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Cellist Sasha von Dassow – a former member of the Florida Orchestra and music director and conductor of the North Port Symphony – returns with his second annual festival and a goal “to provide a traditional chamber music experience that brings full length, professional performances of great works to San Juan Island.”

Each of the festival performances will be completely different, with music for two, three and four players at a time and will include Schubert’s Piano Trio in B Flat Major, a technically challenging 45-minute work from a composer who “carries you away in a way that some other composers don’t.” Brahms and Beethoven pieces will also be presented as well as island composer Alex Shapiro’s Piano Trio, Elegy.

The festival also features a rotating cast, including Sasha, pianist Charles Enlow and violinists Cecilia Archuleta and Eugene Bazhanov of Seattle,violist Eileen Swanson of the Pacific NW Ballet Orchestra, clarinetist Sue Collado of San Juan Island and operatic Todd Wilander.

Wednesday, June 30 & Friday July 1 7:30 pm
Sunday, July 3 2:00 pm
Whittier Theatre

$22 Adults
$11 Student Reserved
$5 Student RUSH available at door only.
Tickets available online at www.sjctheatre.org or 360 378 3210

Polecat rocks the Rumor Mill Sunday night

It’s always a good time at the Rumor Mill! Join us to cap off a glorious weekend – 8:00 pm Sunday, May 29th.

The view looking southwest from the top of Mt. Young – Tim Dustrude photo

June 4th is National Trails Day, a Saturday to celebrate being outdoors on a trail. The American Hiking Society started this annual celebration to honor the many ways trails connect Americans to the land and to each other. Whether one is on foot, on a bicycle, on horseback, or in a kayak or canoe, June 4th is the day to commemorate our unique heritage of preserving natural areas and beautiful parks, and the plants and animals living in them.

Residents and visitors of San Juan Island are invited to celebrate with a hike up Young Hill at English Camp on Saturday, June 4th, starting at 9:00am. National Historical Park Service staff and Island Rec Trails Committee volunteers will lead a walk up the newest trail to the top at 650 ft. elevation. The two mile hike up the south side of Young Hill is fairly steep in places, climbing through meadows laced with Garry oaks, as well as Maples and Firs, especially coming back down on the main trail past the cemetery. Wildflowers will be open still for everyone to enjoy as well as well as the frequent raptors and circling vultures. Meet at the parking lot at English Camp and try to ride share if possible.

Children will enjoy this hike with its grand views westward from the top, but please leave dogs at home.

Happy Trails to you all, and we hope to see you on June 4th to celebrate with a walk together on this special day for honoring trails.

• Where: English Camp Parking lot – hike up Young Hill and back
• When: Saturday, June 4th from 9:00am – 11:30am
• Distance and difficulty: 2 miles – moderate but fairly steep at times
• No dogs please
• Children should be accompanied by a guardian or parent

San Juan County has adopted an Unmanned Aircraft System (“drone”) policy for County parks and the fairgrounds. Beginning on February 2, 2016, the launching, landing, or operating of unmanned aircraft systems from or on all San Juan County Parks & Fairgrounds property is prohibited, unless authorized by special permit issued by the Parks & Fair Director. The permit application process is intended only for special circumstances and operators must agree to comply with strict terms of use.

Like many state and national parks across the country, the primary concerns in county parks & fairgrounds are related to hobbyist drone use that potentially impacts wildlife, public safety, negatively changes park user experiences, and impacts personal privacy. Nesting birds and small terrestrial animals, often not noticed by the casual observer, are affected by drones flying too close. At waterfront locations, seals, shorebirds, and otters can be disturbed.

Leave No Trace principles 5 and 7 ask us to respect wildlife and be considerate of other visitors. This includes observing wildlife from a distance, not following or approaching, and protecting the quality of everyone’s experience. “Let nature’s sounds prevail. Avoid loud voices and noises.”

These public spaces are to be treasured and preserved. When you visit, consider unplugging from technology and connecting with the exceptional natural experiences available in the San Juan Islands.

Sheila Harley photo

Sheila Harley, Public Information Officer for SJI Fire/Rescue shares this announcment…

At approximately 1:43 PM the afternoon of May 27, 2016 the first wildland fire of the year on San Juan Island was reported burning near #2 School House Road. Responding units included a Type 3 brush truck, three command units, two water tenders, a back hoe and 13 firefighters. Personnel extinguished the approximate 1/2 acre fire which was located in heavy brush and sparse timber at 4 PM.

Gusty winds and fuel arrangement, combined with unseasonably dry conditions are the major contributors to the fire’s spread. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

A big thanks goes to our volunteers for the great job they did and for helping to keep our community safe.

The County invites you to play along and contribute to the accuracy of their maps…

For hundreds of years, humans have used maps for navigating to new worlds, charting unknown locations and recording histories. Today, the county uses building footprints in maps for dispatching emergency responders, planning land use designations, appraising property values and designing proper infrastructure. County maps are also used by real-estate professionals, delivery companies, transportation providers, developers and construction companies. As communities grow and infrastructure changes, maps need to be updated.

Building footprints are simple outlines of the exterior walls of buildings. Usually they are traced from building plans or aerial imagery and include eaves and overhangs. The county has two sources of building footprint maps. One source is hand-traced and has not be updated in several years. The second source was more recently traced using proprietary software without human input. We’ve studied some of the results of both sources and determined that one source is not always better than the other. So we need to compare each footprint one by one. With 18,000 footprints, this is no small task.

We are asking for your help in reviewing our footprint data. Use the “Footprint Review” website to compare and select the better building footprint. Review and vote often to unlock “achievements” and brag to your friends. Your votes are tallied and saved and will be published in the final maps. The final footprint data will also be published on the County website.

Footprint Review Website

A quarterly review of County Finances by County Auditor F. Milene Henley
First quarter 2016

If you’ve ever wanted to be a plumber, now’s the time. Judging from the number of radio ads I’ve heard recently for plumbers, HVAC technicians, and other tradesmen, business is booming.

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That’s good news, and it’s evident in retail sales activity in San Juan County. In the construction sector, sales in the county dropped 21% in 2009, and another 12% over the next two years. Recovery since has been slow and uneven, but has shown marked improvement in the last couple of years.

Similarly, both general retail sales and retail sales of food and lodging dropped in 2008 and 2009, though not nearly so deeply as construction dropped. Recovery in those two sectors has also been more consistent than in construction, with steady increases in the last two years.

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These improvements in the economy benefit County government in two ways: permitting and planning fees, and sales tax revenue. Permitting and planning are precursors to building. Like construction sales, they fell sharply in 2008 and 2009, and their recovery has followed the same pattern: uneven, but with a definite upward trend. 2016 is looking especially good, with an estimated increase of about 9% over 2015. Continue Reading

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Learn how to prevent or reverse degenerative disease at The Mystery of Water workshop, by Nicholas Corrin, OMD, on Saturday, June 25, 2016, 2:00 – 5:00 pm at Island Soul Studios, 689 Airport Center Road.

Workshop includes lecture, visual imagery, and fluid movement practice, all pertaining to water: its role in nature, in health, in energy, and in spiritual development.

Water is the sine qua non of life. Without water, life ceases. God would have been unable to create the world without it: Genesis says water was there prior to Creation itself. Water is the ultimate mystery, the essence of who we are.

When it comes to health, nothing is more vital. All our tissues are fed and bathed by biological waterways. Nerve bodies may transmit electrical charges, yet they are fundamentally hydraulic systems, bodies of water run by pumps. We must keep these pumps primed. Otherwise, as we age, toxins stack up and block our circuits. This will inevitably result in aging, sickness or poor quality of life. Continue Reading

Friday Harbor’s July 4th Parade – Mark Gardner photo

Prize Money Increased for 2016 Event!

Applications are now available for the 2016 4th of July Parade. Parade organizers are expecting a full field and participants are encouraged to sign up early due to limited parade space and time considerations. The forms are available at the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce office, 135 Spring Street, or may be downloaded from the Chamber’s website.

Thanks to a generous donation from King’s Market, the prizes to be awarded have been significantly increased as follows:

• $600      Best Use of THEME – Float
• $400     Best Use of THEME – Non-Float
• $300      Best Use of THEME – Children/Youth
• $300      Judges Special Choice
• $200      Best Costumed Group
• $200      Best Animal/Animal Group
• $200      Best Off-Island Entry
• $100      Best Vehicle

Continue Reading

New Day Garden has Dahlias, Dahlias, Dahlias, and this is your last chance for tubers!

Come join us for our annual Spring Bling Event. Friday May 27th and Saturday May 28th 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

San Juan Dahlias still has about 50 varieties of choice tubers available for this spring planting. We will be available to answer questions and give planting and growing instructions. All of our varieties are good cut flower growers.

Special pricing – All tubers: $3.00 each. Plus, get 1 free tuber from our mystery bin just for stopping by!
1220 Cattle Point Road, Friday Harbor. Phone: 378-4048

New Day Garden ~ Beautifying our world, one flower at a time ~

Volunteer to help with the SJ Fitness / Lakedale / King’s Market Triathlon and Marathon this year and help out Purple and Gold at the same time!

Every year, Purple and Gold receives a stipend from SJ Fitness for coordinating volunteers for these events.

Purple and Gold, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, then uses this money to help support sports and athletic programs at the school – Things like sports uniforms, food for state-bound teams and also 2 scholarships every year: 1 for a boy and 1 for a girl.

You can help support these programs by volunteering to help with the Triathlon and Marathon happening this year on June 18th & 19th. Click here and SCROLL DOWN the page to sign up to volunteer. Or visit their Facebook page  and let them know you’re wanting to help out.

Elektra – Contributed Photo

Greek tragedy meets early-20th-century Freudian psychology in Richard Strauss’s opera, Elektra, the final installment of the 2015-2016 The Met:Live in HD season. The opera will be screened at San Juan Community Theatre THIS Sunday, May 29 at 2:00 pm.

The genius director Patrice Chéreau (From the House of the Dead) didn’t live to see his great Elektra production, previously presented in Aix and Milan, make it to the stage of the Met. But his overpowering vision lives on with soprano Nina Stemme—unmatched today in the heroic female roles of Strauss and Wagner—who portrays Elektra’s primal quest for vengeance for the murder of her father, Agamemnon.

Tickets are available at 378-3210 or www.sjctheatre.org

Golf Scramble – Contributed photo

Dear Editor,

The May 22nd 10th Annual LEO (Leadership, Experience, Opportunity) Club Golf Scramble was a success! We had beautiful weather and lots of support for this event! We give thanks to the enthusiastic players, generous sponsors and auction donors, the staff at the SJI Golf & Tennis Club, our hamburger chef, Harvey — and volunteer LEOs and Lions!

The annual golf scramble and auction earns money which our high school LEO Club gives back to the community in the form of community project grants, donations to worthy causes, and the most fun donation of all: the Santa Ship event over winter holiday at the middle school, where LEOs provide a toy for each child who visits our Lion Santa!

We ask that our community support the local businesses who support our student LEOs:
Windermere Real Estate, Islanders Bank, Islanders Insurance, Roche Harbor Resort, Harbor Rental and Saw Shop, ValMark, Harvey’s Excavation, San Juan Vineyards, China Pearl, Haley’s Bait Shop, Friday Harbor Drug, The Bean Café, Friday Harbor Ice Cream, Williams Enterprises (gravel), Mike’s Cafe and Wine Bar, Blue Water Grill, Pelindaba Lavender, Office Center NW, Hungry Clam, Vinny’s Ristorante, Friday’s Crabhouse, and Sweet Retreat & Espresso.

-BJ Brandli
LEO Advisor

Contributed Photo

It’s fun for the little ones and their adult friends in the Gubelman and patio garden at San Juan Community Theatre THIS Saturday, May 28 from Noon to 2 pm.

CATS’ annual FREE Teddy Bear Picnic features face painting, cookie decorating, refreshments, and live music with local musician Kirk Fuhrmeister

4-H’s learning and having fun – Contributed photos

Gail Leschine-Seitz, 4-H Program Coordinator at the WSU Extension office shares a Shout-out to United Way of San Juan County for supporting the 4-H Educational Scholarship Fund…

Funds were used this year to send twenty-two 4-H’ers to the Whatcom County Youth Fair in in Lynden, Washington this April.

At the two-day event youth choose one project to build skills in: San Juan County youth choices included lawn mower-pull, chess, home economics, large and small animal care and showmanship, and dog agility.

Hands-on fun and learning was had by all!

Another very worthwhile program for youth that would not be possible if not for United Way of San Juan County!

Merri Ann Simonson – Contributed photo

Merri Ann Simonson shares this…

In the current market it is much more affordable to buy an existing home than it is to purchase new or custom construction. Why is that?

On San Juan, home prices peaked in 2007 and bottomed out in 2012. During that period, approximately 30% in median home price was lost.

More so with the median land prices, they peaked in 2006 and the median price decreased approximately 62% during the recession.

The costs of materials and labor did not change during the recession. As agents we were quoting estimates of $235 -$250 per foot for mid-level new home construction costs before the recession, and are quoting that now as well. This price per foot will afford some hardwood floors, custom cabinetry, granite, and a high-end appliance package, if you spend wisely.

Some homes on the island have been built for as high as $1,000 per square foot. Those sellers that decided to sell after building their dream home at those levels may lose money as the market rarely supports those extra fine improvements and unfortunately, all the receipts in the world do not make a home more valuable than the market is willing to pay. Of course, inventory of similar homes will have an impact on sale as well…

Continue reading on Merri Ann’s site… (PDF)