— by Margie Doyle —

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As the The Orcas Senior Center held its annual Holiday Festival of the Arts at the Senior Center this past Saturday, Joe Ciskowski’s wooden bowls were on display, as were Cameron and Gina Krein’s scented candles; Ed Wilson, Cindi Carter and others promoted the music of the “Almost Classical” trio; a boatload of cashmere centers from Friday Harbor stopped entrants to the Lundeen Room cold. An international organization to provide feminine hygiene for school girls, “Days for Girls,” presented its kits to promote girls’ education, and Dana made and sold hats as visitors shopped. Bob Dash and Margie Doyle sold their books; and the Senior Center offered holiday decorations for free-will donations midst the jewelry and arts and crafts. Montessori School was able to sell wreaths with the last-minute cancellation of a booth owner.

Bill Patterson set up in the kitchen and sold burritos and tostadas of gargantuan size. Jami Mitchell and Sara Boyle bustled about, directing traffic, trouble-shooting, giving breaks to vendors and always smiling.

Faith Heath and Katie Jensen played the piano and the autoharp, respectively, to add musical ambience to the festivities. And then Santa and Mrs. Claus came. Those were just some of the Orcas Islanders you ran into at the day-long event on Nov. 25.

If you missed the annual fundraiser, remember the Saturday after Thanksgiving for next year

AND

get ready for next weekend with the annual lighting of the Christmas Tree on the Village Green on Friday, the opening reception of Art from Around the World at Orcas Center at 5:30 p.m. also Friday, the American Legion Holiday Bazaar on Saturday, and the Artisans’ Faire at Odd Fellows Hall on Saturday and Sunday.