Holiday Wishes in the San Juans … our annual holiday guide is filled with 28 pages of local activities and shopping ideas. The guide includes a calendar of events for all the islands — from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. You’ll find the magazine in today’s Journal of the San Juan Islands.
An Indian head bronze by noted sculptor William Sharles (valued at $2,500). A scenic flight for three on Westwind Aviation. A Mexican fiesta dinner for eight complete with decorations and margaritas. A selection of handmade birdhouses from island woodworkers. CATS’ annual Festival of Trees “20 Magical Years” is brimming with generously donated auction items — and a lot of new elements to the holiday celebration.
A SanJuanJournal.com slideshow pays tribute to the mayors of Friday Harbor — from Gene Gould (1909-10) to Carrie Lacher (2010-). A commemorative page was published in the Nov. 11 Journal. Copies are available at The Journal office, 640 Mullis St., Friday Harbor; or by calling 378-5696.
Sally Thomsen of Friday Harbor in the winner of the first periodic SanJuanJournal.com GeoBee. She was the third person to correctly identify the scene in this photograph as a portion of Spruce Street in Friday Harbor. As the winner, she is invited to stop by The Journal office on Monday morning for coffee and one — maybe two — of columnist Howard Schonberger’s fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Tifni Twitchell Lynch is a storyteller. Never mind the first incarnation as an actor in her native Los Angeles. When Lynch tells a story, the listener is absorbed into her narrative landscape. At this moment, that landscape is one of endangered animals, golden apples and the elusive firebird. When these elements of nature and myth move from imagination to the context of San Juan Community Theatre, they form the brightly colored set of Lynch’s adaptation “The Merry Firebird.” Due to open on Nov. 20, the play is Lynch’s unique take on the pan-cultural stories concerning the mythic bird.
Soroptimists International of Friday Harbor have provided ferry tickets for cancer patients on San Juan Island under their Cancer Treatment Support Mission since May 2005. The Komen Foundation recently removed financial support for San Juan County programs for breast cancer patients, so now the financial need is even greater. Soroptimist typically spends more than $12,000 annually to fund this project through events and raffle ticket sales.
Be the third person to correctly identify where this photograph was taken and you’ll be the winner of the SanJuanJournal.com GeoBee, a periodic online contest. E-mail your answer to rwalker@sanjuanjournal.com. The winner will be allowed to stop by The Journal office on Monday morning for coffee and one — maybe two — of columnist Howard Schonberger’s fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies.
The annual No-Cost Turkey Dinner is Nov. 22, 2:30 p.m., in the Friday Harbor High School cafeteria. The dinner is free and open to the public. To volunteer or for more information, call Dan Miller Sr., 378-2046. The annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner is Nov. 26, noon to 4 p.m., in the San Juan Island Grange. This dinner is free and open to the public. There will be camaraderie, food, games, and televised football.
Amanda Cartmill Cruz passed into her heavenly father’s hands unexpectedly on Nov. 12 at her home. She was 33. Born at Harrison Memorial Hospital in Bremerton, Wash., on Sept. 7, 1976, she is the only daughter of Edward and Catherine Cartmill, now residents of La Conner, Wash.
The Town of Friday Harbor and the San Juan Island Family Resource Center asked. And the community responded, donating 210 coats for the One Warm Coat community service project. An elated Roxanna Zalmanek, town permit technician, e-mailed a Certificate of Appreciation to the community and asked that it be published.
A turkey dinner to benefit the Meshaka Quilt Project is scheduled Nov. 14, 5-7 p.m., in the Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall. Learn more about the local project to help women in Meshaka, Kenya, become self-sufficient through quilting. Tickets: Adults $10, children 12 and younger $5, families $25.
When islanders look back on 2009, they will remember Friday Harbor’s 100th birthday and all the resulting events: The community celebration on Feb. 9, a history book published by Arcadia Publishing Co., the largest Fourth of July parade in memory, the shattering of the last local glass ceiling with the election of a woman to the mayoralty for the first time.
In the case of Carl Verheyen, the label “guitar virtuoso” fits like a glove. But there’s no one-man show in store when Verheyen, proclaimed one of the Top 10 guitarists in the world by Guitar magazine, takes center stage Nov. 14 at the San Juan Community Theatre. This time, the L.A.-based guitarist, who’s making his fifth appearance at SJCT, is bringing his band along and the show promises to be a musical tour de force.
