Every month, Olga residents gather to break bread and hear island stories.
Continuing their 100-year commitment to reading and literary pursuits, the Olga Community Club will honor the Orcas Island Public Library as “The Heart of Orcas Island” at its Valentine Potluck Supper on Saturday, Feb. 13. All community members are invited.
“Olga resident Tom Welch was the inspiration,” said club secretary Barbara Wheeler. “He’s a library trustee and on the historical museum board. Tom is a true heart of this community. He puts his money and his time where his mouth is.”
In addition to Welch, library director Phil Heikkinen, the Board of Trustees, and president of the Friends of the Library Barbara Bedell will be in attendance.
A social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. in the community club house, followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. The program will start at 7:30 p.m., and includes short talks by library personnel, a question and answer session, and an update from Bedell.
Wheeler, who is herself a former president of the Friends of the Library, is decorating tables with an eclectic mix of donated books that will be for sale. All proceeds will go to the library. Any leftover books will be donated to the library fair book sale.
A little bit about the Orcas Library
In the early 1900s, a Library Society met twice a month in Westsound. Dues were five cents a month for men, and the women entered free. Books were also checked out regularly from private libraries in Olga, Deer Harbor, Orcas, and Eastsound.
The first meeting of the Library Association was held in 1953 with 19 charter members. The association worked hard to raise funds for a library, selling homemade jams and jellies, pies, and quilts. In memory of her husband, Mrs. Fred Meyer of Seattle donated land for the first library. The 1200 sq. ft. Orcas Library opened on June 1, 1956 on Main Street.
Up until the end of the 1980s, when the library became tax supported, the Orcas Library was one of the few privately-funded public libraries in Washington, relying on revenues from the library fair, donations and volunteer staffing. In 1987, after voters approved tax support, the Library Association officially became the Friends of the Library.
Today, at its location on Rose Street, the library has 45,500 items in its collection, twice the national and state medians for communities of this size. There are 28 annual visits per capita, four times the national and state averages and the highest in the State of Washington.
Wheeler says the Feb. 13 potluck is a chance to learn more about this island asset.
“Plus, we have wonderful food and a lot of nice people,” she said. “If you live in a different part of the island, you might want to come see us.”
Upcoming Olga Community Club Potlucks
Saturday, March 13: JP and the OK Rhythm Boys (otherwise known as the Mini Olga Symphony) with Anita Orne and Gordon Koenig will perform.
Saturday, April 10: Olga Postmaster, Dale Coburn and his wife, Peggy, will present a program from their business “Artists at Work.” Dale and Peggy scuba dive in many oceans of the world and they will show slides of some of their underwater photography. Peggy, a multimedia artist, will also bring prints and paintings depicting their travels.
