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With March's arrival are a flurry of activities, not late winter snow but opportunities to join together in fun and games, literally, and, in one instance, to change, literally. There are also very real storm clouds hanging over Shelter Bay. The month's first joyous get together is the La Conner Rotary Clubs’ annual farmer and merchant dinner on the 6th in Maple Hall. All farmers and merchants get dinner and an evening of hearing from organizations of community plans and projects, ventures toward a more sustainable future. The La Conner Chamber...
They hit a roadblock in Chehalis Friday, but the path to Spokane this week is again clear for the La Conner High School girls' basketball team. The No. 6 La Conner Lady Braves fell 52-44 to third-seeded Napavine in state regional basketball action at W.F. West High School over the weekend, sending head coach Joe Harper's charges into a loser-out round of 12 matchup today at 3:45 p.m. against No. 11 Northwest Christian of Colbert at the Spokane Arena. The winner advances to the state...
The Stanwood-Camano Branch of the American Association of University Women is pleased to announce the opening of the 2023 Scholarship season. Applications for university students in their junior or senior year or in Master’s Degree programs will be accepted through April 29. Scholarships of $10,000 will be awarded to three applicants who are current residents of La Conner, Stanwood, Camano Island, Arlington or Lakewood areas or are high school graduates from these school districts. Applications are at:.aauwsc.org/scholarship. Source: A...
Turnabout is fair play. After having lost two tense games to conference hoops foe Coupeville – one on a desperate three-point buzzer beater – the underdog La Conner Braves avenged themselves with a dramatic 63-61 triumph Thursday, securing an improbable bi-district title and state tournament berth. La Conner, seeded 15th out of 16 state entries, faces No. 10 Chief Leschi this weekend in a loser-out contest. The winner advances to the state 2B Hardwood Classic round of 12 March 1 at the Spo...
At its study session Feb. 13, the La Conner School Board heard and accepted Amanda Bourgeois’ resignation from their body. The board continued its examination of declining student enrollment numbers, accepted two major cash donations and met with and sought feedback from middle school and high school students. Board President Susie Deyo presented a spread sheet showing 56 students from outside the district have enrolled. Forty-seven students have left for other districts or remote learning programs. Despite the net gain, K-12 enrollment has f...
La Conner Soroptimist honored student for February Taylor Rae Cayou has demonstrated an aptitude for leadership in several significant ways. As a member of Peer to Peer at La Conner High School, Taylor and 8-10 other students work on addressing important issues affecting the high school population. During suicide prevention month, they presented a lunchtime slide show explaining how to talk about suicide. They also are creating a movie, "Most Teens Don't Vape." As a school board student...
La Conner High School construction class students are building their skills by following a blueprint that addresses the area's housing crunch. The 10-member class, taught by instructor Daniel Castillo, is constructing a small house the students plan to turn over to a tiny home village in either Burlington or Bellingham at the end of the school year. "This is a great chance to serve our community while affording the students an opportunity to build their carpentry skills," Castillo told the...
It was an up and down night for La Conner High School basketball teams at Coupeville to end the regular season Feb. 7. The girls team improved to 17-4 overall and 7-1 in league action with a convincing 48-22 triumph despite resting Skagit County leading scorer Ellie Marble, who is nursing a lower back strain in advance of bi-district playoffs this week. With Marble, a 6'-0" senior power forward scoring at a 22.0 point per game clip unavailable, coach Joe Harper's charges did much of their...
Before there was a Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, there was a La Conner Tulip Show. And before the tulip show here, there was a La Conner Rose Show. Plus a fall dahlia show. All because, as the late Philena Dunlap noted 40 years ago this August, La Conner has long had the good fortune of having "a group of women who were dedicated in their desire to work together for the benefit of all in the town they loved." That tradition took root with the founding in 1909 of the Civic Improvement Club of La...
Blessed with a broad skill set and diverse interests, the late Jim Frey, who served La Conner Schools for more than a decade as a teacher, coach, counselor and principal, is most remembered for having brought out the best in others. He did so, according to those who knew him well, not only by unfailingly putting service above self-interest but doing so with a blend of compassion, encouragement and humor that his strong faith assured never faltered regardless of circumstances. Frey, who died Jan. 30 at age 83, was by nature a motivator. His...
Late Saturday afternoon, approximately 40 people came to the La Conner Civic Garden Club to hear from newly elected Rep. Clyde Shavers of the 10th Legislative District. Shavers began by sharing three principles that guide him when researching, drafting and submitting legislation to the House: 1) Does the legislative policy reflect a story or an issue that was shared by a constituent? 2) Does the policy positively affect not just one individual, but the entire district and state? 3) Can we carry this policy forward into the future? In other...
Bernice Jane Stevens 10/1/1927 – 7/10/2022 Bernice Jane Stevens, longtime resident of Mount Vernon, Washington, died July 10, 2022 at the age of 94. She was born on a forty-acre farm in Mount Vernon to James and Elizabeth. She had three older sisters: Isabelle, Joyce, and Gladys. Bernice went to Ridgeway Grade School and she usually got there on her roller-skates. She graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1945. Her position as a song leader and a cheerleader in high school set her up for a...
James (Jim) L. Frey, 83, a longtime resident of the Skagit Valley passed away in Mount Vernon on Monday, January 30, 2023. He was born in Madison, Nebraska on March 14, 1939 to Ervin and Alice Frey. He graduated from Mount Vernon High School with the Class of 1956, and earned his college degree from Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC in 1963. In 1961 Jim married Kay Randles in Mount Vernon. He taught school in La Conner for 13 years and then started his own business as Frey Construction. He...
Though shorthanded at times, the La Conner High School Lady Braves held the upper hand in three lopsided hoops wins last week. La Conner defeated 1A Meridian and NW1B/2B rivals Mount Vernon Christian and Friday Harbor by double digits to improve to 16-4 going into last night's late action at league foe Coupeville. The 65-18 weekend home victory over Friday Harbor was especially impressive since the team was without injured point guard Shaniquah Casey and leading scorer Ellie Marble saw only...
In an age of specialization, senior Ellie Marble is having a ball as a multi-sport standout. The proof was provided Jan. 31 before a standing room only crowd at Landy James Gym. That’s when Marble, a prized Central Washington University volleyball recruit, was presented a commemorative basketball in recognition of having passed the elite 1,000-point career hoops scoring mark. Marble, the reigning Washington State 2B Volleyball Player of the Year, was honored in front of the scorer’s table by Lady Braves head coach Joe Harper as part of the Sen...
On a night when La Conner School Board members were recognized for their service to the district, the panel first deflected attention to retiring faculty member and coach Suzanne Marble. At its two-and-one-half hour Jan. 23 hybrid meeting, the championship volleyball mentor was lauded for her upcoming induction into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the state’s governing body for schools athletics and extracurricular programs. Marble joins the 2023 WIAA Hall of Fame class in a May ceremony. She guided t...
The La Conner Kiwanis Club's High School Student of the Month for January is Nathan Haley. Nathan's parents are John Haley and Bonnie Beddall. He is a freshman at La Conner High School. Nathan enjoys his English and art classes. He has been part of ETC – a service club at school. Outside of school he enjoys videogames and drawing. He is not sure what his future career will be but plans to go to college. Middle school Student of the Month is Eva Porter. Her parents are Brian and Laura Porter. She...
Math has been a top priority for La Conner Schools, with the district adopting new K-12 curricula designed to engage students and improve standardized test scores. Students, teachers, parents and community members now want the same emphasis given to the arts. Concerned that likely spending cuts, primarily linked to declining student enrollment, could lead to reduced learning opportunities in music, drama and related subjects, supporters of arts education urged the school board Jan. 23 to spare those programs. Several pleas were emotional. La...
Betty May Jackman Wilson left La Conner, Washington for her next adventure on her 95th birthday, Sept. 23, 2022. She was born at home in Dayton, Oregon in 1927 to May and Walter Jackman. Her family moved to McMinnville so she could attend school. They lived in the Methodist parsonage until her father built them a house (hand digging out the basement at night after work). Betty loved music and was always singing; she sang in the school choir, played in the band and also played piano. Later she...
La Conner Schools served up a dinner menu that included food for thought during the district's winter open house last Wednesday. As the over 200 attendees finished a community ham-and-potato meal served by school staff, the district's administrative team outlined the status of on-going programs and its recipe for student success and achievement going forward. Superintendent Will Nelson, hired in 2021, shared with the public the building blocks of a major five-year plan: social-emotional...
After being eclipsed by one of the state's budding shooting stars, the La Conner High School Lady Braves brightened their prospects for a deep post-season run with a stellar 81-77 win at 4A Skyview in Vancouver, WA. Saturday afternoon. La Conner (13-4 overall) rebounded from a 79-54 setback Friday night to 4A Union High and its freshman phenom Brooklynn Haywood, who at 14 already has scholarship offers. Haywood poured in a Union school record 50 points – including seven three-pointers and a p...
As a popular song says, there are few ways better to gain fame than to have your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone. A La Conner singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist may not be on the iconic magazine’s cover, but she is featured on its digital pages as an artist readers need to know. Locally and regionally, Katherine Paul, the face of Black Belt Eagle Scout, needs no introductions. Her brand is now getting plenty of national exposure, thanks to a glowing profile penned for rollingstone.com by Philadelphia-based writer, editor a...
The La Conner Braves went from heartache to heartened in 48 hours last week. The high school team (7-7) rebounded from a tough 57-56 home loss to Coupeville Wednesday with a 64-14 blowout win over Darrington at Landy James Gym Friday night. With the two-game split, La Conner was 3-2 in NW1B/2B play before last night's conference action at Orcas Island. The lopsided Darrington triumph helped take the sting out of the last-second setback to the Wolves, which was no ordinary one-point defeat. It...
There was plenty of highlight reel material when the La Conner High School girls' basketball team swept conference foes Coupeville and Darrington at home last week. The Lady Braves routed Coupeville 72-16 Wednesday and romped past Darrington 69-9 Friday, extending their winning streak to four games and improving to 11-3 going into Tuesday's action at Orcas Island. "Those two games gave us the opportunity to get playing time for everyone," said head coach Joe Harper. "It was also a chance for us...
Rachel Haley, a senior at La Conner High School, is the January Honored Student of the Month for Soroptimist of La Conner. Rachel is a member of the McCauley family and attributes much of her artistic leanings to her family. The late Curt McCauley, her grandfather, was an artist and was very involved in MoNA, the Museum of Northwest Art, as both a docent and a supporter. Gretchen, her grandmother, served on the board. Her aunt Eve is an accomplished painter. Rachell wants to represent all of...