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It was a record breaking year for La Conner businesses. Just check with the town government, which took in unprecedented high sales tax revenue most months of 2021. But the last week of the year? Not good for merchants or the town’s coffers. Ask Ted Furst, majority owner of Nell Thorn. The First Street restaurant has been closed since Christmas Eve, and not just because of snow in the parking lot. Their drain pipes froze “after 72 hours with temps under 22 degrees” from the evening of Dec. 25. With the building extending into the Swino...
Of course. A polar express bringing single digit lows and plenty of snow Christmas day made December another record month in a year of wild weather. Minimum low temperature records were set daily, Dec. 26-31, with 7.1 F the 26, 3.2 F, Dec 27 and 8.2 F the 28th. The 30.8 F on the 30th was the only day the high reached 30 F. The high was 50.3 F Dec. 22 and only two prior days, including Christmas, had the high dipped into the 30s. Rain the morning of Dec. 25 in La Conner turned into snow that...
Curt Buher was a big guy. The hole he leaves behind is big, too. Buher, who died Dec. 20, came to town with his wife Lori in 1979 to housesit for Maxine Wyman and never left. “They knew that La Conner was where they wanted to be,” said Cathie Wyman, Maxine’s daughter-in-law and Buher’s sister. As a clerk and driver for Nelson Lumber and as a freelance laborer, Buher grew to love construction. He started Atlas Construction in 1983 with Jim Robertson, his partner for about ten years. Over the next 30 years, Buher and a crew of locals that in...
Anyone paging through a stack of 2021’s Weekly News will find the obvious bright spots: the Fourth of July parade, concert and fireworks, an absolutely stupendous Halloween Parade and the lighted boat parade. The most wonderful record, set month after month, was the over-the-top Town of La Conner sales tax revenue collections. Facing year two of the pandemic a year ago, the town guessed it might collect $328,202 in 2021. Way too conservative. Sales tax revenue is likely to exceed $630,000, 62% over the forecast. That surprise sales tax revenue...
There is much David Franklin will miss about Shelter Bay when the longtime manager of the local residential community exits Jan. 28 to write a new chapter in a career that has seen him hold positions between here and southwest Alaska. In keeping with that literary theme, it is the characters that Franklin says he will miss most. “Some I work with, some are in the community, all are interesting and unpredictable,” Franklin told the Weekly News. “I can see why Tom Robbins wrote his novels here....
Louis Duane “Red” Bretvick, age 94, passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021 in Mount Vernon, WA. Duane was born September 26, 1927, in Mount Vernon, WA to Laverne (nee McNeil) and Louis (Lud) Bretvick. He was raised in the family household on the north fork of the Skagit River. He attended La Conner schools and was a La Conner High School class of 1945 graduate. Following high school graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and honorably served in WWII and the Korean conflict. While in the Nav...
A La Conner High School senior is the first election winner of the new year. Not just locally, either, but on a statewide basis. Sarah Cook, a key member of the school’s undefeated girls’ basketball team, was the top online vote-getter in polling for WaFd Bank’s Washington State Athlete of the Week honors through Sunday by Scorebook Live, a major sports website. Cook was one of 19 nominees on the ballot for Dec. 20-26, a field that included Garfield boys’ hoops standout Koren Johnson, who is committed to the University of Washington men’s b...
I enjoyed reading Bill Reynolds’ Dec 22 article about Tristen Nelson’s participation in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. But when I got to Russell Jensen’s quote (“I don’t know of anyone in town who has even been to the parade, let alone be part of it”), I had to respond. While living in Manhattan working for Levi Strauss & Co., I saw a notice on a bulletin board in the back hall of Macy’s Herald Square asking for volunteers for the big parade. Where do I sign up? I prou...
As we continue to confront the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, I think it is safe to say that the La Conner community, as a snapshot of our greater country and world, has been left in a state of purgatory. Even so, the Town moved forward in several areas throughout 2021. La Conner was blessed to see record sales tax figures accumulated in 2021. I have always said that destination communities such as La Conner are the future of in-person specialty retail. And although, at the peak of the financial fallout of the pandemic, La Conner lost...
Our son-in-law hails from Oregon. His dad, Bob Logue and his wife Anne, generously send us a box of pears at Christmas from the McCarthy Family Farm. Clearly marked as fragile, the postmistress, Heidi, remarked, “pears!” For this recipe, I chose the Columbia red D’Anjourpears, grown in Hood River, Oregon. When I travel, I buy honey. For this recipe I chose a honey I purchased on Lopez Island. The pecans I roasted. The crumbled blue cheese I ordered online from the Misfits Market. I have order...
Wednesday, December 29 7:57 a.m.: Kids vs adult – Caller reported an ongoing issue with sledders on the hill running into his vehicle and moving his potted plants. A deputy responded and sat in the area to monitor the sledders. The deputy spoke to the sledders, advising them to sled on the opposite side of the roadway. The deputy did not observe any reported property damage. Story page 3. Washington St., La Conner. 3:45 p.m.: After theft report – Caller reported an individual in a white camo hoodie that has come onto his porch and...
New Year’s came in with a bang for most people here, with loud fireworks on the west side of the Swinomish Channel signaling the arrival of 2022. For a few hardy others, though, the calendar turned over with a splash. Those brave souls, including seven-year-old Porter Weatherford, literally dove into the new year by taking a dip into frigid Swinomish Channel north of La Conner Marina. Waiting 30 minutes did not make it any warmer. Former Town Councilmember John Leaver and co-organizer Rick D...
