It’s tomorrow morning at 2:00 AM – Daylight Saving Time begins.

Spring is almost here and the days are getting longer.

Don’t forget to set your clock forward one hour – so at 2:00 it will really be 3:00.

A slide presentation by Judy Chovan at the Mullis Senior Center, Wednesday, March 12 at 7:00 pm

Havana was the playground of the rich and famous in the early half of the 20th century – Hemingway, Churchill, Astaire, Lansky all came to enjoy its casinos, music, rum, cigars, and tropical lifestyle. But in 1958, Americans fled Cuba as the revolution unfolded against dictator Fulgencio Baptista and Fidel Castro rose to power. Two years later, the United States imposed an embargo against Cuba and four years later we were embroiled in a tense nuclear standoff with the USSR over its Cuban missile sites.

In the intervening fifty years, what has happened to the people and the place? Cuba is a mere 90 miles away from Key West but it has been one of more difficult countries for Americans to visit and until the 1990s it was isolated from most of the world as well. The United States has normalized relations with Russia, China, Vietnam, and many of the other former Communist countries and members of the Soviet block – but not Cuba.

The slide-illustrated talk from Judy’s recent trip will show life in Cuba today, reflect back at 50 years of American policy, and discuss the new players in the region.

Here’s Captain Hobbes with this week’s update…

Orcas in the Channel – Click for larger view – Hobbes Buchanan photo

As I write this on Friday morning, there are transients on the west side and the Gray’s are coming! Like clockwork, #53 — nicknamed “Little Patch” — is the first gray whale to show up in the northern part of Puget Sound for the second year in a row. 22,000 gray whales make the 6,000 mile trip from Baja California to Alaska.  Around eleven make a pit stop here in our area to feed on ghost shrimp. Very impressive animals, around 50′ in length and weighing around 40 tons.

Our Southern Resident orcas known as J pod, along with L87 Onyx, have been in the Salish Sea this week, but last reports indicate that they were heading for the ocean.

We’re still seeing tons of sea lions, seals, porpoise, eagles and loads of beautiful seabirds that are still showing off their winter colors. Don’t forget to check out SJIVB & PWWA’s websites to see who’s running trips. And check out “Kiss the Sky, the Orca Freedom Concert” in Seattle on Earth Day! Cheers from the PWWA!

Insurance Settlement for the SSL Building

The Friday Harbor Port Commissioners are pleased to announce that they have arrived at a settlement with the Port’s insurance companies regarding losses from the fire that destroyed the Spring Street Landing building and Downrigger’s Restaurant. The settlement is in the amount of $2.635 million.

The Port is insured by Enduris, a risk-sharing pool for public entities in Washington, and by Lexington Insurance Company. The August fire destroyed a building that had been constructed and improved over many years in various stages and the loss required a detailed analysis of the structure in order to properly evaluate the loss.

The Commission will continue the discussion of a new building design at a special meeting on Tuesday, March 11th at 7:00 pm at the San Juan Island Yacht Club.

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Guest Moorage Promotion

Boats moored at the Port of Friday Harbor Marina – Update file photo

The Port of Friday Harbor offers guest marina customers a promotion intended to increase the number of returning boaters to Friday Harbor. If a customer pays for four nights of moorage, they will receive a fifth night free, similar to a coffee punch card. Visitors can use their free boat nights from September through June encouraging boaters to visit Friday Harbor during the shoulder season.

In 2013 the success of this promotion was substantial—the Port issued 367 free nights of moorage. According to professional survey consultants, the average boater spends between $100 to $200 each day at local establishments. During the slow season when boaters redeem their free night of moorage this results in $36,700 to $73,400 of revenue to the island economy.

Commissioner Barbara Marrett stated “The Port’s mission is economic development and this is something the Port does for the Town.” 2014 will be the fourth consecutive year the Port will offer this popular boater promotion.

Daylight Saving Time – some people love it – some people hate it. Twice a year, every year we all change our clocks. Sometimes it’s lighter later, or darker earlier. Sometimes we get to sleep an extra hour, or we have more trouble getting up for work on Monday. What do you think? Do you like the changing of the clocks?

Remember, answers to previous surveys can be viewed on this page.

Soroptimists Raffle Kaua’i Condo Stay

“E komo mai!” (Hawaiian for “welcome”), will be heard by the winner of the raffle for a 7-night stay in an ocean-front Kaua`i condo for two. Soroptimists of Friday Harbor is holding this raffle as part of their biggest yearly fund-raiser, the St. Patrick’s Day Extravaganza, March 15th at the Mullis Center. The retreat to sun and surf also offers a round- trip taxi ride from your front door to the Friday Harbor ferry terminal donated by Classic Cab coupled with a round-trip ride from Anacortes to SEA-TAC donated by Bellair Shuttle.

Tickets are $50 each and there will be only 100 sold. The chances of winning are excellent!

Raffle tickets will be available at King’s Market, March 8th & 14th 1:00 – 6:00 PM and at FH Marketplace, March 4th & 14th 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM. For more information or questions, contact Soroptimist members, Kim Galton, 378-1924 or Gay Graham, 370-7179.

Soroptimists of Friday Harbor will use the money raised for scholarships and a variety of programs that help island women and children. The current fiscal year will see more than $44,000 spent on community projects and grants.

Just got this note in from Lisa, the new owner of KO’s Subs about their event on Saturday…

KO’s Subs is celebrating its Grand Re-Opening under the direction of its new owner and  new manager.

Lisa Finelli and Don Adams will be serving samples of our three most popular sub sandwiches.

There will also be cake and free giveaways every half hour.  Come see us on Saturday, March 8th from 11:00 – 3:00pm.

KO’S Subs  180 1st St., right next to the ferry lanes.

Port Commission Meeting at San Juan Island Yacht Club
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 7pm

Meeting Agenda

1. Citizen comments/requests: For items not on the agenda citizens can make a brief presentation and ask the Commission to schedule a topic for discussion at a future meeting.

2. Regular Business

A. Approve minutes for February 26, 2014 Commission meeting (Note: Minutes are kept at the Port Office and on the Port’s website: portfridayharbor.org).
B. Approve vouchers and payroll.

Update on Spring Street Landing
3. Action Items:

A. Approve BC & J Architects Task Order for design development of SSL Building
B. Approve design changes to SSL Building
C. Approve PND Engineers Task permits
D. Approve RFP for Marketing Services
E. Approve airport land acquisition
F. Approve design and call for bids for airport electrical project, grading and taxiway marking

4. Discussion Items:

A. Review Final Draft Waterfront Master Plan
B. Airport and Marina Tariffs 2014
C. Waterfront History presentation
D. Joint meeting with Town Council

5. Port Director Reports

6. Port Commissioner Issues and Committee Reports:

7. Additional citizen comments/requests.

8. Adjourn

Left to right – Guthrie Burnett-Tison, Grace Willows, and Nelson Wynn – Contributed photo

In February the Friday Harbor High School Jazz Band participated in the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho. Both the Friday Harbor High School full jazz band and a six-member jazz combo performed for adjudication. 130 schools attended the 4-day event. Over two thousand students participated and 200 soloists were recognized.

Among those recognized were three Friday Harbor High School soloists who were awarded “Noteworthy Recognition” designations by the judges: Guthrie Burnett-Tison, for his flute solo in Chick Corea’s Spain; Grace Willows, for her clarinet solo in Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man; and Nelson Wynn, for his guitar solo in Spyro Gyra’s Catching the Sun.

“Our band students handled themselves with professionalism and total enthusiasm;” said Sarah Bost, FHHS Band Director, “I’m so proud, I could burst!”

Check out this link for more information on the Festival.

New Dental Associate joins Dr. Horn’s team at Friday Harbor Dentistry

I just heard from Peg over at Friday Harbor Dentistry that they have a new dental associate. Here she is with the story…

We’re pleased to announce that Dr. Horn has added a new dental associate to his team: Dr. Greg Fisher. As you’ll see in the attached backgrounder/press release, Dr. Fisher is a very experienced general dentist with extensive training in advanced dentistry including implants, cosmetic dentistry and full mouth rehabilitation cases.

Our goal is to continue to serve the growing and changing needs of our patients, and extend the scope of our services while minimizing the need for trips off-island for care. There are more details in the attached, of course, and please feel free to call me at 378-4944 should you have any questions.

The FHHS Senior Class 2014 Rummage Sale needs your good, usable donations! Drop offs at FHHS Commons Friday, March 14, 12:00 to 5:00.

The Rummage Sale and Bake Sale takes place on Saturday, March 15, 8:00 to 1:00. Please come and find some treasures, while supporting our 2014 Seniors. All proceeds go to support Graduation Night activities.

Four Women – Click to enlarge – Keith Busha photo

The final shows of San Juan Community Theatre’s winter play showcasing Britain’s unsung heroes of WWII, Lilies on the Land, start off with a “Bargain Night” THIS Thursday, March 6 at 7:30 pm in the Whittier.

Tickets are $5 off the regular $19 for adults and $3 off the regular $10 for student reserved.

Directed by Julie Laidlaw, the play charts the personal journey of four women, played by islanders Patti Bair, Cori Morrell, Pat Rishel and Joy Van Camp, who signed up for the endless hours of backbreaking farm work in order to do their best for the war effort during World War II.

Based on 150 letters and interviews with original “land girls,” the characters come from different walks of life, all having volunteered to leave their families and the basic comforts of home behind to deal with the hardships of farming life and the pressures of war.

Julie’s crew has created a beautiful set, including creative costumes and projection images from the time period and original art by Lyne McPherson.

Several songs from the period are included in the production, as well as Silent Night sung in German, Italian and English. The cast also features Floyd Bourne, Scott Dow and Dorian Oliver.

Lilies on the Land continues this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2 pm. Tickets: www.sjctheatre.org or 378 3210

Turn of the century, at the bottom of Spring Street.

On Thursday, March 20th the Port of Friday Harbor will host a Waterfront History presentation with local architectural historian Boyd Pratt. Old photographs and maps will be shown to explain the development of the Friday Harbor Waterfront. The presentation will begin at 7pm at the San Juan Island Grange. Hot beverages plus homemade cookies will be provided and we encourage everyone to bring a favorite pie to share!

Click to see poster (PDF)

Are you confused about the new Affordable Care Act? Many people have been reading about the frustrations of trying to enroll in a healthcare plan through Washington State’s new Healthplanfinder website. But here’s a piece of good news: according to the Washington State Health Care Authority, San Juan County leads the entire state in not only meeting, but exceeding targeted enrollment numbers of people qualifying for newly expanded Medicaid coverage – now called Washington State Apple Health. What that means is that a record number of our county’s residents who were previously uninsured now have affordable, comprehensive healthcare coverage for the first time.

If you are not enrolled in a health insurance plan, it is not too late. The enrollment window for health coverage through Washington State Healthplanfinder does not close until March 31, 2014. A community enrollment event is scheduled for Saturday, March 8th from 4 – 6pm at the Friday Harbor Library. Certified In-Person Assisters will be available to help people enroll in a health plan, troubleshoot existing open applications, or simply answer questions you might have about the Affordable Care Act and how it impacts your access to healthcare. Pre-registration is required. For a reservation, please call the San Juan Island Family Resource Center at (360) 378-5246

Friday Harbor residents may notice some limited tree removal operations on or near the airport over the next couple of weeks. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that any objects including trees, buildings, antennas, etc. that penetrate “approach surfaces” must be lighted, marked or removed.

In a recent safety inspection, certain trees were identified as obstructions in the approach surfaces on and around airport property. This will be the first phase of a comprehensive approach to topping and removing trees that penetrate approach surfaces and will help keep our airport safe and in compliance with federal aviation regulations.

The Port of Friday Harbor prides itself on trying to be environmentally friendly and will only take down or top those trees necessary to the safe operation of the airport. For questions please contact Dave Ryan, Airport Manager at
daver [@] portfridayharbor [.] org

BLM San Juan Islands National Monument Manager Marcia deChadenedes – BLM photo

The Islanders for the San Juan Islands National Monument will be hosting a Meet and Greet for the new Manager of the National Monument, Marcia deChadenedes.

BLM’s Spokane District Manager, Daniel Picard, will also be at the event which is being held at the San Juan Preservation Trust office, 468 Argyle Avenue, Friday Harbor from on March 12th 3 to 6pm.

All are invited to come by to meet Marcia and Daniel and talk with them about the San Juan Islands National Monument, the resource management planning process for the monument and the Resource Advisory Committee which is now in the process of accepting applications.

Marcia served for four months as interim monument manager last fall and March 9th joins the BLM’s Spokane District staff full-time in the monument manager position.

She has worked in management positions with BLM’s National Conservation Lands for 11 years, as the program lead at Colorado BLM, on the California Coastal National Monument, on the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, as Heritage Tourism lead for New Mexico, and at the Camino Real International Heritage Center. Continue Reading