Here’s a thought…
“No one, I mean no one, has the right to sit in judgment of who’s American enough.”
MICHELLE OBAMA
I’m Not the Church Lady | Time for hammacking
When there’s no way out, can I stop trying to leave? ||| I'M NOT THE CHURCH LADY from ROSIE KUHN ||| Whether I chose it or not, life presents me with passages I cannot bypass. I’m again in the midst of a purging, flushing, detox moment. The ache and anguish
The Island Gardener, June 2026
||| FROM ROBIN SULLIVAN for ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| There is something wonderfully comforting about looking back through the history of our Garden Tour and Garden Faire and realizing that, despite the passing years and changing times, the heart of it all has remained beautifully the same. I was
Salish Sea Early Music Festival returns on June 30
||| FROM JEFFREY COHAN for SALISH SEA EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL ||| Baroque in Transition: The Treble Viol is the final 2026 Salish Sea Early Music Festival performance, to feature treble viol player Annalisa Pappano, baroque guitarist William Simms, and Jeffrey Cohan on baroque and renaissance flutes. The concert, presented in
News Brief | A tiny solar panel could change America
||| FROM NEW YORK TIMES ||| It’s not so easy to harvest the sunshine if you live in America. But that might be changing soon in more than half the country. A technology — known as plug-in, balcony or garden solar — is already enormously popular in Germany, in part
UPDATED | Art Show opening on Friday, July 3 | “The Ones That Made It”
Note date change ||| FROM MARJORIE TAYLOR for ORCAS CENTER VISUAL ARTS COMMITTEE ||| The Visual Arts Committee of Orcas Center announces the opening of “The Ones That Made It,” a curated show of wood-fired ceramics by local artists Michael Rozzi, Mathew Haeuser, Yuriko, Sam and Ayame Bullock, Sharon Ho,
The Snake and the Whale screening, finale to Orca Action Month on June 26
||| FROM FRIDAY HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL ||| On Friday, June 26 at 7 PM Friday Harbor Film Festival presents The Snake and the Whale at the San Juan Island Library in Friday Harbor and the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts on Lopez Island. Following the film, audiences at
Celebrate this July weekend concert at Village Green
||| FROM CINDY CARTER ||| Start off your 4th of July Weekend on Thursday at the Eastsound Village Green by listening to a concert as violinist Emy and keyboard/harpist Lisa Carter bring their latest music to the stage at the Village Green along with guitarist Stephen Baker, flute players Kara
Walking tours scheduled for OPAL neighborhoods
||| FROM QASIM ALI DINO for OPAL COMMUNITY LAND TRUST ||| OPAL Community Land Trust invites community members to lace up their walking shoes and join longtime OPAL homeowner, storyteller – and current OPAL Board President – Rusty Diggs for a guided tour of OPAL neighborhoods this summer. The
Improv class showcase coming to Orcas Center
||| FROM COLLEEN SMITH SUMMERS for ORCAS CENTER || Come enjoy a fun-filled evening of theatre, created before your very eyes during Orcas Center's Improv Class showcase on Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m., in the Black Box. A series of one-act plays will be made, right on the spot, from
Port to meet on Monday, June 22
||| FROM CHIP LONG for PORT OF ORCAS ||| The Port of Orcas Board of Commissioners will hold a Regular Meeting on Monday, June 22nd at 4:00 p.m. online via Zoom and in-person at the airport terminal conference room. Access and agenda information can be found at portoforcas.com.
Sheriff’s Report | June 10 – 16, 2026
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 26-003367 Malicious Mischief 08:53:09 06/10/26 An Orcas Island Deputy responded to a vandalism incident in the Eastsound area. The Deputy learned that the victim's vehicle was vandalized and would require a substantial amount of money to fix. The Deputy
Reconnect as Turtleback reaches 20 years
Join us on June 24 for a presentation about this remarkable story ||| FROM BARBARA ROSENKOTTER for SAN JUAN PRESERVATION TRUST ||| Did you know the largest fundraising campaign in the San Juans was on Orcas? More than 2,000 individuals and families and several organizations raised more than $18.5 million.
Larsen cheers Trump administration backing off plan to end key ocean monitoring initiative
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. REP. RICK LARSEN ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement: “Monitoring our oceans is crucial to protect Northwest Washington’s coastlines, marine ecosystems and maritime economy. “The Trump administration’s attempt to remove hundreds of underwater instruments that help scientists
Letter to Editor | Easy to be ‘hard’
||| FROM ROBERT AUSTIN ||| I’ve noticed that over the past couple months, water at our Timber Lane house seems to have grown harder than normal: rinsing my car off left behind hundreds of little white edged circles, evaporated mineral deposits. As you probably know, this is due to dissolved
Celebrating Juneteenth
||| FROM MINOR LILE ||| Last year I happened to be in Washington DC, for an affordable housing conference that began in late May, just after the Memorial Day weekend. On the Friday after the conference, I got together with a college friend who is a docent and exhibit designer at Arlington
WSF Weekly Report | Sunflower lanyards; onboard dance parties; Suquamish Colman Dock celebration
||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| A message from Steve I’m pleased to share that we have joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program to better support people with non-apparent disabilities as they travel through our system. Through this program, we will offer complementary Sunflower lanyards. People who
