Snow postcard from Maine

We received a photo of Susy Thompson Sanders, PhD, standing in front of her house in Maine, reveling in all that SNOW. Here in Skagit County, we don't want any more SNOW. We had some this morning - about 1/2 inch. It was pretty much gone by 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. That's enough!

Here is the lovely Dr. Susy - we miss you!

SWHS Alumni Assn Scholarships for 2009

The SWHS Alumni Association sent a press release to local news outlets last week, announcing their vocational scholarship availablity for 2009. If you're in touch with graduates who are interested in vocational education, this could be an opportunity for them!

Judy J.



Subject: SWHS Alumni Association Scholarship Program
From: H. Ed Hoyt, SWHS AA President
Dated: December 21, 2009

Would you be so kind as to feature the special announcement listed below in your paper no later than January 15, 2009.

THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR 2009

Applications for the Sedro-Woolley High School Alumni Association Scholarship Program are now open for the school year of 2008-2009. These special $1,500.00 “Vocational Scholarships” are open to all graduates of both the Sedro-Woolley High School and the State Street High School, regardless of the year of graduation. All scholarship applications must be received by April 15, 2009, and the announcements of the scholarships to be awarded will be announced by April 30th. Presentations of the scholarships will be made during the school’s awards ceremonies in early June. Scholarship applications may be obtained from the school counselors, or, you may send a letter of application request to: The Sedro-Woolley Alumni Association, Scholarship Committee, P.O. Box 509, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284.

Thanking you in advance,
The Sedro-Woolley High School Alumni Association

Snow, snow, snow

We are still buried in snow! Several more inches fell this week and two more storms are on the way. Actual snowplows are plowing up and piling up snow along the streets in Sedro-Woolley. You just don't see this every winter. The high winds last Saturday night blew a lot of snow off the rooftops and trees in town, but much of that snow was replaced in the next snowfall on Sunday nite. The snow is still knee-high in most yards.

Last Friday was a beautiful day with blue skies and cold weather. The streets remained icy but many people got out to visit the downtown area. I did a few errands and I took a picture of the Hammer Heritage Square clock tower. One of the best things Sedro-Woolley ever did was to create this lovely and distinctive town square. If you haven't been back to visit lately, you'll be in for a nice surprise!

Our monthly coffee hour for Class of 71 is next Tuesday, December 30th, from 5ish to 7ish at Common Ground on the Pease Road in Burlington. We'd love to see you there!

A Lot of SNOW today

Most of you will remember that Sedro-Woolley gets some snow in the winter...but it is infrequent and a big bunch of it is quite rare. We had a little snow last Saturday, the 13th. Not a pretty snow but it covered most everything. Then it turned to black ice and did some melting yesterday.

Today, we got about 9 inches (depending on where you measure). More than this town can handle. There is almost no traffic, except for those manly 4WD pickups (and a few GEOs). One Subaru wagon went by, covered with snow, but the window behind the driver was rolled down so a Chocolate Lab could stick his head out.

Here are a couple of photos. It's still snowing!

The Sedro-Woolley "Magic of Christmas" parade was today. 5:00 p.m. Light rain. Dark night. Well-attended.

The tree is still placed in the center of downtown, at the intersection of Metcalf and Woodworth. It becomes a traffic round during the holidays.

Bill Stendal was the grand marshal of the parade. The SW Museum entered their vintage truck. A group from the Senior Center paraded with lighted umbrellas. The SWHS band sounded great - all the musicians wore strings of lights and a Santa hat or antlers or something festive. Even the Four-On-The-Floor 4-H club marched in the parade. Santa arrived on schedule. Because it's darn dark here at 5 p.m. in the winter, almost everyone wore strings of battery-operated lights - even some of the dogs!

The darkness made it difficult to take photos but here are a few:

SW Museum's vintage truck

Ruth Gross, Jim's mom.

Kay Brown, my first grade teacher.

SWHS Band percussion section.

Monthly Gathering - Nov. 25, 2008, part deux

Here are the photos that Paula sent along:

Monthly gathering - Nov. 25, 2008

We had a great group last night at Common Ground - with a couple of surprises!

Paula Wilcox Brunn was able to come and visit with us; on holiday from Colorado and home to S-W to visit family for Thanksgiving. She regaled us with stories of her visits to Costa Rica and here in the cold, wet NW we liked hearing those stories.

Bob Stiles also came to be part of the group - all the way from Marysville! Considering the traffic on I-5, that's an act of courage.

Jim and Debbie Kallio, Colleen Wilcox, and Sue Ann Bryson rounded out our group for the evening.

We missed everyone who wasn't there. Your next opportunity is Tuesday, Dec. 30th. It's always fun to catch up with our friends.

Take the opportunity to post a Class of 71 comment or shout-out on this blog. We want to hear from you!