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I grew up in Germany during the time mentioned in last week’s “Musings,” post-war, walking through rubble, seeing bunkers and craters in the woods, where bombs hit and missed their target, the steel factory. I also thought that the war would shape the culture, and in Germany it did, for a long time. My generation felt international, not national. We were never again to let another war happen, and we didn’t. But time goes by and people don’t seem to learn from history. I am always so surprised when the young or old start following political...
Citizens of LaConner -we need to save this property! This property could/should be an area that will benefit tourists, folks from the retirement inn, ice cream addicts who need a place to eat their ice cream cones and a place for the grandchildren to watch the marine traffic on the channel. By saving this property, this could be a project where the citizens of La Conner could help with the designing of seating, a place where artists could show sculpture and a play area for children. The local garden club could help with the landscaping....
Just imagine yourself sitting on a bench in front of an old fire station with a bunch of older men and women reminiscing about the “old days” in the “department.” That’s about what it feels like to read Roy Horn’s new book, “The Story of the Men and Women of the Hope Island Fire Department 1958-2002.” This “stream of consciousness” telling of the history of the Hope Island Fire Department is particularly enjoyable for many of us who have served in the Department. I would specifically recommend it for those who live on the “west shore” as a h...
Town Council members have received their summer reading assignments. They’ll start with the next chapter in the ongoing saga on how to protect La Conner from potential catastrophic Skagit River flooding. Council will study design options for a proposed ring dike at the northeast edge of town. This after a field trip and sit-down Council session last Tuesday. About two dozen people met for a site tour intended to provide a visual perspective of where a new dike section would be located and its p...
Thirty-six La Conner High seniors, including 11 National Honor Society students, will receive diplomas during the school’s 125th annual Commencement Exercises tomorrow night at Landy James Gym. The June 6 program, featuring a mix of inspiring messages and uplifting music, begins at 7 p.m. Class Valedictorian Sophia Benetti and Salutatorian Matty Lagerwey, both of whom are National Honor Society members, will deliver major addresses. Other senior class speakers are to take turns on the podium as well. Class President Erik Nelson will offer t...
Midway through the May 28 La Conner School District town hall, a forum to discuss discipline, safety and prevention/intervention support against vaping, marijuana and drugs, a parent asked the key question: “What is the issue we’re talking about? What is the white elephant in the room? Is it drugs, guns, substance abuse? What’s the issue?” The 50 parents, students and school staff attending had heard presentations from Middle and High School Principal Todd Torgeson Elementary School Principal Bev Bowen, Kathy Herrera, assistant principal and at...
The Skagit Wildlife Area is home to many different types of birds, but also to a man who has studied them most of his life. Bob Hamblin, 80, has been officially birding for 37 years but recalls his first identifications at the age of seven. Now, Hamblin spends his time between his landscaping work during the week and birding on the weekends. Hamblin started professionally birding and photographing birds in 1982. The same year, he remade a three-person camera into one that he could carry and...
Throughout the Skagit Valley are a number of 100-plus year old barns. These structures’ forms are reminders of times past and present, where work takes place in its many qualities. The Carson sisters, Amy and Katie, have such a barn on their property, on the southeast corner of Best and Calhoun Roads, built in the first quarter of the past century. It has lived through many lives: cattle, hay, storage, mechanical works, flowers, art and now wood shop and painting studio as well as their place o...
The Earth has made another full revolution around the sun. The first Thursday in June is again before us. La Conner’s high school seniors, school faculty and staff, parents, family and friends will come to campus for the 7 p.m. graduation ceremony. Excitement will be universal. The graduates will have a lot on their minds. Immediately that evening and this weekend there are parties, family gatherings, eating out. Graduates will certainly have peer-to-peer check ins and adventures, planned and unplanned. The gift of youth might be the g...
Jerrol “Jerry” Ralph Keller (81) of La Conner, WA, passed away at Island Hospital in Anacortes, WA the evening of May 25th, 2019 after a courageous struggle with declining health. He was born on July 25, 1937 in Morganton, NC, the devoted only child of Phrona (Benfield) and Ralph Keller. The Kellers moved west, where Jerry spent his youth outdoors, scouting the North Cascades and as a young man, cultivating his entrepreneurial spirit with ingenious odd jobs in and around the Marblemount area. He worked in the timber business helping his fat...
Water is not changed into wine and loaves do not expand to feed five thousand, but a body is changed into bones and true love is found before the final curtain. This is all done with a light touch by a largely ensemble cast. What more could anyone want in a theater production? It could be 13th century French monks struggling to feed themselves as well as the village’s poor from their monastery in Priseaux. Throw in Jack, the one-eyed juggling minstrel; in fact, entrap him into the priesthood. There’s a plot of sorts and two miracles. Tha...
Gov. Jay Inslee merged from the presidential campaign trail onto the local information superhighway last week. His route Tuesday brought him to Friday Harbor, Anacortes and Skagit Regional Airport in Bayview. At the Skagit County stop Inslee discussed expansion of broadband internet service to remote rural areas with business leaders and public officials. “I’m really encouraged with what I’ve heard,” Inslee said following the nearly hour-long public session, his final stop of the day. “This (broadband) is the greatest small town rural dev...
