Marguerite Place and Nash Street will undergo major improvements in the next two years thanks to $1,469,783 in grant funding awarded to the Town by the state’s Transportation Improvement Board (TIB).  Both projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

In addition to rebuilding the existing roadway, sidewalks will be added to one side of Marguerite from Spring Street to Park Street giving pedestrians a safer route to nearby schools and the public library.  Curbs, gutters, and streetlights will be installed along with upgraded storm drainage.

Nash Street will be extended from Market Street to Spruce Street with the construction of a new roadway.  This major cut-through will come with improvements similar to Marguerite with new sidewalks on one side, curbs, gutters, streetlights, and proper storm drainage.  The Nash project will also aid the walkability of the town with additional access between Argyle, Market, and Mullis Street businesses. Continue Reading

The following was shared with you by Northwest Workforce Council…

The Department of Social and Health Services has activated the Disaster Cash Assistance Program, or DCAP, to serve people affected by severe weather events. Households impacted by floods, landslides, mudslides and other hazardous events in the 14 counties included in Governor Inslee’s November 15, 2021, state of emergency declaration may be eligible for DCAP.

Click here for more information (PDF)

Photo by E. Somerset

The following is a Garden Meditation by the late Rev. Max Coots, and it seems very appropriate to share with you today…

Let us give thanks for the bounty of people.

For the Children who are our second planting, and though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are.

Let us give thanks;

For generous friends, with hearts and smiles as bright as their blossoms;

For Feisty friends, as tart as apples;

For continuous friends, who like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that we’ve had them;

For crotchety friends, sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;

For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn, and the others, as plain as potatoes and so good for you;

For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussel sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes; 

And serious friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini and who, like parsnips, can be counted on to see You through the winter;

For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, and young friends coming on as fast as radishes; 

For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our blights, wilts and witherings; 

And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested, but who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter;

For all these, we give thanks. 

* * *

And the San Juan Update is thankful for all of you, our readers, and to our advertisers as well, for without them, we would not be able to bring this to you each day. – Thank you!

Southern Resident orca mom, J35, with son, J57 playing on her back
(Encounter #16, including an incredible 4 1/2 minute video).

This is from the Center for Whale Research…

Please help us raise $74,000 by year’s end!

The $74,000 represents one thousand dollars for each of the seventy-four (74) whales in the Southern Resident orca community.

We all remember J35. In 2018, the whole world watched J35 carry her deceased baby for 17 days and 1,000 miles on what became known as the Tour of Grief. Fast forward to 2020, J35 gave birth to a healthy boy, J57. As you can see in the above picture, he’s close to his mom.

For five decades, the Center for Whale Research has focused on doing its best to help the families of the Southern Resident orca community, like J35 and her sons, J57 and J47. Our hopes are high for the next half-century: not only that the Southern Residents will survive . . . but that they’ll thrive. Your financial support of our research, outreach and education, and conservation efforts make it possible for the Center for Whale Research team to fight for a better future for J35 and her family and all the whales in the Salish Sea orca community.

Today is the launch day of our month-long Focusing on Their Future fundraising campaign (thru December 31).

Donate in the name of your favorite whale and track the campaign’s success on the Orca and Salmon graph at WhaleResearch.com. Watch the water rise as donations accrue.

Please Donate Today

(continue reading)

Flooding at Lopez’s Odlin Park on Nov. 15th – Photo by Krista Davis

The massive rain event last week caused a wide range of impacts in the county and caught many islanders off-guard. The severe weather was caused by an atmospheric river: a long, narrow band of water vapor that often is released as rain or snow when it makes landfall. While the scope and damage may be unprecedented, the warming atmosphere caused by climate change means that these kinds of events are likely to become more frequent and severe.

As we have seen, these extreme weather events can present many challenges for our islands. Excessive rainfall can result in flooding and landslides which damage homes and businesses. Roads and culverts not designed for these intense storm deluges can be washed out or structurally compromised. Storm run-off delivers debris and pollutants to streams and wetlands before ultimately ending up in the Salish Sea.

San Juan County has been working diligently to address these hazards. Annual street sweeping and catch basin cleaning helps to ensure drains are clear before the storms set in. The County is working to assess, repair, and replace culverts and drains that are not able to meet the increasing demands of high-intensity and/or long-duration storm events. Continue Reading

Within the coming weeks, Town of Friday Harbor residential refuse customers will receive 32-gallon, wheeled refuse carts with a lift bar to assist refuse workers in loading their truck.  These carts will help refuse personnel avoid injuries incurred from repetitive lifting.  Rates and pickup dates for residential customers will remain the same, and traditional (non-lift) cans will continue to be picked up.  Placement of carts at the curb will be the same as for cans. The current refuse truck has a single lift for these carts.  A new truck arriving this spring will have two lifts to expedite refuse pickup.

Customers are asked to securely bag all garbage before depositing it in the cart and double bag noxious trash such as cat litter and diapers.  Carts are for household refuse only, not recycling, yard waste, construction debris, or other unallowable refuse as outlined on the Town’s website at http://www.fridayharbor.org/2151/Refuse-Recycling.

Carts are stamped with the Town’s logo and remain the property of the Town.  Carts are to stay with the property when the resident moves.  If they are broken or stolen, replacements may be provided while supply lasts.  Once the supply is gone, customers will be asked to provide replacements which should be available at most hardware stores.

According to Town Administrator Duncan Wilson, the need to replace an aging truck in the Town’s fleet provided an opportunity to improve work conditions for the refuse crew.  He explained, “We were able to respond to our employees’ very real concern with the ongoing risk of injury from heavy lifting and repetitive motion.  The new truck and wheeled carts are a wise investment in our employees and the community.”

Town residential refuse customers may direct questions to Town Hall at (360) 378-2810 or contact the Administrator at [email protected].

San Juan County Health & Community Services has just released 4,000 Moderna booster appointments for clinics occurring on Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan Islands the week of December 13^th. Full details and links to register are available at: https://www.sanjuanco.com/1737/COVID-Vaccine-Info

These boosters are available for any fully vaccinated islander age 18+ who received their last dose of any of the vaccines at least six months prior to the clinic date. Those who need their first or second dose may register as well.

There are also appointments available for pediatric Pfizer vaccine doses for children age 5-11.

Please register early, as slots will fill quickly. Please share this information broadly.

Merri Ann Simonson has another Real Estate News column for you…

Real Estate Is Best When Kept Local

Using local real estate brokers and local real estate related service providers is very important when buying or selling real estate.  Boots on the ground here brings the expertise.  Further, it is similar to buying locally sourced food and shopping to support local retailers and restaurants; any effort in this direction helps to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce climate change.

Real estate is one of those industries where it is imperative to use the local experts.  There is no better time to start the benefit of using island services than in your search for real estate.  For all of us that already live here or for those that plan to move here in the near future, this can and should be accomplished.

And here is why… (Continue reading here)

Helen from Island Stage Left shares some thoughts with you about this year’s production of Omnium Gatherum…

Dear Friends,

So, how are you all? We have managed to keep our heads above water over here at Island Stage Left, but there is no doubt that the waters have been rising – both physically and metaphorically.

I think, of all the arts, live theatre has been hit the hardest by the pandemic. Our whole art form depends on the interaction between actors and audience. We set off on each production with a script and a cast, but the magic only happens when we get together with you: to share space, to respond to each other, to examine together the whole gamut of humanity’s possibilities. 

We were extremely lucky to have that wonderful, euphoric and short space of time last summer when we believed this dreadful virus was going away. It gave us the space and time to produce “Much Ado about Nothing”, which was a roaring success, a great joy to direct, and which brought us all together once again.

Now we find ourselves in a more uncertain world, longing to play together once more, but unsure of the wisdom of doing so. Being inside with lots of people, even masked, seems daunting now and our tiny space at the Fairgrounds would not allow for social distancing unless we reduced our audiences to about twenty people. 

SO, we are making a change: Continue Reading

On November 10th, 2021, San Juan Island Emergency Medical Services celebrated the addition of a new ambulance to their fleet by hosting a push-in ceremony. Members of the public, press, and Hospital District Board were invited to assist EMS employees and volunteers in a traditional “push-in” ceremony and celebrate the benefits the new ambulance will bring to the island. The new ambulance will replace one of San Juan EMS’s older vehicles, which has been sold to fire station Skagit 13, located near La Conner, WA.

A traditional “push-in” ceremony is when a new emergency services vehicle is pushed into the station by hand to mark it ready for public service. The “push-in” tradition began in the 1800s when firefighters would move a carriage back into the station by hand once the firefighters had unhooked the horses. It is recreated today to respect the past and honor the humble beginnings of emergency service.

The new ambulance will be the first at San Juan EMS equipped with four-wheel-drive, LiquidSpring shock absorbers, and zero-emissions technology. The innovative features of the new ambulance will help Medics and EMTs provide higher quality patient care to San Juan Island residents and visitors.

This ambulance marks a leap forward in technological advancements and safety – a standard that San Juan EMS expects to carry into 2022 through a multitude of different projects and objectives.

This morning we find a letter to you in the San Juan Update Mailbag from Steve Ulvi…

In the late 1960s, my outdoor adventures grew grittier; in wilder landscapes, greatly expanding on childhood camping trips.  My dominant interests became nature-centered, access under one’s own power.  I felt the thrum of the non-human community of life and began to see the shaping of deep time in natural cathedrals of forest, falling waters and weathered granite spires.  So many sweet spots – all now greatly diminished – scattered throughout the montane west. (The growth of the human swarm in America; 200 million in 1967 to 334 million today).

All of those places of wonder and rejuvenation, as well as the metastasizing asphalt jungle, had been aboriginal homeland; sites of spiritual renewal, distinct language and culture, and sustenance for hundreds of invisible generations of people.  On the fringes of the hard-used, fog enshrouded paradise of the San Fransisco Bay Area, my sense of being born too late grew. 

Like many impressionable northern California school-kids I was struck by the tragic story of ‘Ishi’, who back in 1911 had emerged starving and trembling, after an unimaginable four decades of hiding.  He subsisted alone in the foothills around Mt. Lassen following the final, ruthless slaughter of his harried tribe just after the Civil War.  I also learned that the last grizzly bear in the Golden State was also hunted down just a few years after ‘Ishi’ appeared from the past and become a famous, highly studied, living anachronism.  The extirpated Grizzly, from then on, lived only on the State Flag.

As my studies deepened, I lived simply among towering Douglas fir and insistent winter rain in Oregon, I discarded the fabricated histories I had been taught, I began to see all landscapes through a perspective of “I want to imagine this place as it was before the Euro-American domination”.  The life-long itch to live on the frontier of times past eventually took over. Continue Reading

The Annual Winter Flea & Crafts Market is back at the San Juan County Fairgrounds, December 4^th from 9am to 1pm.

We are excited to be hosting over 32 vendors. Come support local crafters, artists and “the new to you” vendors.  Masks are required.

Check into the Fair website http://www.sjcfair.org and Social Media Channels @sjcfair and get a sneak peek of items that will be offered.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

This is from the SJC Dept. of Emergency Management…

Things are looking good for a potential opening tomorrow (Tuesday – knock on wood). Public Works is awaiting delivery of barriers for the road edge that are due to arrive on the 5:30am ferry on Tuesday from Anacortes. Once those are placed and final site work is complete, the road will be open to one lane of traffic, potentially as early as late morning tomorrow.

There are still opportunities for there to be unexpected delays, so temper expectations, but there is reason for optimism.

A few key points:

• Once road is open, there will be a clearly marked system for what direction will need to yield to oncoming traffic. Please respect all signage.
• All remaining resident vehicles should be removed from the Doe Bay lot as soon as possible.
• Please go slow and use caution on the crossing once the road is open.

Thanks all for your patience and support!

Islanders and visitors alike are raving about the current exhibit, Go Figure! at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA).

“Spectacular!”
“We went back to see the show a second time.”
“This exhibit has something for everyone.”
“Our out-of-town visitors were very impressed.”

If you haven’t had a chance to visit SJIMA during the Go Figure! show, you have until December 6 to do so.  The museum showcases the work of eight artists in the main gallery, featuring paintings and mixed media assemblage works: all in celebration of the human form. 

Two other galleries are also part of the show.  Going the Distance  in the North Gallery invites visitors to experience a retrospective showing of works by Nola Ahola, a Northwest favorite.  The Ahola exhibit includes lush watercolors, rich ink drawings and several abstract collages, all examples of the artist’s work in figurative art.

You may have noticed the intricate mesh figures hanging in the SJIMA’s atrium.  These figures are the recent work of Bellingham artist, Francie Allen.  Her sculptural pieces are truly “art in motion,” as each one depicts a body either playing a musical instrument or engaged in fluid dance movement.  Allen enhances the space with a short film and musical accompaniment by award-winning sound designer, Nick Tipp.

The Go Figure! exhibit will remain at the museum through December 6, 2021.  It is sponsored by The Honeywell Charitable Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington State Art Commission, Printonyx, Harbor Rentals, Browne’s Home Center, Orcas Island Community Foundation and the San Juan Island Community Foundation.

Located in Friday Harbor at 540 Spring Street, the hours are Friday-Monday from 11-5. Admission to the whole museum is $10, with SJIMA members and those 18 and under admitted free. Mondays are Pay as You Can Days. For further information visit www.sjima.org

Friday Harbor, WA – Steven Hoang, DO, has joined the PeaceHealth Medical Group Family Practice at PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical.

Dr. Hoang comes to Peace Island from Spokane, Wash., where he recently completed a residency program through the University of Washington Family Medicine Residency Network. He earned his degree in osteopathic medicine from the University of North Texas Health Science Center College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas.

His professional interests include population health and care for the underserved, lifestyle and preventive care and sports and wilderness medicine.

“My practice philosophy is that the human body is capable of doing many wonderful things to keep us functioning from day to day, including self-healing” Dr. Hoang said. “My vision of medicine is to help you live the life that you want to. I chose medicine as a way to give back to the many people who have helped me on this journey.”

Dr. Hoang grew up in Arlington, Texas. He speaks conversational Vietnamese, and in his spare time enjoys photography, snowboarding, cycling, traveling, PC gaming and urban and wilderness exploration.

Tim Dustrude photo – Click to enlarge

The San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce the Island Lights Festival on Friday December 3rd at 6:30pm! This kickoff event for the Friday Harbor Winterfest is partnering with Island Rec and of course Santa Claus.

It will be a fun filled evening when all start gathering at 6:30pm on Spring Street between 1st and Front Street to await the arrival of Santa. We will have caroling while sipping some hot chocolate and coffee while waiting for Santa to arrive to light the tree.

Once the tree is lit we will have some more caroling before heading up to Brickworks for more fun. Upon arriving at Brickworks one will find pictures with Santa, crafts with Island Rec and local harvest soups and spiced local apple cider for sale.

For more details please contact the Chamber of Commerce 360-378-5240, [email protected].