Well, it looks like two islanders – a writer & a cartoon artist – are moving ahead in their work, and the recognition that goes with it. Both are in contests now, and you can help them by voting for their work! Let me tell you about this, starting with Wendy Wiegert & continuing with Aaron D’Errico. Here’s the scoop:

Wendy

Wendy told me about her contest three weeks ago, and she has made it into the second round. She tells me that the prize is getting her book published (wahoo!) and now that she’s in the semi-finals; by my count, there is only she & six others still standing.

Here’s the deal: The contest involves writing one’s story around the title of a song, and Wendy’s is “In Walked Love,” which is even cooler after you read her synopsis.

Last round, people voted for the different contestants’ synopses, with voting ending last weekend & Wendy moving to the semis. This round, she & the other contestants share the first 300 words. People vote on that every day till July 7th (yep, the contest says you can vote every day! I did!)

So, here’s the link to the contest (Wendy’s story is “In Walked Love”) – see what you think (not to influence your vote, but I read the others, and liked Wendy’s the best)…and vote!

++++++++

Ammon…the cover. Art by Aaron D’Errico.

That could lead to Wendy’s story coming alive in print. Meanwhile, my good friend Aaron D’Errico is aiming for getting his first comic book made, as he explains in this detailed note about how you can help. He placed in the top 20 of three different Stan Lee Talenthouse art contests, so he’s been chosen by Talenthouse to launch his own global art contest to find an illustrator to draw the 22-page comic book for his soccer-hero, Ammon©.  

His success story was featured on TalentHouse’s blog – you can read it here. (Wow!)

He says:

I was wondering if you you would help me get the word out about my contest, because by me getting enough participation for my contest I could be sponsored and have my first comic book made.

Here’s the link where artists enter my contest, via Talenthouse. Here how it works, and I’ve also included the contest info/guidelines below as well.

Aaron (hat) with his twin brother Adam….photo by Ian Byington

“Calling ALL artists!”  Have you ever dreamed of illustrating a superhero comic book?  Now’s your chance!

Local award winning artist and writer Aaron D’Errico is hosting a global art contest via Talenthouse.com to find a great artist to illustrate the origin story of his futuristic soccer superhero: Ammon!

Artists can download the five page comic sample script I wrote for Ammon, as well as art references of my character designs.

I was selected to be a contest host after placing in the top 20 of three different art contests for Talenthouse, hosted by legendary Spider-Man co-creator, Stan Lee.

The goal of the contest is to get as many artists involved as possible.

By getting enough interest from artists participating in my contest on Talenthouse, I will be sponsored by Adidas, Nokia, or Vitamin Water. Continue Reading

Daniel Finn performing at last year’s event

It’s an island-style evening of juke box favorites from local musicians as San Juan Community Theatre opens its popular Night Music Summer Concert Series on Thursday, June 27.

Four singers and guitarists will share hit songs from three decades: the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s—expect plenty of surprising renditions of old favorites! The musicians featured are:

• Kirk Fuhrmeister
• Ian Byington
• Daniel Finn
• Steven Keyes

The series continues weekly through August 8 (each Thursday with the exception of Friday, July 19), with a variety of musical styles showcased. The live music starts at 8:00 p.m. each night in the intimate Gubelman Theatre, with a social hour in the Steele Memorial Garden (complete with special chocolate desserts, wine and beer available for purchase) from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Each evening is limited to 60 guests; all tickets are $10 each per concert.

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.

Kevin Holmes has a couple more photos to share of eagles. Check ’em out…

Thanks Kevin!

Eagle in flight, click for larger version – Kevin Holmes photo

Eagles in flight, click for larger version – Kevin Holmes photo

I just heard that the Friday Harbor High School Multi-Year Reunion (classes 1964-1971) will be held on July 27th from 3:00 – 7:00 at the American Legion basement.

It will be a potluck. If you have any questions, you can call Diane Buganski at 378-5560 or Cooky Gossom at 378-5208.

After nine years of analysis and review, the Federal Highway Administration, Western Federal Lands Highway Division and National Park Service have each approved Records of Decision (RODs) for the Cattle Point Road Realignment Project located on San Juan Island, Washington.

The project is a partnership between the Federal Highways Administration, National Park Service, San Juan County, and Washington Department of Natural Resources. Approval of the RODs allows the agencies to begin final design and construction of the project, pending funding.

The agencies have selected alternative B for construction. This alternative was identified as the preferred alternative in the Final Environmental Impact Statement published in September 2012. The alternative will realign a 4,950-foot section of Cattle Point Road located in San Juan Island National Historical Park. The new alignment will shift the road about 300 feet upslope from its present location, which is expected to protect the roadway from coastal bluff erosion for about 100 years.

“The realignment of Cattle Point Road will preserve road access through San Juan Island National Historical Park to Cape San Juan, and to the light house and picnic areas at Cattle Point,” said park superintendent Lee Taylor. “The National Park Service and San Juan County are collaborating to obtain funding to complete this important project.”

The ROD is the final step in the National Environmental Policy Act process. The ROD outlines the rationale for the decision and measures to minimize environmental harm that will be incorporated into the final road design and construction. The Cattle Point Road Realignment Project RODs are available for download or viewing at http://www.wfl.fha.dot.gov/projects/wa/cattlepoint/. Print copies are located at the San Juan Island Library in Friday Harbor.

June Arnold sends this public letter of thanks…

Thank You, Blue!

For the past 6 years I have been just one of many volunteers who have supported the youth program of Friday Harbor Baseball and Softball.  One of my roles was to coordinate the umpires for the boy’s Major, Minor and Junior programs.  Now that my son is a moving from the Elementary School fields up to Hartman Field, I will hand this job off to another parent volunteer.  But as I leave I would like to thank all the men and women who have answered the call to umpire youth baseball and softball. Continue Reading

Lynn is looking for volunteers to help with the F.H. Film Festival. Here she is with more…

The Friday Harbor Film Festival is being coordinated solely by a group of dedicated volunteers that all believe in the importance of conveying timely and relevant issues to our community by means of film. By hosting 3 days of award winning documentaries, special events, a film maker’s workshop, a children’s cinema program and an art walk, we hope to attract many more visitors on our shoulder season as well as many interested residents. Putting on a Film Festival is a lot of hard work but the joy and simple pleasure of creating something very special to benefit our entire community cannot be overstated.

The FHFF needs volunteers for several of the tasks at hand so anyone willing to step forward would be welcome. We especially need responsible individuals to take a leadership role for specific tasks and events during the FHFF. The most important is another volunteer coordinator. We have one individual that has agreed to take on this task but it is a job for at least 2 individuals working together.

Our volunteer schedule is forming and we will have both 2 to 4 hour segments of time during the festival where we will need help with each venue. To host and monitor each theater, run the concessions, hand out Q cards and seat film goers. We will have a more detailed list of our volunteer needs at the meeting.

Our next volunteer meeting and gathering is Thursday June 27 at 5 pm. We will meet at our new fabulous office donated by King’s Market next to the Toy Box in the old King’s Video Store on the corner of First and West Streets. Please confirm if you plan to attend by sending an email to < volunteers [@] fhff . org >. We are thrilled with this location! If you cannot attend our meeting but you want to be involved please provide us with more detailed information as to your skills and preferences, via an email or go to volunteers at our web site www.fhff.org.

Respectfully Submitted
Lynn Danaher, Director, FHFF
298-1939

Changing tote by Claire Wright

Friday Harbor Art Market, June 28, 3-7 pm, at the Brickworks Plaza. Over 16 artists, local food by Felicitations and Cynthia’s of Course and music by Teddy Deane, saxophone, 3-5 pm, and Steve Dyer, guitar, fiddle and vocals, 5-7 pm.

The Art Market welcomes several new participating artists this season, such as Claire Wright, who moved to the island just a few months ago. Claire creates totes and wallets, incorporating multiple fabrics giving the finished product color and texture.

The Art Market continues every Friday through August 30. Call (360) 472-0216 for more info.

Explore San Juan Island in a Modern Day Treasure Hunt, on July 1 & 2 from 10-1pm. Geocaching is a fun outdoor exploration, searching for caches (treasure) using GPS units. Day one will begin at the Library, where the class will use the computers to search for local sites to find caches, and get an idea of how to use the GPS units, and a short search for a few treasures. Day 2, we will walk to find caches. Drop Off/Pick up for day 2 will be located in the High school parking lot, next to Turnbull Gym.

This Program is free and Sponsored by the San Juan Island Library. Registration is required through Island Rec.
To register, or for more information, please visit our website at www.islandrec.org or stop by our office at 580 Guard Street, Monday – Friday 1-5pm. Phone: 378-4953.

This program is cooperative with San Juan Island Library’s summer reading program, “Beneath the Surface”.

San Juan Island’s fantastic Rock the Dock, brought to you by the Rotary Club and sponsored by Islanders Bank, returns on July 4th for the 12th annual celebration. Dance to the retro music of the fabulous TIMEBENDERS. This family-focused street dance rocks with the liveliest music of the past. Celebrate the Fabulous Fifties” (and sixties and seventies) from 6:00 p.m. at the waterfront until the fireworks start at about 10.

Rotary will also provide beer & wine for sale, and has asked the Lions to grill food for the event. Plenty of room to give your dancing shoes a workout or just enjoy the magic of Independence Day on San Juan Island.

Tickets will be available at the gate or in advance from any Rotarian as well as at selected businesses. The cost for adults is $10. In all these years the ticket price has never been raised. Kids 12 and under, accompanied by an adult, get in free.

Proceeds from this year’s event will help eradicate polio world-wide and support local non-profits. Join your friends and neighbors and Rock the Dock with Rotary!

1,080 ft cape size vessel

Islanders for Safe Shipping in the San Juans are expecting a large turnout of people marching in the 4th of July Parade against the proposed Coal Terminal at Cherry Point in Bellingham, and would like to hear from you if you’re interested in participating.

• 25 informative sign carriers
• 1 large black coal ship, length 32 feet, carried by people (see photo below)
• 2 washington state ferries (to scale – 5 feet)
• 1 50 ft. long oil spill children bringing up the rear,
• followed by adults with Calls to Action

If you’re interested, contact:
Liza Michaelson < lizamichalson [@] gmail . com >

Shaun Hubbard < shaunalice [@] comcast . net >

The coal ship float for the Friday Harbor 4th of July Parade, under construction

Dust off your instrument and join the Community Fourth of July Parade Marching Band

Rehearsals are at 7:00 pm

• June 24th
• June 26th
• July 1st
• July 3rd

Friday Harbor High School Band Room

Any questions and to pick up music, call Chris Bevens 378-5023

Sponsored by King’s Market

A hilarious yet touching comedy highlights the latest edition of San Juan Community Theatre’s On Book! Readers Theatre series.

The Dixie Swim Club, written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, will be presented on the Whittier stage on Monday and Tuesday, June 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m.

The story features five Southern women whose friendship began on their college swim team. Each August over a period of 33 years, they meet at the same beach cottage on North Carolina’s Outer Banks to catch up, laugh and meddle in each other’s lives.

A different set of island actresses will read the play each night. On Monday, the cast is Carol Hooper, Tori Zehner, Roberta Leed, Kristie Jacoby and Julie Laidlaw. Tuesday’s performance features Elizabeth Anderson, Patty Francisco, Shannon Kelley, Lynda Guernsey and Yvonne Buijs-Mancuso. Both evenings are directed by Joy Van Camp.

Doors open at 7:00 p.m. with festival seating. Admission is FREE!

For more information on the series and other Theatre events, visit www.sjctheatre.org.

Park Historian to Launch Civil War Lecture Series June 29 at Library

Join San Juan island National Historical Park Historian Mike Vouri for his talk Connections: Pig War to Civil War, scheduled at 7 p.m., Friday, June 28, in the San Juan Island Library.

Vouri will raise the issues of secession, homeland defense and the decisions that had to be made by military leaders and individual servicemen such as Capt. George Pickett and his second in command, James Forsyth. The former resigned and went with the South; the latter embraced the Union cause.

The program is free. Call the park at 360-378-2240, ext. 2233 for more information.

Vouri’s talk is the first in the summer program series, Connections: The Far West and Civil War, which will explore the relationships between the American Civil War and the San Juan Islands and Pacific Northwest. All programs are scheduled at the San Juan Island Library, except for the Life and Times of General George Pickett, which, as it has been for more than 17 years, is slated July 3 and August 7 at the San Juan Community Theatre.

The six library programs—scheduled at 7 p.m., June 28, July 19, August 2, 3 (7:30 p.m.), 10 and 17—are free of charge, thanks to a $500 grant to the library from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The next program  is Territorial Voices: A Civil War Reader’s Theater scheduled Saturday, July 20 with Lorraine McConaghy, historian for the Seattle Museum of Science and Industry (MOHAI).

When Abraham Lincoln was elected in November 1860, followed by the secession of seven Southern states a few weeks later, the nation was thrown into turmoil from which it would not fully recover for decades. With every scrap of news arriving by steamer, Overland stage or Pony Express, paranoia abounded not only in Washington territory, but also throughout the entire Far West. Were bands of secessionists ready to either turn the Pacific Slope to the South or create an independent “Republic of the Pacific?”

Closer to home, some wondered if the U.S. Army garrison would remain on San Juan Island. Come listen and learn how it came about.

Hello Friends, You are invited!  Here is the information for the Pig War Picnic 2013. We really look forward to this event every year and this is our 6th year of hosting the Historic Pig War Picnic.  Its always fun for everyone. Its one big fun old fashioned picnic.  Wonderful historic location, great local bands, parade awards not to mention the delicious barbequed lunch and the pie eating contest. Check out the event poster (PDF) for more info.

Puerto Vallarta’s Most Popular Band, Los Bambinos will be performing inside the new Brickworks building on July 5th. These four are brothers; and they are looking forward to visiting San Juan Island.

Mexican Dinner will be available. Doors open at 5:00 pm for dinner. Concert begins at 7:00 PM

• Concert only: $15
• Dinner and Concert: $30 at the door
• Both: $25 in advance.

Call 378-5541 or email info [@] hometrust.org to reserve your tickets NOW.
Presented by San Juan Community Home Trust