Letter to Editor | This was definitely a heartfelt July 4th

||| FROM CINDY WOLF, SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMISSIONER |||

This is a letter of heartfelt thanks for the fabulous Fourth of July festivities in Eastsound.  To get out and celebrate in so many ways was a special pleasure after the isolation of the pandemic.  As I stood with my family watching the parade in a crowd of islanders and visitors, it felt so good to see people smiling with eyes AND mouths!  We mingled with familiar faces at the market booths, elected a cat (congratulations, Mr. Lilly!) for Mayor of Eastsound for the first time in history, reconnected with old friends and made a few new ones in line for salmon with the Lions at the firehouse, and dined on roasted pig and piles of potato salad at the American Legion Post. 

On the Fourth of July Keven and I sat behind the sound tent where the crew (Jake Perrine and Jamie Moriarty) from Orcas Center amplified the party! During COVID how I missed the music on this island. The locals kicked it off. Madison West loved up the afternoon with beautiful guitar and vocals. The Bad Dads gleefully passed around instruments during the set and rattled the golden hour with grungy, punk attitude takes on love, war and leftovers.  They offered the one, thoughtful, patriotic moment of the evening with roared words adapted from Abraham Lincoln’s Lyceum speech reminding us we are so strong together that if this country dies, it will never be by invasion, but by suicide.

Then there was the Ian Moore band.  People reading this, if you weren’t there, I’m sorry. Ian came from Vashon and the band came from Texas and the music came from a place where rock finds roots in Country, Blues, Gospel and Jazz.  The regional contrast between them and the Bad Dads was strong and…well…artful!  So were the fireworks we watched from the Emmanuel Parish Labyrinth…it was a breathtakingly pretty display.  We didn’t get to the 5K but from all accounts it was well attended by happy people moving down the road together.  We didn’t get to the pancake breakfast, but we heard the Fire Chief flew all the way back from engagements somewhere deep on the mainland to be here in time.

Who put together this party that brought Orcas together after the long years of masks, distance and small sporadic gathers? Everyone, I guess.  Thank you to the Lions and the Fire Department and the American Legion for your commitment to our cherished tradition of shared holiday meals. Thank you to Children’s House and Orcas Parks and Rec for the festive newer traditions bringing laughter and movement.  Thank you to the people in the parade because Orcas loves a parade!  Thank you to the Community Band and all the bands for bringing the music and thank you to the Orcas Center because a good tech crew and equipment turn it up to eleven. Thank you to the many volunteers of time and givers of dollars.

But there is one Big Ol’ Thank You due to the new Director, Carey Eskridge and the team from the Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce.  Carey and his family recently came to Orcas from Austin, Texas, with a heart full of fresh energy and a pair of very capable hands.  Thank you for seeing us and understanding what we needed from you.  Thank you for organizing and publicizing and inviting us all to the party, old-timers, first gens, and visitors alike.  You reminded us to enjoy the things we’ve done for generations and make room for new things and new people, too, because when we “Come Together”, it’s all good.  I can’t wait for Hallowe’en.