Here’s a thought…
“Don’t ask me who’s influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he’s digested, and I’ve been reading all my life.”
GIORGOS SEFERIS
Letter to Editor | Let’s Brunch raises nearly $30,000 for Senior Center
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Let’s Brunch! was a huge success, raising almost $30,000 to support Orcas Senior Center. Guests enjoyed a festive afternoon of delicious food, lively music, exciting auction
Join Leadership San Juans to learn about their upcoming Cohort
||| FROM GRETCHEN KRAMPF for LEADERSHIP SAN JUANS ||| Monday, July 21 5:00 – 6:00 PM Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/p0HOT9ksQoG4BrFtO5yCFQ Thursday, August 21 Noon – 1:00 PM Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/JxOuwQ6aSKOiS066KZJ_mA
The Exchange update | July 2025
||| FROM THE EXCHANGE ||| Art Scholarship Winner: Sintia Cruz Hernandez Congratulations to Sintia Cruz Hernandez - the winner of this year’s Exchange
Letter to Editor | When public service meets public fury
A call for compassion at the ferry terminal ||| FROM ELISABETH BRITT, FIRE COMMISSIONER & ORCAS FERRY LANDING TERMINAL STAFF ||| On the morning of July 14th, I was assigned to manage vehicle boarding at
An important update to OIGC Member’s Book Club
Please note: article released on Tuesday, July 15 about the OIGC Member's Book Club should have included reference to partnership with the Orcas Island Public Library for the Light Eaters event. ||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND
Jurors for July 21-25 duty are excused
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| JURY DUTY: JULY 21-25, 2025 All jurors summonsed for jury duty beginning Monday July 21st through Friday July 25th, are excused. Thank you.
Flotsam & Jetsam | Purses
||| FLOTSAM & JETSAM by MAURICE AUSTIN ||| Some three weeks ago, I watched my mother transfer the contents of her “small” purse into the depths of her “large” purse, a process which left me
A new era of hunger has begun
||| FROM NEW YORK TIMES ||| Parts of Easthampton, an old mill town in western Massachusetts, look like relics of industrial New England — the old workers’ rowhouses, for instance. In other parts, it seems
Port of Orcas to hold public meeting
||| FROM CHIP LONG for PORT OF ORCAS ||| PORT OF ORCAS NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING The Port of Orcas Board of Commissioners will conduct a public hearing on Monday, July 28, 2025 at 4:00
West Sound fire now extinguished
||| FROM BEN LUNA for ORCAS ISLAND FIRE & RESCUE ||| At 12:50 pm on July 14, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources formally closed the call for the West Sound Fire, which began
Scientists use cutting-edge satellite technology to reveal dangers whales face on daily basis | ‘A growing concern’
||| FROM MSN.COM ||| A comprehensive, high-tech satellite map exposed the daily dangers whales face — and they're caused by humans. What's happening? With satellites, photo identification, and indigenous knowledge, over 50 research institutions around
As state heats up, Weather Service warns wildfire smoke headed to Whatcom County
||| FROM BELLINGHAM HERALD ||| Bellingham and Whatcom County residents could be seeing the first wildfire smoke of summer Monday night as most of Washington bakes in an extended heat wave. A heat advisory in
Orcas Center presents Bobby Bare Jr. and Mars FM in free summer concert
||| FROM BETHANY MARIE for ORCAS CENTER ||| Orcas Center is excited to announce a special performance featuring Bobby Bare Jr. and Mars FM on Sunday, July 20, at 5:00 PM on the Village Green.
Olga Daze returns
Saturday, July 19 10:00am to 2:00pm ||| FROM SUSAN GORDON for OLGA DAZE ||| Festivities begin in front of the Community Center at 10:00am. Come for breakfast at the bake sale, featuring the world famous maple bars made
Orcas Christian students to embark on service-focused mission trip to Hawaii
||| FROM ORCAS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ||| This coming school year, students from Orcas Christian School will have the opportunity to broaden their horizons and put their faith into action during a mission trip to Hilo,
Midnight Mutterings | Gardens and another island
||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS by JACKIE BATES ||| I didn’t grow up with gardens, though I did get lost in a cornfield when I was three or four years old. I’ve never had a good sense