Last night's Knowledge Bowl was great - that's the 11th/12th Grade team of Chadwick, Guard, Snow & King. It's neat to be a place that takes the time to celebrate learning & knowledge...and to have a Schools Foundation that helps raise what's needed to give our kids an extra hand. I know you're wondering who won - the kids did, silly. A whole school district of 'em. (And the Lions edged the 11th/12th Graders at the end.)

Lots of comings & goings…let’s see what’s up….

• I hear Kristina Anderson (FHHS ’01) is expecting a son in the summer – congrats, Kristina!

• Seems to me I’ve been hearing of islanders going all over the place, to wit: Juan & Heidi Lopez (Spain, this week), Mike & Sandy Buckley (Hawaii, couple of days ago, probably to shoot pictures of THEIR whales), Laura Tretter (Australia), Cindy from the Whale Museum (Baja, to work as a gray whale naturalist), Sondra Nash (home to Honduras), Ken from Xtreme Fitness (coming back from Singapore next week),  and more, as the Spring Street International School kids head for Asia (last week) and Peru (next week.)

• Remember Lauren Holt? She’s living in Bend these days…getting married next summer.

• I hear that Peggy & Oren have resigned from San Juan Brewing after 18 years…they tell me they’re excited about the chance to do new things, and are happy for the happy fellowship the pub provided all those years.

• Yep, it was Caitlin Keys‘ 18th birthday yesterday, so they celebrated at Pazzo Vivo where she works last night during open mike.

Takin' the pain away - I had a cracked tooth that was killin' me this week, and Michael Horn at Friday Harbor Dentistry fixed it - thanks! That's Dr. Horn with his girl Lila at last fall's open house at his place.

• Pam Herber says the Writer’s Cafe is tonight (Friday) at the Naked Bean at 5pm…come read your original fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or come listen. Usually runs till about 6:30 or so.

• Debbie at Roche Harbor Market says the 7th Annual Roche Harbor Salmon Classic got underway yesterday – wahoo!

• Nice quote – I like what Meg Wheatley says about making things new: “The things we fear most in organizations – fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances – are the primary sources of creativity.”

• Play in the pool! Here’s more from Sally at Island Rec:

Come play with your baby or young tot in the warm water of San Juan Island Fitness small pool.  Register now for Island Rec’s Parent and Tot Open Swim held on Monday mornings beginning February 22.  Registrations must be received by February 12!  Cost for the six week program is $30.  Scholarships are available for income- eligible families.

For more information about this swim program or other learn to swim classes contact Island Rec at 378-4953 or visit www.islandrec.org

• Carrie at the Medical Center wanted to tell you about a program to help folks with cancer:

There is a very exciting program offered on San Juan Island for women suffering from cancer. The program is called “Look Good…Feel Better.” A trained local volunteer cosmetologist teaches women how to cope with skin changes and hair loss using cosmetics and skin care products donated by the cosmetic industry. Women also learn ways to disguise hair loss with wigs, scarves, and other accessories. These parties are held at the San Juan Island Library.

Our community contact is Geri, an islander of 20 years. She can be contacted at 378-5872 for any questions or concerns you may have. She can also register you for the class, or you can call 1-800-277-2345 and register yourself.

If you know of any women this would help, please forward this information on to them. This program has changed the way so many women feel about themselves while battling cancer. To learn even more, you can go to www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org.

Thought for the day, from Softwear's window on Spring Street....

• The Playwrights Festival continues this week – here’s the scoop for Week 2, from Jan at the Community Theatre:

Centennial Stories, the 2010 Islands Playwrights Festival, continues this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. inside San Juan Community Theatre’s Gubelman Theatre.

This week’s offerings include the staged reading written by Wendy E. Shepard: Walking to War.  Co-directed by Wendy and Ernest Pugh, the reading is a dramatic dialogue on how the human family can transform itself into one that settles conflicts without violence.  The cast features islanders Chinmayo, Dorian Oliver, Maureen See, Jacki Altier, Tom Phillips, Shannon Kelly, Lynda Guernsey and Brittany Kane

After the reading, San Juan County storyteller and playwright Antoinette Botsford will provide insight into the fine connection between storytelling and playwrighting.  Antoinette has spent her life as a story worker–sometimes working with plays, sometimes telling stories, often bridging the terrain between partially improvised and partially texted performances inspired by historical characters.

Jim Sesby traveled to Olympia to offer his sense of things....

• Jim Sesby from Heritage Farm here was one of the folks testifying in support of State Senator Kevin Ranker’s bill to get more folks involved in farming – here’s more from the senator’s office:

Dylan Johnson said he has learned more about farming during his short time as an intern at Synergy Farm in Friday Harbor than he could during a lifetime in the classroom.

Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-San Juan Island, is sponsoring Senate Bill 6349, legislation that would provide aspiring farmers with firsthand experience in their future line of work.

“The average age of a farmer in Washington is 57-years-old,” Ranker said. “If we’re serious about promoting agriculture in Washington we’re going to have to encourage younger people to get into the farms and get their hands dirty.”

Farmers from throughout the 40th District arrived in Olympia on Thursday to testify on behalf of Ranker’s farm internship bill. The measure would allow farms with gross sales of less than $250,000 annually to establish internship programs for future farmers who are not enrolled in classes to work on farms throughout the state.

“Those that weren’t going to a university, they wanted to learn a trade. They deserve an opportunity as well,” Ranker said. “We must encourage young folks to get onto the farm. We must develop a way for these internship programs to take place.”

Farmers interested in employing interns would be required submit a written application for certification to be reviewed by the Department of Labor and Industries. The farm would be required to specify the nature of the work interns would do and how the experience would provide them with vocational knowledge and skills.

Ally & Beckett, hanging out in Post Falls, Idaho.....

You remember Ally Pemberton (now Noland), who graduated from FHHS in 2000, then came back here to marry Chris at Lakedale? Well, she & Chris have Beckett to play with now, so I asked her if I could put up some pictures to show ya. She’ll bring the fam to the island this summer for the class’s tenth reunion, by which time Beckett will be done with algebra & starting French. Probably driving, too.

Laughs at his own stories....

This is what Google presently says - that By Design (home of the San Juan Update, America's San Juan Island newsthing) is still located on Mullis Street. Notice all the other businesses named By Design - someone asked if they stole my name. Nope - we're all just sharing it. (I started before them all, though - in 1994.)

It’s been kind of you all (you know who you are, and if you don’t, find out, willya?) to ask how the office move went last week.

It went quite well, thanks…I borrowed a truck & we were able to sell almost everything or else take it somewhere. The Consignment Treasures dude came & picked up some stuff, and we also carried a bit over to our friends at the Thrift Shop, where I usually shop for new clothes.

Helping Google find us, in my back yard.

So, now we’re all set up in the small room in my house on Apple Tree Lane, and everything’s fine. Mostly.

I switched the phone line, and re-directed my friends at FedEx & started feeding the cats in THIS neighborhood. Only one thing went wrong – Google still has the office as being located on Mullis Street, as you can see above.

So we’re dealing with that.

Call for directions.

Satellite view of home....

In the aftermath of the events in Haiti, Time magazine ran a bit called, “Where will the next five big earthquakes be?”

Tucked in with LA, Indonesia, Tehran & Tokyo is…the Pacific Northwest. Here’s the story.

Not satisfied with that thinly-presented rundown of our seismic setup here? (I wasn’t.) This story in Wired has a fuller explanation & review of what’s beneath our feet, and the waters around us.

Tramps like us….baby, we were born to run. Get your day pumping:

There were 22 participants in yesterday's Community Spelling Bee at the Community Theatre...

What I hear from the streets of Friday Harbor….

Jason & Shaena

• Jan Sears has big news:

Bud and Jan Sears of Friday Harbor announce the engagement of their son, Jason Wheeler Sears, to Shaena Ann Berg.  She is the daughter of Tim and Ann Berg of Yakima, Washington.

The bride-to-be graduated from West Valley High School and earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington. She is currently a Patient Services Specialist at the University of Washington Medical Center. The groom-to-be graduated from Friday Harbor High School and earned his bachelor’s degree in Sport Management from Washington State University. He is now a Golf Professional at the Golf Club at Redmond Ridge.

A July 17, 2010 wedding is planned at Trilogy Cascade Club in Redmond, Washington. An Island Reception will be held in August after the couple return from their honeymoon to Greece and Istanbul.

• Everyone who went it told me it was pretty fun, right down to the nail-gripping, fist-biting finale…. organizer Mike Close reports the results & prizes for yesterday’s Community Spelling Bee (which was held at the Community Theatre – it’s easy to imagine something like this happening in exactly the same spot in 1912, when the high school was located there):

Dalton (left) and Joe were the top two winners - with contest organizers Carolyn & Mike pulling it all together.

1st Place Winner: Dalton Ayers, 7th Grade Friday Harbor Middle School, $75
1st Place Winner’s Classroom: $150
1st Place Winner’s School: $300

Finalist: Joe Fyrqvist, 8th Grade Friday Harbor Middle School, $50
Finalist’s Classroom: $100
Finalist’s School: $200

4th Grade Top Finisher, Lauren Ayers, Friday Harbor Elementary school, $25
5th Grade Top Finisher, Jillian Urbach, Paideia Classical School, $25
6th Grade Top Finisher, Will Christison, Friday Harbor Elementary School, $25

Martha

• You know Martha at Wells Fargo… she has two bits of news: her husband is helping out in Haiti (more details coming), and they’re planning to have a baby in September. Wahoo!

• School stuff: Hey, the Knowledge Bowl is on Thursday – see you there! And…there’s a rare home match for the Wolverine Wrestlers on Saturday. Here’s more from FHHS AD Rod Turnbull:

Friday Harbor will be hosting a home wrestling match on Saturday, February 6th.  Weigh-ins will take place at 11:00,  Wrestling will begin at 12:00.  As of now, Monday morning at 10:00am, this is a regular match with 4 schools attending.  We will have two mats set-up, and will be Wrestling in Turnbull Gym.

Meanwhile, the girls basketball team won 54-43 last night at Orcas to remain atop the league standings, while the boys basketball team beat the Vikings by 18.

The spark that got you started...

Wahoo! Thanks for the stories about how you met & fell in love…I’m loving it.

Several folks have asked if it’s “too late” to turn ’em in…shoot, it’s never too late.

If ya turn them in in October, we’ll just print them then.

But if you get ’em in this next week or so, I can put ’em in before Valentine’s Day, and that would be cool.

(The easy address to use is ian (at) byd2.com…thanks!)

Here’s a song by Sarah McLachlan (“Love is Better Than Chocolate”) that you might like to hear while you’re typing….

Killer whales near Victoria....

Captain Jim Maya reported that he saw a large number of transient killer whales off Race Rocks yesterday, including T100’s baby calf….

Wildlife at Wildwood Manor....

I love it when good people get recognition for the super job they do – Michael & John at Wildwood Manor have been named to Trip Advisor’s Top Ten list. This is awesome, and I feel lucky to get the chance to tell you about it. Here’s more, from Trip Advisor:

Wildwood Manor, a bed-and-breakfast on San Juan Island in Washington, has been chosen as one of the ten best B&Bs in the United States by TripAdvisor® in its 2010 Travelers’ Choice® awards. The award marks the second year in a row that Wildwood Manor has been named one of the ten best B&Bs in the United States by TripAdvisor. The inn is the only bed-and-breakfast in the Pacific Northwest to be honored. Now in its eighth year, the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice awards honor the world’s best hotels, earning their distinction from those who know them best – real travelers.

Located on a knoll with sweeping views of the San Juan Channel and woods, Wildwood Manor is a bed-and-breakfast with comfortably elegant interiors and an inviting Queen Anne-style exterior. The professionally designed home features three waterview and woodside view guestrooms and a romantic waterview suite. Innkeepers Michael Bitterman and John Gallagher are committed to the comfort of their guests, Continue Reading

Steve Keys (right) checks in with Harry after Wednesday's show

A good-sized crowd sat in on Harry Manx’s show last night at the Community Theatre, and he did a super job of offering up a spell-binding evening of great music…he can make those guitars sing!

So, to start your day, here’s a song for you from Harry (you’ll recognize it!):

It’s a sad thing to lose your brother…Ellen Johnson has lost hers. Here’s the rest of the story:

Kurt Johnson

Kurt Daniel Johnson (April 16, 1959 ~ January 20, 2010) was born and raised in the community of Ballard in Seattle Washington.  His love for the outdoors began with time spent at the family cabin on Lake Whatcom, Camp Orkila, cub scouting and family camping trips.  He climbed Mount Rainier and hiked all over the Cascades and the Olympic Mountains.

His love of music began at an early age.  He picked up his first guitar at 10 years old and became an accomplished guitar player playing and singing in local Seattle bands, APB, the Silverbacks, the Falcons, and most recently Vinyl Stage.  His love of music was diverse ranging from Beethoven to Doobie Brothers to Ella Fitzgerald and of course, Rock ‘n Roll.  He was an accomplished graphic artist and photographer.  His photos from his climbs and camping trips are beautiful.

He fought a brave battle with his cancer for three years.  He did not like to talk about it saying, “I’d rather spend every day living than dying” and he did that, hanging on to his independence to the very end.  As tired as he was he walked to Hattie’s Hat for breakfast the Saturday before he left us.  He endured without complaining and with a stoic sense of humor that is inspiring.

His friends helped him realize a dream in his last year arranging for him to ride a motorcycle with his friends on a road trip that was a highlight of his life.  He sailed with a friend to Port Townsend and boated in the San Juan Islands with family.

Among other adventures, he journeyed up the inside passage to Alaska when he was 14 and commercial fished in his twenties.  He jumped out of a plane and parachuted.  He lived his life his own way.  He was a loyal friend and very fond of his niece and nephews and was Uncle Kurt to many kids that he was close to.

He is preceded by his parents, John & Inge Johnson, two brothers, Paul &

Eric Johnson and his beloved Golden Retriever, Luther.  He leaves behind his brother and sister in law Robert & Shauna Johnson of Ballard, Washington, his sister Ellen Johnson of Friday Harbor, Washington, his niece Lauren Johnson of Ballard, his nephew Jacob Johnson of San Diego, and his nephew John Daniel Johnson of Friday Harbor.

We love him and will miss him always.  Kurt’s farewell party will be held at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard on Saturday February 20, 2010 from 6 pm on. Potluck and please bring any photos, memories, and memorabilia to share.

Leah & her work...

It was cool to run into Leah Altman last night – she showed me this double-breasted blue coat that she made from scratch. Pretty awesome…way to go, Leah!

Happy Birthday, Betty!!!!

Just got this flash from Seanene at the Village at the Harbour:

Betty Bruce celebrated her 96th birthday today! Betty has lived at Village at the Harbour since April 2008. Her brilliant smile is contagious and she fills our hearts with love each day.  Happy Birthday, Betty!

Love,

The staff
and residents at the Village

Truly scary.

The other day (like, November), my friend Pam asked me if I liked scary movies. I asked her, “Like what?” And she responded with the usual – Friday the Thirteenth, Jack the Ripper, Ghostbusters (you know, the part with the Stay Puft Marshmallow dude at the end).

I told her, yeah, spooky stuff, but the one I didn’t want to live through was Ground Hog Day. You know, the movie where Bill Murray wakes up each day & it’s a repeat of the same old day, over & over again. I think I’m more creeped out by that than any axe murderer.

I had to learn this little speech from A Thousand Clowns once, with Murray talking to his brother Arnie, which sums all this up:

Five months ago I was on the
subway on my way to work,
was sitting on the express same
as every morning looking out the
window watching the local
stops go by in the dark with an empty
head and my arms folded, not
feeling great, not feeling rotten,
just not feeling. And for a minute
I couldn’t remember, I didn’t
know, unless I really concentrated,
whether it was a Tuesday or a
Thursday or a… for a minute it
could have been any day, Arn.

[Stands up] I gotta know what
day it is. I gotta know what’s the
name of the game and what the
rules are without anyone else telling
me. You gotta own your own days
and name ’em, each one of ’em,
every one of ’em, or else the
years go right by and none of them
belong to you.

And that ain’t just for weekends, kiddo.

I wish that for you. Name your own days. For me, today is Harry Manx Day, ’cause I get to see him. Thursday is Knowledge Bowl Day. Friday is April Fool’s Day, because it’s the day I set aside for making up stuff for April 1st. Saturday is Math Day, because it’s 2/5/10 for the date, which is like 2 x 5 = 10. Sunday is All Saints’ Day, because whether they win or lose, New Orleans is a city that could use a break.

You get the idea. A year from now, I’ll be able to say,”Yeah, that was the day before Harry Manx Day! It was great!” or “Remember our cool ideas from the February April Fool’s Day?”

Got ’em named, every one of ’em. Do you?

Dancin' the night away...

It’s a cool deal – papas on the island can take their favorite girls (or girls!) out for the evening at the Father/Daughter Dance this Friday at the Mullis Center, sponsored by Island Rec.

Tim & Megan had a great time last year....

This is the fifth year of the event (I got to DJ the first couple with my son Shay & it was great to get to go), and it just seems like it gets more fun each year.

Here’s the details from the San Juan Calendar about how it all works…see ya there!

In the meantime, here are the photo galleries from the first four years – it’s fun to see how much taller the kids are than their dads now…. 🙂

The Father/Daughter Dance – 2006

The Father/Daughter Dance – 2007

The Father/Daughter Dance – 2008

The Father/Daughter Dance – 2009

Felix & Samantha were still smiling at the end of evening...it's a fun time. See you there!

Richard Lawson

Leah Lawson tells me the celebration of life for Richard Lawson is this Saturday at one…his passing at the age of 66 has been a big shock to this community, and he is much missed. Here’s more:

Richard Lee Lawson was born September 30, 1944 in Friday Harbor WA to Gilbert and Geraldine Lawson. Richard lost his fight with cancer on January 26, 2010 at The University of Washington Medical Center.

Richard was born in the Lawson farmhouse on West Valley Rd. Farming, raising cattle, and riding horses were his life-long passion. He was a graduate with the Friday Harbor class of 1961, and then served several years in the Air Force which started his love for the sky.  Richard was often in the air flying whether it was in a fixed wing airplane or helicopter and was always willing to help a fellow islander that needed, or wanted, a ride. Richard lived his life to the fullest, Continue Reading