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Neil Bretvick was in his early 20s when he left La Conner to embark on a career as a tax accountant. Along the way he has traveled the world and attended concerts played by the biggest acts in the music industry. Even so, he insists that his hometown – where as a youth he enjoyed sledding down Maloy Hill (Second Street), smelt jigging on Swinomish Channel, swimming in the nearby Skagit River, learning to drive big farm trucks at West Shore Acres and scoring one of the more storied touchdowns in La Conner High School football history – “is still...
There were many keys to the Skagit County Historical Museum drawing a standing-room-only crowd to Sunday afternoon's program in La Conner. One was the role played by actor Kevin Tighe, star in the popular 1970s TV series "Emergency," among many highlights in a career dating to the 1967 film "The Graduate." Tighe and stage director Angela Marinella provided voices for famous authors who credited use of typewriters for much of their literary success. A key component of the 45-minute presentation w...
After more than a decade, the Waterfront Café has a tried-and-true recipe for its popular annual community Thanksgiving meals. But this year a new ingredient was added to the mix – outdoor dining. La Conner was greeted with bright sunshine and unseasonably balmy weather last Thursday, leading numerous diners to enjoy their traditional turkey-and-fixin's and beverages on the café's deck overlooking Swinomish Channel. "I can't remember it ever being warm enough outside for people to eat out on...
A colorful Love La Conner “selfie station” at Gilkey Square is an idea whose time has come. And gone. That was the unanimous sentiment expressed by La Conner Town Council last week. At their Nov. 22 hybrid meeting, members nixed the design for a marketing icon at the downtown waterfront location, saying the timing is no longer right for such promotional signage. “It was conceived during COVID-19,” Councilmember Rick Dole explained. “La Conner was empty during what would have been the height of tourist season. We’ve passed the worst of times. It...
The future is now for the fledgling Port of Swinomish. The tribal port authority, created just two years ago, was awarded an $11 million federal grant in October that will fast track its long-range goals by a decade, according to Swinomish Port Commission Chair J.J. Wilbur. He shared a glimpse of more immediate goals. “We are going to hire a consultant very soon to help advocate with state, federal and local agencies and continue to pursue funding opportunities,” Wilbur told the Weekly News. “We are also in the process of hiring a harbo...
Succeeding a Hall of Fame coach is a tall order, but fortunately for the La Conner High School girls' basketball program new mentor Joe Harper stands 6'-5". He takes over from Scott Novak, who guided teams to multiple state tournament appearances and trophy finishes during three decades. For much of his tenure here he coached the Braves and Lady Braves simultaneously. Novak, a 2015 state coaches Hall of Fame inductee, remains on the faculty. His longtime protégé and coaching assistant, Dustin Sw...
A local controversy that has lingered for more than three decades will soon be an historical footnote. The net pen salmon farm off Hope Island and Lone Tree Point is going away. Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz and state Department of Natural Resources staff informed Cooke Aquaculture last week that the state will not renew an expired lease for the Skagit Bay facility, nor one for a similar net pen operation near Bainbridge Island. Cooke Aquaculture must finish operatio...
Skagit County Auditor Sandy Perkins has given election workers a ringing endorsement for their yeoman work processing tens of thousands of mail-in ballots. But there's still room for improvement, she and elections supervisor Gabrielle Clay insist. Only they are speaking in literal terms and not in reference to job performance. "We need more space," Perkins explained during an hour-long interview with the Weekly News last Thursday as the Nov. 8 election votes continued to be counted under the...
Topics related to litigation against Shelter Bay board members could not be discussed, but there was still plenty to talk about during the second in a series of Shelter Bay town hall forums at the community clubhouse Sunday night. The scheduled one-hour session lasted 90 minutes as a large gathering – though somewhat smaller than the standing room only crowd that last month's meeting – waded through several subjects, most notably increased HOA (homeowners' association) fees and the status of...
The special Friday morning hybrid meeting at which Fire District 13 commissioners approved a 2023 budget lasted just 20 minutes. But the real hard work crafting the fiscal plan of slightly more than $1.6 million and operating expenses nearing $1.4 million took place in the weeks before Nov. 18. Chairman Bruce Shellhamer praised district secretary Tracy Berg and Fire Chief Wood Weiss for preliminary work in developing the budget. "Tracy and Chief Weiss have been working hard on this," said...
More than a year after her passing, the legacy of the late Lorraine Loomis continues to grow. Loomis, a longtime Swinomish Tribal Community fisheries manager who served seven years as chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, will be honored posthumously Nov. 30 in Seattle as recipient of a Do Epic Award presented by Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz. The memory of Loomis, who died in August of 2021 at age 81, will be celebrated at the Seattle Convention Center during a 12 p.m. ceremony next Wednesday....
There's plenty of drama going on at La Conner Schools these days. Which is just fine, especially when blended in equal measure with comedy, stage craft and set construction. Theater arts, which boasts a long and storied tradition here, is back on campus after an intermission imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. A trio of young college- trained theater aficionados is welcoming La Conner students back to the stage twice weekly as an extracurricular program – similar to the format used in districts w...
It only seems fitting that the high school basketball team plans an up-tempo style this season. That's because the Braves have gotten the 2022-23 hoops campaign off to a running start thanks to logging nearly 80 off-season games. "It's a group that got to be together a ton in the off-season," head coach and athletics director C.J. Woods told the Weekly News. "When you get to be with a group that you enjoy being with, every day we get to play basketball is exciting." Building camaraderie before...
Ellie Marble delivered some big hits in Yakima for the state champion La Conner High School volleyball team this November. In turn, Marble was a big hit with Washington Interscholastic Activities Association officials. Marble was named the WIAA Athlete of the Week based on her play in leading the Lady Braves to a fourth consecutive 2B net title. A 6'-0" senior outside hitter, Marble totaled 92 kills and 101 digs and was 68 of 72 on serve receive over four matches at the SunDome. Marble and her t...
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community is one of a dozen tribes in the state to receive grants addressing the impacts of climate change, awards funded by federal infrastructure legislation passed earlier this year, U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell announced Nov. 3. Ten tribes and two tribal organizations in Washington state have been awarded grants from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Branch of Tribal Climate Resilience. The grant funding will help combat the disproportionate impact of climate change on tribal communities, Murray and...
The iconic Rainbow Bridge has connected La Conner and Swinomish Reservation since 1957. The Young Life ministry is extending that connection on spiritual and social levels. Members of the La Conner and Swinomish communities celebrated that connection during the annual two-hour Young Life dessert banquet at La Conner Seafood & Prime Rib House Saturday night. “The Rainbow Bridge is perfectly named,” explained Jaime Stroebel-Reinstra, one of the event’s lead organizers, “because you always think of a pot of gold being at the end of a rainbow. The...
The new Skagit County Assessor is assessing his recent successful election campaign. Danny Hagen, running as an independent, parlayed a series of public forums into a comfortable 57-43 per cent electoral victory over GOP candidate Karie Storle earlier this month. He is a former Shelter Bay resident and past member of the La Conner High basketball coaching staff. Hagen's ability to break down the complexities of managing the assessor's office into language easily grasped by voters won him support...
La Conner loves a winner. And the community is always up for a parade. Townspeople and tourists alike enjoyed both Saturday afternoon, turning out to honor the arrival of La Conner High School's 2B volleyball champions from Yakima. The day before they secured the program's seventh state title. Crowds gathered at Gilkey Square and lined First Street to greet the team as it rode through town shortly after 12 p.m. on Hook & Ladder fire trucks, feted with music from the pep band and cheered on with...
Char Burks always seems to be on the run, whether at her Country Grounds Coffee stand at the roundabout, shifts with the Swinomish Tribal Police Department or keeping up with her kids. But in New York City recently she really stepped up the pace. Burks joined over 50,000 other runners, including her cousin, Holly Hendren, and friends Cheryl Otis and Amanda Bedker, in the field of the 2022 New York City Marathon, one of the sport's elite events. Burks finished the race in just under five hours,...
Fire District 13 Commission Chair Bruce Shellhamer traveled over 300 miles to discover his department shares the same operational challenges with similar fire districts. “We’re not alone when it comes to staffing issues,” said Shellhamer, told commissioners at their Nov. 10 monthly meeting, providing highlights from October’s annual Washington Fire Commissioners Association conference in Spokane. District 13 has lost personnel to what Fire Chief Wood Weiss calls “career departments” that pay full salaries and benefits. “All (volunteer an...
When the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and Skagit Valley College partnered this year to launch the first Dental Therapy Education program in Washington state the joint program garnered national attention. Second Congressional District U.S. Rep Rick Larsen noticed. Larsen met with all six students from the first cohort of the pioneering dexwxayebus (pronounced dahf-hi-ya-buus) professional dental program and toured its new state-of-the-art lab in October. A a decade of advocacy, planning, development and implementation between Swinomish and...
In a U.S. Senate race being touted as surprisingly close as election day approached, surging GOP candidate Tiffany Smiley made La Conner one of her final weekend campaign stops Saturday morning. The 39 year-old veterans' advocate and former triage nurse was greeted by an enthusiastic standing room only crowd at the La Conner Civic Garden Club during a 30-minute appearance, part of her statewide "There's a New Mom in Town" bus tour. Smiley, who was introduced by Republican Second Congressional...
La Conner is not just a prime destination for travelers. It is also one for those in search of a good book or three. That according to Seattle Met magazine. Seaport Books, in Gilkey Square near the intersection of First and Morris streets, tops the Seattle publication's current list of the "Best Bookstores to Visit on a Washington Road Trip." Seven stores in all are listed in an article by correspondent Allison Williams. "The state has many a cute small-town bookseller worth a road trip," she...
If practice makes perfect, the La Conner High School volleyball team should be perfectly ready to defend the state 2B net crown it has worn since 2019. Just moments after securing a berth to the state tournament in Yakima by sweeping Coupeville in straight sets Nov. 2 at Landy James Gym, head coach Suzanne Marble put her bi-district title team through a practice session. Work remains to be done for the Lady Braves, who bring a 14-3 overall mark to the SunDome tomorrow, Nov. 10, when they begin...
It was a case of less is more when the eight-man La Conner High School football team closed out its season at Lummi Nov. 1. The Braves (2-6) exceeded their prior season point total with an explosive 56-6 non-conference victory. La Conner, which normally plays an 11-man format, had just four days to prepare for this contest. Looking to end a rebuilding year on a positive note, the Braves had little trouble adjusting to the quick turnaround and eight-man game. "It was a fun game to be a part of,"...
