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Summary: Thirteen-year-old Mary Agnes Coyne, forced from her home in rural Ireland in 1886 after being accused of incest, endures a treacherous voyage across the vast Atlantic alone to an unknown life in America. From the tenements of New York to the rough alleys of Chicago, Mary Agnes suffers the bitter taste of prejudice for the crime of being poor and Irish. Digging deep within, Mary Agnes discovers strength and worth as she re-defines what it means to belong while grappling with the clash...
La Conner is no one-horse town. But on Saturday it was a one Brahma bull town, and proud of it. "Little Wick," a 4-year-old purebred Brahma steer, made his way that morning up the Washington Street hill, avoiding the new one-way traffic flow downtown, to take part in the opening of the much-anticipated Wick Peth exhibit at the Skagit County Historical Museum. The late Wick Peth, of a La Conner and Burlington area pioneer family, was a legendary bullfighter who brought athleticism to rodeo...
I am a border in Mexico. I am a border in Gaza. I am a child getting shot through a border fence as I play in the sand. I am a word. I am a phosphorous cloud. I am a sprinkling of stars. I am an echocardiogram. I am the smell of a pony. I am a poem with "promises to keep / and miles to go before I sleep." The Skagit River Poetry Foundation's biannual festival Oct. 4-5 at Maple Hall and other venues around La Conner inspired the above paragraph. The festival was attended Friday morning by over...
The 2 p.m. Skagit Community Band summer concert set for this afternoon, Saturday, is canceled. " Due to predicted wet weather conditions, the Skagit Community Band has been forced to cancel today's concert. We look forward to seeing you for our 2024-2025 concert season," band director Vince Fejeran wrote in an email to the Weekly News....
The Skagit River Poetry Foundation made the crowd holler as they hosted their summer party, Make Me Wanna Holler, on a cool Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Park on July 21. Every summer we host a music and poetry event to honor and thank our community for their support and raise awareness for our organization. As the grill and band heated up, board members and volunteers took food orders and chatted with guests as they arrived. Guests relaxed with their lunch in the amphitheater surrounded by towering firs with views of the Swinomish Channel and...
So much is happening at the library this summer! We are very excited to have close to 100 kids signed up for summer reading, which goes through the end of August. Don’t forget to keep filling in your reading logs so you can turn them in at the end of summer for a prize and keep checking the calendar for weekly fun events. We have some great kids’ events coming up. Our first annual Junior Art Walk will take place Aug. 23. The goal this summer is to have fun creating art and exploring various expressions of art. Every Wednesday from 10-11:30 a.m...
Amy Green has for the past decade been the very uncommon thread binding together diverse exhibits and educational programs at the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum at historic Gaches Mansion. Her focus has been uncommon in that Green brought with her to La Conner in 2013 an extensive background in a wide range of artistic impression and managerial experience, including six years as director of operations at the famed Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M. Now Green is returning to...
July is a busy month at the library! Summer Reading is in full swing. If you haven’t signed up, stop by the library to get your reading log and a free book. Our theme this year is Read, Renew, Repeat, and we have tons of fun activities every week at the library for all ages. Kids to grandmas are welcome to join us for the events. Today, Wednesday, June 26, from 3-4 p.m. come have fun and learn all about recycling and worms with a recycling expert, Callie. This promises to be a fun experience. Do you have old books you don’t read any more? Wan...
When the La Conner Swinomish Library Board of Directors named Jean Markert the library’s director in 2022, it did so despite Markert’s lack of a library science degree and required state certification. La Conner is not alone in operating a library without a trained librarian. “Unfortunately, it is not unusual for rural libraries in Washington (and nationwide) to have library staff or library directors who are not certified librarians. Rural areas are notoriously challenged to recruit and retain certified librarians,” Washington Library A...
The Skagit County Pioneer Association has cemented the lineup of honorees for its annual summer picnic in La Conner, one weighed heavily with civic leaders based in Concrete. Concrete Herald editor-publisher Jason Miller, Valerie Stafford of the Concrete Theatre, John Boggs of the Concrete Heritage Museum, and longtime Concrete Food Bank coordinators Marty and Adrienne Smith are this year’s recipients of the Pioneer Spirit Award. All will be formally recognized at the annual Pioneer Picnic here on Aug. 1. Their selections were confirmed during...
A storied chapter from La Conner's past, often spoken in hushed tones, was revisited with screaming headlines on March 23. This year's La Conner Chamber of Commerce Murder Mystery, set during the Prohibition Era of rumrunning and bootlegging, spelled out details of the event in a special March 23, 1924, edition of the "La Conner Territorial News," one of the resources used by aspiring sleuths to solve a fictional homicide case. Mother-daughter duo Chris and Nicole Jennings crafted the engaging s...
Crime won’t be taking a holiday in La Conner anytime soon – at least in terms of the town’s popular murder mystery event. Former Weekly News reporter Nicole Jennings co-wrote the Prohibition Era murder mystery script with her mom, Chris Jennings. They’re already planning next spring’s third annual production. Nicole Jennings is developing for next year a mystery steeped in World War II intrigue. Her aim is to craft story lines around local weapons testing and espionage, with fictional plots bolstered by research into the history of nearby Nav...
Inside Mortenson Signs on the corner of Avon Allen Road and Bennett Road is an explosion of colorful signs and art. This hints at the body of work Bob Mortenson has made since he opened the shop in 1981. Iconic signs throughout Skagit Valley bear Mortenson's mark: RoozenGaarde, Calico Cupboard, Nasty Jacks and even the La Conner Weekly News. Now, the impact of his art is receiving special attention. The Skagit County Historical Museum's next exhibit is "Signs, Signs, Everywhere – Signs: The A...
During his celebrated career as an award-winning newspaper columnist and author, Timothy Egan has traveled the globe in search of the stories that connect him to his readers. For a much longer time – dating to childhood – he has made shorter treks to public libraries and rural bookmobile stops to discover stories that would shape and define Egan as one of the nation's most powerful voices on behalf of literacy. The University of Washington alum, a former op-ed writer for the New York Times and...
Feisty National Book Award winner Timothy Egan writes about some of the most pressing issues of American life. He speaks at the Lincoln Theatre March 2 to raise funds for the new Mount Vernon library. Egan, a Pacific Northwest native, New York Times correspondent and best-selling author, will share his views on the importance of libraries. In an email last week, Egan responded, "Importance of libraries? Where do I start? They're gateways to citizenship for thousands of people learning about our...
Bird lovers will flock to Maple Hall Feb. 3 and 4 for the La Conner Birding Festival. The festival marks the local return of the Skagit community’s celebration of winter birds. Art, education and family activities promise to inspire residents and visitors to appreciate the migratory birds that winter here. Doors open Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. Photographers, painters and other artists will display their work upstairs. Downstairs families will find bird-related activities for kids. Some of the birding educators will bring birds. “I want it t...
Home-grown talent Matika Wilbur has spent years traveling the country to exhibit her critically acclaimed photography and compile narratives for her ground-breaking book "Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America." But last Thursday afternoon her happy place was Gilkey Square in La Conner. Wilbur exchanged laughter and shared fond memories with a steady stream of local admirers, who included civic leaders, fellow artisans and retired teachers and school administrators, during an...
