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Last week I talked about electric vehicle chargers in rural British Columbia. Charger availability there is still improving. Flo.com’s map shows that the charger in Woss, BC (population about 200), has been upgraded since Jenelle and I traveled there about a year ago. Woss now has a Level 3 (fast, 50 kilowatt) charger, with two Level 3 plugs. It’s about 40 miles from the nearest larger town, Port McNeill (population about 2,000). Port McNeill also has a public Level 3 charger. For ref...
This completes the two-part look at Ramon Hayes time as La Conner's mayor For 16 years while mayor of the Town of La Conner, Ramon Hayes has championed the successes teamwork has created, deflecting attention from himself. He did it again in August at the La Conner Rotary Club's annual dinner and auction. When the chapter presented the Paul Harris Fellow recognition to him, a $1,000 contribution to the national Rotary Foundation in Hayes' name, he recognized another accomplishment. He – t...
It has officially been one year since the library opened our doors to the community and so much has happened in that year. We have welcomed many returning and new patrons to the library. We have been able to host great programs, including author talks and music in our meeting room and fun crafts and movie nights for the kids and kids at heart. We are looking forward to even more offerings this fall and winter. Be sure to stop by the library to pick up our fall events calendar or check out our website for more details. We have several big events...
Voters living in the La Conner School District have one choice on their ballot in the school board race for the District 2 director. John Agen, elected to the District 1 position in 2019, has moved into the district. Janie Beasley, defeated in her 2019 reelection for that seat, is running again. No other local race is contested. Residents have to decide to vote their approval or not mark their ballots in these local elections: La Conner School District Alana Quintasket, District 1 Kim Pedroza, District 4 Town of La Conner Marna Hanneman, mayor...
Like loons calling across the water, like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," the Swinomish Canoe Family hushed the crowd of 150 people as they sang and drummed a blessing prayer, the chorus meandering its way from the majestic totem outside into the La Conner Swinomish Library Saturday afternoon. The building felt just a little more hallowed. And crowded. Whew! There were a lot of people there. The pole, made from a 400-year old western red cedar, carved by Kevin Paul and assisted by his son-in-law...
Staff at the La Conner Weekly News continue to be recognized for their excellent work. They received 29 WNPA best newspaper awards at the annual Better Newspaper Contest of Washington’s community newspapers in Kennewick Oct. 7. News editor Bill Reynolds led with 10, including first for his “Rehabbed bald eagle released near McGlinn Island” in the animal features story category. Reynolds added five seconds and four thirds across categories ranging from an arts feature story on Maggie Wilder leading the repainting of the mural under the Rainbow B...
All of a sudden there are a slew of opportunities to be active civically – democratically – in the community. You do not have to live in La Conner to involve yourself. And the October activities end, appropriately, with our school children – indeed anyone with a costume, with or without a child – parading up First Street for the Halloween parade. Come on out for that, for sure. Activities extend into Nov. 7 election day. Because only one area resident chose to contest only one of the La Conner school board or Town of La Conner council seats,...
The status of short-term rentals in La Conner tops the agenda of a special 6 p.m. Oct. 17 public forum at the La Conner Civic Garden Club. “It will be a specific and targeted meeting,” Town Assistant Planner Ajah Eills said at the planning commission’s meeting Oct. 3 in Maple Hall. The meeting addressing short-term rentals will not be hybrid since there is no WiFi service at the Second Street building. “We think it will be more of a conversational setting,” Eills said. “We’re hoping for a more intimate conversation.” The question of whe...
Reminder: the official La Conner Swinomish Library Dedication and Ceremony will be this Saturday from 3 p.m.to 5 p.m. Tour the library if you haven’t yet. Presentations: 3:15 p.m.....
Every September the Weekly News focuses an editorial on Banned Books Week. The Week starts Sunday, Oct. 1 this year. Visit the La Conner Swinomish library next week. Heck, go to a library every single day through Oct. 7. We are fortunate to have good libraries throughout the county. It is unfortunate that our county commissioners have not shown the dedicated, long-term leadership citizens need to be led into the countywide, single library district that living in the 21st century requires. But that is another editorial. Banned Books Week...
Normally I like to use my column to talk about all the exciting things happening in the library, but this month I want to write from my heart. The first week of October is Banned Books Week, and lately there has been a lot of talk about books and what should or should not be in libraries. As a relatively new library director and former educator, this subject has always interested me. A bookmark I recently saw had a quote by Jo Godwin that said, “A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.” Throughout history, lib...
It's hard to take a photo of a fast-moving salmon – even when you are surrounded by them. They splash. They skitter. They hit your kayak and soak your shirt. One second they are a tiny ripple in the water and the next they speed past your camera, while you snap pictures of empty water. On Sunday morning at low tide, 10 of us welcomed chinook salmon back to the Samish River with the Skagit River Poetry Foundation. Our agenda: drift among the salmon, talk about salmon habitat and lifecycles, r...
A master storyteller, La Conner author Tom Robbins lent his name to another well-received work here Saturday. Only this time he did so not with his pen, but with his mere presence. And it had everything to do with fun rather than work. That's because a large crowd – many dressed as characters from his best-selling novels – descended on town for a festive, sun-splashed afternoon celebrating the La Conner wordsmith's decades-long mastery of wit, wisdom and eclectic thought. The timing cou...
La Conner showed its colors Saturday with a joyous celebration of famed local author Tom Robbins, named King for a Day and hailed by fans as he and wife Alexa led a parade down First Street perched atop the vintage La Conner fire truck. In a nod to his bestselling novels, fans showed up in outrageous costumes, the most popular of which were nods to Sissy, the hitchhiking model of "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" The day was a celebration of imagination and creativity in all its forms. Favorite...
Can Spam, the ubiquitous low-cost processed meat, be more than just a pantry staple? This intriguing question took center stage at the Tom Robbins Day Spam-Carving Contest in Gilkey Square Saturday. Twelve talented carvers, generously sponsored by local organizations and community members, embraced the challenge of turning Spam into artistic masterpieces, captivating dozens of enthusiastic onlookers. With a mere 15 minutes on the clock and two cans of Spam as their medium, participants wielded...
NOT TO BE MISSED Skagit Symphony begins its 2023-24 season with “Second Chances” on Oct. 21. The concert features Sandra Shen on piano playing “Stars” by Mary Howe, Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto and concludes with Mussorgsky’s legendary “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Info: www.skagitsymphony.com/second-chances. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520 Morris St., La Conner. 360-466-3352.www.lclib.lib.wa.us. Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Storytime for Children. 11 a.m. every Friday. Book Club. Meets at...
Some people, no matter how dire the situation, always see things with a glass half-full perspective. And then there's Tom Robbins. The acclaimed La Conner author, who famously quit his gig at the Seattle Times by calling in "well," has during his more than 50 years here earned repute as a joy hunter, always seeking and cherishing life's "cup runneth over" moments. That tireless devotion to optimism, regularly punctuated with wit and whimsy, will be saluted during "Tom Robbins Day" festivities in...
La Conner is taking a novel approach when it comes to celebrating the best things in life. The town will be the scene for "Tom Robbins Day" Sept. 2, an event designed to promote fun, friendship, wit, whimsy and positive vibes, all reflective of themes and characters in books penned by La Conner's famed best-selling author. It will also be an opportunity to support mentoring opportunities in the arts for local youth at the new La Conner Swinomish Library. A full slate of activities is planned, in...
Our summer reading program, All Together Now, has officially ended, but please don’t stop reading. Make sure to turn in your reading log so you can get your reward for all your reading during summer vacation. We hope you read some terrific books and discovered new genres and authors while meeting your reading goal. When you stop by the library to turn in your log, please tell us about the best book you read this summer. You can fill out a bookmark to tell others about your book so others will check it out. We had a wide variety of summer r...
Anyone can be a part of the La Conner Rotary Club 2023 Harvesting Hope annual auction and dinner at Maple Hall Aug. 26, 5:30 p.m. The theme this year is “Hope Springs Eternal.” Community participation is invited to support literacy and education programs. This is the club’s biggest fundraiser of the year. La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes will be honored as recipient of the Paul Harris Award to acknowledge his commitment to the community and the strong working relationship with town leaders the club has enjoyed during his tenure. Hayes stood out a...
Dennis Strong and his family began spending summers in La Conner in the mid-1950s, as did Clayton and Barbara James. They met through Ruth Pennington's Fidalgo Allied Arts summer art school, where James found his calling in ceramics and Vera Strong was teaching weaving. Their relationship and those made with others were nurtured over many summers spent in La Conner. As Peter Strong, Dennis' son, recalls, "I remember walking down the middle of First Street in that quiet town, taking art classes f...
Because it’s never too soon to prepare for the future, La Conner Town Council invested an hour in a special session last week studying factors and strategies that could define La Conner decades from now. The 60-minute hybrid meeting, which featured online commentary from Seattle-based consultants, was a down payment of sorts ahead of a daylong July 24 council retreat. The topics discussed and identified as either community strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats (SWOT) – some of which overlapped into more than one category – were...
Nothing in life is perfect, but the annual July Fourth Parade in La Conner Tuesday came close. The weather, which more than once has been wet and chilly here on Independence Day – hence, the local adage that summer starts on July 5 – was sunny and warm for an eclectic blend of patriotic-clad entrants and spectators lining the length of First Street for the 20-minute celebration. So good was the parade honoring America’s 247th birthday and formal separation from Great Britain that those resid...
The La Conner Emergency Management Commission is wading through short-term options to mitigate flood threats on the La Conner waterfront and in low-lying residential neighborhoods, embracing a multi-tiered plan of attack ahead of next winter’s king tides. The Town is in contact with the Upper Skagit Tribe to secure permission for placement of flood barriers on its south-end property between Caledonia and Sherman streets. A walking tour led by Public Works Director Brian Lease to strategize barrier placements on La Conner’s north end, has bee...
Summer is going to “bee” busy at the library. Summer reading is now in full swing, and we have fun weekly events coming up all summer long. Our theme this year is “All Together Now;” the honeybee is our mascot – because they work together as a team to keep their hives humming. If you haven”t signed up yet, stop by the library to pick up a summer reading packet and a calendar to see all the exciting events we have coming up. If you have already signed up, keep buzzing through those books so you can turn in your completed packet for a prize. Here...
