Your newspaper in your weekly mail all year long

Last week was quite the start of holiday activities throughout the Skagit Valley. From Friday evening’s Tiny Tree silent auction at the La Conner Swinomish Library through a myriad of events Saturday in La Conner and holiday markets Sunday at the Vinery next to Christianson’s Nursery and at the La Conner Pub and Eatery, people were out and about, shopping and singing – a lot of singing.

Did you know that the La Conner Schools volunteer students from the middle and high school music program played on Gilkey Square at 1 p.m. Saturday? Did you see the English town crier leading the Northwest Junior Pipe Band down First Street onto Gilkey Square before 2 p.m. Saturday? They were nine strong, five bagpipers and four drummers.

Did you make it to Maple Hall Sunday for the Shelter Bay Chorus’ set Sunday afternoon? Rumor had it the Pipe Band came back from Edmunds for a return appearance.

There were two Santa visits Saturday, early at the La Conner Rotary Club’s annual Santa Pancake Breakfast and at 5 p.m. on Gilkey Square when he “1-2-3” lit the town’s Christmas tree before taking children on his lap again to hear their hopes and wishes. Rumor had it that he returned to Maple Hall Sunday afternoon, but, as journalists report, that could not be confirmed.

If you were in La Conner or around the western Skagit Valley last weekend perhaps you attended or ran into one or more of these events. All of them are highlighted in this issue of the Weekly News that you hold in your hands.

Equally vital is knowing the facts of the case of Shelter Bay board officers being challenged in Skagit County Superior Court by one of the community's residents. Some 1,800 people live in Shelter Bay. That is over one-third of the 5,000-plus residents in the 98257. The La Conner Weekly News is best at its job when it reaches past the borders of the town whose name it shares.

Then the staff of your local newspaper are doing their job, reporting the small and large events of the day and week and keeping you up to date of the news in your backyard.

When people say “good job” and offer thanks on a particular story or an overall issue, I always thank them for engaging as a citizen and fulfilling their duty of staying informed. That is a responsibility as well as an obligation. Hopefully it is a whole lot more fun and tasty than eating broccoli or creamed spinach and as nourishing for the mind and soul.

These are the reasons for the Weekly News. Your newspaper is the first draft of history, as the cliche goes. It grounds you in the present moment while also looking to the past and pointing the way to a hopeful future.

Your newspaper will not let go of the fact that you are a citizen in a fragile natural world and that for too many of us there is a tenuous agreement with neighbors and strangers in this ongoing dance we call democracy. Because of our odd and unique circumstances of the last 300 years on this continent, newspapers have been an integral part of society and communities across the land. Today there are far fewer than 10 years ago and, like the salmon, only a sliver – and much smaller, not nearly so mighty – of what graced the land a generation ago.

If you are not a subscriber, this is a subtle but straightforward invitation for you to become one. A lot of your neighbors are glad they are.