Fish for Teeth is funding its tooth-fixing efforts with another batch of fabulous FISH TACOS! The “Taco Team” will be at the Friday Harbor Ace Hardware this Friday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. These huge, tasty tacos are only $7 each, and are filled with wild Alaskan rockfish, Pablito’s salsa, and other premium ingredients.

“I just caught these rockfish on my last trip to Alaska,” says Matt Marinkovich, local commercial fisherman and Fish for Teeth President. “They’re gonna make some tasty tacos!”

Fish for Teeth raises money through these taco sales to support its mission to provide free dental care for individuals who cannot otherwise afford it. Money earned goes to fund the Medical Team’s International 40-foot Mobile Dental Van, which comes to San Juan and Lopez Islands to fix people’s teeth. Fish for Teeth has also launched a program to seal the teeth of all the second-graders on San Juan Island.

“We are a 100% volunteer effort,” says Marinkovich. “The local dental professionals volunteer their time, as do the many people who help schedule people to be seen in the van. We work cooperatively with the Health Department, and the Oral Health Coalition to make this all come together. It really is a community effort.”

The Dental Van is in Friday Harbor this Friday and Saturday, but those seeking care should apply through the Health Department or the Family Resource Center, or on the Fish for Teeth web page. The van comes to San Juan Island three times a year – in January, May, and October. For more information, or to donate or volunteer, please go to fishforteeth.com.

The Islands Chapter of the American Red Cross recently honored 10 community Real Heroes and two Outstanding Service volunteers. The awardees come from all parts of the chapter’s wide service area: Fidalgo/La Conner, Whidbey Island, and the San Juans.

Andy Wappler, veteran Northwest broadcaster and President of the Puget Sound Energy Foundation, announced the awards at the Islands Chapter Real Heroes Dinner on Friday, May 2 at the Port of Anacortes “Transit Shed” Event Center in Anacortes.

The evening also featured a salute to our Fallen Heroes in Washington State in conjunction with the Washington State Gold Star Mothers Chapter.

Recognition and appreciation were given to the following:

San Juan Islands Unit
San Juan County 911 Dispatchers – accepted by Supervisor Robin DeLaZerda
Waldron Island School students and teacher Joanne Colman Wester
Paul Neave – Outstanding Service Volunteer Continue Reading

Celebrate Spring with a friendly and free exchange of your extra garden plants, seeds, tools and garden art.

The Master Gardeners will be on hand to identify plants and give gardening advice.

The swap will begin promptly at 11:30 am at Brickworks on Sunday, May 18th, so come early to get the best selection.

Please bring healthy plant material labeled with type and variety. For more information, email Sandy Strehlou at:
strehlou [@] rockisland [.] com

This event is sponsored by the SJI Agricultural Guild

On Wednesday, May 14, 2014, the Town of Friday Harbor will award Partners in Preservation awards to Spring Street International School and San Juan Historical Museum for recent construction projects that both preserve and enhance Friday Harbor’s historic district and sites.

The event will be celebrated on the campus of Spring Street International School beginning at 5:00 pm. The public is invited and encouraged to attend to show support for the valuable contributions made to our community by both organizations.

King House at the Historical Museum – Contributed photo

San Juan Historical Museum
Since 2008, the San Juan Historical Museum has rehabilitated and restored five of the eight buildings on the museum’s campus. This represents a significant level of commitment to the largest concentration of historic buildings outside of the Town’s historic district. The projects included re-roofing four buildings, putting a new foundation under the James King House, and installing new siding and paint on other buildings.

In 2006 and 2012 the Museum added new wings to the existing barn, now home to the Museum of History & Industry. Today the barn represents 2,700 square feet of educational exhibits that tell the story of the island’s early core industries: fishing, farming, logging and lime.

Construction and design were made possible by the sale of a Historic Preservation & Conservation Easement to the San Juan County Land Bank and by private and corporate donations and grants.

Dorm at Spring Street Int’l School – Contributed photo

Spring Street International School
Spring Street International School encompasses two prominent residential properties near the top of Spring Street — the E.H. Nash house built in 1905 and the circa 1890 Perry family house. In recent years the school’s expanding enrollment has necessitated construction of several smaller buildings. In 2012 the school embarked on an ambitious campaign to build new classrooms and a dormitory as part of a plan to develop a cohesive and attractive campus. Working with the Town’s Historic Preservation Review Board and architect David Waldron, the school’s new buildings both compliment their historic neighbors and bring architectural vitality to the historic district and campus.
Partners in Preservation

Each year the Town of Friday Harbor’s Historic Preservation Review Board honors individuals and organizations that are helping to preserve Friday Harbor’s historic buildings, sites and unique sense of place. Both organizations being celebrated with preservation awards in 2014 have made extraordinary contributions to the community by honoring the history of each site despite the financial and architectural challenges inherent to historic rehabilitation and restoration.

The Town of Friday Harbor is honored to acknowledge them and hopes that citizens in and outside the Town limits will join the Mayor and the HPRB in presenting the awards.

For more information about this year’s event contact Sandy Strehlou, (360) 378-2810 or email:
sstrehlou [@] fridayharbor [.] org

Murphy, Jordan and Clover – click to enlarge

With kitten season upon us, we want to feature some of the amazing adult cats who have been here at the shelter far too long, through no fault of their own. We know kittens are adorable and almost impossible to resist, but we’re hoping some of these wonderful cats who are often overlooked can find their forever homes soon!

Jordan (on the left) is a big boy – part Maine Coon and part teddy bear. He was brought to the shelter over two years ago as a stray, so we don’t know much about his background. He loves to snuggle under blankets and likes attention and affection on his own terms. He’s a bit of a loner, but will seek out company when he’s in the mood for some cuddling or playing. He’s about 3 or 4 years old.

Murphy (center) has been at the shelter for over two years. He’s a “keep-to-himself” kind of cat, but has a very sweet, affectionate personality that comes out when he’s comfortable with someone. He’s about 10 years old and would love a nice, quiet home of his own.

“Clover” (on the right) is a beautiful green-eyed lady who has lived here at the shelter for almost two years. She LOVES attention and would make a perfect lap cat. Clover is about 11-years old.

Looking for young filmmakers and students who love movies.

The organizers of the Friday Harbor Film Festival invite San Juan County students to create and submit short films for the annual Young Filmmakers Festival taking place from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm on Saturday, November 8th, 2014.

The films submitted will be juried by a panel of student and adult film aficionados and must be 10 minutes or less including film credits. A selection of the films submitted will be viewed during the festival, along with a selection of winning films from regional student film competitions.

Students wishing to submit films are encouraged, but not required, to participate in the San Juan Island Library one-day intensive filmmaking workshop for students in grades 5th – 8th on July 24, 2014. For information call (360) 378-2798. The workshop is being taught by filmmakers Conrad Wrobel and Bruce Bosley who taught the popular Orcas Funhouse “How to make a zombie movie” workshops in 2012 and 2013. The 2013 workshop produced “Little Dead Riding Hood” which received acclaim at several regional film festivals. Continue Reading

Click to enlarge poster

It’s at the Grange, this coming Saturday from 7:00 – 9:00 pm. From Seattle, Michael Karcher calling with music provided by Red Crow:

• Susan Burke, fiddle
• Joe Micheals, guitar/bass
• Chuck Pliske, guitar/concertina
• Wayne Clark, fiddle/banjo/guitar

All dances taught. No partners or experience needed. Donation: $10, Students are half price. For more info, call: 378-3836.

Here’s a note from Travis Ayers and San Juan Soccer…

Please visit https://islandsoccer.org/programs/ to sign up. Fees are lowest from now until June 15th. Fees go up after that date.
Registration closes and waitlists are opened on July 13th. Waitlists close on July 25th.

Scholarships are available, so don’t let cost get in the way. Just email me and we’ll see what can be done. I know it is really hard to think about Fall Soccer right now, but we have to get signups done on this schedule to manage uniforms, team formation, etc etc etc so that the season goes off without a hitch.

I’ll also make my usual plea for volunteers, paid referees, and new Board members. It is easy to help in a small way!

As always, please contact me with any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions.

Sincerely,
Travis Ayers, President
San Juan Soccer
email: Ayers [.] Travis [@] gmail [.] com

Save the Fireworks Fundraiser at The Bean Café
7:00 – 10:00  pm, Saturday, May 10

We all love the 4th of July fireworks. But this year they are in trouble. The annual fireworks and barge fees cost upwards of $15,000 each year. We need your help.

Please bring a friend (and a checkbook!) to the Bean Café on May 10 and help SAVE THE FIREWORKS!

$20.00 suggested minimum donation at the door.

One text or call can wreck it all – ArriveAliveTour.com photo

One text or call can wreck it all…

The SJI Prevention Coalition is bringing the “Arrive Alive Tour” to Friday Harbor. This is a simulator that helps impress drivers of the dangers of Distracted Driving, and/or Drinking and Driving among other things.
They will be at the High School and open for students from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on May 16th (out in front if weather permits) with an additional hour from 3:00 – 4:00 open to the public.

You can see more about the tour at their website.

It is the hope of SJIPC to have local officials declare May 16th as Distracted Driving Awareness Day for our community. “Collectively, we have a much greater impact for the overall good of our community” says Debbi Fincher. “We hope by building awareness, drivers of all ages will put their cell phones down while driving. One text or call can wreck it all…”

Look at the size of that thing! – Click to make it even larger! – Contributed photo

Just got this note from the organizers of the new drive in Movie event at the Fairgrounds – Tonight is the inaugural evening for this…

Last night we tested the equipment for the new drive-in at the fairgrounds. This Friday, May 9,we are featuring “The Goonies” at dusk, the first movie of our summer season. The screen is huge, as you can tell by the very tall Fincher family there in the corner. Hope everyone comes out for this family-friendly event.

Your car radio station will provide the sound. We will have snacks too, but feel free to bring a picnic basket – See you there!

Here’s a note from Minnie Knych looking for your help…

Monday, May 26 is Memorial Day. We need volunteers to turn out and participate in the ceremony The Legion, SAL and American Legion Auxiliary will all be represented. Please report to Post 163 by 9:00 AM on Monday, May 26 to be a part of this important ceremony.

On the same day there will also be a memorial for Roy Matsumoto at the Brickworks from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

A letter of thanks from Spring Street School…

To the Editor:

Wow! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the 2014 Spring Street International School auction to support scholars and scholarships.

In addition to financial support, this wonderful community event helped raise awareness that tuition scholarships are vital to support Spring Street’s mission to provide local families with educational choice.

Most impressive was the outpouring of support for our new Rwanda Scholars program. As a direct result, we have already reached out to our partner school, the Gashora Girls Academy, to invite a second Rwandan student to attend Spring Street in preparation for entrance at a US college or university.

Our new venue, Brickworks, worked out beautifully, and the food was delicious.

Hats off to everyone who participated—sponsors, businesses, institutional partners, individual donors, chefs, setup and teardown crews, musicians, families, faculty, students, and attendees—for a job exceptionally well done.

How lucky are our students, especially our boarding students from abroad, to experience first-hand what a community can do when it pulls together.

Sincerely,
Laura Holden
2014 SSIS Auction Chair and SSIS Trustee

Don’t miss this fun event! San Juan County Parks & Fair invites you to their Annual Brann Cabin Bake-Off on Wednesday, May 14, 6:00pm-9:00pm at San Juan County Park!

Enjoy a relaxing evening of history, pie sampling, and those spectacular Westside views. County Parks has installed the doors and windows in the historic cabin—come take a peek!

Try your hand at baking and enter the ol’ fashioned bake-off contest. The fruit pie theme that was so successful last year continues! Don’t care to bake? There are pies to be eaten, so join your friends and neighbors to help out.

History Talk 6:00pm. Pie tasting, campfire, & pie judging from 7pm-8:30pm.
Any donations will go toward development of interpretation materials for the Brann Cabin.

Bake-off entry form: Download Entry Form Here (pdf)

For additional information, e-mail:
parks [@] sanjuanco [.] com or call (360) 378-8420.

Come to the Islands Energy Fair!

• Saturday, May 17th
• 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
• 95 Nichols Street, Friday Harbor

The fairs are co-hosted by OPALCO’s Member Owned Renewable Energy (MORE) Committee and Islands Energy, led by the San Juan Islands Conservation District.

Click for larger poster

These family-friendly events have something for everyone: free energy saving kits, prizes, workshops, solar crafts, and live music. Highlights include a solar home tour, electric vehicles, and demonstrations of energy-related technologies. Save money, win prizes, and help the San Juan Islands community increase energy resilience and become an energy-saving model for the nation.

Keynote speaker John de Graaf, author of Affluenza and co-founder of the Happiness Initiative, will provide his thoughts on how we can take charge of our energy consumption and our future. He will outline what drives our current energy use as he discusses AFFLUENZA, a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste. John will provide thoughtful and uplifting insights into how you can become part of a sustainable future. You are invited to join John for this important discussion, and participate in the energy fair to learn more about how you can be part of the solution. Continue Reading

Social media is revolutionizing the way we use the Internet, and its low- or no-cost tools can be used by small businesses to achieve remarkable results. Join instructor Victoria Compton to learn more about social media and SIM – social influence marketing. The workshop will be held June 3, from 9am-noon at the San Juan Island Library community room.

The course will start out with a basic overview of social media and SIM – definitions, best practices, and most effective platforms. Then it will cover tutorials on setting up a Facebook fan page, a Twitter account and tracking SIM campaigns using tools like Google Analytics.

Additionally, the class will look at SEO – search engine optimization – with an eye toward results in both regional and global search engines and markets. It will also cover QR codes and how you can use them for your business. The participants will leave the workshop with all the tools they need to create a robust marketing program through social media. Continue Reading