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Skagit River Journal

of History & Folklore
600 of 700 total Free Home Page Stories & Photos
(Also see our Subscribers Magazine Sample)
The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit
Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness

Noel V. Bourasaw, editor

810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284
Home of the Tarheel Stomp

Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug

Puget Sound Mail*, July 2010

"That was why I had got into my car and headed west, because when you don't like it where you are you always go west. We have always gone west." — Robert Penn Warren, All the King"s Men, 1949, Pulitzer Prize.

From the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific centennial website:http://www.ayp100.org/.
See our notes about the centennial celebration of 2009.

Journal for July 2010
By Journal Publisher Noel V. Bourasaw
Last updated June 26, 2010 . . .

[See the March and April and June chapters below]

Previous monthly posts from 2009

Chapter Ten

Publisher statement re: cancer and chemo I have informed my friends and history associates that there has been a dramatic change in my recuperation from cancer and surgery. The cancer has unfortunately returned, signs of which we began seeing six months ago. I begin chemo treatments on July 12. This turnaround has obviously slowed progress on the website on several fronts . As soon as the dust clears a bit, I will post on the site the plans we have for completing work on several fronts. For now, rest assured that my oncologist and I are fully confident that this more intensive therapy will quell the attack. I am not worried. I am still at work, updating and correcting the site and it will go on as before. I just ask for your patience and I humbly appreciate the outpouring of good will and the many messages of support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Gallery Cygnus features:
Wildlife paintings and sculpture in July "WildLife" paintings and sculpture from Patty Detzer, Peggy Doyle, Marilyn Frasca, Todd Horton, Allen Moe, Ann Morris, Peregrine O'Gormley, Kevin Paul, Tracy Powell, Sue Roberts and Maggie Wilder will be featured in July. The opening of the show is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. July 2.
Gallery Hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11am to 5pmGallery Hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. 11a.m. to 5p.m. or by appointment [360-420-9568]. It is about a half block up the hill from the main street, on the north side of the street, cater-cornered from the 1869 Anderson Cabin and the old Bank of LaConner, and across the street from Maple Hall.

Happy Fourth of July We wish you the happiest of holidays. We are spending the holiday with Chuck Berry and Friends, who celebrated his 60th birthday in 1986. Taylor Hackford's documentary is available remastered on four disks. You can see a preview at YouTube. Crank it up.

A web extravaganza for train lovers Think you've seen it all on the Web? No, honey, you haven't. Be dazzled, be amazed, by the largest model railroad in the world. The Gemans have done it, with 100,000 square feet of trains spanning two continents and many countries, with layouts and cityscapes that are amazing to behold. Miniatur Wunderland. Wow.

Newest stories The NW Washington Detectives plan two picnic meet-ups for the month of July: July 18 at the Skagit City School and July 31 for the Bow Community Picnic, both open to the public.
Can you answer questions about the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern line that ran north and south through Sedro-Woolley, from Seattle to Sumas?
As Central School students get ready to burst forth into summer, we are reminded how Bill Hawes came home from overseas duty in the Navy three years ago and surprised his son at Central.
Review of Darlene Spargo's new book, A Fair Distance, the journal by Lois Boblett, who moved with her family to the west and then the northwest in the second half of the 19th century.

Journal for June 2010
By Journal Publisher Noel V. Bourasaw
Last updated June 1, 2010 . . .

[See the March and April chapters below]

Previous monthly posts from 2009

Chapter Nine

Gallery Cygnus features:
Nick Fennel and Robert Gigliotti

Painter Nick Fennel and Sculptor Robert Gigliotti are showing their work at Gallery Cygnus. Meet the Artists at the Opening Reception June 4, 2010 from 6 to 8 pm.. Show continues through June 27th.
Gallery Hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11am to 5pmGallery Hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. 11a.m. to 5p.m. or by appointment [360-420-9568]. It is about a half block up the hill from the main street, on the north side of the street, cater-cornered from the 1869 Anderson Cabin and the old Bank of LaConner, and across the street from Maple Hall.

Newest stories

Any time, any amount, please help build our travel and research fund for what promises to be a very busy 2010, traveling to mine resources from California to Washington and maybe beyond. Depth of research determined by the level of aid from readers. And subscriptions to our optional Subscribers Online Magazine (launched 2001) by donation too. Thank you. Thank you.

The NW Washington Detectives plan two picnic meet-ups for the month of July: July 18 at the Skagit City School and July 31 for the Bow Community Picnic, both open to the public.
Can you answer questions about the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern line that ran north and south through Sedro-Woolley, from Seattle to Sumas?
As Central School students get ready to burst forth into summer, we are reminded how Bill Hawes came home from overseas duty in the Navy three years ago and surprised his son at Central.
Review of Darlene Spargo's new book, A Fair Distance, the journal by Lois Boblett, who moved with her family to the west and then the northwest in the second half of the 19th century.

Journal for April-May 2010
By Journal Publisher Noel V. Bourasaw
Last updated May 3, 2010 . . .

[See the March chapter below]

Previous monthly posts from 2009

Chapter Eight

Skagit Valley Genealogical Society Open House, Sedro-Woolley, May 20
*Dick Harris poem, Old Rose, Inspired by the rosebush at Tom Porter cabin, Illabot and Rockport*	Gallery Cygnus features Kathleen McCarthy, Robert Sund & Maggie Wilder	The Library of Congress; something the government does right

Skagit Valley Genealogical Society:
Open House, Sedro-Woolley, May 20 The Skagit Valley Genealogical Society is conducting an Open House for people compiling their family history or conducting research. The meeting open to the public will begin at 1 p.m., May 20, at the Sedro Woolley Senior Activity Center, 715 Pacific Avenue.
If you bring along your information on births, marriages, and deaths, volunteers will show you where to gather information, and you can learn how to use internet genealogy sites and find other places to look. They will also suggest how you can record the information. Handouts will be given out with other educational materials. For further information, call 757-7772.

Old Rose, a poem by Dick Harris

We introduce our column this month with another lovely poem by Dick Harris. We had another great turnout for our NW History Detectives Meetup on April 10 in Rockport. Old-timers abounded, including Lea von Pressentin and ten members of the von Pressentin family, Hope Martin, Ted and Annemarie Porter and Chuck Jenkins, who shared memories of his father, Will D. "Bob" Jenkins, and his own packing days in the North Cascades. After a potluck picnic at Margie's terrific Rockport Pub, we took a walkabout, which is a feature of each of our meet-ups. We toured the old terminus rail yards of the Seattle & Northern (later the Great Northern) and old stores and buildings, and we started at the old Tom Porter log cabin in the Howard Miller Steelhead Park.
Ted Porter, who is a fellow alumnus of Sedro-Woolley, class of 1960, is the great-grandson of Tom Porter and he reminded us that the cabin was built in 1887, before A. v. Pressentin ever dreamed up the idea of Rockport. In 1891 he married Mima Kerr and rowed her across the Skagit and up the Sauk River to his claim on Illabot Creek in an Indian cedar, dugout canoe much like the one that is displayed alongside the cabin. He pointed to the lovely rose bush that twines along the corner of the log cabin and reminded us of the story that the late Jim Harris often told, about how he and his brother, Dick, propagated it from the original cabin's rosebush and planted it here about ten years ago. Dick was unable to attend the event but when I returned home, I found this letter below in our mailbox, along with a poem about that very same rosebush. Enjoy:

For as long as I can remember, a cascading Bourbon rose grew at the corner of our hand-hewn log cabin. Built by Tom Porter and his hunting companion, Robert Kerr, on Tom's timber claim in the early 1880s, it stood on Sauk River bottom land about a mile east of the river's confluence with the Skagit River, west of Rockport, Washington. The claim is about two miles south of Rockport Bridge.
Mima Kerr, a young schoolteacher from New Brunswick who was keeping house for her brother, married Tom on Christmas Eve 1891. Legend has it that she planted this rose that she brought west with her by the cabin.
My parents rented the claim from the Porter family in 1939, purchasing it in 1945. Before they sold in 1969 and gave the cabin to the county for their new Howard Miller Steelhead Park, Dad dug up the rose.
My wife and I transplanted it into our Bellingham garden in 1987. On Valentine's Day, ten years later, my brother and I transplanted a division of it in soil from the claim at the same corner of the cabin, now a historic site, as Mrs. Porter had planted it so many years before. To my knowledge the "Old Rose" continues to grow in several places: Bellingham, at my brother's home near Concrete, at homes near its original site, and at my cousin's home in southern California.
"Old Rose" is dedicated to the memory of the Porters' youngest son Frank who died September 23, 1994, at the age of 93.
I wrote "Old Rose" in 1993. It was originally published in The Storytellers, ed. Mary G. Hamilton (Bellingham, WA: SunPorch Productions, 1994). It will appear in the chapter of my memories of "The Porter Place" in Upriver Images, later this year.
— Richard Lee "Dick" Harris

Old Rose Any time, any amount, please help build our travel and research fund for what promises to be a very busy 2010, traveling to mine resources from California to Washington and maybe beyond. Depth of research determined by the level of aid from readers. And subscriptions to our optional Subscribers Online Magazine (launched 2001) by donation too. Thank you. Thank you.
I see you through my kitchen window,
Wine-red canes reaching above an ivy skirt,
Entwining a garden lattice,
In contrast to winter snow.

With spring, your foliage will cover
Our garden portal with a canopy of green.
By summer solstice, you will greet admirers
With bouquets of cerise and raspberry scent.

A century has passed since you journeyed west,
A slip in a schoolteacher's satchel,
To be rooted by her homestead cabin
In a meadow where the river once ran.

The bridal hands that nurtured you now reside
In the earth beside those who adored your bloom.
Others who lived in your cabin have gone their way
To find life's fortune where they will.

Your cabin now rests in a park,
For the curious to view.
Few remember, traveling the road nearby,
That you grew where cattle now graze.

Survivor of flood and sorrow,
How often I ponder your life,
And the generations you watched
Spring forth, prosper, and wane.

Do you pause to recall seasons past?
Is it always the coming springs
And summers we share,
Or is it the winters of our reflection?

Do you laugh at our attempts,
Ludicrous and egotistic,
To command the universe and control nature
With hand, saw, and plow?

Old Rose, neglected and uprooted,
Origin obscure and name unknown,
Each spring you return,
A heritage rose, vibrant and new.

You can read Dick's beautiful poem, "This River Sings," at this Journal site. His book, Reimagine: Poems, 1993-2009 is now at the printers. You can read about it and how to obtain it at his website. The copyright and all rights to this poem are reserved to Dick Harris.
We want to thank Margie again for furnishing the venue for our meetup. She has just recently completed a beautiful biergarten on the east side of the Pub, which reminded us of the old mountain gasthauses of Bavaria and the Black Forest, which we enjoyed so much in the 1960s. She has installed a great horseshoe pit and picnic tables. This marks another reason to make the upper Skagit River a destination point this spring, summer and fall, along with the nearby Birdsview Brewery and Challenger Ridge Winery.

Gallery Cygus features:
Kathleen McCarthy, Robert Sund & Maggie Wilder Gallery Cygnus at 109 Commercial in La Conner features Mary Randlett, known for her portraits of northwest artists and photographs of northwest landscapes for a special reception at the gallery Sunday, April 25.This will be a rare opportunity to hear Mary speak about her lifelong passion and mastery of the art of photography. Mary will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to answer your questions and autograph copies of her book, Mary Randlett Landscapes. "The Northwest Luminaries" exhibit of her work and the sculpture of Philip McCracken will continue through May 2. In May, a new show opens of paintings by Kathleen McCarty, "On the edge of seeing, stirrings of the Mind's eye," large beautifully colored acrylic paintings on canvas from her Bouquet Series. Opening Reception Friday May 7, from 6 to 8 pm. Show continues through May 30. Gallery Hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. 11a.m. to 5p.m. or by appointment [360-420-9568]. It is about a half block up the hill from the main street, on the north side of the street, cater-cornered from the 1869 Anderson Cabin and the old Bank of LaConner, and across the street from Maple Hall.
And for those of you who treasure memories of Robert Sund, a special show, "In the Hall of Light," will be presented May 21, 4 to 5:30 p.m.; May 22, 8 to 9 a.m. and 1:30 to 3 p.m. Written, directed and produced by Maggie Wilder, this long-awaited video for the Rober Sund Poet's House Trust is a romance between a poet and his environment. Anyone who is curious about his unique life and contribution to poetry, or who stirs at the sight of a beautiful river will find this video very satisfying. DVD copies will be available at the screenings. For more gallery information: Peggy Doyle, P.O. Box 1571, LaConner, WA 98257, 360 420-9568.

Does government do anything well?
The Library of Congress and Carl Jung Although the question had certainly been raised before and in many eras before, this question took on special meaning after Watergate shattered the trust that even the bourgeoisie felt for the efficacy of government addressing tasks that were too big or expensive for private firms or most local and state governments.
No one ignores any more that government does too many things badly, spends too much and possibly sticks their noses in cupboards that they should not. We discuss that here daily. But I personally know of several things that our federal government, for instance, does well.
The most important, perhaps, to me, other historians, writers, researchers, students, genealogists and just about everyone you can think of — is the Library of Congress. For those of us who love the Mediterranean in the years leading up to and after the "common era" demarcation dream often of what must have been in the Library of Alexandria when it burned so savagely in the fire or fires of the 40 BC period. That was certainly the model for our Library of Congress, which flourished under Thomas Jefferson, whose Monticello library of 6,500 books was one of the first purchases at the bargain price of $24,000.
I know the politics and the political appointments for the library have been a travesty at times, but I contend that despite all that, tens of thousands of government workers muddled through and now offer us the equivalent of Alexandria. And all that can be is being digitized. Think about it. The WPA, bless its heart, hired enough writers and artists to sustain them at subsistence through the Depression. But this is success on a grand scale and the difference is that the modern workers don't have to grovel first before they are hired (in most cases).
As an example I present to you the Library's latest proudest display, Carl Jung's "Red Book." Those of us who spent the '60s and '70s reading everything that Jung, Anais Nin and Miller wrote, and of course Jung's Dream Book, during those years that Jung's creative flower bloomed — we stand in awe of such an addition to our culture. Especially since his family has jealously guarded the manuscript for 49 years and only allowed a facsimile to be reproduced.

Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung's "Red Book" Is Focus of Library Exhibition Opening June 17 Nearly a century after its creation, "The Red Book" by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) will be the centerpiece of a new Library of Congress exhibition titled "The Red Book of Carl G. Jung: Its Origins and Influence" on view June 17 through Sept. 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, in the Thomas Jefferson building, located at 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C.
The 205-page illustrated manuscript — in the author's own hand — had been locked in a vault after Jung's death. With permission from Jung's heirs, W.W. Norton published a facsimile edition in October 2009. Edited by distinguished Jung scholar Sonu Shamdasani of the Wellcome Trust Center of University College, London, the book has already been reprinted to meet the significant demand.
The original work, created between 1914 and 1930, has been brought from the Jung Foundation in Zurich to the United States to be displayed in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., at the Library of Congress.
"The Red Book" was the product of a technique developed by Jung, which he termed "active imagination." Of the work, Jung said, "The years . . . when I pursued the inner images, were the most important time of my life . . . My entire life consisted in elaborating what had burst forth from the unconscious and flooded me like an enigmatic stream and threatened to break me."
Following what has been called by some "a period of creative illness" following his professional break with psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, Jung made his most important contributions to psychology by putting forth his theories of archetypes, the collective unconscious common to all human beings and individuation (self-awareness).
The exhibition will put "The Red Book" in context by displaying with it selected items from the Library's rich collections that complement the work. They will reveal biographical information about Jung; the influences on him at the time of the book's creation; and the influence on 20th-century culture of the theories Jung began to develop while writing the book.

So, do you know of anything that government does well?

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Your Comments We encourage your additions, comments, criticism or corrections. For now, please use our communal comments section by clicking the button to the left. Please note the date of the column and/or the headline of the subject on which you are commenting, just to help us keep them straight.
Can you share copies of documents or photos or scans that will help illustrate any of these stories above? Do you have documents or photos about other families or buildings or towns or events that can become the basis of other stories? If you have copies, you can mail them to the address at the top of the page, or you can attach copies or scans to an email. Click the button at the top. Thanks very much for your help.

*Disclaimer We have attempted to find who the current owner of the Puget Sound Mail name is. The newspaper went out of publication in 1983 and it has never been published again as a newspaper. Years ago we found a few quick-printed pages under that logo but we have not found anything in years. We are assuming that the name is in public domain, but if someone owns it, please contact us. We employ the name to honor the longest continuously published weekly newspaper in Washington state and territory. When it went out of publication in 1982, it was also still the earliest of the territorial newspaper to still publish as a weekly. James Power launched it in 1873 in Whatcom as the Bellingham Bay Mail and changed it to its present name in 1879 when he moved the paper down to LaConner, where it stayed for 103 years, under fine editors such as F. Leroy Carter, Pat O'Leary and especially Dick Fallis, who is now retired and living in LaConner. He is justifiably proud of his years at the Mail's helm. We will feature an extensive history of the paper and its publishers in Issue 53 of the optional Journal online subscribers magazine. [Update: The owner of the Puget Sound Mail contacted us and authorized us to use it as the name for this column. He is Christian Knight and has his own Puget Sound Mail website.]

Journal for January-March 2010
By Journal Publisher Noel V. Bourasaw
Chapter Seven

Walla Walla wines shine;
1. Rare Leonetti wine tasting March 31

2. Hellam Vineyards tastings, Saturdays

Allie Barone is Australia-Bound

NW History Detectives meet and walkabout, Rockport, April 10

Genealogical Society Open House Burlington Library March 27

R.I.P. Gus Tjeerdsma, former 3-term Burlington mayor

Women's importance on the Northwest frontier

Joel Brock exhibit at Cygnus Gallery, LaConner

Concrete Theatre reopened with Marilyn Monroe Feb. 12

Rare Leonetti wine tasting March 31

This photo of the Leonetti Merlot label is courtesy of a fine blog by William Pollard, entitled 2006 Leonetti Merlot — It's Grand Ducky!. Ducky is one of my favorite words and it is so appropriate here. Long may Figgins reign.

Back in 1983, when I was director of the Washington Wine Institute, I headed out on the road with the best of Washington's wines from the late 1970s and early 1980s vintages. They included Chateau Ste. Michelle's fine Riesling, Hogue's Merlot and the wine that knocked everyone's socks off, the Leonetti 1978 Merlot from the Walla Walla region. Gary Figgins, of Leonetti, had wowed everyone from the Wine Spectator to the snooty French with that very small lot of wine that was as scarce as Chateau Petrus, and just as precious, in our eyes.
So I was pleasantly surprised this week to receive a bulletin from Doug Charles of Compass Wines in Anacortes (1405 Commercial Ave., Anacortes (360) 293-6500 http://www.compasswines.com/), inviting me — and you — to a spectacular tasting. You may remember him from the Oyster Creek Inn and the Oyster Bar back then; we crossed paths many times. He has a superb palate and has been touting the Walla Walla-area wines for all this time, especially those from Leonetti and L'Ecole and Rick Small's lovely Woodward Canyon chardonnays. This time the news is such that will cause any Cougar fan's heart to go pitter-patter. Drew Bledsoe, of football fame, has joined up with Figgins and they are bringing Cougar Gold cheese with them. I can hear the Cougar yell already. Here is the scoop:

Wednesday March 31, 4-6 p.m. This is a once in a blue moon event! Come taste the new releases from Leonetti with winemaker Chris Figgins, the highly anticipated new wine from Doubleback with owner and football legend Drew Bledsoe and nibble the scrumptious cheeses from the WSU creamery including the famous Cougar Gold. There will be a mass of humanity here so plan accordingly. The event is free, but we are requesting $15 donations per person to help support the rebuilding of the Tommy Thompson Trail trestle and the WSU extension office in Mt Vernon. At the end of the event, we will split 100% of the proceeds between these two causes that support the entire valley.
And . . .
04/10/2010. Our first annual Spring Cleaning case sale! All day from 9:00-6:00 is our first ever "Spring Cleaning Case Sale". We are making room for all the new releases and will have a broad selection of wines from around the world at drastically reduced prices. Many will be priced at or below cost, so if you want things at 'wholesale discounts' this is the time. The best selection will be in the morning, so come early and bring a big trailer. Dr. Richard A. Baxter will also be here from 2:00-4:00 signing his great book, Age Gets Better with Wine.

The price tag of the actual Leonetti wine may cause palpitations, but this may be one of the few chances you have to taste Art In A Glass, as we used to call it. Those who have followed Figgins's phenomenal turn know that you can usually only purchase this rare gem if you are on The List, the loyal adherents. I only tasted it one time, having obtained one bottle of the 1978 vintage for my wife's birthday, and I seem to recall it was five or six dollars at Ron Irvine's Pike and Western store in the Pike Place Market &mdash until the world suddenly began beating down Leonetti's door;. I obtained two bottles from Gary to take to the San Francisco Wine Tasting in 1985 and, even though I rationed servings to one ounce apiece, I never got one myself. As the old California DJs used to say, Be there or be square.

So I was web-surfing and accidentally tripped across this painting of Happy Creek Falls and many more by Karen E. Lewis at her blogsite, Painting North Cascades, and decided to designate her as our favorite new-discovery artist of the month. Three years ago she was granted a once-in a-lifetime experience for painters of the North Cascades. For a moment she made me remember the paintings of Julian E. Itter from a century ago. Here, briefly, is her introduction to her journal: "To my surprise and delight, North Cascades National Park invited me as Artist-in-Residence for the fall of 2007. For an entire month, I stayed in Newhalem, painting and exploring in the park. This blog is a record of my experiences in the park." Please visit her blog (and her website linked) and thank her for her work, which I hope to see close-up sometime.

Hellam Vineyards tastings, Saturdays

During the week, Ellen Palmer manages the Sedro-Woolley Senior Center, as she has for more than a decade, and she feeds we of the Geritol age rather well, daily. On weekends she moonlights at the Hellam Vineyards shop in the Historic Limedock Building in LaConner and aids their Saturday wine tastings. Jeff Hellam, a graduate of the first class at the Professional Viticulture Program at Washington State University, Prosser, designed his shop with a Tuscan feel. What serious wine bibber does not dream of touring or living in Tuscany? Their hallmark: "We specialize in Washington wines, although we do our research to bring you the best from all over the world. Our inventory also includes custom crafted local and international beers, and locally crafted artisan cheeses on a seasonal basis." Ellen previews the tasting on March 27, one of their regular Saturday offerings:

Burgundy Tasting and Fort Walla Walla Wines, Saturday, March 27, 1-6 p.m. Burgundy, not to be confused with the cheap plonk from California back in the day, nor the snobbery involved with very expensive Pinot Noir! Let us demystify Burgundy with good, solid selections at reasonable prices, and you can experience Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from its birthplace. 10 dollars per person, 5 for club members. Very special 20 per cent case discounts offered, this day only on featured Burgundy and Fort Walla Walla wines. Mixed cases ok.
At one end of the bar will be the wines of Fort Walla Walla Cellars, a special winery dedicated to very limited production wines that mostly sell out from their tasting room in downtown Walla Walla. They make one of the best Cabernet Sauvignon wines around, not to mention several others. At the other end of the tasting bar we'll feature some very special wines of Burgundy. We'll demystify these wines. Come taste two Chardonnays and three Pinot Noirs from the birthplace of these special grapes.

Hellams Vineyard, On The Water, 109 North 1st St. #104, La Conner, WA 98257. (360) 466-1758. www.hellamsvineyard.com. Say hi to Ellen for us. Though decidedly a spring chicken still, she is the sweetheart of all distinguished gentlemen of good taste, who are graying or whiting at the temples and who are sailing into the sunset of our lives.

Making dreams come true
Please consider helping this student

I received this most intriguing letter below from Dr. John and Melody Barone, of Mount Vernon, and their student daughter, Allison. I envy her the opportunity she has and I hope that those of you who read the column will take a moment to read her proposal and then decide if you can help her fulfill her dream. Good luck, Allie. Send us photos from your trip.

Allie Barone is Australia-Bound Dear Family, Friends & Neighbors,
Most of you know how much I love traveling and seeing new places, so it shouldn't be surprising to hear that I am planning to travel to the Gold Coast of Australia this summer to spend my junior year as a foreign exchange student. I am writing to ask you for any donation you can give to help me meet my financial goal.
This year I am a sophomore at Sedro-Woolley High School (with a 3.8 GPA), and if I were an "Aussie" I would either be finished with school and moving into a trade/apprenticeship, or choosing to stay in school for 11th and 12th grade before attending a university. ln my case, I will be attending Australian high school and studying with some very motivated classmates.
Australia's seasons are the opposite of ours, so their school year doesn't begin until I January, making foreign study a challenge for American students. To meet this challenge, I have chosen to arrange my trip through Intrax Study Abroad, because they offer a special program that allows American students to spend an entire year in Australia from July through June. This will let me keep up with my own school year so I can be back in time for SAT's, ACT's, and enjoying my senior year of high school at Sedro-Woolley.
The total cost for my year abroad is $21,885. This program is more expensive than others like it, but it allows me to choose where I want to go, and almost everything is included in the cost for the full year. My parents will be contributing $5,000 and so will I from money earned in savings, scholarships, babysitting, and candy bar sales leaving me with $11,885 more to raise. I will also be contacting local business and service organizations.
My 16th birthday isn't until just before my departure, so part-time jobs are hard to find. That's why I could use your help! If you, your business, or anyone you know can make a donation it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for reading and considering my request. C Sincerely,
Allison (Allie) Barone

Contact: Dr. Barone's Chiropractic Clinic, 124 N. 18th St., Mount Vernon, WA, 98273. Phone (36)) 428-7883. Fax (360) 424-7223.

NW History Detectives meet and walkabout, Rockport, April 10 The Northwest History Detectives, based in Sedro-Woolley, will meet in Rockport from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 10. Weather permitting, they plan to have a potluck picnic at the Howard Miller Steelhead Park and then take a walkabout to the Tom Porter cabin, the old Seattle & Northern terminus-rail yards and various historic buildings. Towards the end, they will gather at the Rockport Pub where they will compare photos and documents and scan them. Everyone is welcome and guests are asked to bring a potluck dish to share. The admission is a $3 donation. You can read all about the group at this Journal website and you will find a link there if you would like to join the group for future outings, scheduled for about once a month. The Journal sponsors the group and editor Noel V. Bourasaw urges guests to bring photos and scrapbooks to show. History authors will also attend.

Genealogical Society Open House Burlington Library March 27 The Skagit Valley Genealogical Society is holding an Open House at the Burlington Library at 820 East Washington 98233 Burlington, WA on Saturday, March 27, 2010. The event will be held from 1 to 4 pm at the Burlington Hillside room. Tours of the library's extensive Genealogy section will be given. Come join us with your family questions. We can you direct your search nationwide. [See the history of this fine organization at this Journal link.

Gus Tjeerdsma, former 3-term Burlington mayor,
dies of construction injuries When you study the small Skagit Valley towns such as Burlington and Sedro-Woolley in the 1920s and '30s, you often read about how the funerals of pioneers were events that shut down the town for much of the day, as with Burlington's Dr. Hiram E. Cleveland, on Aug. 21, 1944. The memorial for Gus Tjeerdsma, of Burlington, on March 6, 2010, brings those occasions back to mind. [See this full story and obituary at this Journal link.]

It is impossible to overstate the importance of Ethel Van Fleet Harris to Skagit Valley and Sedro-Woolley-area history. Following in the inkwell of her mother, this daughter of the first family to homestead in the Skiyou area spent fifty years researching, recording and communicating our history. One of her most important legacies is her typewritten manuscript of the diaries of Otto Klement (the father of Lyman), which was one of the most vital documents we discovered when we started this project 18 years ago.

Women's importance on the Northwest frontier
Did you know that Washington women
voted back in 1883?
Back in 2001 ours was the first regional website to specifically research and collect stories of frontier women and their important talents and legacy in relation to Northwest history. With even a cursory glance at our history, one soon sees that in the early decades history was written about men, and for men, and wives and daughters rarely surfaced for their own accomplishment. In that same spirit of digging out women's roles, we applaud www.historylink.org once again for organizing a whole section about them.

Women Prevail This week, HistoryLink.org travels back to a century ago and looks at the Women's Club Movement in Washington, beginning with the Woman's Club of Olympia founded on March 10, 1883, which is credited as the first association of its kind in the state. The organization dedicated itself to charitable efforts, self-improvement, and civic reform, as did the many women's clubs that followed.
Many early clubs focused on the need for public libraries. Beginning in 1894, the Everett Woman's Book Club -- seen above -- helped establish what would become the Everett Public Library. Similar groups in Seattle, Walla Walla, and other cities did the same.
In Seattle, groups of women helped to create hospitals, raise money for the needy, buy and sell real estate, foster cultural and intellectual development, and help women toward self-support. Most women's clubs got their start in the state's largest cities, and in 1896, the Washington State Federation of Women's Clubs was formed to provide assistance to clubs throughout the state.
The women's club movement provided a stronger voice for women through great strength in numbers. By the early twentieth century, many clubs shifted their efforts towards lobbying, and pushed for more government involvement in women's working conditions and other social needs. But the strongest influence women's groups had on the political landscape was in support of woman suffrage. [Much more at the link in the headline.]

For those who want to read more about Northwest women in history, follow these Journal links to our Frontier Women portal and Biographers of Pioneer Women.

Joel Brock, accomplished Northwest painter and pastel artist, worked in his studio space at 109 Commercial in La Conner for 10 years. He is returning to this space, now the home of Gallery Cygnus, in March showing new work as well as work in themes he created during that ten years. Opening Celebration for this show is on March 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. and continues through March 28. Gallery Cygnus is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is about a half block up the hill from the main street, on the north side of the street, cater-cornered from the 1869 Anderson Cabin and the old Bank of LaConner, and across the street from Maple Hall.

Concrete Theatre reopened with Marilyn Monroe and
Some Like it Hot on Feb. 12, 2010

[Update: I attended the grand reopening with a couple of discerning friends and we agreed: the event was all we hoped it would be and more. What a joy to see one of the best comedies in the history of Hollywood — on the large screen. Follow the link below to find the website for the theatre, which lists the movie titles and times every weekend and other special dates, including the upcoming Mardi Gras in Concrete next week.]
A thousand pardons that we got so distracted with our projects, including finishing and polishing the last two CDs and researching for our book. We will try to post at least every month from now on, maybe more often. But this month, the buzz up and down the river is about the re-opening of the Concrete Theatre on Feb. 12. Breon Williams has handed over the baton to Valerie Stafford, the most creative Chamber director we have every met, and her Valentine, Fred West. We will be joining others to celebrate the last of the old-time (small town) theaters. You can go to this Journal website for a more complete story and you will find links there to the theatre. We will report on the party that may erupt in Concrete that night.
Log in tomorrow and find many new items and vignettes, including the announcement of our book plans. And meanwhile, as we coast into Valentine's Day, I just want to express how happy I am to have lived in the time of Radio Gaga, created by the late Freddie Mercury; and the moves to recreate that kind of excitement by Stefani Germannotta, aka Lady Gaga. They are not only the most fun since watching a barrel of monkeys, as my mommie used to say, but they transcend the mush of pop radio and they are both likely to be historic, in the best way.
Life is good. Let us not waste a minute of it.

KSVU radio on the air, with your help
Please join us on Feb. 25: KSVU open house, Concrete. The new radio station welcomes you to join Rip Robbins and the staff and help plan for this launch. KSVU FM, the sister station to KSVR FM at Skagit Valley College, is poised to become an interesting presence on Main Street and a true benefit to the community. You're invited to attend a KSVU meeting this Thursday, February 25, at 6 p.m. in the Concrete Theatre. You'll have a chance to ask questions about the station, learn what it takes to get something like this started, and get in on the ground floor of a great new venture.

Mardi Gras Comes to Concrete February 20
Third annual event includes parade, cake walk and more
The Concrete Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the third annual Mardi Gras celebration in Concrete on February 20. The fun starts at noon with a colorful parade on Main Street, and includes a cake walk, art contest, shoe drive, and tours and a movie at the historic Concrete Theatre.
Individuals, groups and businesses are all invited to be part of the Mardi Gras parade, with check-in and line-up near the Post Office at 11:00 a.m. Parade entry forms are available at the Chamber office in the Skagit County Resource Center. A small entry fee is required; parade participants of all kinds, ages, shapes and sizes are welcome. The only rule is that each entry includes the official Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold. The parade will be held regardless of weather.
Other activities include a New Orleans Cake Walk immediately following the parade at the Skagit County Community Resource Center, with proceeds going to the Concrete Heritage Museum, and a Recycled Art Contest, the winners of which will be on display at Matty's on Main.
The newly reopened Concrete Theatre will get in the Mardi Gras spirit by offering tours of the historic building from 1-3 p.m., and playing the New Orleans-based Disney film, The Princess and the Frog, at 5 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. General admission is $6, with $1 discounts for elders and kids. For other movie times, call (360) 941-0403.
In addition to the zaniness, the Mardi Gras celebration also focuses on those in need. In the past, donations have been collected for cancer patients at United General Hospital. This year we are conducting a shoe drive for the earthquake victims in Haiti. The drive was begun in honor of Mollie Hightower, a Port Orchard missionary killed during the earthquake, and is being coordinated by Q13 Fox News in Seattle.

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Story posted on Aug. 9, 2009, last updated March 16, 2010
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Our newest sponsor: Cygnus Gallery, 109 Commercial St., half-block uphill from Main Street, LaConner. Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 5 p.m., featuring new monthly shows with many artists, many local. Across the street from Maple Hall, 1886 Bank Building and Marcus Anderson's 1969 historic cabin. Their website will be up in early 2010.

Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 88 years.

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Rare Leonetti wine tasting March 31

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