Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Sorted by date Results 1342 - 1366 of 1389
It isn’t often someone leaves Las Vegas with more than they brought. But a La Conner native beat those odds last weekend. Mark Reynolds, who recently completed his first year as a teacher and coach in Bay City, Texas, returned from the Las Vegas area Sunday with his fifth powerlifting title belt. The belt is valued at $600, but what it represents means far more to the 25-year-old lifter. Reynolds took top honors at the Natural Athlete Strength Association USA Nationals Meet in Laughlin, N...
The La Conner High School Class of 2014 toss their mortarboards at the end of Thursday’s graduation ceremony. –Photo by Amylynn Richards...
GOOD MUSIC – The La Conner Middle School band took third place with a score of “excellent” in a state-wide competition on Saturday. They competed in the Music in the Park at Wild Waves at Stadium High School in Tacoma. Band director Brian Fraser said the “excellent” rating was exciting, because La Conner musicians were competing against older kids, since our band has sixth-graders, while other schools have seventh- and eighth-graders only. – Photo by Kirsten Morse...
Former La Conner resident Eric A. Nelson died on Sunday, May 29 at age 84 in Escondido, California. Eric was born in the La Conner area to Axel and Anna Nelson. He graduated from Burlington High School. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Alf. Though he moved out of the area many years ago, he has many Skagit County relatives. He is survived by his wife Mary Herrold, his daughter, Kathy and son Steve and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His local relatives are Mary Clare Nelson and Arlene Nelson and her...
Max D. Robison of La Conner died on Saturday, May 31 at Whatcom Hospice House in Bellingham. He was born in Sedro-Woolley, WA on June 29, 1934, the son of Max and Charlotte Robison. He grew up in La Conner, attending La Conner schools and graduating from La Conner High School in 1954. Max married Janet Greenwald in June 1956. They made their home in La Conner, where they raised their family. Max worked over 40 years at Dunlap Towing as a tugboat captain. He will be remembered for his great...
For awhile Saturday, the La Conner Braves seemed firmly anchored to a State Final Four berth in Centralia. But then the Braves fell prey to Pirates. The Adna Pirates, that is. Adna scored six runs with two out in the third inning — part of a decisive seven-run rally — that turned a 7-3 deficit into a 10-7 lead en route to an 11-8 Regional semifinal win in Anacortes that ousted La Conner from post-season play. “Adna is a solid hitting team,” Braves’ coach Jeremiah LeSourd lamen...
All spring long, regardless of distance or venue, La Conner High has remained on track. And now the school’s thinclads — who have competed at home, in Cashmere, and as far away as Ritzville — will get to run on the big oval. That being the State 2B Track & Field Championships at Eastern Washington University this weekend. This after La Conner’s Braves ran away with the District title and the Lady Braves were a strong runnerup in last Friday’s fast-paced, eight-school field gathe...
Tuesday May 20 8:57 a.m.: School trouble – A student arrived at La Conner Middle School under the influence of marijuana. 2:02 p.m.: Fraud – Somebody has been loading up their Starbuck’s card using the credit card of a La Conner area resident without permission. Wednesday May 21 4:59 p.m.: Big load – A oversize load with proper signage was traveling onDike Road onFirIsland and someone reported that it was being driven “recklessly.” There was no explanation as to what was reckless about it. 7:07 p.m.: Alarm – An alarm...
Two of literature’s wittiest voices took the stage in La Conner last Thursday for the opening of the Skagit River Poetry Festival. When asked what inspired him to write, author Tom Robbins launched into what he’d have you believe is his personal story. Voice as deadpan as Garrison Keillor on the “Prairie Home Companion,” the author of “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” claimed it all started when he opened the door of a cheap hotel room at midnight to a dwarf, who handed him a box of manuscripts...
Former La Conner businessman Robert Eugene “Bob” Alfano died on Tuesday, May 13 at the age of 74 at his home in Woodinville. Bob was born in Seattle on June 29, 1939, the fifth of 10 children born to Larry Louis and Hannah Bertha Fontaine Alfano. He graduated from Seattle’s Franklin High School in 1957. He began his lifelong career in the grocery industry, starting as a box boy at Alberton’s Foods in 1955. Bob worked through the ranks of the industry and went on to pursue his career with Ja...
Everyone in Grandpa Vanderhoff’s family does exactly as he pleases. Which is exactly why things will go wrong at the Vanderhoff home in this weekend’s production of “You Can’t Take It With You.” The play opens at the La Conner School auditorium on Friday night at 7:30 p.m., with two additional shows on Saturday at 2 and at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door or reserved by calling 466-3171. The year is 1937, the place, a quiet neighborhood in New York City. “Penny,” played...
La Conner resident Robert John Herrington died at age 94 on Easter morning, April 20, at Mira Vista Care Center in Mount Vernon after suffering an earlier stroke. Bob was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon on December 12, 1919. He attended Pelican Grammar School and Klamath Union High School. He joined the Army Engineers in 1937, and was discharged in 1940, and then went into the Army Reserves. He attended Oregon State University. He was called back into the Army 29th Engineers in 1941 and made...
Wednesday April 30 4:39 p.m.: Lockout – Deputies helped someone at La Conner High School get the keys that were locked inside their vehicle. Monday May 5 12:54 p.m.: Crunch time – An inattentive driver ran into the back of another vehicle that was stopped in the construction zone for the roundabout inConway. Tuesday May 6 11:44 a.m.: AWOL pooch – A local dog was on an unauthorized walkabout and wound up at the espresso stand near the roundabout in La Conner. The barista recognized the dog, which suddenly lost all roaming...
Darrington first responders provided aid and hope aplenty to those impacted by the tragic Oso mudslide. But there was little Darrington’s high school softball team could do to stop the avalanche of runs posted by the Lady Braves last week. La Conner pounded out 16 hits in five innings en route to a 20-3 romp in the nightcap of a key NW2B doubleheader on Tuesday. The Lady Braves had earlier blanked Darrington 3-0 behind a one-hitter tossed by sophomore hurler Olivia Hedlund. With the twin wins, La Conner improved to 5-0 in league play and 1...
The Sedro-Woolley mile relay team was a leg up on its Skagit County foes, but in the end it was a La Conner High quartet standing atop the medal platform. All because of an unfortun-ate wardrobe malfunction. Not one of Super Bowl proportions, but enough to elevate the Braves’ relay squad of Alejandro Ruis, Kolbe Rasler, Harrison Orkney, and Mitchell Grant from runnerup status to 4x400 meter titleists on the boys’ side of the 108th Skagit County Track and Field Championships. The strange tur...
Monday April 28 4:34 p.m.: Crunch time – A truck pulling a trailer pulled left in front of a vehicle traveling south on Pioneer Highway in Conway. Tuesday April 29 2:02 p.m.: Burglary – Somebody tore metal siding from a building onDry Slough Road inConway to get in and steal a rifle and computers. 6:16 p.m.: Just checking – Deputies and emergency medical personnel showed up to check on an intoxicated man who was resting on the sidewalk at a bus stop onCaledonia Street in La Conner. Wednesday April 30 2 a.m.: Noise –...
Remember those cute little neighborhood children who used to ring your doorbell and run away on May Day? Those same youngsters are now in high school, and they are planning to ring your doorbell again this May 1. The difference, however, is that this year they won’t be leaving a bouquet and running to hide. This year they will be offering you a brochure about the La Conner Community Scholarship Foundation. The foundation has been gifted with bequests, donations and memorials that allow it to offer scholarships of varying amounts to the great m...
Long before their long distance events began, La Conner High track teams had gone the distance. And then some. La Conner ventured 300 miles last weekend to take part in the Undeberg Invitational Track Meet — held in Ritzville, near Spokane — which traditionally draws many of Eastern Washington’s top small school programs. This year’s event, featuring nearly three dozen schools, was no exception. La Conner, Lakeside, and Seattle Academy joined the field from west of the Cascades, and...
Karen Van Wieringen Ballard, a self-described adventure junkie, stepped away from her desk job to compete in a sailboat race from Qingdao, China to San Francisco. She is a 1981 La Conner High School graduate and is the daughter of Nancy Van Wieringen, who also graduated from the local schools. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race begins and ends in South Hampton, England and is divided into several different legs. Karen jumped onboard with a crew of 16 on March 16 in Qingdao, China and docked...
La Conner Town Councilman Jacques Brunisholz offered to resign so that he can fulfill a lifelong dream to hike the Pacific Crest Trail this summer. He had handed in a letter of resignation, but the council decided to place the letter on file and grant him an extended leave unless something comes up that requires a fifth member. Brunisholz said he will be leaving immediately to hike the trail starting in Southern California. He said he could be gone up to five months walking the trail, which extends 2,650 miles from the Mexican border to...
Richard Steele Sunde, a fourth-generation Sitkan and former resident of La Conner, died April 10 at his home in Waikoloa, Hawaii after a long, beautiful hike to the North Kohala beaches. The family will hold celebrations of his life in his three homes — Hawaii, La Conner, and Sitka — at later dates this summer. In the meantime, the family is encouraging all those who loved Rick and were impacted by his life to gather and share stories, and honor Rick’s life. Rick was born on M...
John W. Denton, a lifelong resident of the Skagit Valley, died very peacefully in Burlington on Sunday, April 13. He was born in La Conner on January 24, 1931, the son of Oscar and Mamie Denton and was raised on the Denton and Valentine homestead on Pleasant Ridge. He graduated from La Conner High School and then went into the Army for four years. Upon his return, John went to work for Cascade Frozen Foods as a field man. John met his future bride, Karlyn Kurth, when he jumped onto her tractor,...
It may be more anecdotally than scientifically proven, but La Conner residents stand by the theory that sunny days and blooming tulips are the direct cause of swarming tourists. Last weekend a swarm descended upon the town. And they were hungry. Local restaurants were running out of things like onion rings. But good for us, the visitors were happy, too. And for business owners, who had just slogged through a slow and dreary winter, the tourist dollars were back. “It was a good weekend, and w...
Marvin Kevin Cladoosby, “Dubber,” died on Sunday, April 6 at the age of 57. He was born on February 10, 1957 to Mike Cladoosby and the late Mary Lou Day Cladoosby. His grandparents were the late Ernest Cladoosby, Sr. and Lena Shelton Cladoosby; also the late Garfield Day and Dorothy Billy Day. Dubber was born in Mt. Vernon and was a lifelong resident of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, never living anywhere else, to him there was no place like home. Dubber was the third of six chi...
Construction will resume on the roundabout at Conway’s tricky five-point intersection on May 1, said Dan Berentson, Skagit County’s interim Public Works director. The county doesn’t want to have roadwork snarling traffic during the Tulip Festival, Berentson said. For La Conner residents, Conway’s intersection of Fir Island Road and Pioneer Highway is part of the regular route to Seattle or to Stanwood. At the stop sign on Fir Island Road and the highway, motorists turn left to go to Interstate 5 toward Seattle and right to go to Stanwoo...