Articles written by anne basye
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Focus on local grains is recipe for excellence
Driving to work, Rachael Sobczak passes acre after acre of her ingredients. The 12-year La Conner resident is owner of Water Tank Bakery, which opened last June at the Port of Skagit. She crafts...
Farmland Legacy Program fends off residential development threats
Fully Contained Communities (FCCs) may have Skagit County residents on edge, but they are not the most significant threat to local farmland. The real villain? Low-density residential land use. According to the American Farmland Trust, 11 million...
Rexville Grange still serving members and neighbors at 95 years
Don’t talk about the Rexville Grange in the past tense. Membership may be small and the calendar light, but this Grange is alive and well. Built in 1927, the Rexville Grange has hosted potlucks, w...
Growing agrotourism in Skagit County requires planning and nurturing
Drive the roads surrounding La Conner, and you’ll see, depending on the season, everything from brussels sprouts and fava beans to berries, wheat and barley. You’ll also find half a dozen farm sta...
Farmworkers end strike against Washington Bulb Company
Seasonal workers for the Washington Bulb Company are back at work after a three-day strike that made headlines throughout the state. The strike was sparked by an error the company made when...
Tourism bureau CEO visits town
Looking out at the Rainbow Bridge from Nell Thorn last fall made a favorable impression on new Skagit Tourism Bureau CEO Jake Buganski. “Seeing La Conner’s vibrant downtown while I was interviewing for this position was one of the big reasons I was...
Ice cream social is town reunion
“I’m seeing a lot of faces I haven’t seen in a long time,” said La Conner Chamber of Commerce board member Tami Mason of Washington Federal as she scooped ice cream last Thursday. From the banter...
New meat processing facility makes Mesman farm more productive
The new Island Grown Farmers Cooperative (IGFC) meat processing facility at the Port of Skagit in Burlington is a dream come true for its 80 regional members, including the Mesman Dairy. Still...
Ring Lane acreage now protected from development
When Jens Peder Nielsen came to La Conner from Iowa with the Hulburt family early in the 20th century, land was on his mind. Soon J. P. Nelson, as he began calling himself, was using earnings from...
Big ‘yes’ boosts flower festivals to full bloom
For the La Conner Daffodil Festival and the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, the last two years have been all about no. In 2020 there were no visitors to Roozengaarde and Tulip Town and almost no sales...
Mavrik Marine’s MV Dorado has left the building
The 320-passenger jet ferry MV Dorado rolled out of Mavrik Marine last week for a brief excursion to Anacortes. The La Conner boat builder is contracted by California’s Water Emergency T...
Water, agritourism, solar farms, growth probed at annual Ag summit
Skagit County Commissioner Ron Wesen got the first word and Congressman Rick Larsen the last at the 6th annual Ag Summit hosted by Washington State University Skagit County Extension Feb. 11. The hybrid event, with lunch for those attending...
Farmers faced with farmland tree planting as way to save salmon
For farmers evaluating Governor Inslee’s Salmon Recovery bill, the devil is in the details. Details like what exactly constitutes a Riparian Management Zone and whether the riparian buffers proposed in the now withdrawn HB 1838 will not just target s...
Swinomish laud protection of Skagit River headwaters ‘donut hole’
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, part of the 300-member Skagit Headwaters Coalition, is grateful for a new agreement between the government of British Columbia, Imperial Metals Corporation and the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission....
FCCs will be road to Skagit County ‘suburbanization’
Changing county planning rules to permit fully contained communities (FCCs) “opens the door for making this county suburban,” said Margery Hite last Tuesday, Jan. 11, during an online Community Conversation sponsored by the Skagit Valley Food Co-...
Art ball is landlocked buoy
Maybe you saw, as you drove down Maple Avenue last month, an Alexander Calder-like array of giant ornaments spinning on arms held in place by a giant magnet on a giant metal ball in a small front...
Curt Buher’s death leaves big shoes to fill
Curt Buher was a big guy. The hole he leaves behind is big, too. Buher, who died Dec. 20, came to town with his wife Lori in 1979 to housesit for Maxine Wyman and never left. “They knew that La Conner was where they wanted to be,” said Cathie Wym...
New partners gain Value in law firm purchase
When Felicia Value sits down at her desk on Monday, Jan. 3, she’ll no longer be a solo practitioner. She’ll be an employee of Barron Smith Daugert PLLC of Bellingham, which recently purchased her law practice. “I feel like I’ve been invited to sit...
Art’s Alive made big comeback this year
Local art lovers turned out in force for Art’s Alive 2021. Almost 1,100 people attended the four-day event in Maple Hall Nov. 5-8. This was the 36th annual show since Black Swan Café owner Mart...
Art’s Alive again in La Conner Nov. 5-8
After a two-year absence, Art’s Alive returns to Maple Hall next Friday, Nov. 5. Through the following Monday, La Conner residents and other art lovers can view the work of a dozen invitational a...
Can’t gather for wine but take a look at art
After a wave of good-sized public events actually took place in July and August, many venues and civic groups are once again scrubbing face-to-face events from their calendars. The Skagit County Fairgrounds was able to hold its annual fair and house...
Staff shortages have businesses shuffling
No lunch at The Fork at Skagit Bay. No summer patio service at the Calico Cupboard. One person filling parts orders at the Morris Street NAPA store. A dozen-plus openings on the La Conner School District website. These are among the local impacts of...
Hard to eat out or in if the food isn’t delivered
When Pat Ball of the Slider Café visited the wholesale US Food warehouse store in Burlington last summer, all he saw were empty shelves. “It looked like they were going out of business,” he sai...
Make festival of visiting family farms this weekend
Three greater La Conner family farms will participate in the Skagit Festival of Family Farms this weekend: Roozengaarde, Schuh Farms and Gordon Skagit Farms. Longtime participant Hedlin Family Farms...
Gordon Skagit Farms is Martha Stewart’s October feature
When Gordon Skagit Farms opens its Autumn Market next Monday, Sept 27, it may be a bit more crowded than usual. The farm is featured in the October issue of Martha Stewart Living, perhaps the...
