The San Juan County Fair, Aug. 17 – 20, is not only a fun event, but a celebration of agriculture and islanders who are maintaining practices of the past. Why is that important? The short answer is farming makes for better communities. But a life of toiling in the soil is not always easy.
Bernie Day 71, a resident of Friday Harbor for 26 years, passed unexpectedly on July 3, 2016 during a five-week cruise to Desolation Sound and the Broughton Islands, British Columbia, Canada. She was born in Walsenburg, Colo. on Aug. 28, 1944. The daughter of Julia and Charles John Simansky. Bernie grew up in Erie and Westminster Colorado and graduated from Westminster High School in Colorado. Following high school, she started a career in various administration roles at several technology companies and later as a senior administrator at Western Electric and AT&T Bell Laboratories. In New Jersey, she started a technology value-added reseller (VAR) company D&D CompuTech, Inc. and enjoyed its rise in the AT&T VAR program ranks.
(Editor’s note: A grass fire allegedly caused by a homemade firecracker started on Goose Island June 26 and smoldered for many days. The island is located off of Cape San Juan, between San Juan and Lopez.)
Are you confused by Medicare?
This past weekend I climbed Mt. Adams, a peak I aspired to summit more than seven years ago.
A civil case in San Juan Superior Court alleges that Sarah and John Coffelt of Orcas Island embezzled at least $580,297 from William and Valerie Anders.
William Blackmon, of Friday Harbor, made the dean’s list for the spring 2016 quarter (which ended June 10 ) at Eastern Washington University. For more info, go to www.ewu.edu/deanslist.
Imagine your 80-year-old great grandmother awoke one night with chest pains and was worried it was a heart attack. Her 85-year-old husband, who suffers from a shattered vertebra in his neck, was unable to drive her to the emergency room. She called 911 and minutes later a volunteer EMT was at her door and began basic life-saving protocols. Minutes later an ambulance arrived with two paramedics who stabilized her and transported her safely to Peace Island Hospital for further care. What if when she dialed 911 there were no EMTs? No paramedics? No ambulance?
The special work session of the San Juan Island Library Board of Trustees scheduled for July 19 has been cancelled. The board plans to reschedule this session at a later date.
We all look forward to summer, but it’s easy to forget that it can be a time of stress for young families. Many parents are working long hours while school is out and their childcare options may be limited. United Way of San Juan County recognizes the importance of providing safe, structured activities for children and working parents in our community during the summer months. United Way’s support of our Youth Mentoring Program enables school-aged kids – mostly from single-parent families – to be paired one-on-one with an adult mentor. Together, Mentor and Mentee meet weekly to do everything from hiking to summer reading, as well as getting involved in wonderful 4-H activities. Likewise, United Way funding enables our center to offer free parent-child playgroups four mornings a week through our Family Support Program, providing valuable time for new parents (and grandparents!) to connect with one another while their infants and preschoolers build social skills through cooperative play and group activities. It’s a terrific way for families to stay connected even when schools are closed for the summer. We encourage community members to support United Way of San Juan County and the efforts they make to ensure that local families have access to active, healthy summer activities.
Tucker Avenue Reconstruction Project – Phase 1
By Sheriff Ron Krebs
A basking shark has been spotted near British Columbia’s Central Coast, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
