Here’s a thought…
“If you don’t vote you don’t exist. It is the only place where we’re all equal, the voting booth.”
GLORIA STEINEM
Become “Frozen In Time” — Take the Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day
By Martin Taylor If you want to start the New Year with an electrifying jolt participate in an Orcas Tradition: The Polar Bear Plunge. It’s a simple event, the master of ceremonies will give the shout and the hearty souls of Orcas will charge headlong into Cascade
Storytellers Travel to China and Find No Room, then Deluxe Accommodations
By Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo and Nancy Wang of Eth-Noh-Tech (Orcas Islanders Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo and Nancy Wang are internationaltheater-storytellers. They have just returned from a month-long trip to teach storytelling theater to hundreds of middle school students at the International School of Beijing. Their blog at www.ethnohtech.org explains: “Since
Trailblazers Carol through Eastsound Once Again
An annual yuletide tradition continued on Friday, Dec. 23 as the Orcas Island Trailblazer 4H Horse Club joined forces with the Orcas Brass Quintet to carol with their horses on a wet and grey Friday. Nine horseback singers and the brass band left from the Orcas Elementary School
A Winter Poem: Starlings in Winter
Starlings in Winter Mary Oliver Chunky and noisy, but with stars in their black feathers, they spring from the telephone wire and instantly they are acrobats in the freezing wind. And now, in the theater of air, they swing over buildings, dipping and rising; they float like one stippled star
Islanders Bank Makes a Generous Food Bank Deposit
By Madie Murray “The idea really stemmed from the idea of ‘Islanders Helping Islanders’,” says Dyan Holmes, Islanders Bank Assistant Vice President/Retail Manager, “so the question we asked was, what can we do for our community as a thank you for their continued support and business?’ Supporting the
Whale Baby Born to J-Pod’s Slick
From the Kitsap Sun A newborn killer whale has been spotted and confirmed in J pod, one of the three pods of orcas that frequent Puget Sound. The new calf, designated J-48, was observed Saturday between Kingston and Edmonds by Brad Hanson and Candice Emmons of the Northwest
Christmas Observances — Reverent and Festive
Updated Friday, Dec. 23 at 2 p.m. FAITH Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Saturday, December 24 at the West Sound Community Hall at 4 p.m. "Candlelight Service and Reading" with Michael Ream and Howard Barbour. Howard will read "A Child's Christmas in Wales" and Michael will lead Christmas Carols. All are welcome to attend. Orcas
Charter Commission to Convene First Meeting January 7
By Stan Matthews County Website and Communications Manager The San Juan County Charter Review Commission will convene its first meeting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 7, 2012 in the County Council Chambers, 55 Second Avenue in Friday Harbor. The County’s Charter calls for a review by an elected Charter
Winter Ferry Schedule Goes into Effect Jan. 1
From Washington State Ferries, Dept. of Transportation All routes will switch over to the winter sailing schedule on Sunday, Jan. 1. The winter schedule notes annual service reductions, which WSF makes to match the reduced seasonal demand. Changes include: no inter-island vessel on the weekends in the San Juan Islands;
A Winter’s Poem
Winter Solstice By Rebecca Parker Perhaps for a moment the typewriters will stop clicking, the wheels stop rolling, the computers desist computing, and a hush will fall over the city. For an instant, in the stillness, the chiming of the celestial spheres will be heard as earth hangs poised in
Christmas Trees: A Renewable Resource
From Helen Venada, Waste Reduction and Hazardous Waste Coordinator San Juan County Solid Waste Division The County Public Works Department is sponsoring a Christmas tree collection program this year. Trees will be chipped for mulch for use at a public project and not sent to a landfill. Help us reduce the volume of
4-H, Lions and Girl Scouts Work Year-Round to Stuff Stockings
By Lorena Stankevich This holiday season the Orcas Island Trailblazer 4H club stuffed 98 stockings for local children in need. This is an ongoing community service project for the club - our members also serve as members of the local Girl Scouts troop; we sell Girl Scout cookies in
Guest Column: Joining a Board, Anything but Boring
By Rachel Newcombe Thirty-three. This is the number of upcoming vacancies on various boards and commissions in San Juan County. I’ve been wondering, why do any of us volunteer to serve on a board or commission? Is it a calling? A humanitarian quest? Or maybe it’s an opportunity to become intimately
School Board Authorizes Levy Vote, New Officers, Donations
Career and Technical Education Report Advocates Job Training The Orcas Island School District (OISD) Board moved quickly through its Dec. 20 agenda to approve a replacement Maintenance and Operations Levy vote on Feb. 14, 2012. The Levy to be put before voters will collect $1,880,000 for two years, and then
Gaylord Says Layoff in Prosecutor’s Office Will Disrupt Justice
From the San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Prosecuting Attorney Randall K. Gaylord announced that budget cuts in in March 2012 will force him to lay off the one deputy prosecutor handling misdemeanors from full-time to about half-time. “This 50 percent reduction in misdemeanor prosecution will disrupt what people expect
A Tale for the Winter Season from Eth-Noh-Tec
By Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo and Nancy Wang of Eth-Noh-Tec Amaterasu is the Sun Goddess of Japan who was once so angered and frightened by her brother Susano the Storm God’s destruction and betrayal of her world, that she hid in a cave taking her light with her. Her world turned dark
