Pablo Lopez, FHHS Class of 2009, and Hannah Snow, FHHS Class of 2010, share their thoughts on the upcoming Capital Projects and Technology Levy…

As graduates of San Juan Island public schools and recent college graduates, we’d like to ask you to vote ‘YES’ for the renewal of the school district Capital Projects and Technology Levy.

We are grateful for the excellent education provided to us by San Juan Island schools, which enabled us to go on to undergraduate and graduate school. In college, we realized the importance of technology education (‘STEM’) in primary and high school. Our college peers tended to have had earlier access to advanced math classes, computer programming courses, and hands-on science programs that gave them an advantage in the university setting. Unless our students on SJI are given the tools early on to keep up with technology, they will fall behind their peers in future academic settings.

One portion of the upcoming Levy provides funds to develop space at the elementary school for STEM activities, allowing students to start using technology at a young age, and all the way through their school careers.  The levy will also provide for replacement of aging computers, and training and support to teachers in using the new equipment, all of which are vital to the STEM education of SJI students.

We’ve found that STEM education can provide many benefits later in life outside of traditional STEM settings, including helping to develop critical problem-solving and communication skills, in addition to providing the tools to succeed in an increasingly digital world.

Pablo Lopez, FHHS Class of 2009

Hannah Snow, FHHS Class of 2010

FHHS Class of 2006 – Kathleen Ballard photo

On Saturday, February 6th at 12 pm there will be Photo Event for all the babies in town who will graduate in the year 2033. Qualifying babies were born between 8/31/14-8/30/15. The event will be held at the FH Presbyterian Church.

Please pre-register to get the details and to help the event run smoothly. Contact Alisa Scholtz by email [scott_alisa @ hotmail . com] or phone 378-4102.

What: Group Photo
Who: Babies Born August 31, 2014 – Aug. 30, 2015
When: Saturday February 6, 2016 at 12 noon
Where: Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church

We hear from Jandira McCarthy… 

I am looking to relocate my 88 year old Mom and her small poodle from Kentucky to San Juan Island and need to find a cozy, one story, unfurnished 1-2 bedroom long-term rental home/or apartment (in town or close to town) for her as quickly as possible in order to better assist her in these later years of her life. Please contact me at:  859-539-7281 (cell) or at:  [shelley.jandira @ gmail . com].

Moss – Peggy Sue McRae photo

When I heard on BBC radio about the burgeoning phenomena of moss viewing in Japan I thought, I’m in the perfect place for this activity. In Japan treks into the woods to view moss have become very popular especially among young women. In popular forests local guides now offer moss themed tours.

You will want to bring a camera, a 10 X magnifying glass, and a moss photobook advises Hisako Fujii, author of A Moss Girl’s Guide to Japanese Moss Viewing. I didn’t let it stop me that I only had my camera. The key they say is to get in close for a good look. “… it reproduces by scattering spores away from its body, and the organs it has evolved to propagate these spores reveal designs so elaborate you might mistake them for some kind of experimental art” says Fujii.

Some enthusiasts bring a spray bottle to mist the moss. A cloudy day or light rain “brings out the texture of wet moss in its most vibrant condition”. We are bound to have plenty of perfect moss viewing weather right here.

San Juan County Council has community meetings scheduled this week to answer questions about the proposed Shoreline Master Program. Meetings will be held Tuesday on San Juan, Wednesday on Orcas, and Thursday on Lopez. See the San Juan Calendar for details. If you wish to participate but feel you could use some preparation there will be a prep session held today, Monday from 9:30 am to 11:30 am at Skagit Valley Collage.  Plan to attend to prepare for the question and answer sessions with the County Council and learn more about the Shoreline Master Program.

If you are unable to attend, the session will be made available as video on the Friends of the San Juans Website and the Friends of the San Juans Facebook Page.

A winter scene with Orca from Captain James Maya…

Orca Whales in South Haro Strait – James Maya photo

January 2, 2016, K26 and a friend, one of the K14s, in South Haro Strait, headed west. The Olympics in the background. We were surprised to find them on the west side of San Juan Island as we headed out on our trip that day. Pleasantly surprised.

Dana Lynn Louis – Photo courtesy San Juan Islands Museum of Art

I stopped by the atrium of San Juan Islands Museum of Art on Friday to meet the artist, Dana Lynn Louis. Louis is in the process of creating an installation called As Above, So Below. Her floor to ceiling drawings of abstract patterns on the tall glass walls seem to suggest stands of DNA, prayer beads, or the floating sway of the marine environment.

The patterns painted onto glass were repeated on the floor by sun cast shadows elongating the forms. We talked about how the visual environment inside the glass building changes constantly with the weather and time of day.

Dana Lynn Louise’s invitation to the public to participate in her works has in the past reached global proportions. At the same time her abstract imagery relates to specific physical environments. These large-scale public works reference social and political concerns. We will be invited to participate in As Above, So Below.

Louis spoke of providing cushions and making the space one that “invites levity and hope in these difficult times”,  a space people will want to linger in. I think it is starting to work too because I left the museum feeling uplifted and inspired. Don’t miss this show. It opens on January 23 and will continue through April 4.

Dana Lynn Louis at Work – Photo courtesy San Juan Islands Museum of Art

Joel Arnold shares this letter with you about the upcoming School Levy…

This fall I had the opportunity to chair the SJI School District Capital Facilities Levy Committee.  As the election date is rapidly approaching this February 9th, I wanted to take a moment to share with the community the process by which the final facilities improvement recommendation was made.

First, I think it is important to note the committee of 10 members represented a good cross section of our community and included professionals and retirees, parents of students in our district, as well as several community members who had no direct involvement with our school district on a daily basis.  The process began with an extensive list of “potential” projects suggested by the faculty and staff of each of our three schools. We vetted that list with the principals of each school to ensure we understood the scope and scale of the suggested project.

Then as a group we toured each facility to directly inspect the areas associated with each proposal.  During these inspections, we were able to capitalize on the professional experience of our committee members which in many cases resulted with a revised or improved suggested plan of action and associated reduction in potential costs. Continue Reading

Mt Baker From Mt Grant – Nancy DeVaux photo

This time of year you can come around a bend in the road and suddenly catch a sight of Mt. Baker that takes you breath away. Nancy DeVaux sent us this photo of Mt Baker at its snowy best taken from Mt. Grant.

The Ogles Welcomed Home – Patty Brownlee photo

Organizers for the Benefit of Terry Ogle bring us this good news…

Terry and Janie Ogle arrived home on the afternoon ferry on Friday, January 8, 2016. They have been gone since August 1, 2015. Even though this phone picture is a bit fuzzy, you can see Terry’s wonder and Janie’s smile shining through. They are so grateful to be back to their beloved island.

Terry had a successful stem cell transplant on September 29. He and his wife Janie have been at Cancer Care Alliance in Seattle all this time. You may recall the huge fundraiser which was held at the San Juan County Fairgrounds on August 29. It was an event to remember.

Today several friends and family members showed up at various locations in town to welcome them home with banners, supportive waves and lots of heartfelt smiles. The island community is so precious. What a great place we live.

Welcome home Terry and Janie Ogle!

Hospice of San Juan will offer its 2016 Grief Support Group to anyone in the community who is grieving the loss of a loved one. This professionally facilitated group offers participants an opportunity to share their individual experiences and to acquire tools and resources for coping with their personal grief.

Registration is open for the four week session of 2016 Grief Support Group, which begins February 2, 2016 and continues through February 23rd. The group, which meets Tuesdays from 4-5:30 p.m., is facilitated by Lenore Bayuk, MN, ACNS. Lenore has been a nurse for more than 45 years and a Psychosocial Nurse Specialist for more than 40 years. She has worked with loss and grief in her own life and professionally as a nurse and psychotherapist. Lenore also facilitates the annual Grief and Loss: Getting through the Holiday Season program co-sponsored by Hospice of San Juan and the San Juan Island Library.

Contact Lenore Bayuk at 360-378-3636, ext. 1, to register. Early registration is advised as the number of participants is limited. A donation of $5 – 25 per weekly session is suggested to sustain this program; however, sessions are open to all regardless of ability to pay.

On Monday, January 11 the Conscientious Projector Documentary Series with Rob Simpson will present Gasland 2, a follow up to the Oscar nominated film Gasland. In Gasland 2, filmmaker Josh Fox uses his “trademark dark humor to take a deeper, broader look at the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil, now occurring on a global level“. The Conscientious Projector documentaries are just one of the film series hosted by the San Juan Island Library. Admission is free and refreshments are available courtesy of the Friends of the Library.

From the Soroptimists…

Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor will have Bingo at the Mullis Center beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 16, 2016. Games will also be held from 2 to 4:30 p.m. January 23, January 30, and February 6, 2016.

Bingo books for ten rounds with three cards per round will be sold at the door for $5 each. Players are welcome to purchase multiple books in order to play more cards. There will be modest cash prizes offered and refreshments will be sold at the break. Families are welcome.

If you would like to see a regular Bingo game in the community, please support this event.

For more information on this event contact Necia Quast at [collquas @ aim . com]. The money raised at this event will support Soroptimist scholarships and awards, the Cancer Transportation Fund, Women’s Emergency Fund, and other important projects.

Founded in 1996, the Friday Harbor club is part of Soroptimist International of the Americas, a global organization that works to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. Friday Harbor members join with almost 80,000 Soroptimists in about 120 countries and territories to contribute time and financial support to community-based projects benefiting women and girls.

In Friday Harbor the club raises and donates over $40,000 and thousands of volunteer hours each year to community projects. For more information about how Soroptimist improves the lives of women and girls, visit their website, www.sifri.org/ or see them on Facebook.

Darkness & Light: Grisha Krivchenia – courtesy Grisha Krivchenia

Many Islanders know Grisha Krivchenia through the music program that he founded and ran at the Spring Street International School. I used to hear him regularly when my mother was living at the Village at the Harbour and Grisha would come in and play, sometimes classical piano, sometimes modern, and sometimes with his jazz trio. This talented musician has been very generous with his gifts to the benefit of our community. Grisha now releases his new solo album, “Darkness and Light”. Here is how to listen to it and the artist’s album notes…

“I am overjoyed to announce the release of my new solo album! You can stream the entire work here for a limited time “Darkness and Light”. Please enjoy the album for free for now. You can buy CDs or mp3s if you wish to have the tracks on your own device or if you wish to support my musical life. Thank you for listening!”

Album Notes: “After a tour of the Western United States, I arrived in Washington State with a lot of great music under my fingers, in very polished form. So I splurged on a couple hours of studio time in one of the finest studios in the Seattle area, Rikki Swin Studio on San Juan Island.

The program I was running in the summer of 2015 was an attractive mix of Classical and contemporary masterpieces. I love how this set-list brought together fans of old music and fans of new music, allowing them to connect with their favorite genres in new contexts and also find beauty in the other half of the concert. Continue Reading