Was it awesome or what: It was great to see Avery Adams (FHHS '08) playing at the Rumor Mill Saturday night with his band from Evergreen State called the Loons. They were a tight quartet with well-written songs & danceable tunes...I hope they're back again, soon!

Let’s see what the next few days hold:

A movie playing here, with a local guy's expert touch....

• If you went to the movie Rio on Friday night last weekend, you may have been surprised that folks stayed & hung out during the credits, then rose with a standing ovation when islander Peter Chan‘s name popped up (he was there, by the way.) Not sure what it was he did – he helps with other animated films doing storyboarding & bacground animation & other stuff), but I think it makes a good film feel even better knowing a friend helped make it.

Aaron at the Palace Theatre tells me he’ll be holding Rio over for another week, so be sure & see it!

It was good to see Natalie & Greg King at the Rumor Mill on Saturday night!

•  Eileen from the San Juan Island Trails Committee tell me you can take hike with Mike! Here’s more:

This Saturday, April 23, 1:00pm
Know Your Island Walk: Take a Hike with Mike!

Join Mike Vouri, Historian and Chief of Interpretation, San Juan Island National Historic Park. Meet at the American Camp Visitor Center to walk to South Beach and learn historical, cultural and natural aspects of the area.

Round trip length is 2 miles and the terrain is a combination of grass and gravel path. Rating is moderate. Dogs are welcome on leashes. Rain or shine.

This past weekend Jim Maya not only saw transient orcas, but caught them at the end of the rainbow...pure gold.

• Getting ready for your Easter dinner? Here’s an idea from Michelle at The Animal Inn:

Ian, Just wanted to let you know that the Animal Inn has fresh lamb available for Easter. We sell by half or whole at $8/lb. Our lambs are 33-91 pounds and are lovingly raised here on San Juan island. Call 360-378-4738. Thanks, Michelle

That's Wendy Nelson from Snohomish on the left - she brought her eight Girl Scouts up this past weekend & they volunteered for two days of scrubbing & polishing & cleaning to help get Wolf Hollow ready for the spring, as a community project & because they have fun doing it & working with the good folks at Wolf Hollow. This is their fifth year coming in the early spring...thanks, you guys!.

Raccoons on the deck...photo by Cyndi Brast

Over the hills, over the sea:

• Tomorrow night at The Rumor Mill, The Loons (Avery Adams and friends) are playing – drop by & check ’em out! Tonight – it’s The Sliders!

• Cynthia tells me the evening Zumba class for Monday night is cancelled, but that men are still free in April! Be sure & come by XYZ Movement Arts & check it out!

It was fun to catch Emerald at the Animal Shelter's Bowlathon a couple of weeks ago - she wore white so it would look good under the lights (or maybe that's her natural glow!) The fundraiser went well & a great time was had by all!

• If you’re ready, we’re ready for you! The computer classes at Skagit Valley College/San Juan Center still have a bit of room next week – on tap for next week is Beginning Word, Intermediate Word, Intro to Computers, and Intro to Excel. I promise: Not boring.

Call 378-3220 on Monday (they’re closed Fridays) to sign  up!

• What are people saying about Island Stage Left’s production of “Trying”? Things like this:

“Exceptional play performed to perfection!”

“Fabulous show!”

“I recall your commenting that the arts lift our souls, and bring us together as a community. I was keenly reminded of that watching …..”Trying’ on Sunday. We are in your debt.”

“An evening filled with laughter, pathos and a sense of our humanity. Another wonderful production!”

That's Sklyer working on his crochet on the ferry...he was cranking out some amazing stuff the other day.

• It was cool to hear from Brian Rader yesterday:

I enjoyed the essay.  I think Albert summarized it best, many years ago:

A human being is part of a whole called by us “the universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening the circle of understanding and compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

–Albert Einstein

• Val over at Lighthouse Preschool says it’s time to sign up:

It is registration time at Lighthouse Preschool! Our programs have expanded a little and we are excited to offer our new schedule.

Toddler group (2 year olds): Tu, We, Th 8:30 – 11 am. $150 / month
3 year olds: M-Th 8:30 – 11 am. $185 / month
4 year olds: M-Th 11:30 am – 2:30 pm. $205 / month

Students must reach the appropriate age by August 31, 2011. Scholarships are available. If you would like to be eligible for a scholarship, completed applications (registration and scholarship) must be completed by June 1 to be considered. In order for the 2 year old program to occur, we need to have 8 students enrolled by August 1.

Enroll today and please contact Torrey at Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church for more information: 360-378-4544

Proof that it's spring on the island...photo (from this week) by Kevin Holmes

My friend Caroline is spreading the word about the upcoming dinner/auction – here’s the deal:

Hi Ian, did you know that 60% of Spring Street International School (SSIS) students receive tuition scholarships? That’s why we need to get the word out that the SSIS Live & Silent Auction, “A celebration to raise money for scholarships,” will take place on Saturday, April 30, from 5-9pm at the SJI Yacht Club.

The evening will feature Indian Cuisine by Gretchen Allison (of Duck Soup Inn) & Laurie Spaulding. Many wonderful items are up for bid in the silent and live auctions: fabulous spa services, artwork, plane trips, Mariner tickets, and other goodies from the Islands and beyond, including bidding on amazing people like Dr. Ray Damazo “the Safari Dentist” and Dr. Kirk Johnson, author of “Cruizin’ the Fossil Freeway” (with illustrator Ray Troll) to come and speak to the community as part of Spring Street’s Speaker series.

Admission is $25 for individuals, $40 for couples. To reserve tickets, call SSIS at (360) 378-6393. THANK YOU!!

Make your plans now!

Just got this from Barbara at the County:

Request for Salmon Recovery Project Proposals

The San Juan County Lead Entity is requesting project proposals for the San Juan Islands for the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) grant cycle.  The SRFB administers grant programs for protection and/or restoration of salmon habitat. Continue Reading

Catching up around the island:

• A little bird tells me today Jack and Carole Woolsey are celebrating their 50th anniversary (this Thursday, April 14). Congratulations, you two! Way to go!

Meanwhile, it was today in 1990 that Sharon & John Boyd got hitched – happy 21st anniversary to you!

• Lots of soccer, tennis (today), baseball & softball these next few days…and an excuse to get outside! See you at the fields & the courts! And…the lacrosse team has a home game Saturday at 2pm!

• I love the way Keith Busha & Kate Schuman sound together – and they’re playing this weekend! Here’s the invite from Kate:

Hello music lovers!

Keith & Kate play the Rumor Mill on Sunday!

I’ve snagged my longtime friend and music partner Keith Busha for some Sunday gigs at The Rumor Mill in the months ahead. Keith and I played for 4 years out at Roche Harbor and built up a fun repertoire of easy-on-the-ears popular tunes from many genres, including country, jazz, ’60’s faves, and blues. Keith also played in the band featured in the Patsy Cline show two years ago, and much to my delight, suggested we dust off some of those songs that were so much fun.

So, for those of you who’ve been requesting Patsy Cline, come on down!

These are all Sundays, 6 – 8pm at The Rumor Mill:
April 17th (that’s this Sunday!)
May 1st
June 26th
July 24th
August 21st

To see what Oren and Peggy have cooked up for dinner specials, Google “Rumor Mill” and click on the Facebook link. You do not have to join Facebook to view this page.

Hope to see you there, and thank you for your support!

Kate

It's on the 29th!

• It’s almost time for the Family Umbrella Group Luncheon! Here’s the deal, from Libby Oswald:

Tickets are now available for the Family Umbrella Group Luncheon on Friday, April 29, at the Mullis Center.  All proceeds go to a need-based scholarship fund for preschool aged children.  The gourmet lunch will be catered by Vinny’s Ristorante, and festivities will include a silent and live auction.  Doors open at 11 am for the silent auction, with lunch beginning at 12 pm.

Tickets are available for $35 and may be purchased online at www.familyumbrellagroup.org, in person at Daisy Bloom (165 Spring Street), or by mailing a check to PO Box 392, Friday Harbor, WA 98250.

The Family Umbrella Group is a 501(c)3 registered nonprofit that has been active on San Juan Island since 1998.  The founders recognized the need for every child to have the opportunity to go to preschool despite their family’s economic situation.  Since its inception, the Family Umbrella Group has awarded over 200 scholarships to children whose families would not have otherwise been able to afford tuition.   Over and over early education studies have shown how important the preschool years are for the future success of children.  Please visit www.familyumbrellagroup.org for additional information.

At the baseball game the other day, a few weeks back, the girls from the Cedar Park Christian softball team got done with their game & came to cheer their boys....they all said hey to Archie Brooks, who tells me he knows a bunch of them and their pastor. It's always good to see friends on an island...I asked them to smile, and they did.

Around town, around the island, around the house….

• Wahoo – it’s the San Juan Singers at the Community Theatre this weekend! Here’s more from Jan at SJCT:

San Juan Singers Welcome Spring!

San Juan Singers is all about SPRING in their festive concert: Poems, Prayers, and Promises on Saturday and Sunday, April 16 and 17 at San Juan Community Theatre.

The community choir presents a varied bouquet of music, including light-hearted songs by Mendelssohn featuring larks, nightingales, and the way the beauties of nature seem to rise up and greet you when spring is in the air.  Song-settings of texts by e. e. cummings, Rumi, and other contemporary poets will touch heart and mind as gorgeous melodies breathe life into beautiful words.

The Singers jazz it up with settings of love poems in a 20th century update of madrigals.  John Rutter sets Shakespeare and Herrick texts to jazzy rhythms and harmonies, in honor of jazz-great, George Shearing resulting in a delightfully toe-tapping take on the ups-and-downs of love and loving.

”I feel a strong surge of joy and hope when spring returns—and there’s nothing like a good spiritual to express both,” said director Angel Michaels.  For that, the Singers present some familiar and long-time favorite settings of American spirituals and songs she calls “new spirituals,” such as Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Waters and Billy Joel’s And So It Goes.  “You’ll leave the concert smiling, humming, and maybe dancing your own little happy dance.”

The San Juan Singers

• What ARE those birds thinking? This is your chance to find out – here’s more from Fiona and the San Juan Nature Institute:

Gordon Orions

Gordon Orians is coming to Friday Harbor on Thursday (the 14th) to give a lecture in the 2011 Arthur Whiteley Lecture Series. It will be at 7 p.m. in the Commons and judging by the ‘buzz’ of emails about this, it will be a very fine event. I quote one message: “Gordon is “the historical authority” on social behavior of blackbirds; but, more important, his monumental work has had a huge conceptual impact on understanding many aspects of social behavior in birds and stimulating much research, especially with regard to issues of mate selection and breeding fitness.”

Do come to hear his talk on Decision making in Blackbirds.

Dominique

• There are three places at Roche Harbor run by Dominique, and they’re all open – here’s the scoop:

Roche Harbor Sportswear is open for the season, so come see all the great new spring collections for men and women! 10 to 5 daily.

Dominique’s House is open 10 to 5 daily, and Dominique is receiving new inventory for your home every day! “Take home color for spring!”

Roche Harbor’s new gift store is open! It’s called “Louella” Gifts and Memories, and Dominique has designed the new store for Roche Harbor and is the buyer and manager. There is a great children department, as well as a wedding accessories department, and a French country department. Open 10 to 5 Daily.

• The Spring Fling! Here’s the story from Jan:

Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (378-5000 or 298-2195) is holding its Spring Fling Rummage and Bake Sale t his Saturday!

Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center invites you to clean out your closets and garages to help raise funds for the upcoming Spring and Summer months – our busy season!   We will have a “Spring Fling Rummage and Bake Sale”, Saturday, April 16 from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm at the American Legion.  The Legion Auxiliary will provide burgers, veggie burgers and hot dogs for lunch and baked goods will be available as well.
Anyone interested in donating gently used items for rummage or baked goods for the bake sale should contact Jan Murphy at 378-5000 or 298-2195.  Your help is greatly appreciated!

Have you seen the art garden behind Island Studios? It's all spiffed up for the spring, and the goldfish are swimming & happy....there was a little kid last week who said it would be way cooler with a shark, but Claudia says she has no plans at present to stock 'em. (That's the sun in the reflection, last weekend...)

More from the art garden at Island Studios....it's free, just walk through the store to see it, in the back...

Zipping through island trees....

Pat & Stella tell me there’s a locals’ special as Zip San Juan opens for the season – here’s the deal:

Zip San Juan is open!  We are zipping everyday and want you to enjoy the fun.  We are offering tours on Monday through Thursday at 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm. And on Fridays Saturdays and Sundays at 10:00am and 2:00 pm.  For the month of April we are offering a 2 for 1 special for locals on Mondays through Thursdays.  Call 378-5947 to book a tour and check out our website at www.zipsanjuan.com . We can’t wait to zip with you!

Here’s more about the company…

THE FIRST ZIP LINE TOUR ON THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS IS NOW OPEN

Zip!

The first and only zip line tour in the San Juan Islands is now taking reservations. Our family friendly zip line tour features 8 zip lines and is an excellent way to experience the natural landscape of San Juan Island.

Tours are available 7 days a week and reservations are required. Each tour group is picked up in downtown Friday Harbor and transported to the site. Upon reaching the site, you are given an orientation and will have the opportunity to practice zipping on our smaller practice zip lines. After this, our guides will lead you on a brief hike to the first of the zip lines. Throughout your tour you will soar from platform to platform past tall Douglas Firs, Western Red Cedars, traverse across a suspension bridge, zip over a lake and wetland area and experience the forest from a viewpoint usually exclusive to birds.

Tours last approximately 3 hours which includes travel time to and from the course. The site is about 10 minutes from Friday Harbor. Rates for youth (age 8-14) $65 and adults are $75. Seasonal discounts are available for local residents. Continue Reading

The time for re-defining progress has come, as we find the ravages of continued, unrestrained growth of population & resource use to be more and more evident on our planet home… I know (and you do, too) so many people who are scripting their hopes for happiness & fulfillment based on what we now call progress. It’s time for a different look at that.

If you have a little time for an interesting read, here’s an essay by Kilpatrick Sale which may serve as a starting point for that discussion. As he says, “Progress is the myth that assures us that full-speed-ahead is never wrong. Ecology is the discipline that teaches us that it is disaster.”

See what you think. (I love it that you do, by the way.)

FIVE FACETS OF A MYTH

I can remember vividly sitting at the dinner table arguing with my father about progress, using upon him all the experience and wisdom I had gathered at the age of fifteen. “Of course we live in an era of progress,” I said, “just look at cars — how clumsy and unreliable and slow they were in the old days, how sleek and efficient and speedy they are now.”

He raised an eyebrow, just a little. “And what has been the result of having all these wonderful new sleek and efficient and speedy cars?” he asked. I was taken aback. I searched for a way to answer.

He went on. “How many people die each year as a result of these speedy cars, how many are maimed and crippled? What is life like for the people who produce them, on those famous assembly lines, the same routinized job hour after hour, day after day, like Chaplin’s film? How many fields and forests and even towns and villages have been paved over so that these cars can get to all the places they want to get to — and park there? Where does all the gasoline come from, and at what cost, and what happens when we burn it and exhaust it?”

Before I could stammer out a response — thankfully — he went on to tell me about an article written on the subject of progress, a concept I had never really thought of, by one of his Cornell colleagues, the historian Carl Becker, a man I had never heard of, in the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, a resource I had never come across. Read it, he said.

I’m afraid it was another fifteen years before I did, though in the meantime I came to learn the wisdom of my father’s skepticism as the modern world repeatedly threw up other examples of invention and advancement — television, electric carving knife, microwave oven, nuclear power — that showed the same problematic nature of progress, taken in the round and negatives factored in, as did the automobile. Continue Reading

It was a great evening at our Library - Johnny Moses kept our crowd entertained & engaged with his humor, knowledge, and spirit this past weekend...storytelling at its best, and a nice connection to the First Nations of the Salish Sea. You can read more about Johnny at www.johnnymoses.com...photo by Kevin Holmes. We sure have great people come to visit us here on San Juan Island....one of the notions he shared was something his grandmother said after the Depression - you can live without money, but you can't live without people.

Things are happening ’round the island…let’s check in:

Peter, afloat

• I love it that Emily Reed & Peter Fromm are working together to make a visual display about what it means to live here, and offer it in a way that we all can see it & celebrate what we have going here. There’s a bit of a longing for the way it used to be (both in memory or imagination), and the gentle, comforting air the island can surround us with.

CALL for ARTISTS:  ISLAND SCENES  – A Celebration of Place

Emily

In San Juan County we see  historic rural and small town views becoming suburban. The Island Scenes project is an effort to record images of what is here now which represents “old island” and what we hope will be here in the future. These scenes will be a display at the 2011 San Juan County Fair.

Artists of all ages and skills are asked to portray a scene which strikes them as “old island.” One image/person, in any two-dimensional medium, matted or framed, minimum 8″x10″ to maximum 16″x20″ with a brief description of the scene’s location.

DEADLINE to Reserve your Place:  MAY 1.
(Artwork is not needed until the day before the fair begins in August. Details will be sent in July.)
Phone Peter Fromm: 378-8378 or Emily Reed: 378-2750 or e-mail Emily: oatmeal (at) rockisland.com

Paul Simon talks about the way he deals with the layers of his art....

• Is Paul Simon an islander, or what?

Last weekend, I heard his new album playing in three different shops, and his older work in two others. I have his songs on my albums, and I’ll bet you have those tunes in your head, too…here’s a nice article about the creative process he employs, in a conversation with artist Paul Close, in the The Atlantic.

See what you think.

I think it may change the way you see your painting, your sculpting, your writing.

• Roy has “George of the Jungle” at the Library today at 3…take a break & drop by when you can! And watch out for that tree!

This weekend!

• Jenny & Kari from the Whale Museum & Soundwatch were glad to see the new NOAA regulations…here are their remarks, which include explaining the role Soundwatch plays in enforcing the rules:

Whale Museum Applauds Increased Protection for Orcas

The Whale Museum applauds NOAA Fisheries for exercising their authority to enact federal vessel regulations for killer whales in Washington State waters. Continue Reading

I’m loving it that Alice is offering these classes for kids – seems it gives young ones a chance to get in touch with their “inner kid” in the best of ways. Here’s the details for her yoga class & her adventure games classes: Continue Reading

It's done sprung: The cherry blossom out back of Wells Fargo Bank makes it feel like spring in Friday Harbor....

Seems like there are a lot of things going on – let’s take a look:

• Wahoo – she has nearly finished her nursing program (only two quarters to go), and she’s going to work on the island – Becky Phillips has accepted her first full-time LPN position at San Juan Health Care! Way to go, Beck!

• The Knowledge Bowl is next week! The annual event is usually in February, but this year happens in the spring (I mention that so you don’t think you missed it or something). Here’s the scoop from Nancy Young and the San Juan Island Public Schools Foundation:

Knowledge Bowl 2011

It sure looks better around here...the Great Island Cleanup on Saturday was well-attended & got the island looking good, as islanders roamed the rock picking up trash. Wahoo! That's José putting the finishing touches on Jackson's Beach as the sun comes out, on Saturday.

The 17th annual Knowledge Bowl will be held on Tuesday, April 19th, at the Community Theatre. Our fabulous Friday Harbor Jazz Band will begin performing at 6:30 and the FH High School PTA will be offering baked treats in the lobby before and during the event.

The competition begins at 7pm. Teams consist of the 8 graders, a team of freshmen/sophomores, and one of 11th and 12th graders, going head to head with 4 local service group teams: Kiwanis, Soroptimists, Lions, and Rotary. Groups will match wits to answer tricky questions on a range of topics. The event is emceed this year by FHHS teacher Jim McNairy, with entertainment during intermission by the Jazz Band.

The Knowledge Bowl is presented each year by the San Juan Public Schools Foundation. Through its main fundraising events, the Phone-a-Thon and Business Partnership Program in the school directory, the Foundation this year has gifted about $57,000 to supplement our local public education needs.

Tickets for this fun family event are $5 for adults and $3 for kids, and are available at the door the night of the event. Come and cheer on your favorite team!!

Nancy Young, Board of Directors, SJIPSF

It was Brody's birthday, so he took his papa Kevin & grandma Norma out for a walk over the weekend....that's them posing, out front of Cotton Cotton Cotton on Saturday.

• Did you know the Sliders are playing at the Rumor Mill this Friday?

• Yep, ’tis so – Homesteaders Restaurant is open for lunch and dinner now (proof below)…drop by & say hey!

Homesteaders is located at the Best Western, across from Post San Juan, kitty-corner from M&W Auto, and across from where Pope's Lumber used to be, in the spot that used to be the PepperMill. If you have trouble finding it, just ask.

Killer whales get a little breathing room with the new NOAA regulations...photo by Jim Maya

It’s been under review for over a year, and NOAA finally released its new regulations, which include requiring almost all marine vessels to keep 200 yards away from killer whales. The new requirement doubles the previous distance from 100 yards, and is hoped to help make things easier for local pods. Here’s the whole report.

It’s this week – here’s the word from Marty at the elementary school:

Kindergarten Registration
Friday Harbor Elementary School welcomes the Kindergarten class of 2011-2012! Registration for next year’s Kindergarten class will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 12 and 13 in the school office. Parents who wish to enroll their children for the 2011-2012 Kindergarten session should call the school to set up an appointment. To be eligible, students must be five years of age by August 31, 2011. Please call the elementary school at 378-5209 ext. 1 to make an appointment.

Please bring your child’s birth certificate and immunization records. If needed, birth certificates may be obtained at the San Juan County Health Department. The Health Department will offer health screenings for Kindergartners later in the spring. Their number is 378-4474.

Taking to the streets on horseback & going through the drive-though....

Nancy reports it all worked out when they brought the horses to town yesterday during a sunny day:

We had a wonderful ride through town on Friday. It was great!

In the picture is Jessica, Nancy and Kelci. We stopped at Roy’s and had a frozen coffee. We also rode down to the ferry and then up to Herb’s. It was great – the people were wonderful and so were the people driving past us. Most waited or went around us. Lots of people took our pictures, or wanted to pet our horses. All in all it was so much fun.

Only in a small town can you ride your horse around!