Farmers, merchants gather like before

Optimistic as always, late last year the La Conner Rotary Club planned their annual Farmer and Merchants Community dinner for March 7 in Maple Hall, until 2020 a yearly celebration and thank you to local farmers and merchants.

And the Rotarians were right. After no dinners the last two years, Monday 53, with more merchants than farmers, supported by 22 Rotary Club members, gathered, primarily unmasked, for a buffet dinner and to hear town, school district, library and service club coalition updates.

Town Administrator Scott Thomas stood in for Mayor Ramon Hayes. Thomas started with the safest of themes: change. Nodding to the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war against Ukraine, he predicted unpredictability as the federal government increases foreign aid spending.

Washington state’s budgetary commitment to a 15 year transportation plan will impact La Conner if funds supporting local infrastructure are reduced. The Town needs millions of dollars for water line and wastewater treatment plant upgrades, yet monies might be shifted or not available.

Town finances are in surprisingly good shape, attractive as it is to tourists. There is a “reverence for small town values,” Thomas noted. “People like it here,” emphasizing residents.

School Superintendent Will Nelson gave a broad overview of programs and progress – and problems – in the district. “No masks will be needed on buses,” starting next week, he said, as that is the federal guidance. Nelson highlighted the performance of specific staff members and the need for a math teacher next year.

He emphasized that children need to learn to be together again after the long period of forced at-home learning. He stressed the importance of social emotional learning and the three initiatives framing district policy: universal design for learning; professional learning communities; and equity.

“Equity means committing resource to places where students aren’t learning,” he said, noting the huge difference in white students outperforming students of color over the last 10 years. Supporting teachers is a part of that, so “late start Tuesdays” will support teachers improvement by scheduling time for them to learn to work together.

“I am just a phone call away,” he told the group. “I would love to get to know you all.”

La Conner Library Director Jared Fair is finishing his second year on the job, though the library leadership has been working toward a new library building for a decade. Fair told the group that Rotary members “know how hard it can be to get things done. So much of the work is virtual and invisible.”

The same has been true for the library, but now, the progress is very visible. “The library is about findability,” he said. “It will be easy to find the library and find each other.” While Fair shared specifics of the environmental sustainability of the building and the values behind that, he ended emphasizing relationships.

The pandemic required us to find new ways to connect, he reflected. “The library will allow us to connect even more, all of it, all that we can think of. This new space will really allow us to connect and I am looking forward to it.”

Club President Marty Pease finished the program discussing the success of local service clubs in forming La Conner United, consisting of Rotary, Kiwanis, Soroptimists and PEO (Philanthropic Educational Opportunities) working with the La Conner Chamber of Commerce. Their efforts started in January 2020. The two years of the pandemic provided opportunities to support the community and their organizations and they have, notably through monthly craft fairs in the Crescent Moon parking lot and at Rotary’s Santa pancake breakfast.

La Conner United has organized a speed dating of sorts with area nonprofits for volunteer opportunities at the March 17 Chamber ice cream social. The craft fairs will be returning on a yet to be determined schedule.

With that, the program was over and the Rotarians started cleaning up, removing their blue and yellow plastic tablecloths, colors Thomas had noted, are the same as the Ukrainian flag.