“Out with Winter doldrums– in with some fresh air for Springtime!”

Bonnie Turman, Friday Harbor’s craftsperson extraordinaire and owner of “Creative Passions”, will share ideas and inspiration for colorful, playful and useful, decorations and crafts for the home and garden. With Valentine’s Day and Easter fast approaching, it’s time to awaken your inner craftsperson and celebrate the season.

At every meeting, we enjoy general discussion of gardening issues and gardening experiences of all in attendance. The topics among members and guests usually range from greenhouse gardening, container gardening, to gardening with seasonal crops and beyond… It’s a great forum to bring forward discussion of your gardening questions since many members are Master Gardeners and others are experienced gardeners in all aspects of gardening.

All are welcome! Please join us for tea, coffee, dessert and a wonderful program.

RSVP to Marguerite Bennett at 378-8524 or just drop in and join the discussion.
Visit our website for more information.

The Land Bank is partnering with the San Juan Island Trails Committee on the development of the American Camp trail – a path linking Friday Harbor with American Camp National Park. We will be hosting work parties in January and February to build just over a quarter mile of new trail along Cattle Point Road thanks to the donation of a recreational trail license from a private property owner.

At the request of the land owner we will spend the first couple of work sessions salvaging native plants from the trail corridor. This will be followed by trail construction, though participants will be encouraged to continue salvaging plants when convenient.

The Land Bank will provide snacks, and tools, but encourages people to bring their own if desired. Please wear weather appropriate clothing.

Meet:
Limited parking is available at 2661 Cattle Point Road – look for the white Land Bank Event sandwich board. Please stay parked on the gravel road and not off to the sides! Additional parking is available at 3043 Cattle Point Road – approximately .4 mile south of the work area. Click here for dates:  Continue Reading

Mike Vouri – Contributed photo

Meet Mike Vouri, Historian and Chief of Interpretation of the San Juan Island National Historical Park to “Take a Hike With Mike” before he retires!

Hear about the Pig War. If you think you’ve heard it all before, listen up! Mike keeps learning more and new aspects of our history on this island.

We will walk and hear what he has found out.

• Meet and park: American Camp main parking lot.
• Distance: 2 miles total.
• Terrain: park trail, not challenging.
• Rating: moderate.
• Dogs on leashes okay
• Saturday, January 24th, 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Rain or shine. For more information, email info [@] sjitrails [.] com

From front to back and left to right: Katie Wilkins, Kim Bryan, Becki Day, Erin Corra, Bella French, Annette McCullough, Sara Waugh, Jodi Spitalli, Liz Taylor, Gregory Maynard, Daniel Vekved, Robert O’Connell and Dave Sather – Contributed photo

The LSJI professional development program began its new session on January 9 with its “Orientation Day” held at the Harrison House in Friday Harbor.

Thirteen islanders from San Juan, Orcas and Lopez make up the 11th cohort, who will meet for 12 sessions around the islands during the next five months. Co-directors Morgan Meadows and Tara Dalton will lead the group, with several of LSJI’s more than 120 alumni participating in specific sessions. These sessions include presentations and discussions with local leaders in business, government, education, local economics, agriculture, nonprofit, the arts, social welfare and environmental issues.

The second session planned for January 23 and 24 is an overnight retreat in Orcas where participants will discover more about their personal leadership styles and engage in various processes of facilitative learning.

For more information on LSJI and to learn more about volunteer and donation opportunities, visit www.lsji.org.

Among the many things that make the San Juan Islands special is the pleasantly surprising quality of cultural offerings. Beginning with its debut in 2013, The Friday Harbor Film Festival has presented thought-provoking documentary films that entertain, enlighten and inspire.

Thanks to more than 150 volunteers and 63 businesses and organizations, the second annual Friday Harbor Film Festival was extraordinarily successful. During one weekend in November, over 3000 islanders and visitors viewed an exciting selection of 30 full-length and 12 short films all in some way related to the Pacific Rim. This was a 55% increase over the 2013 inaugural year attendance!

Plans are already underway for this year’s Festival scheduled for November 6, 7 and 8, 2015 and featuring films about island cultures, marine ecology, environmental issues, great adventures and those who live and work near the world’s largest ocean.

To help ensure the success of the 2015 Friday Harbor Film Festival, Pacific Islands Research Institute has launched the Friday Harbor Film Festival Society. Benefits of Society membership range from ticket discounts to all access passes. Producer and Founder level donors are also entitled to attend receptions with the filmmakers and participate in private whale watching charters. The purpose of the FHFF Film Society is to give individuals who believe the FHFF is an asset to our community, an opportunity to support this wonderful event well into the future.

Information about Society membership as well a schedule of the ongoing 2015 Winter Film Series can be found on the Festival’s website at www.fhff.org.

Kerwin Johnson cooks up some delicious Fish Taco goodness at last May’s Fish Taco event – Tim Dustrude photo

Fish for Teeth will be selling fish tacos on Friday, January 23 from 11am-2pm in front of the San Juan Island Community Theater. The fish tacos are $7 each, and are made with wild Alaskan rockfish donated by Matt’s Fresh Fish, fresh salsa from Pablito’s Taqueria, and other quality ingredients rolled into a giant flour tortilla (they are actually burritos). All profits go to support Fish for Teeth.

Matt’s Fresh Fish will also be selling frozen, vacuum-packed Rockfish for $8 per pound, and frozen vacuum-packed Sockeye fillets for $10 per pound. Fish for Teeth’s signature Blackcod tips will also be for sale for $15 per pound, which will go towards Fish for Teeth programs.

Fish for Teeth is starting its fourth year of bringing the Medical Teams International mobile dental van to San Juan County. To date our local volunteer dental professionals have provided an estimated 275 visits, equal to $170,000 in dental services, to those who otherwise cannot afford dental care. The “ToothMobile” comes every January, May, and October. Last year the FHHS ASB contributed generously as well. Continue Reading

San Juan Island Sculpture Park – Contributed photo

San Juan Islands Sculpture Park is inviting sculptors to submit recent digital photos (max 2 exhibits and max 2 photos per work) to be reviewed by their blind selection process jury of sculpture professionals and academics. Selections will be based solely on pictures of your work as no other information is provided to jurors.

Since becoming an independent non-profit organization in 2012 they have sold more sculptures on behalf of artists in 2013 and 2014 than in all prior years of park operation combined. The park visitor count in 2014 was well over 30,000 people.

All sculptures have artist name, piece name, advertised price and the Sculpture Park phone number which receives calls 24/7. The park is open year round.

For submission instructions and complete details please visit their website at www.SJIsculpturepark.com.

Anna Marsh

The Salish Sea Early Music Festival is coming to Friday Harbor Saturday afternoon, January 24 at 2:00 pm at the San Juan Island Grange at 152 First Street. Here’s a note about the concert from Salish Sea Festival’s Jeffrey Cohan:

Our opening 2015 Salish Sea Early Music Festival performance features Tacoma native and Ithaca NY resident Anna Marsh who is constantly in flight from one baroque bassoon performance to another with orchestras and groups all around the country and in Canada, along with harpsichordist Jonathan Oddie and myself. We hope to provide a completely new impression of what “bassoon” and “flute” mean in the baroque context: Sweet and warm, with fuller textures and a high degree of supple flexibility. We’re really looking forward to it and hope to see you there! – Jeffrey

Jeffrey Cohan

It will be a remarkably intimate and refreshing experience featuring:

• Anna Marsh ~ Baroque Bassoon
• Sand Dalton ~ Baroque Oboe & Flute
• Jeffrey Cohan ~ Baroque Flute
• Jonathan Oddie ~ Harpsichord

Need more? Here’s a review of a program earlier this month in Vancouver, BC: Continue Reading

Ballet Improvisation & Choreography Workshops on January 24th and 31st

Get your body moving and creativity flowing! Salish Sea Ballet presents a two-week ballet improvisation and choreography workshop for children and adults on Saturday, January 24th and Saturday, January 31st.

Attend one or both of these sessions – no experience is necessary (bring a friend!). Studio Owner & Artistic Director Jeanne Marie Peihl will inspire dancers to dance “outside the box” and apply ballet technique to improvisational dance.

Dancers will discover their unique impulse for movement, explore the connection between inner self and outer expression, and learn to develop unique choreography.

Two Saturday sessions: January 24 and 31, 2015

• Young Dancers (ages 6-10): 11am – 1pm
• Adult students: 1:30pm – 3:30pm

Attend one week for $29 or both weeks for only $49! Current Salish Sea Ballet students (who have taken at least one class in the same month as the workshops) receive a 10% discount on the workshop fee.

Space is limited, so be sure to pre-register. Email dance [@] salishseaballet [.] com or call 360-298-1720 to reserve your spot!

Fireside Chats at Peace Island Medical Center – First free community education event is this Wednesday – Louise Dustrude photo

PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center (PIMC), at 1117 Spring St. in Friday Harbor, is launching a series of free, public community education “Fireside Chats” as part of its new “Healthy You” program.

The first “Fireside Chat” will be from 4:00 to 5:00 pm on Wednesday, January 21st in the PIMC lobby by the fireplace, addressing end-of-life care. Future chat topics will include diabetes and drug and alcohol poisoning.

“Healthy You” is a program that provides resources, tools and information to support individuals in their health and wellness journey. At PIMC, “Healthy You” is launching with a series of community education “Fireside Chats” on the following topics:

• January 21st: Advance Directives, End of Life (Ross Fewing)
• February 18th: Diabetes (Dr. Cheryl Kubisty)
• March 18th: Alcohol and Drug Poisoning Treatment in the ER: for Teens and Young Adults (Dr. Jason Heiner).

For more information on the “Fireside Chats,” please email: acloud [@] peace health [.] org or click here to learn more about “Healthy You”.

Shoreline construction in progress – Aaron Shepard photo

If you’re heading out onto the Spring Street Landing pier, you’ll have to take a detour from the adjacent fuel dock. They’ve got it kind of dismantled where it used to reach the shore as they work on the bulkhead replacement.

Baby Arianna needs our help

This note came into the Update mailbox from Jillian Reimer this weekend about Baby Arianna who is very sick and could use our help…

Hi there. Could you please share this Go Fund Me account? The parents of Baby Arianna grew up in Friday harbor (Bruce Turman and Kellyann Mahone) and they are in desperate need of our island love.

Thank you! Gofundme.com/kbj1r0

Radar is this week’s Pet of the Week – Contributed photo

Dear nice person,

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “What an adorable dog!” I know. I am pretty cute. But that’s not all! I’m also very smart. I know for certain I’m smart because I’ve been “tutored”.

My name is “Radar” and besides being adorable and smart, I’m also a really fun guy to be with. I’m only about a year old, so I’ve got lots of energy and LOVE to play, play, play. I also enjoy brisk walks. Did I mention I like to play? I also love chasing cats.

I think you should get in your car and come to the animal shelter to meet me right away, don’t you? I’ll be here waiting for you…

P.S. – I’m not very good at waiting.

Hospice of San Juan launches a new series of workshops this month to help people take control of a part of life that nearly no one knows how to approach comfortably, that is aging. Whether it is parents, spouse, partner or ourselves, this series answers many questions. It’s called “Coping with Change”.

Each month, we will offer a topic that addresses fundamental information need so that you may take back some control over your life, and the life of your loved ones (or those you are responsible for). San Juan Island Library kindly provides space for the workshops, which will be held on the third Wednesday of each month.

This month’s meeting will deal with the forms we should be thinking about as we age, such as POLST, Advanced Directives, Powers of Attorney (did you know that there are multiple kinds that work in some situations and not others?). How do you find them? How do they get filled out? Why do they matter? and when do they apply?

On Wednesday, January 21st, 6:00 PM you may go to the Library and find out. Cyrus Field, resident of Shaw Island and an attorney with over twenty years of experience in elder care issues, will discuss those forms and how you may use them to make sure that end-of-life not be synonymous with end of control. When coping with change, sometimes the best approach is to meet challenges head on. Come and find out how to do just that.

Downtown Friday Harbor in the 1960’s – Contributed photo

The Town of Friday Harbor is looking for two people to fill immediate vacancies on the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB).

The best candidates are people who appreciate Friday Harbor’s history and historic sites, and are willing contribute two evenings a month to help preserve Friday Harbor’s rural character. This time around at least one of the positions must be filled by a Friday Harbor resident.

The five unpaid citizen board members who make up the HPRB, are appointed by the mayor to help to guide the Town and the owners of historic properties toward the common goal of sensitive preservation of historic buildings for contemporary use. It is nuanced work that also requires a willingness to collaborate and the desire to serve the community.

And above all, the HPRB is the advocate for historic buildings that have no voice of their own, except in our memories.

For information about board duties and responsibilities, or to submit a resume, visit www.fridayharbor.org or contact Sandy Strehlou, Historic Preservation Review Board Coordinator, Town of Friday Harbor, 378-2810,
sstrehlou [@] fridayharbor [.] org, or PO Box 219, Friday Harbor.

Renée Fleming stars as the Merry Widow – Contributed photo

The great Renée Fleming stars as the beguiling femme fatale who captivates all Paris in the next edition of The Met: Live in HD, screened at San Juan Community Theatre on Monday, January 19 at 7:00 p.m.

Fleming adds a new role to her extensive repertory when she sings her first-ever performances of Hanna Glawari, the title role in Lehár’s The Merry Widow. Four-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman makes her Met debut as director and choreographer in this new production of the comic operetta, in which a wealthy widow’s countrymen launch a romantic plot to keep her—and her tax dollars—within their borders. Sung in English, highlights of the score include the familiar “Vilja Song” for the title character.

Stroman and her design team of Julian Crouch (Satyagraha, The Enchanted Island) and costume designer William Ivey Long (Cinderella, Grey Gardens, Hairspray) have created an art-nouveau setting that climaxes with singing and dancing at the legendary Maxim’s. Andrew Davis conducts.

Tickets for The Merry Widow are $20 for adults, $18 for SJCT members and $10 for student reserved. Due to a financial agreement with the Met, no SJCT coupons are accepted for these productions. Tickets are available on-line at www.sjctheatre.org or at the SJCT Box Office: 378-3210.