Despite the snow and wickedly cold weather, or maybe because of it, the 12th annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner at the Grange was a rousing success.
The Friday Harbor Animal Shelter would like to say “Thank you” to Lucia Sargsen, Will and Jackie Hamilton, Ace Hardware, San Juan Interiors, Cody and Jimmy Feliz, Rex and Jaime Ellsworth, Jennifer Rigg, Seth Dunlap, Island Glass, and all the other volunteers and donors who helped us get our new downtown office and gift shop, “Island Tails,” in the Cannery Landing Building open this week. We couldn’t have done it without you!
The Friday Harbor Athletic Association would like to thank the many volunteers, businesses and organizations that helped us net over $5,000 at our first annual Haunted House. We could not have pulled this off without the help from the following …
If the County Council and San Juan Sanitation strike a deal for privatizing garbage disposal, we have one request: Don’t let the philosophy “reduce, reuse, and recycle” be thrown out with the bath water. County Public Works Director Jon Shannon told the council that, without a significant infusion of money, the Solid Waste Division will be forced to close its waste transfer stations on San Juan and Lopez. The council has reviewed a preliminary proposal from the county’s franchised trash hauler, San Juan Sanitation, which has expressed interest in taking over the trash and recycling operation if the county opts to contract it out.
A wave of light will encircle the globe Dec. 12 as hundreds of services are held in remembrance of all children who have died. These
will be joined by thousands held informally in homes and other locations. The Compassionate Friends 14th annual Worldwide Candle Lighting will unite grieving families through an event that is so far-reaching, no one truly knows how many services will be held and how many people will participate. It officially is held at 7 p.m. local time for one hour, although services are held throughout the day.
An interview with Colton Harris-Moore’s mother. The return of the military officers quarters to American Camp. The end of free recycling in San Juan County. Those are the three top stories in the Dec. 8 Journal of the San Juan Islands, available Dec. 8 on newsstands and in subscribers’ mail boxes.
Carol Maas is the new office manager of the San Juan Islands Conservation District. Maas has lived on San Juan Island for more than 18 years. She is a graphic designer and former program administrator of Homes for Islanders.
A jumper cable malfunctioned at a BPA substation on Lopez Island on Monday, knocking out power for more than three hours on Decatur, Orcas, San Juan and Shaw islands. A jumper cable is a length of cable used to complete a circuit or to bypass a break in a circuit.
Shirley Suttles passed away peacefully on Friday, Nov. 26. She was 88. Shirley Janet Smith was born March 25, 1922 in Seattle, the third child of Walker Conger Smith and Marie Beidel Smith. Her parents were both active in the labor movement. Her father was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, the editor of several labor newspapers, and the author of “The Everett Massacre” and numerous IWW pamphlets and editorials. He died in 1927, when Shirley was only five years old, leaving Marie with Shirley and her older sisters to support as a worker in a dry-cleaning plant through the Great Depression. Walker’s writings and Marie’s cheerful and stoic determination had a strong influence on Shirley’s development and choice of career as a writer.
Join San Juan Island National Historical Park staff and volunteers for the annual old-fashioned Holiday Social, tree-trimming and cookie potluck from noon to 3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 4, at English Camp. Visitors are invited to bring holiday cookies and ornaments to hang on the tree, which will be erected in the old British Royal Marine Light Infantry barracks building — just as it was likely done in the mid-1860s when the camp was in its heyday.
The festive season is one of traditions, whether it be food, family gatherings or the chance to give back to the community. This December, Island Stage Left will bring all the classic traditions of story-telling to the Roche Harbor Pavilion. There is even the opportunity to enjoy the performance by the fireside — the pavilion’s and yours.
The move of the former Adam Brown House — now San Juan Island National Park’s Historic Structure 10 — drew a crowd and thrilled onlookers Dec. 2. Here’s what onlookers said.
The truck eased forward, and the Adam Brown House was removed from the corner of West and First streets at about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 2, leaving soil there bare for the first time in 126 years. Like a person retracing her steps, after a long absence, at the place of her youth, the old house paraded down the route it likely took when it was moved to Friday Harbor: Spring Street to Argyle Avenue to Cattle Point Road to American Camp. And the building had stories to tell. Turns out, it weighs 60,000 pounds, according to Nickel Bros. House Moving. A shed addition that was demolished was relatively old, dating to the 1890s. On the First Street side, the building had been enlarged 3 feet to accommodate a smithy. Whitewash dating to the 1800s was visible under siding that covers the original board and batten.
