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The format remains the same, but La Conner’s honoring America’s birthday never gets old. The town will again be scene of a full slate of Fourth of July festivities, starting with a 12 p.m. patriotic parade down First Street followed by children’s and family events at Pioneer Park. Join in the traditional afternoon holiday fun including three-legged races, a hot dog feed and watermelon-eating contest. And at that point the party’s just getting started. A beer and wine garden and food vendors...
Mayor Ramon Hayes pitched a $500,000 proposal for Skagit County economic development funds for a new library in La Conner as a catalyst that will bring new businesses that will revitalize Morris Street. In his five minute presentation Monday, Hayes said the library will “foster an environment for advancement, providing workforce education, tech and vocational workshops, meeting space for enhanced collaboration.” Hayes told the County Commissioners their grant would complete funding, and that without it the project “will lose the state and t...
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...
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...
Alvin Michael “Al” Strutzel, 94, a resident of La Conner, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at Life Care Center, Mount Vernon, WA. He was born November 6, 1924 in Monitor, WA, the son of Rudolph and Wilma (Warren) Strutzel. Al’s family were early settlers in the Monitor area, having arrived in 1902. Al attended schools in Monitor, graduating from Cashmere High School in 1943. School sports were a big part of Al’s life, lettering in all three sports, baseball, basketball and football all four years. After graduation, he joined...
Fred Ossewarde passed away peacefully on April 22, 2019 surrounded by his loving family. Fred was born in Bellingham, Washington September 30, 1934, and adopted at three days old by Helen and Lewis Ossewarde. He grew up in Bellingham an only child, but 20-some years ago he did a search and found a half-brother, Robert Martin, who he had been in Rotary with for many years. They enjoyed their new relationship as brothers. Fred was an outstanding high school athlete. He played on the Bellingham High School (class of ’53) Red Raiders basketball a...
COUPEVILLE — The U.S. Navy is moving full steam ahead to bring 36 EA-18G Growler aircraft to its Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, having rejected every request for studies, mitigation and citizen collaboration to reduce jet noise. Friday night 350 area citizens and members of the Sound Defense Alliance crowded into Crockett Barn, near the Whidbey Island shore west of Coupeville. Annie Jesperson, a farmer, tapped the energy of the sympathetic audience getting them to stand and raise their...
Twice last week Whitney Meissner, superintendent of the La Conner school district, enacted a cornerstone of the district’s strategic plan: communications. Last Wednesday Meissner hosted a community meeting in the district’s auditorium. Monday she spoke at the La Conner Rotary Club’s second annual Farmers-Merchant Dinner to 115 attendees, including Town and County elected officials and staff. At both events Meissner first thanked the community for the overwhelming support for the school levy,...
The smelt weren’t running Saturday but little kids from about three to seven or more were, on the boardwalk and on First Street, searching for treasure while being chased by their parents and grandparents. Families and single guys came to La Conner in search of the not so much elusive as not-present smelt for the La Conner Rotary Club’s 54th annual Smelt Derby Family Festival and Smelt Run Saturday. A school of herring were sighted and several caught, but a seal popped up and the herring lef...
There were not very many fish but the weather turned out favorably and lots of people were in town. It was interesting to see that this year’s winners were all from out of town, Seattle being the furthest. The Treasure Hunt was also a great success as all the Treasure Chests were empty and over 50 Treasure Maps were distributed. Lots of kids also enjoyed fish printing and families came out for a delicious pancake breakfast. The Rotary club of La Conner puts on this event year after year to bring people to town and to give families something to...
Farmers and agriculture industry allies heard from Skagit County economic development leaders on the afternoon of the fourth annual Ag Summit Feb. 8, sponsored by WSU Extension at their Mount Vernon offices. Port of Skagit Executive Director Patsy Martin had the day’s big announcement, which she and the Innovation Partnership Zone, partners the Port is working with, shared with the group at the session on “Innovation.” Martin unveiled “Genuine Skagit Valley,” a certification program years in...
For fans of public radio, last Thursday offered the best of both worlds. Regular area listeners were able to see as well as hear the local afternoon broadcast of All Things Considered, the flagship news program of the National Public Radio (NPR) network, during a special three-hour KNKX (88.9) live session at the Mount Vernon city library. Over 100 people filed into the library’s reading room on a come-and-go basis to attend the Tacoma station’s broadcast, highlighted by on-air and pre...
The “flood/dike update,” a recurring item of unfinished business at La Conner Town Council meetings, became the elephant in the room at Council’s Nov. 13 meeting. Council member Jacques Brunisholz repeated his concern that the Town is not protected from a catastrophic flood, that climate change means weather is unpredictable and that he, and the Council, is not meeting its prior agreement for adding $50,000 annually to the flood control fund. “We need to have the Town protected,” he said, “all the rest is for naught. “It was set up years ago...
A red sky at night is a sailor’s delight. So, too, is dredging of Swinomish Channel. A California marine contractor has begun removing just over 150,000 cubic yards of material from the channel, a project scheduled to run through November, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Removing sediment from the channel, which runs 11 nautical miles between Padilla Bay to the north and Skagit Bay to the south, is considered essential in helping prevent shoaling and to maintain the popular s...
Almost on cue, farmer Harley Soltes brought his van of blueberry products to the Puget Sound Food Hub Cooperative on Best Road Thursday afternoon. Soltes knows the value of cooperation and made time to recount the origins of this Co-op. In 2013 Soltes offered his Bow Hill Blueberries cold storage facility to area farmers for aggregating, storing and wholesaling their crops. Over three years that effort grew to 22 farms, becoming a hub linking King, Snohomish, Whatcom and Skagit County farmers wi...
La Conner Live 2018 would like to thank the following for their financial support. Without their support the concert series could not happen. The Ward Foundation, The Town of La Conner, Port of Skagit, Rachel’s heART, Nell Thorn, La Conner Brewery, Skagit Cellars, Seaport Books, Blackfish Gallery, La Conner Seaside Gallery, Whitey’s BBQ, Santo Coyote Mexican Kitchen, La Conner Seafood and Prime Rib, and La Conner Pub and Eatery. Concert attendees who came on a regular bases (weekly) came from seven cities in three counties (Whatcom, Ska...
Over 50 people, including at least 10 from greater La Conner, crowded into a room at Coconut Kenny’s last Wednesday and the free pizza and beer was the least of the draw. Home Rule Skagit organizers were rallying supporters for the election campaign to approve a charter for Skagit County. The 3,333 petition signatures they collected this year and submitted in August qualified the measure for the November ballot. Steering Committee Chair Gary Wickman told the crowd, “When it passes we will hav...
Is it just me, or is summer over without it ever getting hot? It certainly never got really hot or stayed hot for any long period. It never reached the degree of “I have no choice but to wear every Hawaiian shirt I have, day after day without end and that will provide some relief.” The overcast, with or without smoke, damped down temperatures. There was no rain to speak of, but the clouds seemed all too omnipresent. It was June gloom for sure, and the gloom never really left. There were fires in 2017 and a record summer drought. But I have neve...
In response to what Mayor Ramon Hayes termed “chain migration parking,” the Town Council unanimously passed an ordinance at its Aug. 14 meeting limiting recreational and commercial vehicle parking to “72 hours for one or more locations” within six months. Administrator Scott Thomas said this would “resolve the issue of the vehicles moving to other spots in town every 72 hours.” Hayes said that once the code was effective, on Aug. 19, it would be applied to an “extremely belligerent” transient parking his RV on Caledonia. Council also pa...
They don’t make ‘em like that anymore. That was a refrain heard often last weekend by those singing the praises of vintage vessels and vehicles headlining the 18th annual La Conner Classic Boat & Car Show. But, as the large crowd that strolled the Port of Skagit’s La Conner Marina south basin parking lot can attest, yesterday’s stylish boats and cars can be remade to look brand new. Cool cars and boats displayed on sunbaked pavement, coupled with Beach Boys hits and other Golden Oldies blastin...
Bread was never sexier than during the eighth annual Grain Gathering at the Port of Skagit’s Bayview Industrial Park last week. The popular three-day event, which each year has the world’s wheat and barley enthusiasts pay $550 to come to Washington State University’s Bread Lab, was keynoted on Thursday by Dr. Maria Trumpler, who teaches Women, Food and Culture and the History of Sexuality at Yale University. She addressed her areas of expertise with a lively, informative and often humorous presentation on why modern women rarely bake bread...
La Conner’s Fourth of July parade celebrated the nation’s founding in 1776, and was somewhat historic in its own right. People were united in wearing red, white and blue, though the shades, stripes, patterns and designs varied widely. Flags of all sizes, on and off sticks and poles, were waved and draped, respectively. The colorful downtown procession was by many accounts one of the best attended in the town’s recent history as crowds lined both sides of First Street on a picture-perfect day....
The next time you read this newspaper, it will be our nation’s birthday. Are you ready for the 4th of July in La Conner? Robin Lindstrom hopes you will march in the parade down First Street, starting at 12 p.m. Line-up is at 11 a.m. Volunteers are needed to assist, if you are not in the marching mood but want to help. Veterans from the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community will be the color guard. “It makes me really happy. I always thought they should be included,” said Lindstrom. “I hope this starts a tradition.” The annual community picnic an...
You won’t have to go far for fireworks in La Conner this July 4th. Plan your viewing spot on the Swinomish Channel. Plan for a full day of events starting with the annual parade down First Street starting at noon. Pack your picnic first and bring it with you. A community picnic and children’s events follow at Pioneer Park, including hot dogs, three-legged races and a watermelon contest. After your nap go to the Port of Skagit marina for live music at 5 p.m. while stretching out on the lawn. The free concert features the Pacific Nor...
Longtime La Conner resident Jeanne (Alaways) Johnson passed away on May 2, 2018. Jeanne was born in Anacortes, WA July 21, 1924. She was the oldest of six children and grew up in Port Angeles and Clear Lake working in the family shingle mill. After traveling from Alaska to Louisiana she settled in La Conner in 1964. Her passions were gardening, hiking, rock hounding and cooking. She had several businesses throughout Skagit County and through these hobbies and ventures she met and touched many lives. In the early 80’s she went back to school a...
