A seminar dedicated to that generation of resolute Americans we call the Founding Fathers.

Author, performer and lecturer, Bill Norton will conduct a seminar on the Constitution and our Founding Fathers on April 18, 2013 from 8:30 AM to 4:00PM at the American Legion on First Street in Friday Harbor.

Bill Norton is a creative and historical consultant. He is co-author of the book The Miracle of America, Birth of a Nation. He took a lead role in developing the book into “The Miracle of America” concert and has performed throughout the nation as the narrator for the concert which combines music, stories and vignettes about the founders of our nation.

His seminar will focus on stories of the first free people to survive as a nation in modern times. Our founders wrote a new kind of Constitution that is now the oldest in existence. They built a new kind of commonwealth designed as a model for the whole human race. They created an expansive new cultural climate that gave eagle’s wings to the human spirit. They encouraged exploration and technology to reveal the secrets of the universe. They built a free –enterprise culture to promote millions of jobs and unprecedented prosperity.

Students and teachers are invited to attend the class free of charge. This class fulfills the WA State Department of Education requirements for Constitution training.

Join us for a comprehensive study of the American Constitution and the Founding Fathers who created it. The seminar is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, endorsed by Friday Harbor Grange and Daughters of American Revolution.
Seating is limited to 50 people and pre-registration is required.

Date: Thursday, April 18
Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Place: American Legion Building
Tuition: $15 for pre registered adults $20 at the door
This class is FREE for pre registered students
Lunch/Study Guide and Pocket Constitution included in tuition fee.
Call 378-7040 for more information or email knych [@] rockisland.com

San Juan Island Fire Rescue is looking for volunteers to join it’s newly formed Major Emergency Response Team (MERT). The MERT volunteers may be requested to staff the fire stations receiving and giving information during a major emergency where usual communications are down, such as a large wild land fire, earthquake, or major snowstorm. This is an integral part of helping people in your neighborhood during an emergency.

Volunteers must live within walking distance of their local fire station and attend a training session once a year. They cannot be a member of any other emergency response team on the island so that if an emergency does arise, they can devote their time to MERT. They will help disseminate available information to agencies who will be interested such as Fire, Medical, and Red Cross. They may also be the contact person for family members.

MERT members will not be involved in most emergency procedures. They will only respond to major emergencies.

Come to the meeting and find out what the MERT is all about. The MERT will meet yearly. The first meeting will be held at the Mullis Street Fire Station (1011 Mullis St.) on Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 1 PM.

Those interested in volunteering for this most important, satisfying job should contact Ron Garner, Logistics Crew Chief at 378-7722  or rggarner [@] centurytel.net.

Travis Ayers sends this notice over:

New Referee Clinic at Burlington Senior Center
Saturday, April 27, 2013
9:00 am – 5:30 pm
1011 Greenleaf Avenue – Burlington, WA 98233

Certified refs get paid for games on-island as well as the mainland.  If people have questions they can email me at ayers.travis [@] gmail.com or call Tim Epps at the phone number below.  Continue Reading

Monday, April 22 is the date for the annual Chamber of Commerce Spring Luncheon. Island Friendly Spirit is the theme. Members, come out and play with your chamber friends and enjoy a gourmet Italian lunch at Vinny’s Ristorante. Speakers Jim Hooper and Steve Hushebeck will explain the Island Friendly Spirit phenomenon and how it can help your business this season. Please RSVP by Monday, April 15, to the Chamber at 378 5240. Cost per person prepaid is $22. Registration begins at 11:30; lunch at noon.

Sad news to hear that our friend Gail passed last weekend…

Gail B. Hyland

Gail’s spirit will remain forever etched in our minds. She loved Friday Harbor with her entire heart. She glowed with pride when talking about Friday Harbor, and this love and pride, held by so many other San Juan Island residents, is precisely what makes the island community so special.

Born in East Orange, NJ, graduated high school from Sammamish High in Bellevue, WA, then graduated from the University of Washington. She craved learning something each day, whether the Latin root name of a flower or an interesting fact regarding the US constitution or Founding Fathers. She volunteered at the local Grange (both #225 and #966), the library, her church, and Great Island Clean-Up, among others.

As most realtors do, Gail loved walking into a home for the first time. She raved about wildlife (birds especially) during her field trips with the San Juan Island Audubon society. Tennis was her favorite sport, with her favorite tennis court located on the Westside atop Mt. Dallas.

From her cat “Missy” to all family and friends, she is admired and missed.

All are welcome to attend her Celebration of Life service, especially if she touched your life. The Celebration of Life service will take place on Saturday April 20th at the #966 Grange on First St. at 2:00 pm.

Beth Terry, author of “Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How you Can Too”

Beth Terry, author of “Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How you Can Too,” will give presentations and sign books on San Juan, Orcas, and Lopez Islands on April 26, 27, and 28, 2013.

In 2007, accountant Beth Terry began an experiment to see if she could live without acquiring any new plastic. Since then, she has reduced her plastic waste to 2% of the national average. In her talk, she will share personal stories and practical steps we can take to reduce our use of plastics. Although she has a day job as an accountant, she has dedicated her life to changing the way that others think about plastics.

“Plastics are so common in our lives that we may not think much about them until we learn about the giant garbage patches of plastic trash in our oceans, or about how plastic trash can harm marine animals, or how plastics can affect our own health,” said Beth Terry, “Plastics are useful, but they have come to dominate our world. Instead of being used where they are essential, plastics are used everywhere. Most things made of plastic are designed to be used once and then thrown away. This discarded plastic ends up in landfills, blows across our landscapes, or ends up in our lakes, rivers, and oceans.”

Learn how you can reduce your plastic use at one of the following events:

April 26th, 7 p.m., Friday Harbor, San Juan Island Grange

April 27th, 4 p.m., Eastsound, Emmanuel Episcopal Church

April 28th, 5:30 p.m., Lopez Island, Woodman Hall

The talks are being brought to our community with support from Blossom Grocery, Darvill’s Bookstore, Emmanual Episcopal Parish, FRIENDS of the San Juans, Griffin Bay Bookstore, Lopez Bookshop and Orcas Friends of the Library.

It is Hazardous Waste Round-up time in San Juan County!

What – The hazardous waste round-up collection event is our once-yearly opportunity to legally and responsibly dispose of poisonous, flammable, corrosive or other hazardous chemicals.
Why – Taking responsibility for the waste you produce is the right thing to do. You don’t want this stuff sitting around your property. Proper disposal protects your health and the health of the workers that handle your waste. Proper disposal also keeps chemicals out of our drinking water and out of the environment.
Where – At your island’s solid waste facility (aka, “the dump”).
When – The schedule:

• San Juan Island: Saturday, April 20th, 10 am to 2 pm.
• Orcas Island: Saturday, April 27th, 10 am to 2 pm.
• Lopez Island: Sunday, April 28th, 11 am to 2 pm.

What can I bring?

• Pesticides and other poisons
• Gasoline and other waste fuels
• Wood preservatives
• Oil-based paints and stains
• Solvents
• Thinners
• Pool and photo chemicals
• Resins
• Mothballs
• Polishes
• Degreasers
• Cleaning products
• Spent fluorescent light tubes.

What not to bring? The following are NOT accepted at the round-up:

• Flares, explosives, ammunition, or radioactive materials – deliver these to the Sheriff’s Office.
• Antifreeze, motor oil, and vehicle batteries – recycle at your island’s solid waste facility during regular business hours.
• Unbroken, spent Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) – deliver to your OPALCO office for free recycling!
• Latex paint – dry out (solidify) and dispose as regular solid waste.
• Children or pets. These are not hazardous waste and we want to keep them safe!

How much will it cost? There is NO CHARGE at this year’s round-up for HOUSEHOLDS disposing of 25 gallons or less of hazardous waste. Your disposal costs are being paid by the San Juan County Solid Waste Division and Washington Department of Ecology. Businesses must pre-register by calling 370-7581 and will be invoiced for their disposal costs.
Please remember: what you pour on the ground or into your drain today, you may be drinking out of your faucet tomorrow. Please choose wisely.
For more information and answers to Frequently Asked Questions, please refer to San Juan County Public Works Solid Waste Division website: http://sanjuanco.com/sw/
-Sam Gibboney, Solid Waste Program Administrator: 370-0534; samg [@] sjcpublicworks.org
-Brian Rader, Pollution Prevention Specialist: 370-7581; brianr [@] sanjuanco.com

San Juan Island Library joins libraries in schools, campuses and communities nationwide in celebrating National Library Week,  next week – April 14-20, a time to highlight the value of libraries, librarians and library workers.

Libraries today are more than repositories for books and other resources. Often the heart of their communities, campuses or schools, libraries are deeply committed to the places where their patrons live, work and study. Continue Reading

Funky Fungi – Tim Dustrude photo

On Saturday April 13, the San Juan Island Nature Institute and Bureau of Land Management present Dr. Fred Rhoades for a workshop on the Lichens of Lopez and On Sunday April 14, Dr Rhoades will lead a workshop on San Juan Island. The workshops cost $50 per person and an additional $15 for the purchase of the recommended text.

Registration is essential and should be made by Wednesday April 10 to avoid cancellation of the workshops. Register online at www.sjnature.org or call 378-3646. San Juan Nature Institute is an approved provider of clock hours and 5.5 educator hours are available for this workshop. Please register early to secure a place. Continue Reading

Join your friends and neighbors in the 2013 Great Island Clean-Up – San Juan Island’s annual “spring cleaning”!

• When? Saturday, April 20, 9 am – noon
• Where? All island roadsides and beaches
• Rain or shine!

The Great Island Clean Up is coming Saturday, April 20

Over 250 islanders participated in last year’s clean-up, collecting more than 2000 pounds of litter. Unfortunately, thoughtless people continue to toss beer and/or soda cans and bottles, cigarette butts, food wrappings, and a variety of other things onto roadsides as they drive, bike or walk by. And drivers with unsecured loads are contributing to the mess by allowing things to blow out of the back of their pick-up trucks (lots of Styrofoam pellets end up as litter this way). Continue Reading

The San Juan Island Farmers Market opens its outdoor season at Brickworks this Saturday, April 13, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.
Food, flowers, produce, and more!

Scott Brennan (R) will be teaching a Women’s Self Defense class on April 14

On April 14th, as part of Sexual Assault Awareness month, there will be a free 6 hour Women’s Self-defense/Self-protection workshop that can give you the knowledge and physical skills you and your family need to avoid becoming a victim of assault. There will be training on awareness of indicators so you can recognize these types of situations, before they happen.

We will show you plans and techniques to avoid or bypass problems or defuse potential personal encounters. There will be an emphasis on developing the attitude and demeanor that says you will not be a victim and lastly, a series of simple physical techniques and methods of escape especially suited to females. We can also show you how to use simple household items to help defend yourself when the situation is desperate.

This class is open to females from 16 y.o.a. to ?? (13 and up with parent), but be aware this is an ‘adult’ class on an ‘adult’ subject. There will be frank discussions of types of assaults on females, stalkers and abusers. We will be relating details of actual cases from here in the San Juan Islands. There will some profanity, yelling and aggressive male actors, to simulate some techniques used to try and dominate women in the types of encounters. Continue Reading

Valley Vista Community earns Firewise Membership

Kathy Cope accepts award from Fire Chief Steve Marler

Kathy Cope took the helm at Valley Vista and led them to the completion of the projects needed to earn the title of a Firewise Community. Kathy accepted the official membership for her community. According to Chief Steve Marler, San Juan Island leads the country in the number of communities who meet the Firewise standards with the exception of an area in Florida.

Also joining the Island Firewise Communities are Pearl Island and Night Hawk Hill. This brings the number of Firewise communities in San Juan County to forty. The Fire Department appreciates the Firewise Communites working to protect themselves from a wild fire.

Every neighborhood in the Islands is encouraged to become a Firewise Community. Ron Garner and Brent Johnson are the co-coordinators of the Firewise program. Contact Ron at 378-7722 or Rggarner [@] centurytel.net

Soroptomist of Friday Harbor will be hosting their “Free the Girls” Bunco, Saturday, April 27, at the Mullis Center. The fun starts at 6:00.
Join us for food, fun and a chance to win some great prizes. The cost for the evening is $20.00.
Bring a gently-used bra to give someone a better life! Donated bras will be sent to Africa, where women rescued from human trafficking can sell the used bras (which are usually quite sought-after) in order to make a living while they recover and build their new life. For each bra you bring, you get a ticket for the door prize drawing.
Tickets for this fun evening can be purchased at The Toy Box and Spa D’Bune or from any Soroptimist member. For more information contact Peggy Long 378-2180.
The mission of Soroptimist is to better the lives of women and children. Funds from this event will go to support local Soroptimist projects. Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor has been serving the community since 1996.

The Bat Detector converts the ultra-sonic calls that bats make into audio we can hear

The San Juan Island Library announced yesterday that it has a new-generation bat detector available for check out. Bat detectors convert the ultrasonic calls bats make into audio which we humans can hear, enabling us to identify different species and to note various behavioral patterns. Much of this can be done without ever seeing the bats.

The detector is a donation of the local non-profit organization, Kwiaht, and was made available by generous contribution from individual donors on Lopez Island and a deep discount by the British distributor, BatBox, Ltd. The Baton bat detector is available for use at home or in the field to those with library accounts in good standing, so that you may listen to, learn about, value, and protect local bats.

According to Kwiaht’s web site, nine species of bats have been documented in the San Juan Islands, although little is known about their distribution or the health of the populations. For more information about local bats, contact Russel Barsh, Kwiaht director; the web site is www.kwiaht.org. To learn about bats, check out America’s Neighborhood Bats by Merlin D. Tuttle or Bats of British Columbia by David W. Nagorsen and R. Mark Brigham. Continue Reading

Celebrate Earth Day at Lime Kiln Point State Park

Join us for our 1st Annual Spring Clean Up
Saturday April 20th, 2013
Between 10:00 am and  4:00 pm

YOU, and your gloves, are invited to the spring clean up! Come out and help State Park Rangers Ted and Rich prepare for another busy season and enjoy your park at the same time. A day sure to be filled with good spirit and laughter.
Come join the fun!
Only have a couple of hours to spare… perfect!
Feel like spending all day at your Park? Even better!!
Bring water, layers and a snack.
Organized by Friends of Lime Kiln Society
Call us at (360) 378-5154 or Visit www.FolksSJI.org to learn more about F.O.L.K.S.