The two groups collaborate in many ways to help their clients; and both have durable medical equipment to lend.

THE WORD “HOSPICE” comes from the same root as “hospitality,” not “hospital,” according to Mariluz Villa, M.D., who heads up the local volunteer group.

Unfortunately, some patients can’t stay at home for one reason or another, and our local PeaceHealth Peace Island Hospital has a pleasant room set aside for hospice patients, but because of a bureaucratic glitch it can’t be used for that purpose. Continue Reading