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For years – decades, actually – folks in La Conner have talked at length about the community’s housing crunch. In the 1980s and 1990s, when in-filling vacant lots was proposed as a preferable remedy to zoning changes that would encourage sprawl, the question was posed in the context of whether property values or human values would prevail. Now, with a changed narrative and renewed emphasis on creative problem-solving, perhaps both values are achievable. “We need better and more precise terminology,” Bill Henkel, executive direc...
Lynn W. Weidenbach, passed away peacefully on Monday, November 8, 2021, at the age of 81. A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, July 17, 2022, 4:00 PM at The Vinery, 15806 Best Road, Mount Vernon, WA. In memory of Lynn, donations may be made in his name to The Jenny Stiles Hudson Scholarship Fund, c/o the Washington Cattlemen’s Association, PO Box 96, Ellensburg, WA 98926, or online at www.washingtoncattlemen.org, or the charity of your choice. Arrangements are under the care of Kern F...
The La Conner High School graduating class had to adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic and then one last time Friday evening. The 128th annual commencement exercises were moved from Whittaker Field to Landy James Gym when forecasts predicted rainfall. There were few dry eyes among families and friends of the graduates during the emotional 90-minute ceremony. “COVID was not kind to this class,” stressed co-valedictorian Delaney Cobbs, one of several student speakers. “By the time we hit our junio...
La Conner High School has held annual commencements for more than a century but the 5 p.m. June 10 graduation at Whittaker Field will offer something new. Those attending will be officially welcomed in four languages, Lushootseed, English, Spanish and American Sign Language. “We’re excited about that,” La Conner Middle and High School Counselor Lori Buher told the Weekly News. In another all-time first, the Class of 2022 boasts co-valedictorians and co-salutatorians. Charity Dakota Jordan, who r...
La Conner residents have an appetite for supporting local causes. To help feed that generous spirit, the community’s restaurants and cafes have added regular fundraising events to their menus. In February, Santo Coyote Mexican Kitchen donated 20% of one day’s proceeds to the family of Swinomish teen and La Conner High School grad Danny “Dano” Rapada, who earlier this year underwent a kidney transplant in Seattle. That event, including separate donations by the restaurant’s staff and residents, raised over $1,900. “Santo Coyote was amazing,” J...
Introduction: As John Leaver wrote last week of his family members (still) in Kyiv, we all live in an internationally connected world. We here feel Ukrainians’ pain as TV and the internet bring their lives home to us. “Why?” being my favorite word from before two on, it came out of me the moment the all-clear siren sounded. May 1940, England’s southeast coast, inside our garden’s air raid shelter, mummy, baby Peter and me. “Why do they drop bombs on us?” Not till we were in the kitchen with Peter safe again in his cradle and mummy making...
Ukraine is literally at death’s door and needs help. I have friends and distant family members that are in Kiyv. I was contacted by the very lovely and very caring Ms. Jean Wedin, who suggested we start a community fundraiser for Ukraine. As a young person growing up in London during the Nazi bombing of World War II, she knows very well the terrors and fear that the Ukrainian people are going through now. I did not need to be convinced and immediately began thinking of how to start this fund. With the great help of Tami Mason at Washington F...
Funny the difference a couple days makes. With their season in the balance, the La Conner Braves rebounded Saturday to defeat Friday Harbor 48-38 at Coupeville to advance to a Northwest 2B District Tournament date with Auburn Adventist last night. With the win, the team extended its season while avenging a tough 66-41 loss to Friday Harbor earlier in the week. Senior Miles Sydzik had 12 points to lead the resurgent Braves, who knocked down eight three-pointers while improving to 6-12 overall, including two wins in three games against Friday...
Though idle for two weeks beforehand, the unbeaten La Conner High School girls’ basketball team had no trouble shaking off the rust at Coupeville last Tuesday, Jan 4. La Conner returned to action showing machine-like precision in its half-court offense while also scoring repeatedly off its high-octane transition game enroute to a convincing 69-13 NW2B road triumph. With icy road conditions having nixed a much-anticipated Dec. 30 matchup with 4A Kamiak, La Conner was revved up for this tipoff. “This was our first game in two weeks and we pla...
The day before Thanksgiving the Nooksack School District reached out to the North Counties arm of the Forgotten Children’s Fund to see if they could possibly help in providing a Christmas for the flood victims in the areas of Sumas and Everson. Unknown challenges now confront hundreds of families in the Nooksack Valley, including the towns of Sumas and Everson, due to recent flooding. Christmas this year for these families will take a back seat to survival. We have an immediate opportunity to make a difference. If you can drop off a new u...
Lynn Wallace Weidenbach passed away peacefully from natural causes at his home on Monday, November 8, at the age of 81. In the weeks and days leading up to his passing, Lynn was happy, smiling, joking and loving while surrounded by family and many of the innumerable friends he made during the course of his extraordinary life. While Lynn often referred to himself as “just a farmer”, nothing was farther from the truth as his presence on earth made a positive impact on the lives of the hundreds, if...
As the oldest town in Skagit County, La Conner takes pride in its traditions. One of the best of those, it turns out, is also one of the more recent. For the past 12 years the Waterfront Café downtown has hosted a free community Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings. Thanksgiving 2021 will be no exception. “We’ll be open from 12-noon until 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving,” the Waterfront Café’s Chef Dagmar confirmed to the Weekly News last Thursday. As always, everyone is invited to dine in or pick up take-out turkey day meals at no c...
For some, it was their first rodeo. And for the others, it might well have been the best. The 2021 Mount Vernon Elks Lodge Bike Rodeo, on Sept. 12 meshed with the grand opening of the new Little Mountain bike trails, a festive occasion years in the making. Despite rainy conditions, there was a good turnout of children and parents for the rodeo, which taught kids cycling skills like checking the air in their tires and how to use hand signals in traffic. They also had the opportunity to ride over...
Camp Korey has been named an official charity partner for the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon, celebrating its 50th running Nov. 7. Camp Korey will be among the more than 400 official charity partners providing thousands of runners the opportunity to run in the world’s largest and most popular marathon. Camp Korey’s 26 “Team Korey” runners will travel from across the U.S. to raise funds that support year-round camp programs for children with complex medical conditions. This team includes two Skagit-County women: Katie Roden of Mount Vernon,...
September 11 is a date all Americans remember, obviously, in somber terms. But this year, at least in Skagit County, September 11 will also provide a positive spin. That is the day that the Mount Vernon Elks Lodge will gift donated bicycles, host a bike safety rodeo and hold prize drawings as part of a multi-phased service project benefitting children of all ages. “We are gathering used bikes, repairing them and gifting them back to the community,” Elks Lodge bookkeeper and member Debbie Denton, a La Conner area resident, told the Weekly New...
There was no state 2B Hardwood Classic in Spokane this year. But there was a state level tournament in Mount Vernon last week. And as was the case in Spokane in 2020, La Conner High’s entry advanced to the final round, earning top runner-up honors. La Conner (15-2) placed second in the girls’ Summer State 2B basketball tournament hosted Wednesday through Friday by Mount Vernon Christian. The Lady Braves routed Toledo and edged Wahkiakum before falling to top-seeded Warden 72-66 in overtime for the championship. The three-day, eight-team event p...
There truly is no rest for the weary. The La Conner High girls’ basketball team, which after playing five games in a week against top competition – the Lady Braves won four of those, losing only to 2A Burlington-Edison – and now coach Scott Novak’s charges begin state 2B summer tournament play today in Mount Vernon. La Conner faces sixth-seeded Toledo in a much-anticipated 2 p.m. matchup at the Mount Vernon Christian gymnasium on Blackburn Road. The Lady Braves enter the June 23-25 event sporting a 12-1 mark. They are seeded thi...
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...
The La Conner Braves enjoyed a Jolly good time when they hosted co-league leader Friday Harbor in NW2B boys’ basketball action Saturday afternoon. Senior wing Josh Jolly scored a game-high 18 points, all but two coming in the second half, to lead La Conner to a 56-52 upset win at Landy James Gym. Jolly scored seven straight points over a two-minute stretch of the final period to lift the Braves on top of an ebb-and-flow affair from the outset. With the win, La Conner avenged an earlier road l...
It usually is not a good sign when a basketball team has just one defensive rebound in the first quarter and only 14 for the game. But that was not the case for the unbeaten La Conner High girls’ basketball team Saturday at Landy James Gym. The Lady Braves played such good defense against NW2B rival Friday Harbor that the visitors turned the ball over repeatedly and rarely got good shots at the hoop. Thus, there were not rebounds off the defensive glass to be grabbed. La Conner (9-0) remained a...
We are heartbroken that a ray of sunshine with hair the colors of the rainbow departed this earth. Tara Lin (Rosenberger) Little, 40, of Oak Harbor passed away on Sunday, February 28, 2021, at Whatcom Hospice House. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee to Lawrence Rosenberger and Cheryl Lane. She is survived by her parents, beloved daughter Savannah, son Ryan, sister Jessica, nieces and nephews. She is also survived by Nate and Marilyn Welch, her dear friends “the biscuits” Corinne, Sami, Cha...
Charity Dakota Jordan, a junior at La Conner High School, is someone who has her priorities clearly in order -- first school and then work, she says. Charity, the Soroptimist International of La Conner Honored Student for December, balances being a Running Start student at Skagit Valley College with a job. Students in Running Start graduate the same year as their classmate with a LCHS diploma and a SVC Associate’s Degree earned under guidance of counselors at both institutions. Charity learns h...
In every election supporters – voters – of the winning side shout, blow their horns, ring cowbells and light firecrackers. That happened in La Conner as well as around the country Saturday morning with the news that Pennsylvania had been called for former Vice President Joe Biden. He will become the nation’s 46th president. Kamala Harris joins him as vice president with a string of firsts: as a woman, an African American and of south Asian heritage, a child of immigrants. Their victory is substantial and will have a larger margin b...
What is it that modern civilization most lacks? What are the fundamental deficiencies that ultimately could undermine it? This is mainly the question that Pope Francis wants to answer. In his latest encyclical Fratelli Tutti – the phrase is from the writings of his namesake St. Francis of Assisi – the pope argues his case that social division, fragmentation and the friction they cause are the primary threats that humankind has to fear. And the cause is the absence of a sense that human beings all belong to the same family, and...
Curtis W. McCauley of La Conner, Washington passed away on Sunday, September 13, 2020 at the University of Washington Hospital in Seattle from complications following a stroke. Curt was born on June 11, 1943 in Sacramento, California. He was named John Rudd Hart by his biological mother. When adopted shortly after birth by Lila and Carl Duncan, he was renamed Curtis Wesley Duncan. When he was seven years old, Curt moved to Washington State with his mother and step-father, George McCauley. The...
