After the parade – Click to enlarge – Cere Demuth photo

Cere Demuth shares this photo with you of Spring Street right after the parade. More parade and July 4th photos are coming soon. Stay tuned….

From boogie and blues to Broadway hits to original songs from the islands’ own, San Juan Community Theatre’s Night Music Summer Concert Series returns for five weeks on July 10.

Premiering in 2012 to sold-out audiences each night, the Thursday night series is inside SJCT’s intimate Gubelman Theatre and adjoining Steele Memorial Garden, showcasing the variety of musical talents living on San Juan Island.

The live music starts at 7:30 p.m. each night, with a social hour in the garden starting at 7:00 p.m. Each evening has limited festival seating; all tickets are $12 each per concert. Special chocolate desserts, wine and beer are available for purchase.

Night Music Schedule:

July 10
David Bayley
Boogie, Blues and Beyond
Laura Lee Chorba
Acoustic Heart & Soul Chic-Rock

July 17
Carol Hooper
Broadway Melodies

July 24
Daniel Finn
Singin’ his own Songs
Ian Boulton
Acoustic Ballads

July 31
Archipelago: Sasha Von Dassow, Traci Wilson, Hanneke Klein- Robbenhaar
Midsummer Night’s Musical Potpourri
With special guest: Sue Collado

August 7
Laura Lee Chorba, Daniel Finn, Keith Busha and Susan Williams
Times are a Changin’ (Musical interpretations of Dylan)

The Business Partner for the series is Islanders Bank. The SJCT Box Office is open Tuesdays-Fridays, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturdays 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and one hour before any performance. Call 360-378-3210, or surf to www.sjctheatre.org.

Happy Fourth everyone!

Red Checkered Picnics will be offering goodies out at Lime Kiln for this event put on by F.O.L.K.S. – Get your barbecued hot dogs, salads and desserts. – Click the poster below to read more about the fun events planned…

Click to enlarge poster

San Juan Community Theatre joins more than 400 theaters across the country presenting the Metropolitan Opera’s Summer Encores, featuring select performances from its groundbreaking Live in HD series.

SJCT’s screenings feature five popular Live in HD transmissions on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. in the Whittier Theatre:

• Verdi’s Rigoletto (July 6)
• Puccini’s La Rondine (July 20)
• Verdi’s Otello (August 3)
• Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island (August 17)
• Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (August 31)

The Met: Live in HD, the company’s award-winning series of opera transmissions into movie theaters and independent theaters and arts centers around the world, has just concluded its eighth season, which was seen in 67 countries and in more than 2,000 theaters. Since launching the series in December 2006, the Metropolitan Opera has become the leading producer of alternative cinema content, recently hitting 15 million tickets sold with the live transmission of Puccini’s La Bohème in April.

In addition to The Met: Live in HD presentations, San Juan Community Theatre also rebroadcasts National Theatre Live productions from Great Britain. A schedule of the HD-live events is available at www.sjctheatre.org. SJCT’s partnership with both programs was made possible through a generous bequest from the late Dodie Gann and underwriting from the McGee Foundation.
Tickets for each of the Summer Encore screenings are $15 for adults and $10 for student reserved. Tickets are available on-line at www.sjctheatre.org or at the SJCT Box Office: 378-3210.

No Friday Art Market on July 4th – Tim Dustrude photo

Here’s a note from Debbie Pigman…
There will be NO Friday Art Market this Friday, July 4, at Brickworks.  We are taking a break to give folks a chance to enjoy the day with family and friends.

We WILL be back in full force on July 11 from 3-7pm, with at least 18 artists booths, food by Cynthia’s of Course, and music with Teddy Deane and The Rocky Bay Boys!

Thanks, and Happy Fourth of July!
Debbie Pigman
Friday Art Market Corrdinator

Check out Punky – this week’s Pet of the Week – Click to enlarge -Contributed photo

Sweet little Punky has been here at the shelter for several months. Sadly, she’s been declawed, and spends much of her time hiding under blankets, so often gets overlooked. She is extremely affectionate and would love to find a home with at least one soft lap to call her own. She has lived with other cats, but can’t defend herself, so should only live with non-aggressive cats or be the only cat in a home. She must be an indoor-only girl. She’s about 9 years old and up-to-date on her vaccines. The lucky person or family who adopts Punky will get so much love in return! Stop by the shelter soon to meet this lovely lady.

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Also – We are looking for animal care volunteers to help with dog walking, grooming & socializing cats and kittens and basic animal & kennel care. The shelter is looking for folks who can commit to a minimum of 1-2 hours once a week. Must be 18 or older. In-home foster care volunteers are also needed for newborn kittens as well as adult cats and dogs. Become a part of a group that makes a difference! Stop by for an application Tuesday thru Sunday, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm or call us at 378-2158.

Next Tuesday’s movie at Friday Harbor Film Festival is Salmon Confidential.

What’s killing BC’s Salmon? Click here for more info and a movie trailer…

WSU Director of the Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Nature Resources will Discuss Climate Change Impacts on Food, July 10th at Friday Harbor Brickworks

Learn how climate change is already having an impact on the world’s food supply, and what the future may have in store for crop production during an illustrated talk by Washington State University researcher, Chad Kruger, scheduled at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 10 at the Friday Harbor Brickworks. Topics will cover sustainable agriculture production practices as well as cutting edge research and education on the critical issues facing agriculture, which include climate change.

Kruger’s presentation is the third free program in The Climate Action Imperative: Understanding Impacts & Making Choices, a summer/fall speakers’ series featuring eight experts on Climate Change—from oceanographers to botanists, biologists to meteorologists. The series provides a current look at climate change and what actions are warranted by individuals as well as by our state and nation. For information about Newton’s program and the series call 360-378-2240, ext. 2227 or 360-378-6690 or visit our web sites at www.nps.gov/sajh or www.madrona.org. Continue Reading

The Drive-In movie feature this week is Back to the Future! It’s on Saturday, show starts at dusk. Get there a little early to find a good spot for your car. Click on the poster below for more info…

Click to enlarge poster

Click for larger poster

​On July 5th at WaterWorks Gallery, the annual summer jewelry event take place. This show feature unique and beautiful jewelry by:

• Dianne Coe, Contemporary beaded and ethnic
• Peggy Hunt, Up-cycled bicycle tire & bead
• Anna La Skibska, Modern crystal, glass, metal, rubber beads
• Jan Marie Tognela, Organic & traditional forms in Silver.

This event takes place​ at​ WaterWorks Gallery, 315 Argyle Avenue on Saturday July 5 and Sunday July 6 from 11-4pm. Meet the artists and learn what inspired their work.​

For further information contact Ruth at (360-378-3060 or
ruth [@] waterworksgallery [.] com

Just heard this from CenturyLink:

San Juan County fiber cut update
SAN JUAN COUNTY, Wash. – Local CenturyLink technicians continue with restoration efforts. Additional CenturyLink fiber splicers are expected on site at 5:45 pm. We are looking at an estimated time of [restored service] around 12:00 am.

Bob Jarman (on the right) among others, working to make repairs. This was at about 3:30 pm.- SJ Update photo

FYI – the Library has internet and WiFi if you need it…

Internet and phones are down on the island again today, including 911 service. I heard from Mike at Rockisland.com that there is a fiber cut at Argyle / Pear Point intersection. This has severed Long Distance, DSL, and Cellular services for San Juan Island.

I just talked with Steve Marler at the site and he said he was told service should be back up inside of 4 hours, and that’s the Murphy’s Law estimate, hopefully it will be much sooner than that.

And the latest from Mike Greene at about 3:50 pm is:

 UPDATE: 12 pair fiber to Turn Point cut, 48 pair to Bailer Hill cut. Just came back from site and 2 of 6 necessary fibers have been spliced (for the mainland link). Clink CO will verify light levels and hopefully the splices are good. ETA for mainland restoration may be another hour or 2.

Thanks Mike!

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From San Juan Island’s Stan Matthews:

A phone cable cut on San Juan Island has knocked San Juan County’s 911 emergency phone service off line outside of San Juan Island at approximately 1:45 p.m. today.
Individuals needing emergency response on Orcas should try 911 first. If the call does not go through, call Orcas Fire at: 376-2331.
Residents of Lopez Island should call their local fire station at: 468-2991.
911 service is still operational on most of San Juan Island.

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And here’s a note about it from CenturyLink:

A fiber cable on San Juan Island has been cut by an outside contractor, which is affecting CenturyLink services throughout the Islands. 911 services are impacted. It is CenturyLink’s priority to restore 911 services as soon as possible, as customer safety is our priority.  In the event of an emergency, residents on San Juan Island should go to the Friday Harbor Fire Department at 1011 Mullis St, Friday Harbor, residents on Lopez Island are instructed to go to the Lopez Fire Station at 2228 Fisherman Bay Rd in Lopez Village. Residents on Orcas Island should go to the Orcas Island Fire District at the fire station located at 45 Lavender Lane, Eastsound.

 CenturyLink technicians are on site working to repair residential and business services impacted by the fiber cut. They will continue to work around the clock if necessary to restore services. We apologize for any inconvenience this has created for our customers.

Classic yacht M/V Westward – Click to enlarge – Contributed photo

They’re doing day cruises this week on this beautiful classic yacht. Here are some reflections on the past 30 years cruising the islands by the owner…

After spending a bit over 30 years sailing, cruising and fishing among the San Juan Islands the sights and feelings are reduced to something akin to snap shots. A flash of a hunting group of Orcas swimming toward, and then under our salmon net while I went for minutes without taking a breath. A simultaneous full moon setting and sun rising on a cool and clear fall morning off Kellet Bluff. Breaking skim ice to leave Bellingham Bay on route to check our crab pots. Standing on the tombolo that separates Fossil Bay from Fox Cove on Sucia Island during a warm summer evening.

 Click here to read more about it.

“Jollification” in Spite of a Looming Great War – SJ Historical Museum photo

Here is this month’s history column from the San Juan Historical Museum… 

As we gear up for this year’s Independence Day festivities, we recall the year 1914 when Islanders gathered for the county’s first automobile parade, held on July 4 in Friday Harbor. The Journal reported that after the parade that year, townspeople walked to the ball game at the “Jim King grounds,” noting there was “jollification in the good old spirit of 1776.”

Ella Erickson Dightman is pictured here at the wheel of her first place entry on that day 100 years ago. We can assume her sentiments towards America’s involvement in the looming war in Europe were represented by the “Neutral” sign atop her vehicle. Exactly one month later, President Woodrow Wilson formally proclaimed the neutrality of the United States, a position favored by the majority of Americans at the time.

Join us this Friday on the Jim King grounds, now the site of the San Juan Historical Museum, where “jollification” continues at the annual Kiwanis Pig War Picnic. See you there!

Celebrating with confetti – Click to enlarge – Jan Bollwinkel-Smith photo

San Juan Community Theatre’s Silver Celebration last Saturday was both a trip down memory lane and a wonderful reminder of the island talents that still keep the Theatre thriving, taking us into the next 25 years.

Mixing live theater, song and dance performances with video clips and photo collages from the past, Artistic Director Susan Williams and CAO Mary Blevins and staff and volunteers created an evening of true community theater.

Check out the Theatre’s blog at http://sjctheatre.tumblr.com/ for photos and highlights!

Dancing Happy at the Silver Celebration – Jan Bollwinkel-Smith photo