Class of 71 annual summer pot luck

If you do it twice, it's a tradition, isn't that true? We had our "second annual" pot luck dinner at Gary Rothenbuhler's tonight, complete with salmon, tasty dishes contributed by attendees, and entertainment! Gary's yard is a play paradise for grandkids so we admired the gazebo, play equipment, tree dangle art (don't know exactly what to call it), and rows of ripe berries. Tomatoes are coming on. Lots of visiting, some eating, some original songs and poetry, beautiful weather. Couldn't have been nicer. We'll look forward to seeing more folks next year!


Here's that good-looking crowd that came (minus the photographer):



















And a fine fish, by Gary:

Loggerodeo prep update

Here is another photo of a downtown flower basket, for those of you who are following the saga.

This one is on Metcalf and State in front of Wells Fargo bank. Red, white, and blue. Unlike mine at home, which turned out red, white, and purple.

I haven't been to Burlington yet to check on theirs.

Also, they're going to run the "log" on July 11th this year. Historically, it was dropped in the river at Concrete on July 4th (early!) and floated down the river to the Skagit River bridge in S-W. An accompanying boat of log trackers followed it and clocked the exact time. There are rules about what to do if it gets caught in drifting brush or an eddy. The person who buys a ticket and guesses the exact hours, minutes, and seconds from bridge to bridge wins a cash prize! So we're all gauging the height and flow of the river this time of year. But it is harder and harder to find people willing to miss the entire July 4th celebration in town and sit on a boat in the river, watching that log. So the log drive has been moved to July 11th. This log on a trailer pops up in different spots around town - just for visibility, I think.

Finally, a photo showing the ballot box at the Post Office which is always there. We have red, white, and blue in our town all year long.

Getting Ready for Loggerodeo

We are approaching Loggerodeo season! So the red, white, and blue decorations are coming out and you can see things happening around town. The carnival is setting up at Riverfront Park - the first time in that venue ever. The carnival has always been somewhere around the downtown core, but this year the carnival and the fireworks on July 4th will be at the park.

There are also some very big logs staged in the parking lot at the corner of Murdock and State, where the chain saw carving events will be held. I think that JB Bryson had something to do with getting these logs. It is harder and harder each year to procure logs the size we need for the large, elaborate carvings that competitors make. Due both to the size required and to the value of the logs. Chain saw carving is one of the great events of Loggerodeo and we're glad to continue the tradition.

There was an article in the Skagit Valley Herald recently regarding the town's hanging baskets. We have them, they seem a little small (well, it's early in the season), and we're so grateful to Les Schwab employees who volunteer to care for them. But Burlington has baskets, too, and they have been trash-talking S-W a little about these baskets. Burlington thinks theirs are better. So here's a photo of a typical basket in S-W. I haven't been over to get a photo of the ones in Burlington, but they are nice. The S-W ones seem to be all different colors, except for the baskets lining Metcalf, which are all red, white, and blue. And there are fewer baskets this year; none in the 300 block of Ferry.

This basket is on State and Third Streets (Third goes to the high school). Photo faces east.

In other news, I bought some "blue" petunias at a local, unnamed, store for my own hanging baskets and they turned out purple. So I have red geraniums, white somethings, and purple petunias. Looks like I'll put a blue ribbon in each basket this year and be done.

Tuesday, June 30th, Class of 71 will have our monthly coffee hour as a pot luck dinner at Gary Rothenbuhler's house in Sedro-Woolley. We did it last year and it was so much fun it became an instant tradition! Wouldn't you rather be there in person than read about it here? Come on down!

Photo: Dollar Spree moved across the street to the former "Stonehedge" or "SW Floral" location this week. There's a flower basket on that globed lamppost. Coconut Kenny's (great place to eat) is on the right. Mural (sort of facing the post office) is on the left. I took this photo while driving...this is on Metcalf, the main street downtown.

Note: Blogspot is not a WYSIWYG application, so I have a heck of a time getting all these photos and the text to line up. Forgive me if it's a little choppy. JJJ

S-W Farmer's Market at Hammer Heritage Square

Sedro-Woolley has had a great Farmer's Market for several years! In our lovely little town square at the northwest corner of Metcalf and Ferry. Local farms sell produce in season - greens and carrots and tomatoes, etc. Some vendors bring produce from other communities, like Yakima. Some vendors sell soap and crafts. And some vendors promote visibility for their causes. There is an agreement and set of guidelines to be a vendor. And the market is open from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Wednesday afternoon from late spring thru early fall. It brings a lot of visitors to the downtown core. And it's 1.5 blocks from my house!

The square is paved with bricks purchased by local contributors (like Class of 71!) and the north end of the square has GREAT public bathrooms. Just saying.

Here are some photos of the market, taken on June 3.

The gazebo is a nice spot to sit and have a latte on any day!

Congratulations - Class of 71 Scholarshp Winners 2009!

The Class of 71 has awarded our first set of two scholarships to SWHS graduates! The awards ceremony was Wednesday night - it is separate from graduation - at the auditorium in the high school. Of course, it was the hottest evening of the year (90 degrees outside). But it was such fun to watch the seniors get their scholarships, grants, and awards. SWHS has a lot of smart, good looking kids!

The Class of 71 Vocational Scholarship for $2500 went to a 2008 graduate, Justin Spradlin. Justin currently attends Bellingham Technical College in the two-year computer networking program. He is preparing for A+ certification tests essential for work in the IT industry. As a 2008 grad, I did not expect him to be at the ceremony, although I wanted to announce his name, as I was certain there would be attendees who knew him. Imagine my surprise when he came up after the ceremony was over and introduced himself! I felt badly that I hadn't called him up to the stage, but after all he was a Class of 2008 grad and this was the night for 2009!

Here's a photo of Justin.















The Class of 71 Academic Scholarship for $2500 went to a 2009 graduate, Roslyn Gober. Roslyn plans to attend the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY this fall and has been accepted into their Department of Biomedical Engineering. We didn't get a good photo of her...but she's lovely and gracious.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this project, from funding support to judging and driving things around for me. You know who you are. I appreciate the opportunity to do the coordination and we'll do it again next year!

All SWHS grads are eligible for these scholarships, regardless of year of graduation. They are offered under the auspices of the SWHS Alumni Association but branded as the Class of 71 scholarships and use a separate submission process.

SWHS Alumni Assn - recent news

I attended the monthly meeting of the SWHS Alumni Association on Wednesday and picked up some news tidbits:

Membership to date for 2009 is 587 members. Out of a potential 4500 people who are eligible to join. It's $10 a year. Many people pay for multiple years at a time. Think about it. Every surviving grad of the Class of 46 is a member.

Their recent geranium and bake sale is one of their major fundraisers for the year. On May 2nd they sold 945 geraniums and 170 tomato plants. Jim Kallio bought the last tomato plant - I was there to see it.

The SWHS Alumni Assn has been raising money for scholarships for 15 years. This year they awarded seven $1500 scholarships to SWHS grads (some current year, some past years) for students pursuing vocational education.

They also award "named" scholarships funded by special donations or families of deceased grads. For next year, there will be a scholarship named after Jack Newcomer [who was our grade school music teacher] and funded by his family. The details are being worked out as to the qualifications for applicants.

The SWHS Alumni Assn still sends out paper/hard copy newsletters about twice a year. They contain a lot of interesting info about Sedro-Woolley as well as class info. Plan to join! I posted membership info on this blog some months ago, but if you need that info again and can't find it here, just let me know.

More soon.

Our brick in Hammer Heritage Square

Last year a few Class of 71 members pooled our funds and purchased a brick for Hammer Heritage Square. These bricks are only installed about once a year - in time for Loggerodeo and other summer activities. It is fun to walk through our town square and read the commemorative bricks and see who is there. I'm hoping that our brick will give some other classes the same idea. When you come to visit S-W be sure to stop in the square and look for ours! The Farmer's Market is also held in this square, every Wednesday afternoon through the summer. This year the Farmer's Market season starts on May 27th.
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The city, as you can probably guess, has had some financial cutbacks recently. They announced in the paper that the city can afford to buy the beautiful hanging flower baskets that make the city so pretty in the summer. But this year they could not afford to hire a seasonal employee to go around and water and tend the baskets. They were looking for a volunteer. Yesterday, at the Chamber of Commerce meeting, it was announced that an employee of the Les Schwab Tire Center had offered to be the basket-caretaker this year. So we will be able to keep our beautiful baskets! They hang from utility and lamp posts downtown, as well as from the gazebo in Hammer Heritage Square. I'll take photos later. No baskets yet.

Since my day in the tulip fields the weather has turned cold and wet again. We're hoping for a big change starting tomorrow!