Thanks and onward

Thank you dear Pope Francis, and Debra, and Rich, and Bill and Fr. Treacy, Ken and the Michael that has come to help us row the boat ashore. We have so much to be thankful for, even when the storm batters our shores.

But being thankful is only just a part of the chore, we also must repair and innovate new infrastructure. Yeah, we are mostly a great group of folks, trying to find solutions to vexing issues, and we often do the right thing. We just had a great show of support for our schools, hooray! The election to the tribal Senate was what looks like a win for nearly everyone. Good luck new members; thanks Kevin, for your years of service.

If I could have a say about the mascot change, I think I’d vote for us to become the “Brave Chinook”! Being that we used to be famous for our Skagit Chinook, the “Brave Chinook”, would bravely take on the challenge of “rebuilding the once Great Salmon Runs of the “Swinomish Channel.”

The infrastructure is mostly already built. One of our town’s mayors (Milo Moore) wrote about how it could be done, but he grew old and died before he could get it done. He’d gotten the hatchery built in Marblemount, nearly eighty years ago. He was the head of the department of fisheries for the state, twice. He built the infamous fish food factory here in town, back in the 60s. That odor would now largely be captured, and turned into the fertilizer that it was. Not that I would want one here now, we’re a tourist destination for criminy sakes!

Yeah, whether we like it or not, we have been found out. Okay, so why don’t we teach our kids how to be employed by these tourists? Tour guides, hosts and hostesses, Salmon Bar-b-ques, spud smashers, kayak paddlers, totem pole carvers, cranium crammers, crab-catchers, landscapers, architects, carpenters, musicians, plumbers, welders, fish rearers, farmers, clam chowderers, robot wranglers, antique clothes wearers, airplane builders, dike constructors and maybe a few other things could capture a tourist’s dollar.

Yeah, give them a great time, they will leave behind more than a dime. If we do it right, we can have them pay for our dike and property taxes both, maybe even the water line and library.

Glen S. Johnson