Dealing with Grief and Loss – Tim Dustrude photo

The holiday season is often stressful for many of us and it is especially challenging after having lost a loved one. So many rituals and memories are associated with the holidays. With our loved one gone, everything will be different. Many feelings begin to surface. Remember, you do not have to suffer through the holidays alone.

Come to learn and to share about how to cope during this time of year.

Lenore Bayuk, MN, ACNS, will facilitate the group. Lenore has worked with loss and grief in her own life and professionally as a nurse and psychotherapist. She has been a Psychosocial Nurse Specialist for 40 years and a nurse for 45 years.

A new Grief Support group will be offered beginning February 17, 2015, running six consecutive Tuesdays, 4-5:30 pm. This group will also be facilitated by Lenore Bayuk.

Call Hospice grief coordinators Madelyn Busse 360-375-6052 or Margaret Langlie 425-466-6601 with any questions about this event or other grief support groups.

Monday, November 10, 2014, from 9 – 11 am in the Community Room at the San Juan Island Library
Co-sponsored by the San Juan Library and Hospice of San Juan

Here’s a note from Merri Ann Simonson about internet service on the island…

I have never thought of San Juan County as being as remote as a Third World Country although many of my friends tell me they are leaving for “America” when they go off island. I guess I was shocked and appalled to find out that the level of Internet service that is offered in our communities is less than most Third World Countries. I thought the poor service was just at my house or my computer.

As I was personally uninformed, I decided to write this article as a layperson so that the options for our Internet service could be easily understood. I have purposefully not used acronyms and the technical terms. I hope that this article won’t make the technical persons in the industry LOL, too much.

As I understand, there are several avenues for consumers to obtain Internet service in our County and they include the following: Continue Reading

I took a trip out to South Beach and the west side Thursday afternoon to get some shots of the windy weather. Here are a few of my favorites. (click the photo to go to the gallery page)

South Beach Surf’s Up – Tim Dustrude photo

Photo Submitted by Friday Harbor Sailing Club – Photo Credit: Wally Lum

The Round the County Race will be this weekend…November 8 and 9. This is one of the biggest PHRF sailboat races in the Pacific Northwest. The event is again co-hosted by the Friday Harbor Sailing Club and the Orcas Island Yacht Club.

Over 90 boats are registered this year and so it promises to be very exciting! Saturday they begin in Rosario and go clockwise around the county going past islands Blakely, Decatur, Lopez, past Cattle Pass, Salmon Banks and finishing near Mosquito Pass. Sunday they continue out of Roche Harbor and on around the islands of Stuart, Patos, Sucia, Matia, Clark and the east side of Orcas back to Rosario Strait.

This Saturday, grab a lunch, binoculars or camera and plan to see this spectacular race on the west side of San Juan Island. Go to South Beach, Lime Kiln Park or generally any public location looking towards Haro Strait. It is not possible to predict the exact time the boats will come by so pick a spot to wait and watch. The race goes on regardless of weather.

Friday Harbor Sailing club promotes sailing and power boat activities including races like RTC. Casual potluck dinner meetings are 5:45pm on the second Tuesday of each month at the Grange except for Summer BBQs and the December party. To attend as a guest please contact Don Hendrix at 378-4590 or go to www.FridayHarborSailing.com. You don’t have to be a sailor to enjoy the camaraderie and good food as power boaters are also very welcome.

The Community Thanksgiving Dinner is moving to the Mullis Community Senior Center. Here’s Minnie Knych with the details…

Jim and Minnie Knych – Contributed photo

After 15 years at the Grange, we are moving to a bigger venue for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner. There will be more seating for diners available at the Mullis Center. But the menu will be the same: roast turkey, dressing, green beans almandine, mashed potatoes, maple yams, and Waldorf salad.

There are still openings for volunteers to help with the preparation and serving of the meal. Call Minnie or Jim Knych at 378-7040 if you want to volunteer.

We will be serving dinner from 12 noon to 5:00 pm. Bring a pie for the pot luck dessert table or just show up on Thanksgiving Day at the Mullis Community Center to enjoy a wonderful island tradition.

Here’s a cool video posted on San Juan Update in 2011 by Ian Byington.

Here’s the website for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner.

Add this to your weekend garage sale list: the second Flea Market at the SJC Fairgrounds is THIS Saturday! Sift through treasures and crafts November 8th, from 9:00 am to noon. After this weekend, mark your calendars for December 6th for the final Flea Market of 2014.

The organizers from the Fairgrounds say that flea markets are even better by “word of mouth” so if you plan to sign up, tell your friends and tag them on Facebook or Twitter.

Interested in selling your goods? Contact the Fairgrounds by email at
info [@] sjcfair [.] org before 4:00 pm on Friday November 7th.
If you have any questions, please email or call  (360) 378-4310 M-F, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Pocket beaches, those small beaches located between rocky headlands that play such a prominent role in the character of San Juan County’s marine shorelines, also play a key role as habitat for rearing juvenile fish, including salmon, forage fish, lingcod and greenling.

FRIENDS of the San Juans recently secured state salmon recovery funding to help a private landowner restore a pocket beach on Orcas Island. “The location is within a priority surf smelt spawning region of the county, and the project will restore fish habitat by removing extensive creosote wood and rock from over 200 linear feet of beach and bank,” said Tina Whitman, FRIENDS’ Science Director.

Final designs are in progress and implementation is planned for late summer of 2015. For more information on beach habitat, restoration opportunities or creosote removal programs, please contact FRIENDS at 360-378-2319 or
tina [@] sanjuans [.] org.

Here’s a message from the County Health Department. Let’s hope we don’t need this here…

San Juan County’s Health and Community Services Department has established a multi-agency command system to insure medical care providers and local government agencies are prepared, should a suspected case of Ebola virus disease be reported here.

Dr. Frank James, San Juan County’s Health Officer, and Dr. Mike Sullivan Emergency Medicine Department Chair of the Peace Island Medical Center and medical program coordinator for several emergency response agencies are handling outreach to local health providers.

“To date, we have had no reports of Ebola virus disease, or of anyone returning here from affected countries,” said San Juan County Environmental Health Manager Kyle Dodd, “But we need to be ready to respond quickly and appropriately to protect the public, insure the safety of our first responders and medical personnel, and to provide the best possible medical care for anyone returning to our County who may have been exposed.” Continue Reading

Just heard that Cotton Cotton Cotton is celebrating their 5 Year Anniversary with a big sale. Here’s Gail with more…

Friday November 7th through Sunday November 9th everything in the store is 50% off (excluding jewelry and Solmate items). Our hours are 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Come in and help us celebrate!

Dinnertime in the San Juans – SJ Historical Society photo

Here’s the Historical Museum with their monthly column for November…

November brings thoughts of harvest dinners and Thanksgiving holiday gatherings, so we went searching in the archives for vintage images of dining scenes. On the left, we see a festive 1911 gathering at the Orpha Higgins Sutton house. Orpha must have hosted many family dinners in her 100 years of life. Her headstone at Valley Cemetery states “Her Joy Was Her Family.”

In the other image, a somewhat rare interior scene, we note an impressive dinnerware collection displayed in the Wilson cabin at Sportsman Lake (date unknown). We hope these fine dishes are still being used by members of the Wilson family today. If you have information about either of these images or would like a copy, please contact the San Juan Historical Museum. www.sjmuseum.org

Robby Miller and Uma Hu are putting on a Charity Trail Run for Russian orphans for their community project – Contributed photo

Here’s a note from a couple of FHHS Juniors in the Community Projects Class…

Hello, we are Uma Hu and Robby Miller. We are attempting to put on a charity trail run to raise money for an orphanage located in Russia, from where Robby was originally adopted. This is for our Junior Community Project. We are hosting the run at the Roche Harbor natural trails, on November 9th starting at 10:00 am. Depending on how many times the contestants wish to loop, it would be a four to eight mile run.

We have already opened up an online registration that you can look at through our Facebook page.

Thank you so much for your consideration!
Uma Hu and Robby Miller

Anniversary Open House on Saturday, November 8, 10:00 am — 6:00 pm

20% off on all books in the store

On Saturday, November 8, 10:00 am—6:00 pm Griffin Bay Bookstore is celebrating 35 years of bookselling with the annual Open House and Sale. This annual sale with 20% off on all books on the shelves is Laura Norris’ way of thanking our island community for loyal support and on-going patronage, and dedication to an independent bookstore.

You’ll find the bookstore crammed with all manner of books and things literary, as well as a wide range of gift items, perfect for getting you started on your holiday shopping. As usual there’s an ample supply of stationery, boxed cards, holiday cards, thank you notes, sticky notes in various shapes and colors, journals, the traditional-looking Moleskines, others more colorful and zany. There are plenty of 2015 day planners and calendars to get you off on the right foot in January. Continue Reading

Here’s FHHS Athletic Director Rod Turnbull with another Fall Playoff Update…

Many exciting games were played last week in wolverine athletics. All had an impact on post season play for Friday Harbor. With these exciting games, we also learned some great news regarding two of our teams. Both our boys and girls soccer teams were announced as the Academic State Champions for the 2B classification. A great accomplishment. Congratulations to both teams and their coaches for their efforts and commitment to both athletic and academic achievement.

Below is updated information on the playoff opportunities for each sport. While the avenue and the structure of each post season opportunity varies depending upon the sport, each team will be playing for the right to advance on to the state level of the playoffs. Continue Reading

The County Council is searching for San Juan County citizens to fill current and upcoming vacancies on various boards and commissions. Additional information about each committee is available on the County’s website.

Persons interested in serving on a board or advisory committee should fill out an Advisory Committee Application or Contact the Council Office at: (360) 378-2898 or email: sueko [@] sanjuanco [.] com

The following is a list of current and upcoming vacancies: Continue Reading

Garden of d’Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens – Contributed Photo

San Juan Island’s Garden Club invite’s you to register now for a hosted excursion on December 6th to the Bellevue Botanical Garden. The trip will leave Friday Harbor on the 8:05 am ferry December 6th, returning on the 4:30 pm boat December 7th. There will be planned stops at Skagit Valley Gardens and Molbak’s Nursery. Cost of $125 (reservations required by 11/15) includes: Mainland transportation, Garden d’Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. Additional cost includes Red Lion Hotel ($101.82) room, breakfast for two, tax and shuttle; also meals, ferry ticket and gratuity.

This trip is an opportunity to celebrate the sights and sounds of the holidays in three garden settings. Or, it can be a holiday shopping spree with driver, room and breakfast provided. Best of all indulge in a joyful combination of both for two whole days. Do join us!

For more information check out The San Juan Island Garden Club Website or contact Dot Vandaveer – dot [@] rock island [.] com – 378-8306,
Kathie Forsyth – Kathie.Forsyth [@] edwardjones [.] com – 378-5071,
Theresa Hill – thill355 [@] yahoo [.] com.
or Vonnie Harold – yeharold [@] rockisland [.] com – 378-2447.

Local Mother, Poet/Playwright, School Board member, Producer of Write Doe Bay and Blogger  Jennifer Beck Furber has been picked up by Huffington Post with her essay about the recent Marysville school shooting. Very thought provoking, and well written with a different angle than what most of the media these days does with an event such as this. Check it out…

Through Her Eyes, Only (How I’ll See the Marysville Shooting)

I always want to know about the hearts that break more than I want to hear about the one who breaks hearts. I want to believe in safety and peace and wake tomorrow to know that the shooting in Marysville — which marked the 39th school shooting since January 9, 2014 — will be the last. I need to know this is the one that changes it all. I need to believe hearts will swell and it will never be otherwise.

Actions like this begin with a break, a shift. Be it a chemical brainwave or physical shockwave, every move leads to another. Death starts long before the safety is off. [Continue reading at Huffington Post.]