Second district County Council candidate Laura Jo Severson met up with incumbent State Representative Jeff Morris and incumbent State Senator Kevin Ranker at a fundraiser this weekend; both endorsed her.

Well, Election Day comes up on November second this year, which means the mail-in ballots will soon be in the mail. This week on San Juan Island, there will be a couple of chances for you to hear the candidates for the County Council’s Second District on our island (that’s kind of the north part of the island, not including Friday Harbor), as well as a chance to see the other candidates.

First, with just candidates Laura Jo Severson & Rich Peterson, there will be a discussion between  on Wednesday, October 13th, at the Mullis Center at 7:00pm, with The Island Guardian’s Jack Cory moderating.  That event is sponsored by the San Juan Builders Association.

Then Friday at 6:30pm at the middle school, the League of Women Voters has invited a bunch of folks to a candidates forum – they tell me candidates for the following positions have been invited: U.S Representative, Congressional District 2; State Representative, District 40, Positions 1 & 2; San Juan County Council District 2; and the San Juan County Sheriff.

Also, Rich Peterson will be meeting and greeting folks who would like to come by  285 Spring Street next Sunday, October 17th from 10:00 a.m. until noon.

Second District County Council Rich Peterson held meet & greets this past weekend in Friday Harbor, and has another scheduled next weekend; Rich & Laura Jo will meet for a public candidates' discussion on Wednesday.

I ran into some tourists in the crowd (visitors to the island!) who were at Friday night’s game, who said they came to see what it was like to see a game in small town America. If that’s what they wanted, I think we put on a show: a nice touchdown by our guys & hustling all night, good cheerleading, a good-sounding band, and a nice night to be outside.

This year's cheerleaders didn't let up during the game: (Back row) Mallory Dahlquist, Shanti Neff-Barro, Alyssa Hallock, Deanna Banry, Tabatha Keane, (middle row) Kayla Drummond and Shondala Scott, (front row) Lindsey Banry, Kirtsen Crichton, and Marina Leduc. And...they wore pink ribbons for Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

For the record, our Wolverines lost 48-6 to Meridian, as the visiting Trojans rang up a 35-6 halftime score, as their quarterback passed for five TDs, while FHHS’ Don Galt hit Tyler Pruitt for the hometown score.

Here’s what the guys looked like, taking the field in the second half:

It’s time to sign up – here’s more:

Leadership San Juan Islands
360-376-2786 or http://www.leadershipsanjuanislands.org

Leadership San Juan Islands announces that preparation for Class VII is underway as the application period has officially opened.  Applications and information can be found on the web at the website and the deadline to submit applications is November 12. Continue Reading

This was the view from the restaurant last week on a sunny Thursday...

Matthew

When I dropped by The Bluff to check out what was happening for happy hour, it was cool – chef Matthew Noesen said, “Let me show you what we have!” and he prepped samples of each of the things on the happy hour menu (except for the beer battered onion rings, which I can imagine).

He tells me the happy hour is Monday-Saturday from 4-6pm in the restaurant which is located in the Friday Harbor House.

On Sunday he’s running the specials from 4-close.

Drop by if you get a chance!

From the menu (starting at top left): Tempura fried bacon with maple sambal ponzu dipping sauce, roasted beet salad with goat cheese and walnut vinaigrette, crispy chicken wings & drums with a choice of buffalo sauce or bourbon barbecue sauce or sweet Thai chili sauce, American Wagyu steak sliders, and crispy polenta with wild mushrooms.

There are a lot of tough jobs around the island – construction, pouring concrete, handling the tourist rush during the summer, working the job sites.

But none is as tough as parenting. And you don’t get a hardhat.

Luckily, there are a couple of options for taking parenting classes around the island.

First, Jenny Benedict is starting her series of classes on the 19th – here’s the complete brochure that tells all about what she’s offering – check it out!

Meanwhile, you can join the class being offered by Shahn McGuire at the middle school on Monday nights, sponsored by the FHMS PTA:

“Get Out of My Life, But First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall?” by Anthony Wolf, Ph.D.

The Title Says it All!  Join us for weekly classes on the joys, struggles and rewards of being a parent of an adolescent.  This class is appropriate for parents and children of all ages.  Come on Monday nights from 5:15 -6:45 in the Middle School Commons to share your knowledge and experience, and to learn from others who are in similar situations. Continue Reading

Our Wolverines play a tough Meridian team tonight in football…this is your chance to show you’re a real fan – come support the team!

Afterwards, Andy Urbach tells me there’s a gig at Vic’s for kids:

The Post-Game!

Now there is a place for students to go when the football game is over!

Minor Reinforcement, a new, local non-profit, and Vic’s Drive-In are working together to provide a safe place for students to meet up with friends, hang out, and eat after the two remaining home football games.

The Post-Game will take place at Vic’s Drive-In and will be open to all 7th through 12th graders (and any family members) from the time the final whistle blows till midnight, on Friday October 8th, and Friday October 22nd. Continue Reading

My friends, the next six minutes are gonna make you smile, and you’re gonna be bustin’ with pride about this food program at our schools here on the island. Liz & Andy & the crew at school use local food & make lunches that are AWESOME (sometimes, you can’t capitalize enough!)

You’ll see the folks who do it, students from last semester’s class who graduated (hey, José & Diante & Ali!) who cook, and more – and you’ll have one more cool reason to add to your list about why our island rocks.

Skagit Valley College/San Juan Center...our shining light upon the hill....

Hey – Randy from SVC asked me if I would let you know about some classes coming up…Bob Schwatzberg’s Fundraising for Small Non-Profits and there’s one for House Building in San Juan County. The details & times are in the bottom of this posting!

Meanwhile, have you gotten stymied by using Microsoft Word – and do you feel like you’d like to get more out of it? How about Excel, or Powerpoint? My workshops for these programs start the 19th…and they’re fun. I promise.

Here are the details… Continue Reading

Let’s see what’s going on around here….

That's Zayden on the ferry last weekend - NOW he's ready for Halloween!

• The middle school kids took off for their overnighter at Warm Beach this morning… remember when YOU went?

• Rich Peterson is running for re-election to the second district spot on the County Council…he’ll be available for a Meet & Greet on the 9th & 10th at 285 Spring Street from 10am to noon…that’s the spot next to the Little Store where Be Chic used to be.

• This Friday night, the DuoTones are playing at the Rumor Mill at 7:30pm…see ya there!

• Coho Restaurant’s Fall Food Foraging Fiesta is this weekend – here’s more!

• ABC News reports there’s a “mystery” about killer whales dying in captivity at SeaWorld in Orlando (they should have titled the story “How SeaWorld abuses & kills orcas.”)

Here’s the story, which includes SeaWorld’s claim that killer whales live as long there as in the wild…I’ll check with southern resident killer whale Granny off the west side of San Juan Island, who turns 100 next year, and get back to you on THAT whopper.

SeaWorld's statement...

Color wheels, in action...

• Hey, you may have noticed the last couple of weeks that my old friend Peggy Sue has prepared stories for the San Juan Update – it was cool to get her take up with the different Artstock artists as well as the Presbyterian Church’s 150th anniversary talk the other night.

After a few years of keeping up her blog On San Juan Island, she now is writing Blackfish Art, as she puts her background & training in art and her easy to read writing style to work with some pretty good writing (I was intrigued by her story about how the color wheel was developed in the 1700s…click here for more.)

You can check her Update stories (so far) here. Thanks, Peggy Sue!

• Whoa – did you lose your coffee cup?

I was driving behind you in front of the middle school about a month ago and you turned right, up Park Street, and this metal coffee mug rolled off the top of your car. I stopped to get it off the pavement, but wasn’t able to catch you because of rush hour traffic in Friday Harbor (there was this tractor in the road, actually, and I could get around it, see…).

So, write me at ian (at) byd2.com and I’ll get it to ya.

The cup in question, currently in my custody.

• It may seem a little early, but you’ll need to sign up now if you want a spot in Janet Thomas’ classes – here’s what she’s offering:

Janet's classses are inspiring & help you do your best writing (that's a plug, by me - she does a great job!)

“There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no-one knows what they are.”
~ W. Somerset Maugham

“There are three trillion rules for writing the memoir. Fortunately, everyone knows what they are.”
~ Janet A. Thomas

Write Your Memoir ~ Create the Rules, Break the Rules, Have It Your Way

Monday Evenings
5:30 ~ 7:30 pm
Ten weeks
October 18 through December 20
$130*
Location – The Fat Cat Writes (old Fat Cat Cafe across from Funk & Junk on Nichols Street in Friday Harbor)
Limit 8 people

Wednesday Afternoons
1:00 ~ 3:00 p.m.
Ten weeks
October 20 ~ December 22 (Christmas stress makes great memoir.)
$130*
Location – The Yoga Path, 849-C Spring Street, Friday Harbor
Limit 8 people

Exploring Your Life for Meaning and Memoir
A Workshop, Play-Shop, Don’t Shop Saturday
November 6
10:00 a.m. ~ 4:00 p.m.
$60*
Location – The Yoga Path, 849-C Spring Street, Friday Harbor

The Art & Craft and Nuts & Bolts of Self-Publishing
A Why-You-Should-Do-It-Yourself Workshop
Saturday, December 4
$60*
10:00 a.m. ~ 4:00 p.m.
Location – The Yoga Path, 849-C Spring Street, Friday Harbor

*Fees can be messed with — up, down, inside-out. Talk to me.

For info, useful & otherwise:
Janet Thomas
360-378-3854
[email protected]

At noon there will be a demo to show you how the "Jaws of Life" are used....

Carolyn at the Fire Department told me last year that that year’s Safety Fair was the best they’d ever put on – I think they’re gonna top it this year:

Safety Fair Saturday Filled with Fun

Games, a coloring contest, a rescue demonstration, food and lots of fun are on the agenda at the Safety Fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 9, at the Mullis Street Fire Station.

Presley told me she really liked last year's Safety Fair....

Participating agencies include the Friday Harbor Fire Department, the San Juan Island Fire Department, San Juan Emergency Medical Services, the Sheriff’s Office, the Fire Marshal, the Red Cross, Firewise, San Juan County Health Dept. and the San Juan Ham Radio Operators.

Kids’ games include a bean bag toss, 911 twister, shooting the flames with a real fire hose, a Treasure Hunt and more.

A rescue demonstration will be held at noon where emergency workers will show how they operate at the scene of a motor vehicle accident. They will use the Jaws-of-Life to cut up a vehicle and will show how efficient a child safety seat is in protecting a child in an accident. EMS will also provide information about child safety seats and will make arrangements to check anyone’s car seat.

The Friday Harbor Fire Department will have their ladder truck there and will talk about its importance in firefighting on the island.

Kids will able to sit in the fire engines, dress in firefighter gear and tour the fire station. Also McGruff the Crime Dog will be there.

There will also be a coloring contest with prizes for children preschool age through grade 5. Entries must be turned in by 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9, at the Mullis Street Station. The coloring page will be passed out at the schools during fire prevention week or you may pick them up at the Mullis Street Fire Station.

Red Cross workers will also cook you a hotdog of choice – beef, turkey or tofu.

Other free goodies include chips, cookies, soda pop and juices.

The Safety Fair is held during Fire Prevention Week as a reminder to people about fire safety, in addition to safety and emergency preparedness in general. The 2010 Fire Prevention Week theme this year is ‘Beep! Beep! Beep! Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With.’ We ask that families develop a home escape plan and practice it regularly.

With last night’s rain and the coming of autumn’s gray today (it HAS been a glorious week, hasn’t it?), I got up this morning with this poem on my mind – hope you like it. Kinda feels like it goes with the day, to me…see if you think so, too, as we tackle this morning. (Reminds me, too, of the way Dan Millman suggests instead of saying, “Have a good day,” say, “Create a good day.”)

++++++++++++

Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog)
by A. Van Jordan

Because a razor cuts across a frame of film,
I wince, squinting my eye,
and because my day needs assembly
to make sense of the scenes anyway,
making a story from some pieces of truth, I go
outside to gather those pieces.
Thousands of moments spooling out
frames of mistakes in my day.
As if anyone’s to blame,
as if anyone could interpret the colliding
images, again and again, dragging
my imagination behind me,
I begin assembling.
I don’t know anything, so I seek
directions, following the path
of ants from your palm, out
the apartment door to
a beach. Is this where I’m
supposed to ask if my hands on you
bend some light around shade? Maybe
I’m not ready for the answer. They say
art imitates what we can sculpt or write
or just see when we turn ourselves
inside out. I can’t turn my eye away
from the sight of failure. The rain pelts rooftops.
I listen to the song, thinking
when the sun comes back,
beating down the door
in my head, I’ll salvage whatever sits
still long enough for me to render,
before anyone knows what really happened.

Imagine...nothing to kill or die for...

John Lennon’s seventieth birthday is this Saturday…everybody will remember it in their own way, so I thought I’d post one of his quiet little less-known ballads, “Oh, My Love,” which has George Harrison filling in the guitar part, from the “Imagine” sessions.

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one….

Me & Shay, catching a few winks...

Ever have a problem figuring out what to call your kid (or dog, or cat, or goldfish, or truck)? Me, too…when we were getting ready to have Shay & Cameron, Sherri & I used to watch the credits at the ends of movies all the way through, waiting for the perfect name to present itself…

So, around that time, I wrote a short op-ed essay that got published in the Eugene paper (21 years ago), and in a magazine (last month – I believe in recycling). So, I thought I’d take a chance to see if you might like it…

Click here to read it!

Waterfowl, in the water at Roche Harbor...photo by Keith (thanks!)

It’s pretty common to see trumpeter swans around San Juan Island, but usually they hang out where there’s fresh water – ponds, wetlands, lakes.

So, ace photographer Keith Busha was a little surprised to see this one out in the salt water of the marina at Roche Harbor.

Here’s the Wikipedia treatment of the birds…maybe that helps. A little.

The bird, up close...

YOu can write ANYTHING! Fiction, non-fiction, or cheesy ads...

This is cool!

If you want to buy those plastic letters that go on the fridge, you can….go buy ’em! Or you can go to this site and make your own!

Check it out!

Then get back to work. You are SO busted.

Mike Vouri places his hand on Reverend T.J. Weekes' Bible held by Pastor Joe Bettridge, after their presentation Tuesday night. Photo by Peggy Sue McRae.

Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church Celebrates 150 Year History

Tuesday night Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church commemorated serving its San Juan Island congregation for 150 years with the first of a two-part series beginning with the 19th century.

Older than the Town of Friday Harbor, San Juan’s Presbyterian congregation pre-dates even the Pig War. Historian and author Mike Vouri set the stage by sharing stories, photographs and excerpts from his and his wife Julie’s new book, Images of America: San Juan Island (scheduled to come out Nov 1st). Painting a lively picture of the Island in the 19th century Mike then turned the story telling over the Pastor Joe Bettridge.

It began in 1860 when Reverend Summerville from Victoria crossed Haro Strait to hold services in the log schoolhouse at Portland Fair Hill.

In 1870 T.J. Weekes became the first full-time minister to serve the Island. Weekes was an Englishman who sailed around the Horn to San Francisco, prospected for gold, and was lifetime pen pals with Mark Twain. Pastor Weekes taught Island children to read and convinced many of the European-American men and the native women they settled down with to get married.

In his diary he wrote about the first time he passed a collection plate on the Island. All that came of it were 3 lonely nickels. To make matters worse, after the service a member of the congregation confided to the reverend that he was going to need his 2 nickels back. “Why” asked the reverend, “if you knew you would need them back did you put them in the offering plate?” To this the reluctant donor answered, “I thought it best to keep up appearances.”

On October 26th Mike Vouri and Joe Bettridge will tell more stories about the church, this time from the 20th century.