Early last December, eighteen women and men began a journey to earn Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certificates from the State of Washington. Seven dropped out. Eleven stayed the course. The Orcas Island Fire Department now has ten new EMTs, and Shaw has one.
As part of its third annual “Get Off The Rock” College Counseling event, The Funhouse will bring Sarah Callendar, a Seattle-based college essay consultant, to the island to conduct a two-day college essay workshop for high school juniors. On Saturday, April 19 from 9 to 10:30 a.m., Sarah will provide instruction and inspiration to help students write essays that allow their voice, personality and unique attributes to shine. On Sunday, April 20, between 10 a.m.and 1 p.m., students are encouraged to bring an outline or rough draft of an essay and review the draft with Sarah in small group sessions.
The 2008 Tour de Lopez sold out a month before its event date.
What would the Fourth of July be without a few sparklers or a firecracker or two to celebrate with?
The discovery of ancient bison bones in an Orcas Island peat bog a few years ago is changing researchers’ ideas about the arrival of humans in the New World, and the extent of the ice-age glaciers. The bones lend credence to the idea that the Pacific Coast offered a food-rich ecosystem for ice age hunters some 14,000 years ago – much earlier than the prevailing scientific theory pegs the arrival of humans to the New World.
Orcas Island Prevention Partnership (OIPP), “working together to support a safe and healthy community,” sponsored a Town Hall meeting on teenage drinking on March 31 at the Senior Center. The meeting, called a “Community Conversation,” was held in response to the Surgeon General’s “Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking.”
If every day is Earth Day, how about a month of Earth Day activities to learn about and care for the health of our environment?
The Orcas Island Recreation Program is offering a field trip to the Coffelt Farm, Saturday, April 5 at 10 a.m. Children and parents will walk the farm to get a feel for the land and what it produces. The focus of this visit will be on the sheep barn where newborn lambs and ewes spend a couple of days after birth. Lambing is a busy time of year at Coffelt’s; children will see how to care for newborn lambs, dock tails, weigh, put in ear tags. Ruby the sheep dog is a working shepherd and the kids will learn how she helps with the sheep. Children will look at products made with wool from the farm, handle some raw wool, and talk about why it is warm and water-resistant. If there is time and interest, the kids can try carding some wool, and have a spinning demonstration. Open to 15 children who register in advance. To RSVP, call the Orcas Island Recreation at 376-5339.
The Orcas Island Lions Club has donated an Aladdin Classic Video Magnifier to the Orcas Island Library. The magnifier is designed to be used by people who have visual impairments which make it difficult or impossible for them to read ordinary printed materials.
WSDOT Ferries Division announced on March 27 the Todd Pacific Shipyards was the apparent low bidder for a contract to construct a new 50-car vessel based on the Steilacoom II design. The formal bid opening was held earlier that day. Todd submitted the only bid with a proposed bid price of $25,985,125. The WSDOT engineer’s estimate is $16.8 million. WSDOT will conduct a bid evaluation over the next few days before announcing an award recommendation.
The Lopez Fire and EMS Department, which is staffed almost entirely by a hardworking crew of volunteers, is in need of firefighters.
Sept. 26, 1934 – March 15, 2008
Darvill’s Bookstore is pleased to announce the start of its own bookclub. Pam Evans, bookclub moderator, says that the club is open to all. It will meet the second Tuesday evening of each month at 7 p.m. at the store. Book selection will alternate between fiction and non-fiction, and suggestions are encouraged. The selection for the April 8 meeting is “The Invisible Wall,” a biography written by Harry Bernstein about growing up in a divided community during World War I.
The Orcas Island Lion’s club is beginning the sale of tickets on April 4 at Island Market for of one of the island’s favorite fundraisers. The “Super Shopping Spree” winner races for up to $1,000.00 of Island Market groceries in this hilarious and raucous challenge which takes place on Sunday, April 13. Included is $100 of meat donated by Island Market. Groceries may not include alcohol or spices. The winning ticket is drawn on Saturday afternoon, April 12 and the winner will be notified at that time. Buy your raffle tickets from any Lion’s Club member or at Island Market on Fridays, Saturday and Sunday afternoons beginning April 4 and at the Health Van on North Beach Road on Monday and Tuesday, April 7 and 8. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. Proceeds from the raffle ticket sales support the local Health Screening van, an annual Orcas Island event, as well as local sight and hearing projects. For questions or to purchase tickets contact Pam Harney, event chairperson at 376-6222.
Orcas Christian students in first through fifth grades recently attended the Seattle Children’s Theatre production, “100 Dresses,” based on the 1944 book by Eleanor Estes.
On Tuesday, April 8, at 7 p.m. Dr. Peter Olesiuk of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada will discuss the five species of seals and sea lions that frequent the region’s marine waters. Olesiuk, a Research Biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, is Head of Seal and Sea Lion Research Programs in Pacific Region. He works out of the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, B.C. His lecture is part of the Orcas Island Marine Science Lecture Series.
On March 15, about 60 islanders gathered to share “wonderful things” with a team of archaeologists from the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Dr. Julie Stein, Director of the Burke Museum, with Laura Phillips, Collections Manager, Stephanie Jolivette, Outreach Coordinator, and Amanda Taylor, graduate student, examined and identified artifact collections from Orcas and the surrounding islands, as well as some interesting objects from around the world. The event was sponsored by Island Excavating.
Community musical to run three weekends, Thursday through Saturday, April 10 - 26.
From the San Juan Visitors Bureau
Insects abound at March 30 lecture on Lopez
Master Class for adults offered on March 26
A Lopez Island man who had sex with a 14-year-old girl despite…
