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“War is hell,” U.S. General William Tecumseh Sherman said late in life. He had proved it in 1864, laying waste to a swath of Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah, helping to shorten and win the Civil War. War became more hellish in the 20th century, proven very specifically by the Japanese Imperial Army’s treatment of allied prisoners of war in the Bataan Death March after the Philippines fell in 1942. Yet men do remain humane and compassionate through unimaginable deprivation and the hell of being a prisoner of war and a slave laborer in a mine...
Saturday was bright and sunny, a perfect day for a doubleheader plus extra innings at Hedlin’s Ballfield. But for La Conner baseball fans, even that would not have been enough. The last inning has been played at a time-honored site and a local tradition is over. Decades of memories fleetingly intersected with the exploits of today’s youth in the two and a half hours that breezed by much too quickly on the final day of action at the historic sports venue on Maple Avenue. Well attended mor...
La Conner High School has held commencement exercises for more than a century. But this year graduation is truly the hottest ticket in town. Due to COVID-19 protocols, each graduate is allotted only eight tickets for family and friends to attend the high school’s 127th annual commencement 5 p.m. Friday at Whittaker Field. For those without tickets, the June 18 event will be livestreamed, said Principal Kathy Herrera. Still, the situation is much more favorable than it was 12 months ago. ...
Stay around town for the holiday weekend and then bring your lawn chair to First Street Sunday, July 4. La Conner’s July 4th parade is back. There will not be a community picnic nor a concert with beer garden at the La Conner Marina lawn that afternoon, however. They are nixed by coronavirus public health precautions. But wherever you eat and hang out Sunday afternoon, go to Gilkey Square for a 2:30 p.m. concert by the C.C. Adams Band. And, eat again and secure your place on the boardwalk for fireworks after 9:30 p.m., once it is dark e...
Family members of the La Conner High School graduating class of 2021 will attend this year’s graduation ceremonies Friday at 5 p.m in the football stadium. Teachers and staff will be there, but few others. Attendance is limited to keep people safe from the last vestiges of the coronavirus, not quite wrung out of our community or society at large. The 54 teens – the largest graduating class in years – will graduate together, sitting shoulder to shoulder, throwing their hats in the air en masse, getting to hug and kiss each other, a...
In recent months news reports of events in Israel/Palestine, Xinjian, Cashmere and Afghanistan have caught our attention. Because we care about people and hold justice and human rights as values, we are drawn to speak and act. Good. Actually, not just good, but AWESOME! A representative democracy like ours needs all of us to actively participate in the policy debates of the United States. We need rigorous debates among us about the impact of our policies and how we can help create a more peaceful and just world. Democracies die when citizens...
La Conner officials are accelerating plans to curb speeding traffic here. The Town Council has bypassed a potentially lengthy cost analysis process and authorized Public Works Director Brian Lease and Town Administrator Scott Thomas to immediately begin crunching numbers on expenses related to use of digital speed signs in high traffic volume areas. The Council is leaning toward installation of at least two permanent signs, though Sgt. Jeff Willard, head of the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office La Conner Detachment and Undersheriff Chad Clark h...
The roundabout coming into La Conner has been a huge success over the years, but a potential problem is growing. Leaving La Conner east bound last week, there was a long line of cars coming in from the north who have the right of way; east bound traffic has to stop. There is a large shrub blocking the view of cars going east. It is a wreck waiting to happen and, in the hands of an attorney, guess who might be sued because of an overgrown shrub? Denny Sather La Conner...
They say a busy person wears many hats. If so, count Skagit County Fire District 13 Captain Ted Taylor among those rarely seen bare headed. Last Friday, during the district’s monthly fire commissioners Zoom meeting, Taylor provided a prime example – at least metaphorically. He said he was donning his “Captain Catastrophe” hat, though Taylor’s brief emergency management report was alarming only in terms of its main topic – an overview of the recently installed local All Hazard Alert Broadcast (AHAB) tsunami warning system. Taylor...
Barbara Sue Fjarlie, 83, of La Conner passed away on 8 June 2021 of complications following a head injury suffered in late 2020. Barbara was born 30 June 1937 in Seattle to Gladys and George Cowen. Her family moved around the Seattle metro area. Barbara graduated from Lake Washington High School in 1955 and moved to Biloxi, Mississippi soon after to help her older sister June with childcare. In Biloxi, Barbara met a young airman, Darryl Handy, whom she later married. With Darryl, she had three...
Gov. Jay Inslee wrote Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas June 4, urging an immediate full or partial reopening of the U.S.-Canadian border to provide relief for individuals and communities impacted by the prolonged closure. The letter reads, in part: “Washington state has taken a science-based approach to the pandemic and has enacted public health measures that prioritize safety and protect the lives of Washingtonians. Because of rising vaccination rates, Washington State has a plan to reopen...
The short-handed La Conner Braves faced long odds when they hosted 1A South Whidbey in non-league hoop action at Landy James Gym Monday night. For a while, the NW2B Braves were able to beat those odds. With three key players unavailable to square off against the Falcons, La Conner still managed to lead throughout the first quarter and was tied at halftime before fading in the second half. South Whidbey’s Lucas Taksony scored a game-high 15 points and teammates Josh Sterba and Sterling Patton hit two three-pointers each to lead the visitors to a...
The La Conner High girls’ basketball team earned an A for effort in its close home loss to Burlington-Edison last Tuesday, June 8. The Lady Braves received an A for results when they soundly defeated Lynden in another highly anticipated non-league hoop matchup, again at Landy James Gym two nights later. Together, the hard-fought, highly competitive games proved that 2B La Conner could more than hold its own against top 2A foes from the vaunted Northwest Conference. Burlington-Edison (7-3) e...
High school and college graduates always look sharp this time of year in their caps and gowns. But for true style points, it is hard to beat La Conner’s Swinomish high school graduates, who were decked out in colorful blankets, traditional cedar hats and eagle feathers for special pre-commencement ceremonies at Swadabs Landing Park last Wednesday. There was plenty of substance, too. Prayer warriors and Swinomish senators provided congratulations and words of encouragement to the community’s 202...
In less than two hours, between 6-8 p.m. last Wednesday afternoon, June 9, there were nine vehicle prowls at the south parking area of the Padilla Bay trailhead. Skagit County Sheriff’s Office deputies found passenger windows were broken on all nine vehicles and items were stolen out of three vehicles. The stolen items only included purses and credit cards. Deputies were alerted that some of the stolen credit cards had been used at the Burlington Fred Meyer. Deputies are working with Fred Meyers loss prevention staff to try and identify a s...
Burlington — After nearly three decades at the Port of Skagit, including 14 years at the helm, Executive Director Patsy Martin will retire in September. Martin began her career with the Port of Anacortes in 1987 then became property/development manager at the Port of Skagit. She worked in several capacities before becoming executive director in 2007. Martin’s dedication to the Port of Skagit’s mission of “Good Jobs for the Skagit Valley” has brought many successes including the expansi...
Monday, June 7 3:23 p.m.: Hauled away – Abandoned vehicle impounded. Whatcom St., La Conner. Tuesday, June 8 4:48 p.m.: Recycled away – Found bicycle. Bicycle was determined to be junk and disposed of. Whatcom St., La Conner. Wednesday, June 9 3:55 a.m.: Fender bender – Non-reportable motor vehicle accident in parking lot of the Shell station. La Conner Whitney Rd., Greater La Conner. 4:14 p.m.: Bike taken away – Report of a stolen bicycle. Bike described as a 15-20 year old brown bicycle with a basket on the front. N....
He has led the C.I.A., the U.S. Defense Department and two major universities, but 77-year-old Robert Gates, now of Big Lake, received his best management training as a Boy Scout. “When I was 14,” Gates recalled at a special leadership seminar benefitting Helping Hands Food Bank at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon Saturday night, “I had to get boys 11, 12 and 13-years-old to follow directions when they didn’t necessarily want to.” Gates found a way. And it led to a career in which he has made crucial decisions on the world stage. Now, in r...
This is my go-to recipe when I want to serve strawberries and whipped cream. You can use either a round or square 8-inch pan. You can use either a round or square 8-inch pan. This bakes with a beautiful dome in the center of the cake. It is a heavy cake and thus filling. The one I recently baked had edges that were a tad crunchy which added to the flavor. Year’s past, when my children were young, I made a simple chocolate frosting for a quick birthday cake. Ingredients 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups f...
Family members of the La Conner High School graduating class of 2021 will attend this year’s graduation ceremonies Friday at 5 p.m in the football stadium. Teachers and staff will be there, but few others. Attendance is limited to keep people safe from the last vestiges of the coronavirus, not quite wrung out of our community or society at large. The 54 teens – the largest graduating class in years – will graduate together, sitting shoulder to shoulder, throwing their hats in the air en masse, getting to hug and kiss each other, a...
