Here’s a thought…
“We are not an endangered species ourselves yet, but this is not for lack of trying.”
DOUGLAS ADAMS
Visual Arts group art show to start 2026 at Orcas Center
||| FROM COLLEEN SMITH SUMMERS for ORCAS CENTER ||| To start the new year, Orcas Center is pleased to announce an exhibit featuring the artwork of Orcas Center’s Visual Arts Committee members. This committee is responsible for organizing the community art shows and featured artist shows throughout the year, and
Experience the joy of drumming at Senior Center
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Discover the joy of drumming with the Spirit of Drumming Group at Orcas Senior Center Thursdays at 1:30 p.m.! This beginner-friendly group focuses on exploring the elements of drumming. There’s no cost to participate—just bring a drum and join the fun!
My Favorite Trees of Orcas | Artwork by Sally Walker at Orcas Senior Center
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| The Orcas Senior Center will showcase the vivid artwork of Sally Walker throughout January and February, inviting visitors to stop by Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sally Walker, a former scientific illustrator, spent three decades in the
Early bird registration now open for 2026 San Juans Agricultural Summit
||| FROM REBECCA MOORE for SAN JUAN COUNTY EXTENSION ||| Early Bird Registration is now open for the 14th Annual San Juan Islands Agricultural Summit, taking place on Friday, February 27 and Saturday, February 28, 2026, on San Juan Island. Farmers, food producers, land stewards, and community members from across
Orcas Islanders Wanted | County seeks volunteers for Orcas Island-specific committee seats
There are currently vacant positions on the County’s Planning Commission, EPRC, Parks and Recreation Commission, and Noxious Weed Control Board. ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| Do you live on Orcas Island? Are you looking for ways to get involved in your community? San Juan County may have just
Planning for success in your home vegetable garden
||| FROM PERRI GIBBONS for ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| Please join the Orcas Island Garden Club on Wednesday, January 21st, 2026, as we welcome Professor, Carol Miles. We are excited and grateful to have Carol come in person to Orcas to present how to create a bountiful vegetable garden
‘On Screen’ series from The Met, Live in HD, and National Theatre Live
||| FROM COLLEEN SMITH SUMMERS for ORCAS CENTER ||| Running from now until June, you can view a diverse sampling of the world’s best performers at the height of their careers in productions from The Met: Live in HD and National Theatre Live at Orcas Center. These on-screen events give
Big wins for Orcas Senior Center | USDA roof funding and GiveOrcas success
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| We’re thrilled to announce that Orcas Senior Center will receive $165,000 in USDA funding in 2026 to help replace our aging roof! This incredible support is thanks to U.S. Representative Rick Larsen’s advocacy for our earmark in the Continuing Appropriations Act
Wingspan game day coming to Odd Fellows Hall
||| FROM WOODY CISKOWSKI for ORCAS PUBLIC LIBRARY || Are you a birder, a board gamer, or (ideally) both? The Orcas Public Library, in collaboration with the Odd Fellows Hall, is excited to present Wingspan Day! Released in 2019, the board game Wingspan has attracted players with its wealth of
As the Paradigm Shifts | A gentle dismantling of poor them, lucky me
Seeing the courage, not the victim ||| AS THE PARADIGM SHIFTS by ROSIE KUHN ||| I’ve been listening lately—really listening—to how I talk about those who are struggling. People who lost their jobs. People standing in Food Bank lines. People with diseases. People torn open by war, weather, or whatever
Etch A Sketch Circle
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR ||| Starting January 8, shake the cobwebs off your creativity at the Senior Center! Join the Etch A Sketch Circle with Anita Orne of AnitASketch every Thursday at 1:30 p.m. for a fun hour of art and conversation. Each session begins with a
Midnight Mutterings | Thinking about Japan: Part 3
||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS by JACKIE BATES ||| Kyoko and her family moved to a less expensive house after a year or so, and as a result, we saw less of each other, without the convenience of next door proximity. Yuki was growing up and I had left my job in
OPAL purchases Crosswind Apartments
Another eight rentals affordable for households of moderate and middle incomes ||| FROM QASIM ALI DINO for OPAL COMMUNITY LAND TRUST ||| Eight more apartments on Orcas Island will become permanently affordable rentals with OPAL Community Land Trust’s purchase of the Crosswind Apartments. Thanks to the generosity of a family
Free America Walkout
||| FROM INDIVISIBLE SAN JUAN ISLANDS ||| Indivisible San Juan Islands rallies residents to join the national mass-mobilization walkout, Free America, Tuesday, January 20, 2026, organized by the Women’s March. We will walk out of work, school, and commerce because a Free America begins the moment we stop cooperating with
Keeping what holds us | An Island Stewards reflection from the week of Solstice
||| FROM ISLAND STEWARDS ||| The week of the solstice arrives without settling. Weather moves back and forth. Forecast models disagree. Neighborhoods and infrastructure on the mainland are already damaged by flooding, while the possibility of snow here hangs unresolved, and the winds of change blow wild and continual as
Sheriff’s Report | December 17 – 30, 2025
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17 25-008558 Trespassing 10:44:01 12/17/25 An Orcas Island Deputy responded to a trespassing incident in the downtown Eastsound area. The Deputy learned that the landlord wanted his tenant trespassed from the property that the tenant is renting. The incident was
