Anacortes AmericanAnacortes AmericanAnAcortes, WAshington 98221 Volume 121, number 18 WednesdAy, september 15, 2010 © 2010 sVp co. 75 cents

We’re back!

Reconnecting with classmatesTurkishexchangestudentvisitsfellow1960AHSgrads

A5

Hands On Films tackles cancer in its first documentary

Arts & Entertainment A12

Looks like La Niña will bring us a cold, wet winter

Weather or Not A11

Community Watch: Celebrate the gifts from the sea at Fidalgo Bay Day Saturday — A9

ELAINE WALKER

Button collectors Jim Nolan, Carol Leahy and Darcy Tietjen, pictured from left, sort through a batch of mili-tary buttons last week. They are members of the Anacortes Button Club, which is hosting the Washington State Button Society’s annual Button Show in Anacortes this weekend.

They’ve got the buttons

BY ELAINE WALkErNews editor

If there was a grown-up ver-sion of the game Who’s

Got the Button, Judy Schwenk and Jim Nolan would be hard to beat.

The pair, who share a passion for treasures small and shiny, have collected thousands of but-tons.

And they are not alone.“The three biggest collectibles

in the world are coins, stamps

and buttons,” Nolan said.The couple are members of

the Anacortes Button Club. Darcy Tietjen, club president, said the group has been meeting for almost a half century.

“This town’s had a but-ton club since 1961. It used to be called the Anacortes But-tonaires,” she said.

The group is hosting the Washington State Button Soci-ety and its annual Button Show this week. The public is invited to check out displays and good-

ies for sale from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Safe Har-bor Foursquare Church, on 37th Street, between D and A ave-nues.

Schwenk said buttons have wide appeal. Quilters use them to embellish fabric art, and jew-elry makers use them as mate-rial for bracelets and necklaces.

“It’s not strictly a button col-lectors show. It appeals to a lot of people,” she said.

Club members seek, swap and save tiny bits of history

Please see Buttons, page A7

BY ELAINE WALkErNews editor

The private investment and development firm Tethys Enter-prises will move forward with a site search and efforts to line up capital to build what is described as a state-of-the-art, environmen-tally sensitive food and beverage bottling plant in Anacortes.

Step one was accomplished Monday night, when the Ana-

cortes City Council approved a contract agreeing to sell such a plant up to 5 million gallons of water a day.

“The opportunity is to create jobs for the near future and the long term,” said City Councilman Brian Geer.

Other counci l members agreed.

“There’s no guarantee Tesoro is going to continue to operate. The future is uncertain. We have

plenty of water to sell right now,” said Councilman Bill Turner.

The plant could be built in three to five years, and employ 500 to 1,000 people, with a pay-roll of $30-$60 million, according to Tethys CEO Steve Winter. It would be built on a 30-acre site using environmentally friendly standards, employing 200 to 300 construction workers.

He said the company chose Anacortes for several reasons,

including water availability, rail access, community support, a skilled workforce and elected officials with “a high level of integrity.”

“We have a set of criteria and there’s only a couple of munici-palities that can meet those crite-ria,” he said.

Many details remain to be worked out, particularly site selection. Stipulations in the contract include a requirement

that the company locate within the city or an area that can be annexed by the city. Because of the company’s requirement for rail access, March Point was men-tioned as the most likely site.

According to the contract, the company has a year to line up a location, then two more years to file for development permits. Winter would not comment on

City could land huge bottling plantCouncil OKs water contract for facility that might employ up to 1,000

Please see Water, page A6

BY ELAINE WALkErNews editor

The benefits of setting up an office of hearing examiner were extolled by an attorney who special-izes in land use issues dur-ing a joint meeting of the Anacortes City Council, Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment Mon-day night.

“There is virtually no downside. The advantages are overwhelming,” said Michael Walter of the firm Keating, Bucklin & McCor-mack, Inc.

M o n d a y ’s i n f o r m a -tional presentation was city officials’ first look at the proposal, which will be included in this year’s comprehensive plan update process.

City Planning and Com-m u n i t y D e v e l o p m e n t Director Ryan Larsen said a public hearing on the idea of establishing a hear-ing examiner in Anacortes will take place at an Octo-ber Planning Commission meeting, and the commis-sion should be ready to make a recommendation to the council by November.

A hearing examiner is an appointed official, usual-ly an attorney or other land use professional, who acts much like a judge in land use decisions. Walter said they are trained to inter-pret the law without being swayed by local political considerations. Because of this, decisions made by hearing examiners hold up better in court.

Walter said there are about 20 hearing examin-ers in the region; the city would interview candidates and choose one who was a good fit.

The scope of author-ity of a hearing examiner would be set by the city. The possibilities are broad, and can include permit

approvals, short plats, vari-ances and even personnel complaints. His decisions can be final or can simply be recommendations for the council to act upon.

Walter left no doubt about his enthusiasm for the hearing examiner sys-tem. He said cities are man-dated to be scrupulously just in dealing with citizens and land use decisions, and use of a hearing examiner is a way to make sure of a fair and legally defensible decision.

“Use them to the fullest extent you can,” he recom-mended.

He said public partici-pation is usually enhanced under this system. Examin-ers are trained to question proponents to draw out the legal facts in each case, he said.

The result is that few decisions made by hear-ing examiners end up in court, he said. This savings offsets much of the cost of the official, and fees and other means are available to cover the rest.

“You avoid the expense of hiring an attorney or using the city attorney,” he said.

A big reason elected officials like the system is that it substantially reduces their own chance of being sued personally. He said cases where council mem-bers made illegal decisions, intentionally or not, have led to personal liability.

Larsen said the Wash-ington Cities Insurance Authority audited the city this year and issued a rec-ommendation to implement use of a hearing examiner as final authority.

Larsen said 72 percent of class 2 cities in the state use a hearing examiner.

According to the Munic-ipal Research and Services

Officials told how hearing examiner would benefit city

See Examiner, page A6

A 57-year-old Anacortes woman was arrested on a charge of DUI after she reportedly ran her car off the road and over a hedge before becoming high cen-tered on some bushes in the 2600 block of Q Ave-nue around 8:56 p.m. Sun-day, Sept. 5.

The driver was not hurt but an officer noticed she smelled of intoxicants.

She fumbled for her driver’s l icense before handing the officer a cred-it card. She had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and other signs of intoxication. She failed field sobriety tests.

When taken to the sta-tion for processing, the woman asked the officer why he stopped her. The officer reminded her he hadn’t stopped her, but she ran off the road.

The woman said she forgot that and asked if she would be “put to death” if she failed the breath test. The officer assured her DUI is not a capital offense.

She provided breath samples more than twice the legal limit. She was cited for DUI and released to a sober relative.

Among the other 176 cases handled by Ana-cortes police during the previous week:

Friday, Sept. 3• An Anacortes woman

reported her 24-year-old ex-boyfriend and his moth-er called her several times in violation of a domestic violence protection order. He had previous convic-tions for violating the order. Police are attempt-ing to find him.

• An employee of a computer repair store became suspicious when a 16-year-old boy asked for help cracking the password to a laptop he was carry-ing. Police contacted the boy and he initially said a neighbor gave him the computer, before eventu-ally admitting he prowled his neighbor’s car in the 1400 block of 13th Street and stole the computer.

The neighbor also was missing a gold ring from his car, and the boy alleg-edly admitted he stole the ring and gave it to a female friend. The boy was arrest-ed and a pipe was found in his pocket. He was booked into juvenile detention and faces charges of vehicle prowling, theft, possession of drug paraphernalia and trafficking in stolen prop-erty.

• A 15-year-old Ana-cortes girl was referred to juvenile court on a theft charge after she alleged-ly admitted to police she stole a $200 bicycle from an open garage in the 1800 block of C Avenue. The girl said she took the bike so she could ride it to the Sky-

line area to meet a friend. The 13-year-old victim and his friends spotted the girl and another teen pushing the bike later through the neighborhood.

Saturday, Sept. 4• A Panasonic f lat-

screen television and a Dell laptop were stolen from a 44-foot boat moored at a marina in the 2000 block of Skyline Way. Thieves entered the boat through an unlocked door.

• A 26-year-old man reportedly got physical after his girlfriend told him she was going to leave him and move to Alaska. The man allegedly called her vulgar names and pulled her off the bed and onto the floor. When she got up, he reportedly pushed her back down. She also said he knocked a television to the floor and stomped on it, punched holes in a clos-et door and tore down the bedroom blinds.

She had a visible scrape on her arm and officers saw the damage to the apartment and televi-sion. Officers contacted the intoxicated man out-side the apartment and he allegedly admitted he dam-aged items in the apart-ment and pushed his girl-friend because she invaded his private space. He was booked into jail on domes-tic violence assault and malicious mischief charges.

Sunday, Sept. 5• A resident of the 9100

block of Stevenson Road reported an intoxicated woman she did not know walked into her house and then walked out around 2:36 a.m. Police found the 21-year-old transient walking in the area a few minutes later. She was intoxicated and argumen-tative and refused officers’ requests to take her hands out of her pockets. An offi-cer then saw the woman drop a syringe from her pocket and try to kick it away. She claimed she found the syringe on the ground and then changed her story to say she had never seen it before.

She was cited for pos-session of drug parapher-nalia and released. The complainant did not want to pursue trespass ing charges.

• A car driving through the roundabout on Com-mercial Avenue was struck by an egg around 1:48 p.m. The victim did not get the egg washed off soon enough and a small patch of paint dissolved off the car. The egg thrower is unknown.

• A $50 decorative gar-den fountain was stolen from a yard in the 1200 block of 34th Street.

Monday, Sept. 6• A janitor found a bro-

ken exterior window at a church in the 2700 block of J Avenue around 10:35 p.m. Muddy footprints were found in the build-ing below the window and it appeared the unknown burglar broke the window and climbed in. Nothing appeared to be missing.

Tuesday, Sept. 7• A resident of the

4400 block of Bryce Drive reported someone broke into a lockbox inside his home and stole three dif-ferent types of prescrip-tion pain pills. There was no sign of forced entry into the home and the victim said he “did not want to point fingers” at any pos-sible suspects. The victim said he was reporting the incident so he could try to obtain replacement medi-cations.

• The animal control officer will follow up on the complaint of an aggres-sively behaving German Shepherd who charged and barked at various people passing by on foot in the 2400 block of 32nd Street. Neighbors reported the dog was often un-tethered and presented a danger to the area.

Wednesday, Sept. 8• A 2-year-old girl was

bitten in the face by her grandmother’s Austra-l ian Shepherd/Golden Retriever dog at a home in the 4400 block of Bryce Drive. The girl report-edly jumped on the dog, which turned and bit her. The girl suffered several puncture wounds to her face and was transferred to a Seattle area hospital where she received several stitches. The family said the dog had never bitten any-one before. The family told police they were going to remove the dog from the home.

• A $2,600 Mercury 9.9 horsepower outboard motor was stolen off a boat parked in the lot of a busi-ness in the 900 block of O Avenue. A padlock that secured the motor to the boat was cut.

• A resident of the 1600 block of Ninth Street reported someone keeps putting dog poop in his recycle bin.

• A 17-year-old Ana-cortes boy who was report-ed as a runaway for about two weeks showed up at the high school for the first

day of classes. The boy had two warrants from previ-ous alcohol offenses. He was taken into custody and booked into juvenile detention.

• A 20-year-old Mount Vernon man faces felony drug charges after numer-ous prescription pain pills were found in the glove-box of the car he was driv-ing. An officer stopped the man’s car around 4:18 p.m. in the 800 block of 33rd Street after seeing the man texting while driving. His driver’s license was sus-pended and he was arrest-ed. He told the officer he had pills in an unmarked bottle in the car and alleg-edly said he is addicted to pain medication. A small amount of marijuana was also found in the car. He was released after being informed of the pending charges.

Thursday, Sept. 9• An officer driving

through the north basin of Cap Sante around 12:39 a.m. found a Jeep Wran-gler that was reported sto-len from a home on Biz Point Road about a month earlier. The vehicle was unoccupied and the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office and the vehicle’s owners were notified. A deputy arrived and took over the vehicle recovery.

• A $2,000 Yamaha 8-horsepower outboard motor was reported stolen from a boat moored at a marina in the 2000 block of Skyline Way. The victim said the theft occurred in the past three weeks.

• Two recreational crab pots valued at $100 each were reported stolen from the waters off Cap Sante.

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Police Blotter

A2 Anacortes American Wednesday, September 15, 2010 goanacortes.com

BY KIMBERLY JACOBSONAmerican staff writer

A simulated bleacher collapse at Fidalgo Ele-mentary School — with 20 injured people — was the emergency in a recent drill to practice the county’s multiple casualty incident plan.

The plan has been in place for years but had recent updates that area responders wanted to test.

“We wanted to exercise the plan,” said John Bird, Anacortes Fire Depart-ment division chief.

He called the drill posi-tive and successful.

At least 30 people par-ticipated in the training drill Saturday, Aug. 28. It included representatives from the Anacortes Fire Department, Fire Dis-tricts 11 (Mount Erie), 13 (Summit Park) and 17 (Guemes Island), La Con-ner, McLean Road and Bay View fire departments, the Skagit EMS commis-sion and Airlift Northwest. Island Hospital and SKAT also were involved.

More than 20 “patients,” many kids, were triaged, treated and transported during the exercise.

Responders started by determining the extent of each patient’s injury — green for the “walking wounded” (like bumps, bruises, cuts or broken arms), yellow for moder-ate injuries (like a broken leg) and red for serious

injuries (like a head injury, multiple broken bones or breathing problems).

Green patients were transported in a SKAT bus, something new the team was testing, Bird said.

“We put an EMT in with them so you have one person in case somebody changes,” he said.

They were brought to the Fidalgo Medical Asso-ciates clinic.

“That way it didn’t inundate the emergency room and they’d be freed up to work on the more serious patients,” Bird said.

It also allows paramed-ics to stay at the scene, instead of transporting patients in an ambulance.

“That way paramed-ics can continue to treat patients,” he said.

Area agencies typical-ly get together for major drills every few years, Bird said.

Practicing together lets them recognize faces.

“If a real incident comes you have familiarity and confidence in each other,” he said.

A debriefing was held after the exercise and Bird said there will be a meet-ing with the EMS commis-sion manager to discuss what went well, weakness-es in the response and how to improve.

He said nothing glaring stands out from the drill.

“Communica t ion i s always something that can be improved upon,” Bird said.

Training drill lets first responders test multiple casualty plan

Noise variance OK’d for MJB ramp

A variance waiving nighttime noise standards was granted by the Ana-cortes City Council Sept. 7 to Gary Merlino Construc-tion Co. Inc. for construc-tion at the MJB Properties boat ramp at 2601 T Ave., said city Senior Planner Libby Grage.

The contractor needs to conduct work during low tides that occur outside the 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. work hours set by city ordinance.

Work will take place overnight on a series of 29 dates between Sunday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Oct. 30. The night work will not include pile driving, Grage said.

Because the request involved fewer than 30 days, public notice was not required.

The in-water work is associated with the con-struction of a commercial boat ramp and a 350-foot floating pier, dredging, shoreline mitigation and repair of an existing barge dock. A shoreline permit for the project was issued April 29.

The nearest residences to the site are across R Avenue, about 1,000 feet to the west. The contractor requested the variance because some work noise may be audible in the residential area.

Planners OK Wyman boat launch work

Th e Po r t o f A n a -cortes can move ahead on Wyman’s boat launch upgrades after the Plan-ning Commission last week approved a shoreline per-mit. The port plans to install four new pilings, remove dolphins and a crane and outrigger, fence the parking lot and regrade and resur-face the boat ramp.

Planners heard the pro-posal, along with two others, at the Sept. 8 meeting.

City planning director Ryan Larsen said barges currently have to be left run-ning to hold them in place at the launch. The improve-ments will allow barges to stay there without keeping their engines running, mak-ing it more environmentally friendly, he said.

Construction could start as early as next month.

Other actions at the meeting:

• Planners OK’d three proposed beach protection project plans for Fidalgo Villas. The 19-home water-front development pro-posed by West Coast Land Investments in a commer-cial marine zone at Skyline Way and Cabana Lane was previously approved by the City Council.

Planners OK’d a soft shore bank stabilization plan, a beach monitoring and maintenance plan and a shoreline vegetation moni-toring and maintenance plan. The plans were sub-mitted to fulfill several con-ditions of the project and involve construction of a 1,120-foot long large woody debris and log pile structure and shoreline vegetation plantings to provide bank stabilization and habitat res-toration.

• Planners approved a shoreline permit to replace an existing breakwater at Anchor Cove Marina, 1600 Fifth St.

Aktion Club needs e-cycle location

The Kiwanis Aktion Club is looking for an e-cycle location with better protec-tion from the weather.

The Washington state Department of Ecology says the bay the club is using at the city’s maintenance yard will not be suitable after the rainy season begins. The club started the free e-cycle program 18 months ago and in that time it has safely recycled more than 125,000 pounds of TVs, comput-ers, monitors and computer peripherals.

The club is looking for a space with impervious floor, an enclosed area (a garage is OK) with an overhead/swinging door, 200 square foot minimum (500 is bet-ter), capability to wheel out 4-by-4 pallets to the street on a pallet jack and $200-$300 rent per month (free is better).

Contact Eric Johnson at 299-8889 or AnacortesEr-ic@gmail.com, Ed Gegen at (360) 424-9073 or ed@mvbc-online.com or Jeri Liggitt at 299-9376 or jliggitt@fidalgo.net.

Burn restrictions to be lifted today

The Skagit County burn-ing ban for all unincorpo-rated areas will be lifted at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Burn piles of natural vegetation 4 feet by 4 feet or smaller are allowed with-out a permit in the unincor-porated areas. For larger burn piles, burn permits are required from Fire Warden Fred Wefer. Wefer can be reached at (360) 428-3293.

Only natural vegetation, such as leaves, grass and tree trimmings may be burned. It is never legal to burn gar-bage, household trash, lum-ber, building construction waste or demolition debris.

Residents within Ana-cortes or other incorporated locales should contact their fire departments for burn restriction information with-in their area.

Evergreen State ferry in for repairs

Dakota Creek Industries is repairing the Evergreen State ferry, which serves the inter-island routes of the San Juan Islands.

The 34-vehicle Hiyu will replace the 87-vehicle Evergreen during the main-tenance, which is expected to be completed by the end of next week. Customers should arrive early for any inter-island sailings.

DCI has worked on sev-eral vessels in the Washing-ton State Ferries fleet, such as the Kaleetan, which was at the marine terminal ship-yard along Guemes Chan-nel in May 2009.

Nominations sought for preservation awards

The Anacortes Historic Preservation Board wel-comes nominations for pres-ervation awards. Categories suggested include historic property stewardship or rehabilitation projects, research or public education in local historic resources and historic preservation planning. Nominations may be submitted by Anacortes residents in a letter to the board at the Anacortes Museum by Friday.

Visit www.cityofana-cortes.org, click museum option and choose the his-toric preservation tab.

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No Farms, No FoodWe are so blessed to live in and around the fertile Skagit Valley and enjoy thebounty our farmers bring to us. If we as a society let the farmland be converted toother uses we will lose that benefit.In the late 80’s, as I drove home from Bellingham, I had a disturbing vision of whatthe area could be if we were to allow the types of development that have takenover so many fertile farmland areas all along the Westcoast. Thankfully wiser headsand inspired groups like the Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland have worked topreserve our farmland.We are honored to participate in the upcoming Skagitonians Celebrate HarvestDinner & Auction Benefit Event by donating one of our treasured CertifiedCanadian Diamond custom pendants, valued at over $2,000. We applaud the

efforts of the Skagitonians and the farmers who keep the future of the farmland growing.

• Live Auction Preview on 9/17 www.Skagitonians.orgHarvest Dinner & Auction Saturday, September 25, at St Joseph Center, 215 North 1st Street, Mount Vernon

• Tickets Available by calling (360) 336-3974

Thank You to our SeptemberBusiness of the Month! $200 Bronze Sponsor

For information on becoming a Business of the Month call the Anacortes Boys and Girls Club at 360-588-9045

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Tuesday Classes3:30-5:30 PM Enrich Your AgingThe Solar System, The Milky Way, The UniverseHealth Issues Facing Seniors

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010 Anacortes American A3goanacortes.com

News Briefs

Volunteer to help con-struct a trail on Guemes Island from a county road to the top of Guemes Mountain with the Wash-ington Trails Association, Skagit Land Trust and San Juan Preservation Trust.

“This new, mile-long trail will provide foot access to an incredible viewpoint of the San Juan Islands, Mount Baker, the North Cascades and the Skagit flats,” according to the two trusts. “The trail will travel through mature forest before ending on the broad mountain top amidst a beautiful prairie/bald with several viewing areas.”

Trail building parties are 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Satur-day, Sept. 18; Sunday, Sept. 19; Saturday, Sept. 25; and Sunday Sept. 26. To work

more than one day, sign up for each one separately. All tools and training provided.

A camping area next to Schoolhouse Park on Guemes Island is available for overnights. Volunteers can sleep in their car or tent.

The Skagit and San Juan trusts finalized the purchase of 70 acres on the mountain with $2.2 million in dona-tions in October 2009, cre-ating the Guemes Moun-tain Conservation Area. It is the highest point on the island.

All volunteer efforts will be organized by the Wash-ington Trails Association. For more information or to sign up, go to www.wta.org and click on Volunteer and Trail Work Parties at the top.

Trail construction to begin on Guemes Mountain

AAron Foster

Members of the Bean family, Kylee Bowker, Deanna Kohl, sterling Chord, Willy Webster, Don Bowker and others came out to help clean up rotary Park at the bottom of Cap sante for the 9/11 national Day of service on saturday. More than 80 volunteers worked to get most of the Ivy cleared away and picked up all the trash and bottles along the beach and out of the woods beside the trail.

National Day of Service

Sept. 15, 1910

An auto party had a narrow escape

from death or serious injury Sunday afternoon, the party considering they were saved only by a mir-acle.

Just as the party had reached the far end of the long bridge southeast of this city, they met a man driving a stallion hitched to a cart. The machine was being driven by W.C. Cod-dington of Sedro-Woolley and not going very fast.

Just as they were pass-ing the vehicle the horse reared up and came down with both forefeet in the front seat of the auto. Dell Hayes was riding in front with the driver and the animal’s hoofs only missed him by a hair. Mr. Hayes was struck on the head by one of the shafts and was otherwise quite badly bruised.

The man driving the cart was thrown about fifteen feet from the cart and in some manner which none could explain he had two finger nails torn off.

The horse did not try to run away and after being removed from the auto seemed gentle and satis-fied.

Sept. 16, 1920

Knowing that the Alice was on or

near this coast on her return from Bering sea, her owners were just a little bit uneasy Monday when the glass was falling rapidly and the storm warnings were up and a bad south-easter was expected, when the staunch codfisher sailed into Guemes channel and up to her dock where she was warped in and made fast at the Robinson Fish-eries plant. She had 103,000 codfish in her hold.

The Alice was captained by Chris Aune, with Oscar Goodmanson as mate.

Sept. 18, 1930

With the return of the Azalea and

the C.A. Thayer of the Robinson Fisheries, the three boats of that concern are now ready to go into winter quarters.

The Azalea arrived in port Tuesday with 190,000 codfish on board. William

Lund was high man with 20,366 to his credit.

The C.A. Thayer was towed into port by the

tug Challenge, manned by Ellsworth and Ted Trafton, with a catch of 260,000 codfish.

Sept. 19, 1940

Th r o u g h a s p e -cial arrangement

with one of the leading flag manufacturers of the country the Anacortes American is able to offer a special premium to all subscribers of the Ameri-can who come in within a limited time to renew their subscription for one year.

These flags are 60 inches by 36 inches well made and durable with sewn stripes and printed stars in clear, fast colors. The halyard which goes with the flag is 113 inches long and the pole is ornamented with a gilt top ball and with silver metal window brackets.

One complete flag set will be given free to each person renewing their sub-scription to the American for a period of one year, price $2.

Sept. 21, 1950

Our errant news-hound, Jim is back

home.Evidently the little col-

lie just tired of the roar of the presses and headed for the hill. He was unavoid-ably detained on Cap Sante, where we found him Friday afternoon.

Jim seems none the worse for his trip. The many inquiries thoughtful readers made concerning his whereabouts seem not to have turned his head. He has resumed his pant-leg chewing, indiscrimi-nately as ever.

Sept. 10, 1970

Commercial fisher-men turned out in

numbers Saturday at the Anacortes Eagles Hall to protest the presence of the Russian fishing fleet off the coast of Washington.

The meeting, called by 40th District Representa-tive Jim Constanti, was well attended by politi-cians such as State Sena-tor Lowell Peterson, State Representative Duane Berentson and State Rep-resentative Richard Kink of Whatcom County.

The four state legisla-tors at the meeting, along with Congressman Lloyd Meeds, were in the direct line of fire and were ques-tioned about their failure to develop legislation to aid the commercial fishing fleet.

— From the archives of the Anacortes American

That it’s cold and icy.

Clara EstEnsonAnacortes

It’s cold, it’s kind of dark sometimes, and there’s some penguins.

KEvin DiazAnacortes

It’s melting because of global warming.

stElla GillmanAnacortes

It’s cold, melting, there’s penguins, I think you can see the Northern (Southern) Lights sometimes.

KaiDEn KruGErAnacortes

It’s cold and it’s melting because of global warming; we learned about this in science.

nota tsitsiraGosAnacortes

Your Opinion:

Q U E S T I O N O F T H E W E E K

What do you know about Antarctica?

A4 Anacortes American Wednesday, September 15 , 2010 goanacortes.com

Back In The Day

Opinion

Sept. 17, 1970: Playground equipment — The city’s 32nd Street play-ground got its first piece of equipment recently when the Anacortes Kiwanis Club moved in an old fishing boat for children in the community to play on. The boat has proved to be a big attraction for the children and when the Anacortes American stopped for a picture we found six children enjoying the new facility. From the left the children getting ready to sail away are Vernon Lewis, Sandy Cook, Debbie Nelson, Kim Nelson, Eliza-beth Sawyer and Russell Nelson.

Playground crew

G o s k a G i t . c o m

c i r c u l a t i o n & D e l i v e r y 4 2 4 - 1 9 0 0 • 8 0 0 - 6 8 3 - 3 3 0 0

established 1890. Published weekly on Wednesdays at ana-cortes, skagit county, Washington. Publications class postage paid at anacortes, Washington 98221 and additional offices. Postmaster: send address changes to the anacortes american, P.o. Box 39, anacortes, Wa 98221.

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annual subscription rates: $35 a year in skagit county, $50 a year elsewhere. subscriptions require full payment in advance.

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GrEat job

Engine show yet another amazing anacortes event

I just came home from the old steam engine dis-play. What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

I appreciate the dili-gence and workmanship these men and women put into their projects.

There were items I was quite familiar with and many I had never seen before. And they all worked!

I have attended most Anacortes functions for many, many years and have yet to be disappointed by any of them.

While there are too many to mention, kudos to one and all that are respon-sible for each and every parade, show, exhibition, etc. Anacortes rocks!

GEORGE STRICKERTAnacortes

letters

Find out more about Antarctica — A5

Letters welcome The Anacortes Amer-ican welcomes letters to the editor address-ing current issues in the author’s own words. Please e-mail them to feedback@goana-cortes.com. Our dead-line is 5 p.m. Friday. Due to the volume of letters received and the space available, we give publication preference to letters from Fidalgo and Guemes island res-idents addressing local issues. Please keep letters focused and to the point. Briefer is bet-ter. We edit letters for appropriate language, clarity, accuracy and to avoid libel. When responding to other letters, please focus on the ideas, not the person. No anonymous let-ters, or letters using pseudonyms, will be published in print. Please include a daytime phone number, and full street address, fo r ve r i f i ca t ion o f authorship. Neither will be published.

Sept. 7, 1950: If the special $103,000 city bond issue is approved by local voters who go to the polls Tuesday, finances will be provided for a new fire hall and police station which will conform to the architectural plan pic-tured above. The drawing was submitted by Bliss Moore, Jr., of Seattle, commissioned to design the structure.

Proposed fire hall, police station

Some welcome news on the economic front: Anacortes could be the home of a food and bev-erage bottling plant that could employ up to 1,000 people down the road. An important step — but only one of many that are needed — came Monday night when the City Council OK’d a contract to provide up to 5 mil-lion gallons of water per day to Everett-based Tethys Enterprises, the company behind the venture.

We should slow down a little. A site hasn’t been selected yet, and a plant, if things work out,

would be at least three years away, probably longer. So hold off on calculating the tax benefits to the city, the boost plant con-struction will provide, the direct benefits of all those jobs and the multiplier effect in our commu-nity.

There’s a long way to go, and the early claims and projections are often rosier that what actu-ally comes to pass. A long public process will accompany the actu-al plans as to what’s proposed to be built where.

Still, it’s very positive news.

Anacortes has worked long and hard over many decades to maintain and protect its water rights. It has the capacity to deliver those 5 million gallons a day — about what the Anacortes Tesoro Refinery uses — and still have plenty of reserves. The idea back then was to secure water for future industry. The city’s rights to 55 million gallons a day from the Skagit River give it far more water than what will ever be needed for teeth brushing and toilet flushing here. Not a lot of municipalities are in this posi-

tion.That past diligence and fore-

sight could pay some nice divi-dends in the near future if this all pans out.

The contract has been in the works for about four months. It appears the city has struck a fair bargain that protects its inter-ests and helps set the stage for needed economic development that will help diversify the city’s economy. For example, stipula-tions in the contract include a requirement that the company locate within the city or an area

that can be annexed by the city.With the plant’s need for a rail

line, it appears the suitable sites will be to the east in the March Point area. We’ll see.

The region will be watching how this all plays out for the bottling plant. The impact will extend far beyond Anacortes.

With the spotlight on us, there’s another message that’s going out. Yes we have water — and we are open for business. The city has done its part so far to encourage an important eco-nomic development opportunity.

Water contract for bottling plant important first step

BY KIMBERLY JACOBSONAmerican staff writer

Some students here will join an adventure in the coldest continent on Earth — without leaving the classroom.

Anacortes resident Julie Barber will travel to Ant-arctica in a few weeks for a two and a half month research project. The team will bring along a Califor-nia English teacher who will help other educators keep up with the expedi-tion and connect it to class-room learning.

Chris Damarjian, sci-ence specialist at Mount Erie Elementary School, plans to use the expedition as a way to connect science concepts and the real world for fifth-graders.

“The school to work aspect of teaching science is often missing. Kids learn the concepts but often don’t get to see the results,” she said.

Mira Lutz, who teaches at the Anacortes Home Education Partnership, agreed.

“They can see and be involved with science work-ing in the world,” she said.

The project lets students see how science can apply to solving problems and what careers are open to them.

“It makes the world feel nice and small, like we’re connected to every part of the world. I love how tech-nology can do that,” she said.

Damarj ian plans to cover topics like climate change and adaptation.

“Studying the environ-ment is one of the harder

units to teach because it’s not very hands-on unless we go out somewhere,” Damarjian said.

This is a way for students to learn in the field without leaving the classroom. The farthest they have to go is their computer screen.

California teacher Tina Sander has already started an online journal about the expedition.

“If they follow us now they get revved up and excited for us to go,” Bar-ber said.

Teachers and students in Anacortes can look at pictures and videos of the expedition, participate in several live webinars and ask the researchers ques-tions about science, engi-neering and life in Antarc-tica.

“You don’t have to be a science teacher to follow this,” Barber said.

She said there will be information available for all ages.

Entries so far include information about scuba

diving in Antarctica com-plete with pictures of vin-tage gear as well as details and photos of where they will be living and what life is like at the McMurdo research station.

Barber, a marine biolo-gist working for the Swin-omish Indian Tribal Com-munity, is taking a leave of absence to head to Antarc-tica later this month. She’ll be scuba diving under the ice with a team of benthic ecologists (scientists who study marine organisms liv-ing on the bottom) to study changes in the sea floor community.

She hopes the classroom connection will help inspire kids.

“If they follow a path in math, engineering and sci-ence they can go to some really neat places and in the process collect really valuable data,” Barber said.

The world of cold water researchers is small.

“It was just a matter of knowing the right people,”

she said.With a master’s degree

in marine biology and Alaskan diving expeditions under her belt, Barber was invited to go on the trip. She’ll leave Sept. 27 for the adventure.

The group of scientists, engineers and teachers will stay at McMurdo Station through Dec. 15.

About 40 years ago, researchers Paul Dayton and John Oliver went to Antarctica to study the organisms on the bottom of the ocean. The team is returning this year to see how the communities have changed. They will look both at the role of human activities and ocean cli-mate.

Researchers are resam-pling experiments with a remotely operated vehicle called SCINI (Submersible Capable of under Ice Navi-gation and Imaging). Engi-neers designed and built the underwater robot to be able to fit in a small hole

and be flown with relative ease from a control room on the ice. They will also scuba dive to depths of 130 feet.

Barber expects students to be interested in the engi-neering components of SCINI, which can go deep-er than divers.

“Kids that are interested in building stuff and mak-ing things work will prob-ably be really into that,” she said.

Damarjian hopes the expedition will help stu-dents better understand the concept of adaptation.

“They hopefully will get a more concrete under-standing of why adaptation is really the crucial prob-lem with climate change that happens too fast,” she said.

Students will follow Antarctica adventure via Web site

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BY JOAN PRINgLEAmerican staff writer

In 1959, a 16-year-old girl from Gaziantep, Turkey, traveled halfway around the world to attend her senior year of high school in Ana-cortes.

Mina (Gogus) Tan was scared. She was away from home, staying with people she hadn’t met before and didn’t know the language.

She also didn’t know the experience — along with friends she made while here — would encourage her to return 50 years later for the Anacortes High School reunion.

“Meeting people from different cultures became an important inspiration in my life,” she said. “I don’t think I could have devel-oped such an outlook with-out the experience.”

Today, Tan is married with two children and one grandchild. She is a profes-sor in the Center for Wom-en’s Studies in Science, Engineering and Technol-ogy at the Istanbul Techni-cal University.

As an exchange student in the 1959-60 school year, Tan shared a room with Mary Alice French, daugh-ter of Ruby and Archie French, who was the city manager at the time. Mary Alice was Tan’s age, but a junior.

She became friends with Mary’s Alice’s best friend Nancy, who would go on to marry classmate Dick Erickson. He was the one who convinced Tan to come to the reunion.

In 1959, “a foreign exchange student in Ana-cortes was very new,” Erickson said. Tan was only the second after a boy from France named Bruno.

Feeling like the only stranger in town, Tan said “I must say I was awed at the beginning.”

Tan’s journey began when her high school pro-vided her name to the American Field Service, an organization still active today in helping students travel the globe.

In those days, the organi-zation had an office in Ins-tanbul. But it was the first time representatives trav-eled to Tan’s small home-town in southeast Turkey

near the Syrian border to conduct interviews with students.

The school chose the candidates based on their grades and other standards. Thinking it was impossible she would get chosen, Tan said yes to the interview.

She was the only one selected to participate.

“I was scared to death,” Tan said.

She was told she was to leave home for Anacortes only 10 days beforehand.

“Those 10 days were very hectic,” she said. “And I cried every day, hoping my parents wouldn’t let me go.”

While Tan’s mother was hesitant, her father knew it was important for her to follow through.

In all, 50 students from Turkey were in Tan’s exchange group. They land-ed first in New York, then spread out across the coun-try to their host communi-ties. Tan found herself on her way to Seattle, a place she had no idea would be so far away — in distance and culture.

“That was something of a turning point in my life,” Tan said. “Think of a 16-year-old girl who comes from a small town in Tur-key to the other end of the

world.”Adding to the experi-

ence were the problems with the mail in those days, she said. There was no com-munication other than let-ters and they took some-times 10 days to arrive.

“I couldn’t speak to anyone who spoke my lan-guage,” Tan said. “I couldn’t share my culture with any-one.”

She also understood only a little English at the time.

“It was not easy the first few weeks,” Tan said. “But in the long range, (lan-guage) is something that comes to you if you keep your ears open and pay attention.”

She learned from her host family and fellow stu-dents and teachers at the high school.

Mr. Kramer, her math teacher, was an inspiration, so she particularly enjoyed his class. Being able to go to the blackboard to do cal-culations without having to speak was a plus.

After a couple months, life was OK, Tan said.

“I could speak to peo-ple,” she said. “It helped make the relationships real.”

While here, Tan partici-pated in activities with the Mariners branch of the Girl

Scouts, took French lessons, was a member of the Honor Society and attended sport-ing events.

“What fun I had at all the football and basketball games and all the other activities,” Tan wrote in the yearbook. “There was fun, too, in the classes I attend-ed.”

“My whole year’s expe-rience was just wonderful!” she said.

Erickson said Tan “was always inquisitive, always part of the group, not a stranger at all.”

“I think it is important that people accommodate to different cultures’ ways and values,” she said. “To understand and to evaluate better.”

One example was the food here in the states. It was different from what Tan was used to, and yet she didn’t find it disagree-able, she said. Plus her fos-ter mother was a wonder-ful cook, and Tan never hesitated to taste anything, even pork, though it was part of her Muslim faith not to eat it.

“I never thought differ-ent ways of doing things were worse than doing them in our culture,” Tan said.

That included dating

among the Anacortes teens, something not done at her age in Turkey. It was not a common experience but it also wasn’t something bad, she said.

“I didn’t make judg-ments on the ways of life that were different from my culture,” she said.

T h a t i s h o w s h e approached most matters then — not automatically forming an opinion but try-ing to understand instead, she said. The others in the AFS program did the same.

“It was not a per-s o n a l o r unique atti-tude, but a common a t t i t u d e of the stu-dents who came to live through the same expe-rience,” she said.

Tan said she had a strong Mus-l i m f a i t h but it did n o t s t o p h e r f r o m a t t e n d i n g different churches every Sunday while in Anacortes. She went to her host fami-ly’s church and other fami-lies also took her to their churches. It wasn’t them encouraging her to attend the different services, but Tan asking if she could join them.

“I enjoyed the atmo-sphere. I always liked the music — I like the organ, which is an unusual instru-ment,” Tan said. “I enjoy the whole ritual.”

The interest in other reli-gious customs has stayed with her on her travels as an adult to places such as Japan, France and Spain.

“I like to be in their sacred places; I like to empathize with them,” she said. “Religious dimen-sions of culture are always interesting to me to see and understand.”

After Tan’s gradua-tion from Anacortes High School, she went on to receive her bachelor of law degree at Ankara Univer-sity. She then earned a mas-ter’s degree in the sociology department at Washington

State University followed by a doctorate at Ankara.

She’s been an advo-cate for women and chil-dren, and has authored or co-authored six books and 57 publications, many on the sociology of education, women and children.

Tan and Erickson kept in contact for a few years after high school — something just interesting to do with someone international, he said — and then lost touch after moving on with their individual careers.

A b o u t a m o n t h b e f o r e a trip to Tur-k e y w i t h a n o t h e r c o u p l e , E r i c k s o n d e c i d e d h e ’d t r y t o f i n d Tan again. K n o w i n g she was a Fu lbr igh t scholar at W S U, h e went there t o f i n d her e-mail address.

In two days he got a response and eventually connected with her in Istanbul. It was there he began to convince her to attend their class’s 50th reunion.

“The Ericksons were the inspiration,” Tan said. “They pushed for it and I’m grateful.”

Tan came to Anacortes with her husband, Turgut, for the weekend of the reunion after spending three days in Chicago to visit the art museums. The class spent one day in Fri-day Harbor and attended other events during the weekend.

The night before the reunion was the first time after all these years she saw Mary Alice, who recently moved back to Anacortes.

“It was interesting to remember all that we had forgotten,” Tan said.

After Tan’s initial trip to Anacortes, more students from her high school and hometown got involved in the AFS program.

“They felt their own chil-dren could go through the same experience,” Tan said.

Turkish exchange student reunites with 1960 AHS class

Joan Pringle

Mina Tan, second from the left, traveled from Turkey to attend anacortes High School’s Class of 1960 reunion in early august at the urging of classmates nancy and Dick erickson, right. Making the trip with Tan was husband Turgut.

‘Meeting people from different cultures became an important inspiration in my life. I don’t think I could have developed such an outlook without the experience.’

Mina (Gogus) Tan

You can follow the expedition

Check out www.ice-aged.info for an intro-duction to the expedi-tion, science goals, engineering aspects, events (including free webinars), biographies of the people on the expedition and educa-tional products. Click on the “Click here to read our jour-nals” option to read postings, see pictures and send questions to the team.

Early learning feedback sought

Northwest Educational Service District 189, in col-laboration with Northwest Early Learning, is gathering information on the systems, services and supports avail-able for infants, toddlers and their families within Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohom-ish and Whatcom counties.

The information gath-ered will help Washing-ton state’s Department of Early Learning direct three years of funding intended to increase the quality of ser-vices available for kids birth to 3 and their caregivers.

Skagit County parents, caregivers, child-care pro-viders and early care and learning professionals are invited to participate in an online survey or a personal interview. Call Patty Yates at 299-4015.

Center of Washington’s Web site, www.mrsc.org, 95 Washington cities and towns use a hearing exam-iner, including Mount Ver-non, Sedro-Woolley, La Conner, Coupeville, Oak Harbor, Port Townsend, Bellingham, Seattle and Tacoma. Cities that do not have such a system include Burlington and Friday Harbor.

In response to Plan-ning Commissioner Laurie Gere, Walter said under the system fewer appli-cants and appellants use attorneys during land use hearings.

City Councilman Bill Turner sa id changing to such a system would require that the city care-fully scrutinize laws that reflect the council as the final authority to make sure they won’t be misin-terpreted.

“There’s a nuance in all these rules,” he said.

Commissioner Bertis Rasco asked if there are presenters who can give an opposing viewpoint on hearing examiners. Larsen

said he is not aware of any.Commissioner Lin Fol-

som asked if any cities have gone to a hearing examiner system and then changed back. Walter said all the cities he is aware of are expanding their use of such an official.

The Anacortes Cham-ber of Commerce board expressed support for a hearing examiner in the chamber ’s September newsletter.

“The net effect would be a professional review, with input from the Plan-

ning Commission and an appeal process to the City Council. There would still be public input and city staff involvement but the process would be consider-ably more straightforward than at present,” it stated.

After the meeting, envi-ronmentalist Ross Barnes also expressed approval of such a system. In his experience, he said hear-ing examiners have treated both sides with respect and justice.

“It’s a fair system,” he said.

specific properties under consideration.

“There are sites that would work out if we can get them,” he said.

Mayor Dean Maxwell has been negotiating with the company for several months. He said this is an opportunity to bring manu-facturing to town despite a difficult economy. He said such industries need to be based in this country.

“Amer ica needs to work,” he said.

M a x w e l l s a i d t h e city suffered in the past because its economy was based almost entirely on wood mills, which closed one by one.

“One of the keys to being sustainable is to be nimble,” he said. “Diversity is probably the biggest sin-gle thing this community lacked when I was growing up.”

Winter said he founded Tethys in 2008 after retir-ing from a 30-year career with the electronics manu-facturing company Inter-mec Technologies, where he was president and CEO. According to a business profile, he worked with new product development

and renewable energy technologies, including bio-fuels, green construction and development practices and other sustainable tech-nologies.

He said the company began looking for ways to increase the effectiveness of economic and industrial development, with job cre-ation in the manufacturing sector as a primary aim. His experience working with Pepsi, Coca Cola and other large beverage com-panies taught him about their need to streamline overlapping production and distribution systems.

“We determined that our primary business focus would be to build a very large scale, multi-line bev-erage manufacturing facil-ity in the region that would transform the environmen-tal footprint and efficiency of the U.S. beverage indus-try. We would build it with private funding, requiring no investment or conces-sions from local govern-ment,” he said.

He said the Anacortes plant would serve as a model.

“This state-of-the-art LEED certified facility will feature the latest in clean energy and water-saving technology. This plant will position Anacortes as the global leader in environ-mentally responsible bev-

erage manufacturing and distribution,” he said.

Winter said there are two types of biodegradable plastics, involving additives or a plant base, and the new facility would likely employ both methods. He said under anaerobic com-posting conditions, both types of bottles can break down into carbon compo-nents in 90 days, while last-ing well past the product’s expiration date when left on the shelf.

The public was not allowed to comment on the contract, which was described as a proprietary business decision by the water utility and not a gov-ernmental decision. How-ever, some concerns were addressed. In particular, officials pointed out that no fluoride is added to the water of industrial users at March Point, so fluoride would not hinder a bottler.

Councilwoman Cyn-thia Richardson said Ana-cortes takes its water from the lower river, so claims that this could hurt salm-on spawning upstream are misguided.

“Last time I checked, water didn’t run uphill,” she said.

If low stream conditions occur, the city will be able to cut back industrial ser-vice, according to the con-tract.

Maxwell said there is no water shortage now; vol-untary conservation mea-sures are mandated during certain parts of the year as part of a regional water rights agreement.

“Conservation is good policy,” he said.

The city’s water sys-tem serves residential cus-tomers in Anacortes, Oak Harbor and La Conner, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and the Shell and Tesoro refineries — the two largest taxpayers in Skagit County, Maxwell said.

The city of Anacortes owns un in ter ruptab le water rights of 55 mil-lion gallons per day on the Skagit River and cur-rently has an average daily demand of 21 million gal-lons per day, he said. Water treatment plant upgrades in the planning stage will accommodate popula-tion growth and economic expansion.

“As part of this we’ve anticipated future indus-

trial and residential use as we grow,” he said.

The amount of water requested by Tethys is the same amount used by Tesoro, Maxwell said. The new contract uses the same model as the city’s contracts with other indus-trial users.

Tethys will pay all costs associated with water main extensions, other water sys-tem improvements and ser-vice connections required for delivery of city water to its facility, including any additional upgrades need-ed to the water treatment plant. The company also is responsible for construct-ing and maintaining a dis-tribution system within its property.

Tethys wi l l not be allowed to sell water in bulk, and the beverages treated and packaged on the property cannot be sold in units or contain-ers greater than 10 gallons without the city’s approval.

Don Wick, executive director of the Economic

Development Association of Skagit County, said this is a great opportunity for the region.

“In this economy there’s not a lot of companies looking to do projects. This is a significant project with healthy job creation for the community,” he said. “We are fortunate this company has chosen this community to build their future and to build the future of this community.”

Both Wick and Maxwell praised the Anacortes City Council for its work on the issue.

“They’re progressive and they’re visionary and I appreciate that,” Maxwell said.

The mayor said some people opposed the refin-eries in the 1950s, and some will likely oppose this opportunity as well. He said he’s motivated by love of the community and is willing to take the heat.

“Beat me with a stick if I support job develop-ment,” he said.

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Hospital blood drive collects 47 units

A blood drive Sept. 7 at Island Hospital brought in 47 units of blood that will benefit up to 141 patients, said Carol Rondello of Puget Sound Blood Cen-ter.

“On behalf of patients in our community’s hospi-tals, I wish to extend our thanks,” she said.

Puget Sound Blood C e n t e r r e g i s t e r e d 5 1 donors at the drive, she said.

Each weekday, 900 peo-ple must donate blood to meet the needs of patients in Western Washington. The Anacortes blood drive played an important role in meeting that goal, Ron-dello said.

A few of the patients who received blood from Puget Sound Blood Cen-ter in the days around the blood drive include a 14-year-old cardiopulmonary bypass patient, a 22-year-old cardiac arrest patient, a 37-year-old with obstet-ric bleeding, a 19-year-old motor vehicle accident vic-tim and a 53-year-old heart transplant patient.

These patients received the blood products they needed thanks to donors at drives like Island Hos-pital’s, Rondello said. To learn more, visit www.psbc.org/video/patient.htm.

Fall term starts soon at the Anacortes Senior Col-lege.

The college, which offers classes in fall, winter and spring terms to adults 50 years and older, works to provide enjoyable learning experiences and social net-working for seniors.

Classes are 3:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thurs-days, Oct. 12-Nov. 18. It also offers an evening class 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Cost is a $25 annual main-tenance fee and $25 for six-week classes or $20 for three-week classes.

Visit www.seniorcollege.info.

Tuesday afternoon class-es

• Enrich your Aging with Arthur Solomon will show students how chang-es in mental attitude can improve the quality of your “senior” life. Students are encouraged to participate in interactive discussions, the sharing of ideas, and the mental exercises that the instructor has compiled over the years.

Solomon is a retired professor of communica-tions and human relations at Western Washington University.

• Health Issues with Patricia Downing will talk about issues often faced by seniors, including fat, vita-min D, diabetes, herbs and supplements and food and cancer.

Downing is a registered nurse, clinical nurse spe-cialist and nurse educator with extensive experience in health education.

• The Solar System, the Milky Way and the Uni-verse with Tom Churchill will present an updated six-part series featuring the largest images from space and up-to-date sci-entific conclusions about our universe, covering the inner solar system, the outer solar system, galax-ies, island universes, stars, nuclear furnaces of the cos-mos, the big bang and the end of time.

Churchill was educated in electrical engineering, plasma physics and math-ematics.

• Tulips and Blueberries in the Skagit Valley with Brent Roozen and Steve Sakuma will feature the his-tory of tulips in the Skagit Valley and Roozengaarde, the largest tulip bulb grow-er in the United States. Tour 16 acres of Washing-ton Bulb Co. greenhouses and hear about the evolu-tion of Sakuma Brothers’ multi-faceted blueberry and small fruit businesses,

now in their fourth genera-tion in the Skagit Valley.

The three-class course meets Nov. 2, 9 and 16.

Tuesday evening class• Criminal Justice with

several criminal justice professionals will give a realistic look at the crimi-nal justice system from the initial call to 911 to the trial verdict. Speakers will use a fictional scenario to explain what would happen in the real world. Expected presenters are: the Skagit County prosecutor, a Dis-trict Court judge, a former senior public defender, a 911 operator, an Anacortes detective and other profes-sionals in the area of foren-sics and autopsies.

Thursday afternoon classes

• Anacortes’ Recre-ational Marine Industry with marine experts and civic leaders will cover why Anacortes is a major center in the recreational marine industry. Hear presenta-tions about yacht design and manufacture, the Small Boat Center, marine sur-veying and documenta-tion, the charter business, wooden boat restoration and maintenance and the port and chamber’s vision for the future of Anacortes’ marine industry. Expect-ed presenters are: Port of Anacortes executive direc-tor Bob Hyde, American

Tug and Janicki Industries, Small Boat Center, Pacific Rim Marine Surveyors and Marine Documentation Center, ABC Yacht Sales, Emerald Marine and Ana-cortes Chamber of Com-merce representative Mark Bunzel.

• Animation before Computer s w i th Bob Abrams, a talented ani-mator who will talk about his experiences with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Road Runner, Mr. Magoo, Yogi Bear, the Jetsons and other cartoon characters. He will illustrate how animation was done before computers and share his experiences working in the fast moving and challenging entertain-ment industry.

Abrams’ credits include Hanna Barbera, Walt Dis-ney and Warner Brothers.

• Dances of Political Economy with Michael Newbrough will discuss policy making games and how they affect the mar-ket economy. Elements of the class include structural basics of the U.S. govern-ment, politics and policy, economic systems, relative virtues and weakness of a free-market economy and roles of government in the economy.

Newbrough, Ph.D., was professor in the economics, history and political science department at Palomar College, San Marcos, Calif., for 30 years.

Sign up for fall Anacortes Senior College

There are historians who collect such things as rail-road uniform buttons, and historic re-enactors who seek authentic embellish-ments for their costumes.

“Military, it’s a specialty in itself,” said Carol Leahy, another Anacortes Button Club member.

Shiny brass buttons caught Nolan’s fancy. The first time he got a big batch he sorted them for 12 straight hours.

“After I got the first big set of military, they called me the Squirrel,” he said.

Military buttons look similar at first blush, but collectors learn about subtle differences, such as the num-ber of stars or the direction an arrow points. The most sought-after ones are from the Civil War, especially from the South.

“I paid $10 yesterday for a uniform button. The guide book says it’s worth $80,” Nolan said.

But sales value is only a part of the allure.

“You close your eyes and try to imagine who wore it, where it was,” he said.

Button collectors are full of fascinating facts. For example, a few generations ago laundry was an arduous task that may have required a river or a boiling cauldron, a wringer and a clothes line. Clothes were seldom cleaned, and Tietjen said buttons didn’t fit through a wringer.

“They cut off all the but-tons on wash day. Two days later it was sewing day, and they put them back on,” she said.

It’s easy to get button collectors to wax nostalgic. Leahy said buttons remind her of a favorite relative.

“My great aunt Alice who we lived with during World War II had a but-ton box,” she said. “She’d come back with buttons and boxes, all these interesting things for a 7-year-old to snoop in.”

After Leahy saw a but-ton show in Utah, she wrote to the aunt who inherited the collection.

“Sure enough, in the mail was a box — and it was a treasure box,” she said. “We sorted by materials and I found out she had trea-sures.”

Tietjen started with an inheritance — 30 apple boxes of buttons.

“There was a lot of black glass, a lot of military, a lot of junk. It was overwhelm-ing at first because I didn’t know anything. Research is very important for different kinds of buttons,” she said.

Nolan’s interest in col-lecting started with an unusual relative.

“My great-grandfather was kind of an eccentric. He collected things. I explored,” he said.

Later, Schwenk fanned his interest in buttons.

“My routine was going to garage sales and I started asking for buttons,” he said. “It’s become my favorite — easy to work with, the history, the people.”

Schwenk and Nolan attend auctions and work at about five shows a year as button dealers.

“It pays for our hobby. We put a lot of time and attention into it,” he said.

They avoid turf wars at home by specializing.

“Judy doesn’t like uni-form and military buttons at all, so I’ve gotten into that,” he said.

“You kind of find your own niche. We had a lady in the button society who liked pearls. I liked horses,” Schwenk said.

The rare find, which results in what one news story dubbed “The Happy Button Dance,” keeps but-ton collectors haunting auc-tions and junk shops.

“It’s getting harder and harder to find them at garage sales,” Leahy said.

“It’s still worth going to thrift stores,” Tietjen said.

“All of us haunt antique stores,” Schwenk said.

Nolan said he went into an antique store, got down to peer into a low shelf

and saw a card holding eight ivory buttons. Embel-lished with a horse jump-ing a fence, they looked like one Schwenk had bought before.

“I took a chance on it. This was a button we’d paid $400 for at an auction,” he said. “I probably paid about $100.”

He doesn’t feel guilty when he comes across such a deal at an antique store. He and Schwenk have amassed two shelves of books on buttons and spent countless hours on research. He said these eighteenth-century ivory buttons could easily have been reproduc-tions.

“That was a good score. They were in pristine condi-tion on the card,” he said. “It goes the other way too, believe me. A lot of times.”

Nolan equally relishes the story behind the find, which was provided by the sales clerk.

“They came from a woman who was a doctor in New York City in 1910,” he said, pausing to ponder the life of a pioneering woman. “She was a doctor in China-town. There’s a good chance these may have come from one of her patients for pay.”

Button hunters come across all sorts of unusual finds.

“I found a baby ring with a ruby in it in the bot-tom of a can of mostly junk buttons. You never know,” Tietjen said.

“Absolutely, the joy is in the hunt. We’ve got plenty of buttons, but that doesn’t stop us from looking,” Schwenk said.

New members are wel-come to join the Anacortes Button Club. Meetings are 9:30-11 a.m. on the second

Tuesday at Anaco Bay Inn.Before Saturday’s public

show, state society members will meet for a get-together and judging. Button collec-tors are competitive, assem-bling trays of buttons to be judged according to exact-ing standards that vary from show to show.

Leahy said it is easy to make a mistake and put the wrong button in a tray.

“Sometimes you think it’s glass and it’s plastic. I don’t know how else to tell but to clink them on my teeth,” she said.

“If one doesn’t fit, the judge will put a little sticker on it called a measle. Your tray is dead,” Tietjen said.

Leahy sa id putt ing together a competition tray also is a great way to learn about buttons.

“It’s what you’ve got on hand, studying it and trying to make it fit,” she said.

And collectors enjoy the chance to compare notes with their peers.

“Members are knowl-edgeable. We pick each oth-er’s brains,” Tietjen said.

Competition prizes are modest, maybe $5. What winners really win is brag-ging rights.

The collectors said they have a hard time naming a favorite button or find.

“There have been so many,” Nolan said.

Leahy tends to enjoy brass picture buttons.

“Together on a card they make a fabulous display,” she said.

Tietjen is putting togeth-er a tray of ivory buttons, and she likes gem buttons as well, but she said it’s hard to choose one as the best.

“My favorite is my lat-est treasure, because I like them all,” she said.

YOU’RE INVITED

CHANDLER’S SQUAREOPEN HOUSE

Thursday, September 16th, 20104:00 to 6:30 pm

1300 “O” Ave. Anacorets, WA360-293-1300

Join us for Appetizers, Refreshments,Entertainment and Tour the Building!

CALL TODAY360-293-8647

2219 COMMERICAL

“Your local business with a national guarantee”

AUTO GLASSREPLACEMENTS

& ROCK CHIP REPAIRS

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 Anacortes American A7goanacortes.com

ButtonsContinued from page A1

ELAINE WALKER

The graphic appeal of black and white buttons and a jaunty display make this display tray an appealing one. Exhibits like this and much more can be viewed during the Washington State Button Society’s Button Show Saturday at Safe Harbor Foursquare Church.

Ina Weber

Ina Weber, age 93. Ina’s life began on Bainbridge Island on June 15, 1917, and ended on Fidalgo Island on September 3, 2010.

If once you have slept on an island

you’ll never be quite the same;

You may look as you looked the day before

And go by the same old name ...

Ina was born the daugh-ter of Harold and Ada Foss. She attended Seattle Pacific College and graduated with a degree in Education.

She met her husband Vaughn, a long-time Ana-cortes coach and teacher, in Tenino, Washington, where they were both teaching. They married on June 9, 1946, and settled in Anacortes, where they were both employed by the Ana-cortes School District. They raised two daughters, Shirli, of Anacortes and Sally, of Kennewick.

Ina’s joys were her fr iends, especially her neighbors on J Avenue, and her family. She loved everything about island life and the Skagit Valley. She was also an avid Mariners’ fan. Her family would like to acknowledge Winona Hutchinson, her friend of 70 years.

She is survived by her two daughters; her son-in-law, Gordon Beeman; her sister-in-law, Joanne Hopley of Mount Vernon; a broth-er-in-law, Wayne Weber of Seattle; and numerous cousins, nieces, and neph-ews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; an infant daughter; brothers Allan and Cecil; and her sister Frances.

Oh, you won’t know why, and you can’t say how

such change upon you came,

But once you have slept on an island

You’ll never be quite the same.

~Rachel Field~

The family would like to extend their appreciation to Ina’s wonderful neighbors, the always-caring and pro-fessional staff at Island Hos-pital, and the nursing staff and other staff members at San Juan Rehabilitation Center who treated Ina and her family with patience, kindness, and respect.

Remembrances may be made to Island Hospital, the Senior Center, or the Trestle Rebuild Project.

Lillian Rumble McOmie

Lillian Rumble McOmie passed away on January 30, 2010 in Portland, Oregon after a long battle with emphysema.

Lill ian was born on March 16, 1927 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her parents were Wilfred E. Rumble and Lillian V. Odland. She graduated from the Univer-sity Of Minnesota.

She moved to Long Beach, California where she met and married Rulon W. McOmie Jr. The young couple moved to Anacortes in 1957 and had two chil-dren, William Wells McO-mie and Victoria Edwards McOmie.

Lillian and Bill resided in Anacortes up until Bill’s death in 2000. After her husband’s death she moved to Oregon to be closer to her daughter who resided in Ashland, Oregon at the time.

Lillian has two grand-children, Geoffrey and Mal-lory McOmie.

Her ashes will be buried near her husband’s grave at Fernhill Cemetery in Ana-cortes, WA. on Saturday morning, September 18, 2010.

The poem was written in memoriam by her friend, James David Blair.

All the angels sing,Go to God, Lillian, Go

to GodThroughout the heavens,

Laughter rings.

We miss you Lillian,Though we know you

haven’t really gone awayWe embrace you in our

hearts and mindsAs in this world you

could not stay Enjoy your newfound

freedom, Darling LillianAs in this worldThe ones you love must

carry onUntil we all can meet

againRejoicing in eternal

dawn.

Irene Ann Hodgson

Irene Ann Hodgson, 85, of Anacortes, died Saturday, September 4, 2010 sur-rounded by her family after a recent illness.

She was born in Chica-go, Illinois on February 17, 1925. Irene graduated from Evanston Township High School in 1942 and met her future husband, Bill Hodg-son, at Luther League at St. Paul’s Church. They were married on June 13, 1943 and celebrated 66 years together before his passing in October of 2009.

Irene, Bill, and fam-ily moved to Anacortes in 1960.

She was active in the Anacortes Lutheran Church and entered Skagit Val-ley College after years as a homemaker. She gradu-ated from Skagit Valley College and later in 1970 from Western Washington University with a degree in Speech and English.

Irene attended Graduate studies in Theatre Arts and began donating her time to the Anacortes Community Theatre. She was involved with a group of members that got permission to use the cafeteria at Fidalgo School for plays. Here the theater grew and enough money was made to pur-chase the present theatre building. Irene spent time directing plays, making

costumes, building sets, designing lighting, and act-ing as President and board member.

From 1979 to 1988

she taught speech through Skagit Valley College at the Navy Base in Oak Harbor. After ending her teaching years, Irene worked for 22

years selling Real Estate in Anacortes before retiring at the age of 80.

Spiritual OfferingsYou’re invited to join us

for a joyous time of study, worship and praise!

Ministries for Families, Children, Youth, Men, Women and Seniors

2717 J St. • 360-293-5300www.anacortesfbc.com

First BaptistChurch

Of Anacortes

9:00-10:15amCelebrating God in a Traditional Manner

• Children’s, Youth & Adult Sunday Schools

• Nursery & Toddler Care

10:45am-12:00pmCelebrating God in a

Contemporary Manner• Adult Sunday School

• Children’s Church• Nursery & Toddler Care

sunday worship10:00 am

www.celebrationlc.org

Lutheran Church

CELEBRATION

10:00 am Sunday SchoolFor All Ages

11:00 am Morning Worship

11:30 am Children’s Worship

Weekday Youth Activities

Call Church for Information

Majors Jerold and Carol Forney ~ Pastors

3001 “R” Avenue, #100293-6682

The Salvation

Army Anacortes

Community Church

PassionatelyLoving God...

Genuinely Loving People

Every Sunday - 10:00 AM1319 35th Street

West on 35th Street from “M” Avenue(360) 293-4475

Email: newhope@fidalgo.netWebsite: www.newhopeanacortes.com

Pastor Dwight Woodruff

Celebrating 100 Years!1909-2009

Anacortes Lutheran Church2100 “O” Avenue

360-293-9586

Sunday Worship9 am & 11 am

Sunday School: 9:30amTeen Bible Study: 10amAdult Bible Study: 10am

For more information,Visit: anacorteslutheran.org

Daily MassTues-sat, 9am • saturday, 5pm

sunday, 8am & 10:30am

4001 st. Mary’s Drive, anacortes360-293-2101

ST. Mary CaTHOLIC CHUrCH

First Assembly of God

Passionately loving God...Genuinely loving people.

293-22191617 29th Street

Anacortes

SUNDAY SCHEDULE9:15 AM • Life

Development Classes

10:30 AM • Celebration Service

ALivE YoUtH MiNiStrYMiddle School and High School

6:30 PM Wednesday

otHEr ProgrAMSNursery Care

Preschool ProgramsKids Programs

Youth ProgramsYoung @ Heart (Seniors)

Men’s ActivitiesWomen’s Bible Study

See You Sunday 1013 Fifth St • 360-293-4029Dial-A-Thought 293-5027

A spiritual community that honors all paths to God, providing spiritual tools for personal transformation and making the world a better place.

CelebrATion ServiCeS10:30 am, Adult & Children

A8 Anacortes American Wednesday, September 15, 2010 goanacortes.com

Obituaries

See Obituaries, page A9

Irene and Bill loved life, travel, family and commu-nity. Annual summer vaca-tions with their children and grandchildren were a high-light of their life. Whether working as a homemaker, volunteer, or employee, Irene always gave the most of her energy and creative and organizational skills.

Irene is survived by her daughters, Cheryl (Leonard) Bean of Longview, WA; Jane (Kevin) Miller of Bel-levue, WA; Margie (Robert)

Adelman of Edmonds, WA; sons, Bill (Laurie) Hodgson of Anacortes, WA; John (Kandace) Hodgson of Cov-ington, WA, eleven grand-children; six great-grand-children; and one great-great-grandchild.

The family is grateful to the staff at United Gen-eral and Life Care Center of Skagit Valley in Sedro-Woolley through their “But-terflies are Free Program” for their outstanding care of their mother.

Memorials may be made to the Anacortes Lutheran Church or Anacortes Com-munity Theatre.

A memorial service was held at 11:00 a.m. Friday,

September 10, 2010 at the Anacortes Lutheran Church with Pastor Debra R. H. Benson officiating. Private family interment was at Grand View Cemetery in Anacortes.

Arrangements are in the care of Evans Funeral Chapel & Crematory, Inc., Anacortes, WA and the San Juan Islands. To share mem-ories of Irene, please sign the online guest register at www.evanschapel.com.

Enjoy Oyster Run motorcycle rally

It will be hard to miss the rumble of motorcycles as participants in the 29th annual Oyster Run rally invade Anacortes Sunday, Sept. 26.

The Seattle Cossacks stunt riders perform at noon and 2 p.m. on their vintage Harleys on Fifth Street.

Live music by The Unfaithful Servants fea-turing Garth Reeves, Jeff Fielder, Jason Staczek, Mike Musburger and Dar-rin Loucas begins at 1 p.m. on Seventh Street just off Commercial Avenue near the Elks Lodge.

Oysters cooked and on the half shell are supplied by a number of local ven-dors and charities for the event. Vendors with a vari-ety of offerings will line the streets downtown.

Visit www.oysterrun.org or call the Oyster Run com-mittee at (360) 671-7575.

Get tickets for sunset cruise, auction

The Mount Erie Ele-mentary School PTA is hosting a beach party sun-set cruise and silent auction fundraiser 4:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 aboard the Island Explorer 3. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres and cock-tails from Cameron’s Living Room Dining while bidding on auction items. Visit www.mteriepta.org to preview select items.

Tickets, $75 per person, can be purchased at the school. Proceeds support educational and enriching programs at Mount Erie.

Learn about wills Tuesday at center

Darcy Swetnam from the law office of Alan R. Soud-ers will present a discussion on wills in Washington 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Senior Activity Center. It will include information on will provisions, the benefits of preparing a will, the probate process, estate administra-tion without a will, and the difference between wills and trusts. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask ques-tions and discuss the topics with a licensed attorney.

Get garden growing tips, recipes Sept. 28

Celebrate Skagit Valley’s new homegrown cookbook, Serving the Skagit Harvest, at “Feasting from the Gar-den Year-Round” 6:45-8:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28 at the Anacortes Public Library. Meet some of the veteran gardeners who star in the cookbook, who will share must-have growing tips and favorite ways to serve up your garden bounty.

The Eat Your Yard work-shop is free and open to the public. Eat Your Yard is a special project of Skagit Beat the Heat, local citi-zens working to slow global warming and grow commu-nity resilience.

Questions? Call the library at 293-1910, ext. 21, or visit library.cityofana-cortes.org.

Celebrate Fidalgo Bay Day Saturday

Celebrate the gifts from the sea with lots of fun events for kids at Fidalgo Bay Day 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Fidalgo Bay Resort, 4701 Fidalgo Bay Road. Enjoy fun and edu-cational activities for kids and adults, meet sea crea-tures and marine scientists and check out the every popular beach seining dem-onstration. A no-host tradi-tional Samish barbecue with salmon platter by the Cayou family will be available as well as free samples of local chowders, oyster burgers and fishwiches.

Horsemen Association meets Thursday

The Anacortes Horse-men Association meets at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the bowling alley meeting/card room. An optional dinner is at 6 p.m. Call Linda at 293-6824 for more information.

Church offers Taize service tonight

Christ Episcopal Church will offer its quarterly Taize service 6-7 tonight at Sev-enth Street and M Avenue. Taize is a meditative service with music and prayer. The public is welcome to expe-rience this unique style of worship. For information call the office 293-5790.

Chandler’s Square hosts open house

Chandler’s Square will host an open house 4-6:30 p.m. Thursday at 1300 O Ave. Join them for appe-tizers, entertainment and a tour of the building.

Weekend of Buddhist teachings coming up

Geshe Ngawang Gedun, spiritual director of Tara Tibetan Buddhist Center of Anacortes will teach on Buddha nature, from the text “Ornament of Mahaya-na Sutra” by Maitreya Bud-dha. Buddha nature is often described as the true, origi-nal nature of every being, which when realized leads to enlightenment.

Introduction to Buddha nature and a question and answer period is 7-9 p.m. Friday; a teaching on Bud-dha nature is 1-3 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Saturday; and a

conclusion and meditation on Buddha nature is 10 a.m. to noon Sunday. Classes are in the third floor ballroom of the Keystone Center for the Arts, 619 Commercial Ave. Everyone is welcome, admission is by donation.

Contact Marybeth at 293-7144 or Barbara at (360) 708-3585 or Geshe Ngawang Gedun on Face-book.

Take creative writing class at senior center

Skagit Valley College instructor Ruth Wilkens will teach creative writing in the fall at the Senior Activity Center. Classes are 9-11 a.m. Wednesdays, Sept. 22-Dec. 8. Cost is $90. Register early. Registration forms need to be mailed to Skagit Valley College; forms are available at the reception desk.

Check out library’s Adult Storytime

Do you love a good plot? Would you like to hear a great short story read aloud? Listen to thrilling short stories during your lunch hour at Adult Story-time 12:10-12:50 p.m. at the Anacortes Public Library community meeting room. Dates are Wednesdays, Sept. 15, Oct. 6 and 20, Nov. 3 and 17, Dec. 1 and 15.

Bring your lunch and relax while Doug Woods, children and young adult librarian, reads adult short fiction of the mystery and thriller genre. Questions? Call the library at 293-1910 ext. 21 or visit library.cityof-anacortes.org.

Join a philosophical conversation Saturday

Anyone who is interest-ed in participating in a mod-erated philosophical con-versation is invited to join the Socrates Café from 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Anacortes Public Library meeting room, 1220 10th St. Everyone is welcome and no special preparation is necessary. Questions? Call 299-0415.

Learn about the health benefits of humor

Join a delightful pro-gram on the health benefits of humor 10:30 a.m. Tues-day, Sept. 28 at the Senior Activity Center. Have you ever heard chickens sing? Well, we have and we have a flock that will tickle you pink and make your toes tap to boot. This and more is lined up for the center’s wellness event.

Sign up for free Lighten Up 101 class

Learn to lighten your life at a free Lighten Up 101 TeleClass 11 a.m. Saturday,

Sept. 25. Life coach Laura Lavigne will help you shed stress and have more focus and peace of mind. Learn tools to declutter your heart, mind and time as well as your house. Roni Noone (recently featured on CNN) will also talk about diet clut-ter.

Register at www.laurala-vigne.com or call (360) 421-1618.

Hospital offers free memory screenings

Free memory screenings will be held 9-11 a.m. Tues-day at Island Hospital, 1211 24th St. This series of ques-tions and tasks, designed to test memory, language and other intellectual functions, can help determine if you are suffering from memo-ry loss. Appointments are required. Call 299-1367.

Get organized with classes

Rhonda McNett, owner of Sensible Organizing Strategies, will teach three classes to help you get organized and put an end to clutter and stress. Cost is $10 per class. Call Ana-cortes Parks and Recreation at 293-1918 to register.

Take control of paper, bills, photos and even the kids’ artwork by learning about organizing tips, prod-ucts and systems at the first class. McNett will teach the P-L-A-N method 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28 and 10-11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29. Leave class knowing where to start and how to proceed with your plan.

DEVOTION shares world-positive music

Colorado recording artists DEVOTION will appear in concert at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Center for Spiritual Living Anacortes, 1013 Fifth St.

DEVOTION, the duo of international peacemak-er Lori Sandstrom and hit songwriter Robert Ander-son, have been sharing their “world-positive music” with tens of thousands of people across North America and Europe since 1995.

Call 293-4029 for ticket information.Visit www.devotionsings.com.

Enjoy library travel programs this month

Tour the world with-out leaving Fidalgo Island with the Anacortes Public Library’s free travel series this month.

• Dr. Harriet Kuhnlein and photographer Peter Kuhnlein present one case study in a series document-ing the life-sustaining food traditions of indigenous peoples worldwide in “Peru:

The Aguaruna and Their Indigenous Foods” at 7 tonight. The program focus-es on the Awajún people of the Peruvian Amazon who practice a traditional life-style using high quality local foods, which ultimately ben-efits community health.

• World travelers Ivar and Phyllis Dolph share their safari in Tanzania and Kenya with a photo tour highlighting the people, places and wildlife they encountered in “East Afri-ca: A Nature Tour” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22. They saw 400 species of birds, the “big five” — elephants, lions, rhinos, buffalo and leopards, plus the amazing Maasai tribe.

• Peter Martin presents “Ecuador: The Wildlife, People and Culture” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29.

Questions? Call 293-1910 ext. 21 or visit library.cityof-anacortes.org.

Sign up for church’s marriage course

Westminster Presbyte-rian Church will offer the Alpha Marriage Course to Anacortes area couples. The popular series is designed to help couples strengthen their marriage by addressing seven topics: strong founda-tions, communication, con-flict resolution, forgiveness, parents and in-laws, good sex and love in action.

It is 6:15 to no later than 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Sept. 29-Nov. 17 (no class Oct. 6) at 1300 Ninth St. A program introduction is Sept. 22. Cost is $80 per couple which includes dinner at all ses-sions, course materials and on-location child care. Reg-istration and payment are required by Sept. 15. Spaces are limited. For information call the church at 293-3880.

Parkinson’s group meets Thursday

The Parkinson’s Sup-port Group meets at 1 p.m. Thursday in Island Hospi-tal’s Resource Center on the 24th Street side of the facility. The group meets the third Thursday of the month. All are welcome. For more information, call Jerry Ramsey at 293-2185.

Library gets kids busy with learning

The Anacortes Pub-lic Library is starting two new programs for kids and restarting two favorites after a short break.

• Listen to stories in your pajamas at the library’s new Pajama Storytime at 7 p.m. Mondays in the children’s story room. The program is designed for children 3 to 6 years old and their caregiv-ers. Pat Grant will be pre-senting the first storytime.

No registration necessary for the free program.

• Toddler Time, an enriching learning environ-ment that includes stories, songs, rhymes, finger plays and movement, is at 10:30 a.m. Mondays and Wednes-days at the library’s com-munity meeting room. The free program is for children 18 to 36 months and their parents/caregivers.

Toddler Time is made possible by a partnership between the Anacortes School District and the library. No registration nec-essary for the free program.

• Celebrate authors and illustrators with the new Birthdays and Books pro-gram, which is designed for kids in grades 3-6. It is 3:45 p.m. Wednesdays, Sept. 15, 22 and 29; Oct. 6, 13, 10 and 27; and Nov. 3, 10 and 17.

• The new Baby Sto-rytime, which features songs, rhymes and activi-ties designed to stimulate babies’ minds and prepare them for the world of learn-ing, is 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the library’s community meeting room. The free pro-gram is designed for chil-dren 3 to 18 months and their caregivers. No registra-tion necessary.

• Preschool Storytime for 3- to 5-year-olds, which includes stories, rhymes, activities and more, returns at 11:15 a.m. Thursdays beginning Sept. 16 in the children’s story room. Chil-dren should be able to sit alone without an adult. No registration necessary for the free program. Come to storytime dressed in your Halloween costume on Oct. 28 to Trick or Treat around the library and enjoy scary stories.

Library’s Maritime Speaker Series is back

The Maritime Speaker Series gets back into action with experienced sailor Jim Taylor presenting “Square-Rig Sailing — Peking, Yan-kee, Lady Washington” 4-5 p.m. Saturday at the Ana-cortes Public Library. He will describe the intricacies of square-riggers through his adventures on the brig-antine Yankee with Irving Johnson in 1952, the Lady Washington in 2004 and Irving Johnson’s movie of rounding Cape Horn on the bark Peking.

An Anacortes resident for the past 15 years, Taylor earned the U.S. Coast Guard master’s license 100-ton rat-ing with sailing endorse-ment and owned/operated a skippered charter service on the schooner Sophia Chris-tina for 15 years.

The program is free. Questions? Call the library at 293-1910 ext. 21 or visit library.cityofanacortes.org.

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Community Calendar

ObituariesContinued from page A8

Tennis club plansfall clinic schedule

The Anacortes Tennis Club continues to offer year-round clinics teaching the fundamentals of tennis to area youth but is chang-ing the days and hours clin-ics are offered.

Sign-ups and the first session of clinics for inter-mediates is at 2:15 to 3:45 today in the basement of Anacortes City Hall. Instructional times have been expanded to encour-age participants to arrive as their schedules permit and, in the case of interme-diates, to have the option

of attending two or three sessions per week.

For more information or to register, call Kerry Hoover at (360) 421-7859 or khoover@capsantecourt.com.

Little League to vote on board members

Anacortes Little League holds its annual public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23 at the Anacortes Public Library.

The purpose of the meeting is to elect the board of directors for the 2011 season. Anyone inter-ested in helping further the

league’s mission is encour-aged to attend and partici-pate on the board if inter-ested.

For information, contact league president Flint Rose at (360) 202-5545 or league secretary Carrie Hellman at (360) 708-0395.

Fly tying classes are Tuesday mornings

Join Danny Beatty for a fly tying class 9:30 to 11 a.m. Tuesdays through Oct. 26 at the Senior Activity Center.

The class is geared to folks who have some fly tying experience. Students

will need to have basic fly tying tools (vise, bobbin, scissors, etc.). Some materi-als will be provided. There is no cost.

For more information, contact Danny at jdbeatty@wavecable.com or call the center at 293-7473.

T’ai Chi classes are Thursdays at center

A new session of T’ai Chi Chih classes at the

Senior Activity Center is 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Thursdays through Nov. 4.

Drop-ins are $15.For more information,

contact instructor Joan Roulac at (360) 376-6336 or Chiworks4me@gmail.com.

Wii demonstration coming up Sept. 28

Larry Thorsen will dem-onstrate the Wii Nintendo gaming system at 1 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesdays

of the month at the Senior Activity Center. The next demo is Sept. 28.

The Wii is a fun and entertaining approach to fitness that allows individu-als to revisit sports such as tennis, golf and baseball.

People interested in learning more about or who have experience with the Wii and would like to teach others but are not available on this date, contact Sally Hill at 293-7473.

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Football squad blasts Mount Baker to go 2-0

It took a half of foot-ball Sept. 10 for Anacortes to find a way through the Mount Baker defense.

But when they did, the Seahawks took full advan-tage of it, notching their second Northwest Confer-ence football victory 24-16.

“This win was huge, because it’s a 2A counter in league.” said Anacortes coach Bill Evans.

Anacortes improved to 2-0 in Northwest Confer-ence play and overall. Next up is a tough contest at Sedro-Woolley (1-1). The Cubs dropped their opener to Burlington-Edison, but battered Stanwood 40-23 Friday night.

The Seahawks trailed Mount Baker 7-0 at half-time, then exploded for 26 second-half points.

“We knew their game plan to an extent,” said Evans. “They wanted to run it.”

That was Anacortes’ game plan as well.

Both squads exchanged counters, traps, draws and sweeps in the first half.

In the second half, the Seahawks tweaked their offensive game plan and it proved to be the difference.

On their second pos-session of the half, the Seahawks drove 45 yards on five plays. The drive was capped by a 19-yard jaunt up the middle by Anacortes running back Preston Mad-den.

Madden finished with 16 carries for 153 yards.

The Seahawks defense did what it had to, when it had to. Linebacker Mark Medalia spearheaded Ana-cortes’ attack. He had sev-eral bone-jarring tackles on Mountaineer runners.

Madden’s yards weren’t easy either. The running back worked for every inch of turf. His hard-nosed pounding eventually lulled the Mountaineers into bringing secondary person-al up for more run support. That proved to be a fatal flaw.

The Seahawks counter punched with a big play of their own as quarterback Cody Culp hit Tyler Hayes in stride as he ran left-to-right. Hayes crossed the goal line 64 yards later for the touchdown.

The tandem of Culp and Hayes would hook up again in the fourth quarter. This time, Culp found Hayes

from 4 yards out. The play capped a 40-yard, 13-play drive.

Hayes ended with seven receptions for 129 yards and the pair of touchdowns.

“We just noticed they were dropping only one safety,” said Culp. “I got some great pass protection from up front, that’s where it all starts.

“We knew we had to pick it up.”

Culp’s final strike came late in the fourth quarter. This time he found Meda-lia in the corner of the end zone.

“ C o d y ( C u l p ) w a s money tonight,” said Evans. “He’s a great quarterback. Tyler (Hayes), well, he’s just a great athlete. And the guys up front, their pass (protection) was excellent.”

Culp finished 10-of-14 for 168 yards and three touchdowns.

“This team was clutch tonight,” said Evans. “We didn’t want to have to go away from the run. But when we did, we were suc-cessful.”

Girls soccerThe Anacortes girls soc-

cer team is off to a good start.

The team played three times last week, beating Lynden and Nooksack Val-ley and tying Sedro-Wool-ley.

“We’ve done a pretty good job,” Anacortes coach Jenna Temple said. “We had about 48 shots on goal in the first two games and five today (against Sedro-

Woolley). We saw a better defense today. ... We still have some stuff to work on.”

The Seahawks will have two chances this week to see that improvement. They were to host Merid-ian Tuesday, then travel to Mount Vernon Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest.

Anacortes (2-0-1) beat Lynden and Nooksack Val-ley by a combined score of 13-0, then tied Sedro-Wool-ley 1-1.

Against Sedro-Woolley on Saturday, the Seahawks broke through a defensive struggle late in the first half, with Mariel McCown tak-ing a pass up the left side

and beating Sedro-Woolley goalkeeper Emmie Moser to the right side of the goal seconds before halftime.

That lead stood until the 69th minute, when Sedro-Woolley scored on a corner kick.

Against Nooksack Val-ley on Thursday, Anacortes had two goals each from Catherine Miles and Lou-Lou Crowe. Jasper Sortun, Caity Holt, Ana Sakkema and McCown each scored once in the 8-0 win.

Against Lynden on Tues-day, the score was tied 0-0 at halftime. The Seahawks took control in the second half as Temple tweaked her lineup.

“I really wasn’t sure what to expect from Lyn-den,” she said. “I didn’t have any prior knowledge. So to start the game, I went out with a more defensive tactic.

“In the second half, I went out with a more offen-sive tactic up front.”

The offensive pressure was too much for the Lions as Miles and Sortun each scored a pair of goals and Lindsay Christensen scored one.

Temple was impressed with what she saw from her Seahawks.

“We played some of the best soccer I’ve ever seen,” said the first-year coach. “We did a really good job building up. We just didn’t kick the ball around. It was really a good use of every-one.”

VolleyballAnacortes has played its

first non-league match and its first tournament.

Both were successes.Four days after beating

La Conner in their season opener, the Seahawks fin-ished second Saturday in the Squalicum Invitational, falling to Kennedy in the championship game.

The Seahawks didn’t lose a game in pool play in the tournament, then beat Lynnwood in three games before losing in two to the Lancers.

“We played very well,” Anacortes coach Kelsey Swapp said. “We played pretty consistently the entire day.”

Jessica Straight and Shelby Kyllo led the way in kills for the Seahawks, while Kiana Calles had the high mark in assists.

Against La Conner on Sept. 7, Anacortes claimed a 25-23, 25-22, 18-25, 25-20 win.

“I thought it was a great first match,” Swapp said.

“We saw some good things, but we also have a lot of things to work on. I thought La Conner looked strong.”

The Seahawks showed streaks of the firepower of last year, battering the Braves during the middle part of the fourth game. A 10-2 run, with nine points won by a Seahawk kill, block or ace, put the match away.

Straight had 13 kills and Kyllo 11 kills and four blocks for the Seahawks. Kayla Rieger had six aces and Kate Murray four.

Anacortes is at Mount

Verson Thursday, then hosts Mount Baker Tuesday.

Cross countryBellingham won both

the boys and girls competi-tions Sept. 8 in a four-team meet on the 2.6-mile Lake Padden Course.

Michael Hanson (15th, 15 minutes, 27 seconds) had the fastest boys time for Anacortes, while Terrah Romano was tops (sixth, 18:29.8) among the Ana-cortes girls.

The meet included Ana-cortes, Mount Vernon, Mount Baker and Belling-ham.

Anacortes travels to Blaine today and is at the South Whidbey Invite on Saturday.

Boys tennisAnacortes gave Lyn-

den all it could handle in a Northwest Conference match Sept. 8, but in the end it wasn’t enough as the Lions hung on for the win.

The turning point came in the second doubles match that pitted Sean Hig-gins and Brandon Bessler of Anacortes against Luke Reardon and Nolan Wolfis of Lynden. The match went 2-6, 6-1, 6-6 — and in the tie break, 7-3 in favor of the Lions.

“We were up 5-3 in that doubles match,” said Ana-cortes coach Elayna Myers, “and had match point twice and just couldn’t get it done. That was the differ-ence in the match.”

Anacortes hosts Belling-ham today, then travels to Mount Vernon on Friday and Lynden on Monday.

Girls swimmingTwo-time state cham-

pion Katie Kaestner won two events Thursday to help Anacortes past Oak Harbor 94-81 in a season-opening meet.

Kaestner, a junior, won the 100 freestyle in 53.57 seconds and the 100 breast-stroke in 1:07.58.

Anacortes had wins in two other individual events and in the 200 freestyle relay. Jenna Whitney took the 200 freestyle in 2:14.73, Mogan Floyd won diving with 72.20 points and the relay team of Kaestner, Isabel Sible, Whitney and Hannah Brennan won in 1:51.41.

Anacortes hosts Arch-bishop Murphy on Tuesday.

— Skagit Publishing staff

Sports & Recreation Briefs

Seahawk Roundup

Brandy Kiger / SKagit PuBliShing

tristana Pelusi and her anacortes teammates led Sedro-Woolley at the half Sat-urday, but had to settle for a 1-1 tie.

FranK Varga / SKagit PuBliShing

Jessica Straight goes for the kill in the Seahawks’ season-opening win against la Conner on Sept. 7 while Shelby Kyllo waits for a return.

Thanks to a couple of recent assignments, I got to experience what the other 99 percent of the country experienced this summer — hot summer weather.

In what is shaping up to be the hottest year on record, I was the lucky recipient of an all expens-es paid trip to Dallas/Fort Worth at the end of August, then on to Miami. I was a little apprehensive about the trip before I left because temperatures in Texas had been hover-ing between 95 and 107 all summer long, with a heat index as high as 125 when you factor in the humidity.

I arrived at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport at six in the evening, and the tem-perature upon arrival was 94 degrees. While checking in at my hotel, the clerk commented that I was lucky because a cold front had blown through the day before and knocked the humidity down from 80 per cent to 50. It still felt like a sauna every time I stepped outside.

As I drove around scouting the three proj-ects I had to photograph, I found it interesting to observe how people sur-vive in these hot climates. Of course, air conditioning is a must. During the day, people spend very little time outside. I would drive through neighborhoods and never see anyone working in the garden, tak-ing a walk, or enjoying the local park, activities that are very common around here.

But as soon as the sun hit the horizon, people came pouring out of their homes like ants out of an anthill. The sidewalks were crowded with shoppers, the outdoor cafes hopping, and residents finally got to enjoy being outside.

Living in an air-condi-tioned world is not some-

thing I would enjoy. If stepping outside feels like walking into a sauna, going inside feels like walking into a meat locker. Air-conditioned spaces are generally 30 to 40 degrees cooler than the outside air. And I was never able to get a decent night’s sleep because the noise of the air conditioner cycling on and off kept waking me up.

One of my projects in Texas was in Waxahachie, about an hour south of Fort Worth. Usually the first thing I do after I scope out a project is to figure out where I’ll be having dinner. I usually have an early dinner, then photo-graph my projects in sunset light after eating. One res-taurant recommendation was the Catfish Plantation house, about a mile out of town in an older Victorian home. From the outside it looked interesting, so I decided to give it a try.

Of course I ordered the catfish, but I also noticed deep fried ice cream on the dessert menu. I had seen that before, but never had the nerve to try it. I decid-ed this would be the night. After the server cleared away the dinner dishes, I told him I wanted to try the deep fried ice cream. “Sorry sir,” he replied. “We don’t have any ice cream. It has been so hot lately everything in our freezer has melted.” I was tempted to ask where the catfish had been kept, but I had already finished eating it.

In Miami the tempera-

ture was only in the high 80s, but so was the humid-ity, which made it feel hot-ter. One of my assignments was to photograph a giant new consolidated rental car return facility at Miami International Airport.

The building was four stories high, and the area of each floor was equal to four football fields. One aspect I had to photograph was the quick turnaround areas where the cars are washed and fueled before being retuned to service. Each floor had a quick turnaround area, and each area had 15 car washing

stations and 40 fueling islands.

The extra moisture from the washing stations, and the lack of air condition-ing made it very hot and uncomfortable. Fortunate-ly I only had to be in there for a couple of hours. I felt sorry for the many workers who had to be there every day for eight hours.

After f in i sh ing in Miami I took a couple of days of R & R, visiting friends on the Gulf Coast of Florida, just south of Sarasota. Tom and Michele had just moved into a new home on Siesta Key, about a block from the ocean.

Tom had a habit of get-ting up early and walk-ing a couple miles on the beach. The first morning there I decided to join him. I threw on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, and at 7 a.m. walked outside into 78 degree sunshine. I have to admit that warm sun felt pretty good that early in the morning.

Wa l k i n g a l o n g t h e beach, with the powder sand sifting through my toes, and splashing in the 86 degree water, it was almost like being in a fairy tale. I began to fantasize that perhaps it wouldn’t be

so bad living here in Flor-ida. But by noon the tem-perature was 96 degrees, and any thoughts of relo-cat ing to Florida had vaporized into the summer heat.

Winter prognosisWith a rather cool sum-

mer just winding down, the Climate Prediction Center is not that opti-mistic things will improve this winter. The latest La Niña Advisory states that La Niña has strengthened during August, and will last at least through the win-ter of 2010-11. The mod-els continue to disagree on the eventual strength of La Niña, but it is expected this event will be at least mod-erate to strong.

What this means for us here in the Pacific North-west is that this winter we have an enhanced chance of above-average precipi-tation and below-average temperatures.

The one bright spot on the horizon is that the annual Oyster Run is scheduled for the last weekend of September, and you know we always have great weather for Oyster Run weekend. So if you’re planning any end-

of-summer outings, that would be the weekend to schedule them.

August summaryOne good thing about

our August weather is that it only rained four days during the month. Unfor-tunately, the day we got the most rainfall happened to be the second day of our arts festival.

Sunshine checked in with 20 days, same as July and two above average, but temperatures were gen-erally on the cool side of average. You just have to take a look at all the green tomatoes in the garden to know our summer has been cooler than normal.

Rainfall was below nor-mal for the second month in a row. That won’t hap-pen this month as we a lready exceeded our monthly average by the 7th of September.

Photo assignments mean getting a real taste of summer

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DowntownHigh 92Low48Precipitation0.85YTDprecipitation18.25Dewey BeachHigh 89Low47Precipitation0.60YTDprecipitation16.98

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Read more about what’s going on in

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Kids can learn to make jewelry out of junk, carve a cedar canoe paddle, play guitar and more starting Sept. 30 in the fall session of the Anacortes School District’s After School Arts Program.

New this year are classes for middle school students.

Registrations and pay-ments must be received at the district office, 2202 M Ave., by Friday, Sept. 24. Free and reduced rates are available for qualified stu-dents. Call 299-1850, ext. 850.

Island View Elementary• Fairytale Theater with

Sam Guzik, grades 1-4, Mondays, $45. Learn act-ing skills through dancing, improvisation and theater games.

• Beginning Guitar with Kyle Miller, grades 4-6, Mondays, $45. Learn to play the guitar in six weeks. Bring a guitar; music pro-vided.

• Make it Real with Mike Stark, grades 3-6, Tuesdays, $60. Learn pen and ink tech-niques like stippling, shad-ing and perspective, to make realistic animal drawings.

• New Yoga Moves with Paige Lisser, grades 3-6, Tuesdays, $45. Certified yoga teacher will lead stu-dents in yoga poses.

• Furrytales Pet Stories, Art Start with Stephanie Schumman, grades K-2, Wednesdays, $45. Put real or imaginary pets on parade with drawings, paintings, 3-D, masks, collage and more.

• Fall Baskets with Jane Hyde, grades 3-6, Wednes-days, $55. Make a desk orga-nizer, a bread basket and a winter season candy basket with a beaded wreath.

• Fabulous Felting with Chris Wood, grades 3-6, Thursdays, $55. Start with wool roving (the fluffy wool spinners use to make yarn) and make a journal cover using needle and wet felting.

Fidalgo Elementary• Beginning Guitar

with Ali Marcus, grades 4-6, Mondays, $45. Learn the basics in six weeks. There are guitars to use on site; music provided.

• Learn to Crochet with Rosalyn Payne, grades 3-6, Tuesdays, $55. Payne shows how to turn simple crochet stitches into granny squares to make scarves, blankets or cute purses.

• Furrytales Pet Sto-ries, Art Start with Michele Romag, grades K-2, $45.

Mount Erie Elementary• Illustrated Fairytales

in Watercolor and Ink with Barb Schwulst, grades 2-4, Tuesdays, $45. Learn water-color techniques to capture the fantasy.

• Movie Making with Randy Walker, grades 4-6,

Wednesdays, $45. Students will write, shoot, perform in and direct their own piece.

• Hot Shots Digital Photo with Holly Chadwick, grades 4-6, Wednesdays, $45. Get photographing with tips from the masters in class. Required: A digital cam-era with at least a 500 MB memory card and USB card reader.

Whitney school• Kitschy Krafts Art

Start with Keegan Janicula, grades K-2, Tuesdays, $45. Build a boat, paint a puzzle, make an archer’s hat and more.

Middle school• Basic Cartooning with

Max Elam, grades 3-6 and 7-8, Mondays, $45. Draw characters from current and classic cartoons, video

games and comics. Learn the basics of “Structured Drawing.”

• Play in the Mud with Patty Detzer, grades 3-6, Tuesdays, $55. Play with slabs, molds, coils, textures and glazes.

• Carve Canoe Pad-dles with Caroline Spehar, grades 4-6, Wednesdays, $55. Learn professional wood-carving techniques and use professional tools to carve red cedar canoe paddles.

• Jewelry Making with Enid Oates, grades 3-6 and 7-8, Thursdays, $55. Use safety pins, bottle caps, alu-minum, beads, wire and leather to make art to wear.

• Songwriting for Guitar-ists with Ali Marcus, grades 7-8, Tuesdays, $65. Those with basic guitar skills will learn how to make their own music.

Sign up for After School Arts Program classes

BY ELAINE WALkErNews editor

After dealing with some terrible adversity, people often discover that some positive thing was made possible only because of the setback.

That is a harsh way to find hope, explained Aaron Bryant of Anacortes-based Hands On Films.

This is the premise behind “Wrong Way to Hope — A Story of Young Adults and Cancer,” the first documentary by Bry-ant and his production part-ner Fred Sprinkle.

The film follows eight cancer survivors on an adventure rafting trip.

“Cancer is awful. There’s nothing good or redeeming about it,” Bryant said. But, he added, it is life changing. Fighting the deadly disease put all these people on a new trajectory.

“There’s some inter-esting new doors that are opened — a higher hope that was not available before,” he said.

“Wrong Way to Hope” premieres at 7 p.m. Wednes-day, Sept. 22, at the Lincoln Theater in Mount Vernon. Tickets are $10 at the door. A second showing follows Oct. 7 at the Mount Baker Theater in Bellingham.

Bryant and his wife Ami moved to Anacortes in 2000. He works on the adventure side of Youth Dynamics as a storyteller/trainer. He also is advisor of Anacortes Middle School’s Hawk TV, where he teaches video production, shooting and editing.

Sprinkle grew up in Sky-line and graduated from Anacortes High School in 2003. He moved to Bell-ingham to attend Western Washington University, but commutes back frequently to work with Byrant. They started Hands On Films in 2005.

“Since then we’ve done corporate videography, weddings, training films, promos for nonprofits. We went to Costa Rica to do a promo for a building pro-

gram,” Bryant said.The company has been

primarily a sideline.“We do it because we

love it. It can look like a glorified hobby,” he said.

It has enabled them to experience some adven-tures of their own, such as flying over the islands to do work for San Juan Airlines and traveling to Central America.

“It was kind of a way to fund our dreams,” Bryant said.

They were spurred to do their first documentary film because of another Youth Dynamics employee, Mike Lang, who worked out of Anacortes as a summer staff member. In May 2008, Lang was preparing for the summer YD rafting trips when he could not shake cold-type symptoms. A trip to the doctor revealed not pneumonia, but a softball-sized cancer in the middle of his chest. He and his new wife moved in with his par-ents in Canada while he underwent chemotherapy.

“That was the next year of his life,” Bryant said.

As the promo of the film points out, people in their early 20s expect to hear cer-tain phrases, such as “Will you marry me?” “We’re pregnant” or “You’ve got the job.”

One they don’t expect is “You have cancer.”

Lang, 25, felt sorry for himself and became depressed.

“He had an epiphany, laying on the floor talking with God: ‘I could continue with this, but it’s probably not going to help with my healing,’” Bryant said.

Lang decided to connect with others in his situation by organizing a YD Adven-tures kayaking expedition. He contacted Bryant and Sprinkle about filming the experience.

The film follows eight Canadian cancer survivors, aged 21 to 34, as they kayak 49 miles of the Owyhee River in southeastern Ore-gon. Weakened from treat-ment, the experience was a

stretch for some.“Most of them were not

in good shape. Those stories are what we got to capture,” Bryant said. “When you get eight cancer survivors, you get a unique perspective.”

This inspirational group share personal experiences and delve into the issues that face young adults with cancer as they battle a new set of challenges on the river.

“The result is an extraor-dinary journey of intense emotional and physical challenges, combined with a rare insight into the lives of one of Canada’s most underserved and unrecog-nized populations,” Bryant said.

The isolation imposed by illness evolved into a new community for the group, as well as new outlooks on life.

“There’s this hope sitting out there, even under these circumstances,” he said.

Most found a way past anger and resentment.

“Bitterness is the end of full and complete healing.

There’s got to be an allow-ance for hope,” Bryant said.

The producers want the film to be used to spread awareness of the special needs of this small segment of the population.

“We have done the entire production with no budget, and no financial backing. Our driving goal has been to communicating the message to the public,” Bryant said.

Proceeds from the Lin-coln Theatre premiere and the Mount Baker showing

will help fund screenings in other places. He hopes can-cer support organizations will use the film as an edu-cational tool.

“We’re looking to con-nect with cancer advocacy groups here,” he said.

The team who shot the video were all from Ana-cortes, and pre and post production was completed here. Bryant and Sprinkle put in more than 1,500 hours of their time.

Many others contrib-uted: Mike Rauwolf did audio work, Kevin Foss was a cameraman on the trip, host families provided places for Lang and others to stay in Anacortes, Christ the King Church loaned cameras, Dennis Richards arranged permission to film at Island Hospital’s Cancer Care Center, Lonely Forest contributed a song to the project and Corbin Watkins contributed music.

“It does feel like the community has supported us,” Bryant said.

Since the rafting expe-rience, Lang and his wife founded Survive & Thrive Expeditions, Ltd.

“They’re creating oppor-tunities for young adult cancer survivors to come together,” Bryant said.

“Wrong Way to Hope” has inspired the young pro-ducers, who are eager to find another topic about issues facing young adults.

“What this has done for Hands On Films, it’s really made us excited about the power of a story, the power of documentary filmmak-ing,” Bryant said.

Hands On Films makes documentary on cancer survivors

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Brandon Sawaya

aaron Bryant, left, and Fred Sprinkle, right, film young adult cancer survivors during an adventure kayaking trip. The resulting documentary, ‘wrong way to Hope,’ premieres Sept. 22 at the Lincoln Theatre.

Learn acrylics fundamentals

Explore the fundamen-tals of acrylic painting with instructor Dee Doyle 1-3 p.m. Mondays, through Oct. 25 (with no class on Oct. 11) at the Senior Activity Cen-ter. Learn various styles and techniques, and try still lifes, landscapes, seascapes and working “fast and loose.” The cost is $12 for drop-ins. Call Doyle at (360) 630-0208 or e-mail her at Dee-cubed@aol.com.

Cook up tunes at the Music Kitchen

Sally Kirk’s fun Music Kitchen group piano les-sons move to Wednesdays starting today at the Senior Activity Center. Advanced piano and improvisation are at 1 p.m. Beginning and intermediate classes are at 3 p.m. The fee for the 10-week series is $150. Call Kirk at 856-4938 or e-mail her at ctk@wavecable.com for more information.

Music duo perform at RainBow Ridge

Narayan and Janet, a duo from Seattle who blend jazz, rhythm and blues and Sanskrit chanting, perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at RainBow Ridge Center for Greater Awareness in Ana-cortes.

Admission is $15. For a reservation, directions or more information, call 588-4583.

Their music has been described as “a delicious blend” that includes har-monized vocals, keyboards, jazzy muted trumpet and flugelhorn.

Narayan and Janet’s vision is to make life-affirm-ing music, full of love. They believe in music’s power to transform, heal and elevate people and their communi-ties.

Make a market basket at class

Jane Hyde teaches bas-ket making at the Senior Activity Center at 9 a.m. on the fourth Thursday of every month. She will teach a Holiday Sampler Basket on Sept. 23. Call Hyde at 588-8853 to register for her class. Pay her at the class.

Ballroom dance lessons at center

Instructors Daryl Holst and Phyllis Lamb will teach a series of ballroom dance lessons 7-8:30 p.m. Tues-

days through Nov. 16 at the Senior Activity Center. These lessons allow every student dancer to learn quickly and with confidence. The cost is $3 per class, paid at the door. For information, call 293-6318.

Watercolor class starts Sept. 24

Popular instructor Vir-ginia Dusenbury will teach a watercolor class 1-3 p.m. Fridays, Sept. 24 through Oct. 29, at the Senior Activ-

ity Center. This class is open to all levels; no prior water-color or painting experience is necessary. Cost is $60 for the six-week class. Register with payment in advance at the reception desk. A sup-ply list will be provided.

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010 Anacortes American A13goanacortes.com

BY ELAINE WALkErNews editor

A madcap night of world-class improv comedy is on tap Friday and Satur-day, when Ryan Stiles and the “Whose Live Anyway” crew perform at the Swin-omish Northern Lights Casino.

Doors open at 8:30 and the show starts at 9 p.m. Patrons must be 21 or older to attend. To buy tickets, $50, or for more information, visit www.swinomishcasino.com or call (888) 288-8883.

Anything can happen at one of these shows, which rely heavily on audience participation and sugges-tions.

The performers do skits, songs and games in every kind of style imaginable — perhaps improvising a story in the style of an author named by an audi-ence member, or acting out a scene reflecting emotions suggested by a succession of props.

Joining Stiles this week-end are Greg Proops, Chip Esten and Jeff Davis. All four improv comics have extensive film and televi-sion credits, and performed in the hit American series “Whose Line is it Anyway” with Drew Carey. Stiles and Proops also starred in the British version of the same show.

These guys are com-petitive, and focused. They will do almost anything if it pays off in a laugh.

During an episode of the U.S. “Whose Line,” Stiles famously broke a neon light on Drew Carey’s desk with his head — but didn’t break character.

Stiles, a Seattle native and a Bellingham resident, produced the TV series and produces the touring “Whose Live Anyway” show. He also starred on “The Drew Carey Show” and can currently be seen on “Two and a Half Men.”

Also this week:• Rockfish Grill, 320

Commercial Ave., presents Spoonshine Duo, Sept. 15; Geoffrey Castle Band, Sept. 17; Red Hot Blues

Sisters, Sept. 18; Fidalgo Swing, Sept. 22. Music is 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 to 11 p.m. Thursdays and 9 p.m. to midnight Fri-days and Saturdays unless noted. Call 588-1720.

• Heart of Anacortes, Fourth Street and O Ave-nue, presents Rod Cook and Toast, 5-7 p.m. Sept. 18. Admission $5.

• Thai Season Restau-rant, 710 Commercial Ave., presents Emily Leopold 5-7 p.m. Sundays; no cover.

• Brown Lantern Ale House, 412 Commercial Ave., presents Blingo, 9 p.m. Wednesdays; Open Mic Thursdays, 9 p.m. Tues-

day trivia night. No cover. Call 293-2544.

• Watertown Pub, 314 Commercial Ave., offers live music most weekends. Saturday is ladies night with top 40 DJ Ben Brown; Wednesday is karaoke night with DJ Rick, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Call 293-3587.

• Johnny Picasso’s, 501 Commercial Ave., presents live music/open mic 7-9 p.m. Thursdays.

• Anacortes Eagles presents live music 7:30-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays: Coyotes, Sept. 17-18. Mem-bers and guests only. Call 293-3012.

Improv comedy kicks off weekend nightlife

SUBMITTED

Ryan Stiles — the tall one — and his ‘Whose Live Anyway’ crew come to Ana-cortes with their hilarious improv comedy show Friday and Saturday at the Swinomish Northern Lights Casino. All four comics have appeared on the tele-vision series ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’ with Drew Carey.

Arts Calendar

BY ELAINE WALkErNews editor

Last year, 5,393 chil-dren from Skagit County received care at Seattle Children’s Hospital, accord-ing to information provided by Judy Murray of the Dr. Samuel G. Brooks Guild. Sixty percent of the hospi-tal’s patients require some amount of uncompensated care, and in 2009, Skagit County patients were pro-vided nearly $2.5 million to help defray those costs.

The 28th annual Ana-cortes Home and Boat Tour is 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sun-day, Sept. 19. Sponsored by Anacortes’ Brooks guild, the tour benefits uncom-pensated care at Children’s Hospital.

This year’s tour fea-tures five fabulous homes, a restored church, an 85-foot, 1925 wooden vessel and a 92-foot yacht.

Tickets are $15. For Tickets and information call 293-5409 or contact the Anacortes Visitor Informa-tion Center, 819 Commer-cial Ave., 293-3832. On the day of the tour tickets also will be available at the Cro-atian Cultural Center, 805 Fifth St.

Murray provided tes-timonials from Anacortes families who have experi-enced Children’s Hospital’s care.

Steven Rutz’s daughter Amalie was referred there for evaluation and care as a newborn in 2009.

“Our emotions of con-cern and fear began to change into comfort and knowledge, as the SCH staff cared not only for our daughter but for our entire family,” he said. “Now, over a year later, we have expe-rienced numerous doc-tor visits, tests, surgeries and therapy at SCH and at every visit we have received extraordinary care. Our pre-cious daughter continues to receive medical care from SCH. Thank you to all that support this exceptional hospital.”

Laura Cassidy of Ana-cortes said she logged a lot of hours at Children’s dur-ing her teenage years.

“The nurses on the teen floor were pretty amazing people. Thirteen, 16: These are emotional and physi-cal roller coaster years no matter what, but with the addition of our ailments, we couldn’t have been easy to deal with. Somehow, though,

the good days seemed like summer camp,” she said. “For me, it was the nurses themselves who became friends; I was pen pals with a couple of them. It’s remark-able to me, and a true testa-ment to their work, that I still look back on my illness and my hospitalizations with fondness.”

Mindy Sorensen’s grand-daughter Maddie was born with an atrial septum defect, or a hole in the heart. Mad-die’s first surgery was in 2005 at 11 months old, and she had another at age 4.

“Maddie continued to visit Seattle Children’s fre-quently for specialized med-icines, echocardiograms, vis-its with the cardiologist and surgeons,” Sorensen said. “The hospital staff consis-tently shows their commit-ment to make the patient’s experience as pleasant as possible with professional, experienced and comfort-ing skills. We are fortu-nate, Maddie’s ASD has been successfully repaired but we recognize the con-tinuing support of Seattle Children’s for those many other children we see in the waiting rooms and corri-dors who have longer-care needs.”

Annual tour of homes, boats benefits Children’s Hospital

Contact us at 293-1200, or visit our web site atwww.AnacortesSchoolsFoundation.orgContributions may be sent to ASF, 2200 M Ave., Anacortes, WA 98221

Helping you help our kids is our mission and our privilege!

Thank you Anacortes High School Alumni!With your help at our recent All-Class Reunion, we raised almost $500 for scholarships. Because of you, a future AHS grad will have a greater chance for success.

Couldn’t Attend the reunion?WAnt to help?Your tax-deductible donation to the Anacortes Schools Foundation is still welcome.

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Man and machine

Jack Darnton

Dozens of machines of yesterday that powered early american factories and farms came to life Sat-urday at the 15th annual anacortes antique Engine & Machinery Show. For more pictures, see goana-cortes.com.

Anacortes Sister Cities Association is looking for outgoing students in sixth, seventh or eighth grade who would like to participate in its exchange with Japanese sister city Nikaho City.

An informational meet-ing for students and their parents is 3 p.m. Friday in the Anacortes Middle School library.

Twelve students will be chosen to host students from Nikaho City in sum-mer 2011 and then to travel

to Nikaho City in summer 2012.

Students and their fami-lies are responsible for all travel costs. There are lots of fundraising opportunities. The last four groups raised enough to pay for their air-fare. Students will be cho-sen based on an application, interview, references and report card. You don’t have to be an A student, but they are looking for kids who want to learn about another culture, are willing to devote

the time to learning Japa-nese and would be good representatives of their city and school.

ASCA arranges the cul-ture and language classes and finds chaperones to travel with the students. In the past, is had at least one Anacortes School District staff person as a chaperone.

For information e-mail Cora Amburn-Lijek at cor-alijek@hotmail.com or call 299-4335 evenings/week-ends.

Sister Cities hosts meeting for Japan exchange

A series of Class ACT youth and adult theater classes starts this month at Anacortes Community Theatre, 10th Street and M Avenue.

For more information, e-mail classact@acttheatre.com or call the theater at 293-4373.

• Pirate Adventures with Leah Wagner, grades K-2, meets 4-5:15 p.m. Tuesdays Sept. 28 through Nov. 2. Cost is $50.

Students wi l l learn to walk, talk and act like a pirate as they rehearse a wee pirate production written especially for this class.

Along the way, they will have the chance to play fun theater games and work on acting skills.

• Superheroes Unlim-ited with Michelle Stahl, grades 3-6, meets 4-5:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednes-days, Sept. 27 through Nov. 11. Cost is $100.

The class starts with auditioning and contin-ues with the creation of a character, memorization of lines and a public per-formance with costumes and makeup. Theatrical games and activities will

help improve their act-ing skills and confidence. All students will have a major role in “Superhe-roes Unlimited,” an origi-nal production written for this class.

• Fun with Improv with Phi l Prud’homme and Shelli Stahl for grades 7-12 meets 3:30-5 p.m. Thurs-days, Sept. 30 through Nov. 4. Cost is $50.

Improvisation teaches students to be more com-fortable on stage, think on their feet and improve their acting skills. But mostly it’s fun. In this class students will learn more than 15 different improvi-sational games like Party Quirks, 60 Second Alpha-bet and Unlikely Superhe-roes.

The class will culminate with a public improv per-formance.

• Audition with Confi-dence for adults meets 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays, Oct. 9 and 23. Cost is $20.

I n s t r u c t o r M e l i s s a Bridges will help par-ticipants learn to present themselves with confi-dence, improve cold-read-ing skills and work an audi-tion monologue or song.

Learn skills with Class ACT