Torry Johnson and Dakota out for a ride on the West side...

This photo came to me from Norris Palmer, and perfectly captured the joy of the moment, when one is out for a ride with a friend….

After you listen to this one, you’ll find yourself humming it all day long, so be careful….from NeverShoutNever:

Bob Schwartzberg

Since he retired earlier this year, he’s kept a low profile, but there’s no one better than Bob Schwartzberg to offer this class…here’s more from the Library’s Beth Helstien:

Foundation Research Workshop

The San Juan Island Library is offering a workshop on Tuesday, November 17, from noon to 1:30 on using the Foundation Directory Database to support non-profit organizations. This little used but important library resource is only available through paid subscription.

A little training can enhance the usefulness of the database, and many non-profit organizations have been able to raise significant financial resources based on a sound plan that incorporates foundation research and development.

Bob Schwartzberg, recently retired from the Friday Harbor Labs, will share some of his career’s worth of experience in fundraising on why and how Continue Reading

Bob Schwartzberg

Since he retired earlier this year, he’s kept a low profile, but there’s no one better than Bob Schwartzberg to offer this class…here’s more from the Library’s Beth Helstien:

Foundation Research Workshop

The San Juan Island Library is offering a workshop on Tuesday, November 17, from noon to 1:30 on using the Foundation Directory Database to support non-profit organizations. This little used but important library resource is only available through paid subscription.

A little training can enhance the usefulness of the database, and many non-profit organizations have been able to raise significant financial resources based on a sound plan that incorporates foundation research and development.

Bob Schwartzberg, recently retired from the Friday Harbor Labs, will share some of his career’s worth of experience in fundraising on why and how Continue Reading

Ready to hit the pavement!

When I ran into Kerry Andrews & Boo Boo James the other day they said they had a new website to help women on the island know about chances to run & to show off (a little) how cool it is to run here. There are tons of pictures at http://runladiesrun.com/ – check ’em out!

Here’s even more from the Loop Run back in August – are you in there?)

The Chamber is sponsoring this event – hope you can make it! Here’s more from Vernadel:

Join the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce for a special session on the proposed Farmer’s Market Building on Nichols Street. Lovel Pratt will share information about the project and Cathaleen Cavanagh will discuss concerns about the project.

Thursday, November 12, 6 pm at the Earthbox Conference Room, 410 Spring Street, upstairs in Building B.

Come and get information and ask questions so that you can be prepared for the upcoming public hearing.  Anyone that agrees or disagrees with this proposal Continue Reading

The Chamber is sponsoring this event – hope you can make it! Here’s more from Vernadel:

Join the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce for a special session on the proposed Farmer’s Market Building on Nichols Street. Lovel Pratt will share information about the project and Cathaleen Cavanagh will discuss concerns about the project.

Thursday, November 12, 6 pm at the Earthbox Conference Room, 410 Spring Street, upstairs in Building B.

Come and get information and ask questions so that you can be prepared for the upcoming public hearing.  Anyone that agrees or disagrees with this proposal Continue Reading

Randy & Gail are the new owners of Dolphin Arts/Cotton Cotton Cotton, as they thank Christine (right) for getting things started...

Here are a few things you might have heard about…

• Longtime islanders know about Vivian Burnett’s Dolphin Arts/Cotton Cotton Cotton shop, which she sold to Christine Mays (she & Jimmy Mays got married in June 2007 – scroll to the bottom of this retro-news blast from the San Juan Update for their picture). Great move – Christine made a great shop even better – now she’s sold it to Randy & Gail from Orlando, who took over this month. Drop in & tell them hey!

• Speaking of getting married – Laura Greenan got married on 10/10/09 in Carmel to John Geniuch. She’s back on-island, taking appointments for her reflexology practice – check her out!

New kinda ice cream, at the flower shop...

• Went by San Juan Florist to get say hey & check out their coffee & ice cream, and sure enough, they have Porter Beer ice cream. I believe that is the only place on the island you can get that….

Sue's art...

• Sue Carnes tells me her art is on the Mazatlan’s Pacific Pearl magazine, with a story about her…pretty cool! Here’s the link.

• Almost everyone on the island knows ace middle school teacher Margie Rehn, who is on a leave of absence this year. Her husband Jerry runs Property Management Northwest in Seattle, and they just launched a new website designed by Mary Kate at MKate Design – check it out!

• It was cool to see so many folks sign up for the Facebook page for Friends of the San Juan Update – great to know you’re there! Here’s more.

Hugs make the world a better place to live...

It was about a month or two ago that I mentioned in passing that people need twelve hugs a day to stay emotionally & spiritually healthy. Remember that?

Since then, I’ve gotten a bit of a landslide of mail suggesting different ways you can get your quota in…see what you think:

• Go to the produce department at King’s or Marketplace – you see everyone you know & they’re always glad to see you! – AW

• Holding hands at the Palace Theater counts as a hug. – DM

• When someone sends me an e-mail that says something like, “Just thinking about you!” it always feels like a hug to me. – AST

• Dropped my second grade daughter off at school, and she gave me a hug goodbye. Then, when she was walking away, she waved and said, “I’ll miss you today, Papa!” That felt like a second hug. I’m countin’ it! – SP

• Whenever I go to a funeral here on the island, and everyone is holding each other after the service, it makes me so happy I live here where we care for each other so much. – TM

• Right after you put that 12-hug thing in the Update, someone came up behind me at Haley’s and put their hands over my eyes and said, “Guess who?” So, does that count as a hug? I think it does. – JT

• Pretending to do math when you’re really adding up how much you like someone…that’s kind of an intellectual hug. If you like them a lot, it looks like this. – RTK

• Hey, I read that thing you wrote in the Update, and was glad to see it. I get to hug my family each morning before school and every night before we go to bed, and hug people I run into in the street, and see when I go to my favorite three coffee places in town, and at church. The hugs are there if you look for them. Thanks for printing that. Good idea! – WH

Halloween at the Library...

Well, yeah! Melina sent over this little collage from the Library – click here to see the large version (so you can really see the people!)

Too much time on your hands? Somebody needs to milk this cow!

Since San Juan Island has more artists & photographers & graphic artists & musicians than any place you ever saw, here’s a bit about what happens when graphic artists get bored.

Stan ran in the 2009 8.8K Loop Run in August.

If there’s anyone who knows about wine here on the island, it’s Stan Reitan. He files this report about San Juan Vineyards on his BeLucid wine blog: check it out.

Couple of ideas for getting fresh salmon:

• Matt at Compost-It (next to Roy’s Coffee, on the corner next to Ferry Lot B) sells salmon he catches around here, there…check with him & Maureen about when he’ll have some next (Josie & I got some last week, and it was good….)

• Dianna Hoffman with Troller Point from Orcas says they’ll be making a stop in Friday Harbor on the 18th from 10am-6pm. They have wild Alaskan salmon, as well as cod & halibut. Here’s their schedule & more details.

By the way, these are fish caught in the wild. If you wonder about farmed fish – please look at this. Simply put (parasitic sea lice, furunculosis and infectious salmon anaemia, & PCBs aside), farmed salmon are killing off the wild salmon stocks. And if you’re still eating farmed salmon, you’re part of the problem.

Couple of ideas for getting fresh salmon:

• Matt at Compost-It (next to Roy’s Coffee, on the corner next to Ferry Lot B) sells salmon he catches around here, there…check with him & Maureen about when he’ll have some next (Josie & I got some last week, and it was good….)

• Dianna Hoffman with Troller Point from Orcas says they’ll be making a stop in Friday Harbor on the 18th from 10am-6pm. They have wild Alaskan salmon, as well as cod & halibut. Here’s their schedule & more details.

By the way, these are fish caught in the wild. If you wonder about farmed fish – please look at this. Simply put (parasitic sea lice, furunculosis and infectious salmon anaemia, & PCBs aside), farmed salmon are killing off the wild salmon stocks. And if you’re still eating farmed salmon, you’re part of the problem.

Dr. Mark Earnhart has been practicing in Friday Harbor since 1984.

San Juan Healthcare’s series of free classes continues this week with San Juan Holistic Healthcare‘s Mark Earnhart, who will be discussing “The Holistic Approach to a Healthy Heart.” The class is Thursday – here’s more.

Senior portrait - Hannah Laws

I asked Mark Gardner if I could occasionally post some of his work, and he nicely said, “Sure!” so here’s the senior portrait he did with FHHS senior Hannah Laws (above).

You can see more islanders (mostly) that he’s photographed in this gallery – see who you know!