Meanwhile, what to do with old beer during a pandemic

— from Rick Hughes, County Councilmember —

To all my friends on Orcas and in San Juan County, I wanted to apologize for not posting much this weekend and I know a lot of new information has presented and I should of been more current. I needed a break and wanted to roll up my sleeves and do a bit of work and help out.

As much as this pains me (OK not that much because it was a Budweiser) my good friend Regan Vaughn and his awesome family dumped a pallet of almost bad (OK, sorry I used to work with Miller Beer, but Bud is always bad beer) into the Orcas Distillery tote, that will be mixed with hydrogen peroxide and glycerin (Thanks Lotion Crafter), distilled, and a wonderful, local, hand sanitizer will be made.

So many to thank, Orcas Distillery (Charles and Morgan West, who rock!!!) for the idea and the magic juice they make, Jacob Linnes and Island Market for logistics and all packaging and Hydrogen Peroxide, Nate and Becca, because they are just awesome and Island Hoppin’ Brewery for allowing Regan and I the keys to my favorite place in the world with out supervision, oh and the 20 kegs of donated beer. For Regan sourcing so much beer, being so smart, organized and picking it up and allowing me to try and not get in the way of dumping all the Budweiser; for the Anacortes Brewery donating 12 kegs of beer, for Boathouse Cider works for the 75 gallons (ok, may be less, but Libby is amazing, so she deserves much credit) of cider you donated, the Swinomish Casino for donating 10 kegs, for Airways Brewery for agreeing to donate 24 kegs, for Orcas Freight to agreeing to pick it up, for Island time and the Morris family for donating packaging.

All of this is to make hand sanitizer, to give away for free, to the Co-op, the post office, schools, fire departments, food bank, the exchange, the sheriff’s office and the so many other hero’s that are in our community, showing up to serve the entire community.

This is the Orcas way, this is the Island way, Orcas and San Juan County have taken care of ourselves since statehood. It is what we do! Island strong.

Thank you to everyone, we will get through this together, we will help our neighbors and friends, we will come together when we once were apart, we will keep each other safe and then we will move forward a new economy that is better for islanders and the environment.

This is the time for all of us to stand up and do our part to help keep Orcas and San Juan County, healthy, safe and functioning. People are building cool stuff, Scott Miller is making face shields, my favorite Lopez rocket scientists are making ventilators, people are sewing masks, Hilary Canty, Erin O’Dell and Lisa Byers are helping the community either find or stay in housing (and so much more), Susan, Kevin, Amanda and Megan are expanding the Food Bank service.

Well you get it….

We have a special community and a special County. Thank you all to the many County employees and volunteers at the EOC.

Thank you all for being strong, staying put and being safe.