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Forrest Eisen Jr. was born June 26, 1942 in Mount Vernon, Washington to Anita and Forrest Eisen Sr. He attended grade and high school in La Conner until his senior year. He joined the Army in 1961 and was medically discharged due to a shrapnel injury losing his left eye. He later moved to Oregon and worked in the logging industry. Later he moved to Bremerton. He attended an apprenticeship at the naval shipyard as an electrician. He worked 29+ years, then retired in 1989. Boating, fishing, camping, working in his yard kept him busy. He also...
The Fourth of July is still a week away, but there were early fireworks aplenty when the La Conner School Board met in a tense, sometimes heated session before a standing room only audience Monday evening in the district’s administrative building. The two-hour meeting dealt mostly with issues related to second-year Superintendent Dr. Whitney Meissner, the subject of recent no-confidence votes taken by members of the district’s two employee unions, who allege her management has been ine...
I wanted to write something light, this being the first week of summer. Alas. Observers and participants agree that tempers are running high, some people are hurt, others are wounded and discord rifts the La Conner School District. If only the board of directors and administration’s biggest problem was 12 hours a day of way too loud drumming and horns from a marching band rental. To name the elephant in the room: the vast majority of school staff, teachers and support employees, want Superintendent Whitney Meissner gone. The La Conner Education...
Donna E Zimmerman 87, a long-time resident of La Conner passed away in Seattle on June 12, 2019. Donna was born in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota on August 5, 1931 to SR (Bob) and Mina Green. She lived in the Avon-Fredonia area, working on farms. Donna attended school in Avon and Burlington and graduated from La Conner High School in 1949. She was married to Boyd Zimmerman for 68 years. Donna worked for the post office as a rural mail carrier, retiring in 1991. Donna was a member of the La Conner Methodist Church and Billkens Club. Donna loved...
Students and staff vacated La Conner campuses for summer break last week. They weren’t alone. The 25-year-old cedar totem pole that is the signature landmark at La Conner Elementary School was removed for summer restoration during special ceremonies Thursday morning. The weathered but still grand pole will be refurbished by La Conner Schools’ staff member Kevin Paul, who was involved in its initial carving in the mid-1990s. Paul, a master carver whose work has been profiled on national TV bro...
The beat goes on – and will for the next couple weeks. That’s because the Seattle Cascades Drum & Bugle Corps, a world class competitive junior musical group, has returned to La Conner to prep for its upcoming national tour this summer. Comprised of top youth musicians ages 14-21, the Cascades is practicing here daily before going out on the road for an 8,000 mile swing that ends with an appearance at the World Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in August. The Cascades w...
During his more than a quarter-century at La Conner High, Mike Carrigan has tackled a wide range of teaching assignments – from algebra to U.S. history to industrial arts. Turns out, he was a big-time tackler long before arriving here in the early 1990s. A native of Orting, southeast of Tacoma, Carrigan played defensive back at Stanford University, where he squared off against the likes of future Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren and 1968 Heisman Trophy winner O.J. Simpson. His...
Much planning has gone into developing a safe routes to school program here and elsewhere. But, statistically, the safest way for children to get to campus is riding one of those familiar yellow buses, reports La Conner Schools Transportation Supervisor Kim Pedroza. But it’s not as easy as her drivers make it look. Those drivers safely deliver hundreds of students each day to and from school, on field trips near and far, and to an assortment of extra-curricular events through the full breadth o...
La Conner High seniors went out with a bang Thursday night. Near the end of the school’s 125th annual commencement exercises the large audience at Landy James Gymnasium was briefly shaken by a loud celebratory confetti blast. The surprise dramatic send-off for the Class of 2019 seemed a fitting salute to a student group noted for having done a bang-up job, reflected in numerous academic and athletic successes and devotion to public service and civic projects. Class speakers had earlier, t...
Governing is hard. In the middle of governance are policy making and administration of that policy and direct responsibility for the executive staff of the organization, here the La Conner School District’s. For a school district’s board of directors, governing starts with a personal vision as well as endorsement of the district’s vision. Each director starts with an election – or an appointment until an election. School board directors represent the district’s residents, overseeing the school system for them. It is not a paying job, bu...
Thirty-six La Conner High seniors, including 11 National Honor Society students, will receive diplomas during the school’s 125th annual Commencement Exercises tomorrow night at Landy James Gym. The June 6 program, featuring a mix of inspiring messages and uplifting music, begins at 7 p.m. Class Valedictorian Sophia Benetti and Salutatorian Matty Lagerwey, both of whom are National Honor Society members, will deliver major addresses. Other senior class speakers are to take turns on the podium as well. Class President Erik Nelson will offer t...
Midway through the May 28 La Conner School District town hall, a forum to discuss discipline, safety and prevention/intervention support against vaping, marijuana and drugs, a parent asked the key question: “What is the issue we’re talking about? What is the white elephant in the room? Is it drugs, guns, substance abuse? What’s the issue?” The 50 parents, students and school staff attending had heard presentations from Middle and High School Principal Todd Torgeson Elementary School Principal Bev Bowen, Kathy Herrera, assistant principal and at...
The Earth has made another full revolution around the sun. The first Thursday in June is again before us. La Conner’s high school seniors, school faculty and staff, parents, family and friends will come to campus for the 7 p.m. graduation ceremony. Excitement will be universal. The graduates will have a lot on their minds. Immediately that evening and this weekend there are parties, family gatherings, eating out. Graduates will certainly have peer-to-peer check ins and adventures, planned and unplanned. The gift of youth might be the g...
Jerrol “Jerry” Ralph Keller (81) of La Conner, WA, passed away at Island Hospital in Anacortes, WA the evening of May 25th, 2019 after a courageous struggle with declining health. He was born on July 25, 1937 in Morganton, NC, the devoted only child of Phrona (Benfield) and Ralph Keller. The Kellers moved west, where Jerry spent his youth outdoors, scouting the North Cascades and as a young man, cultivating his entrepreneurial spirit with ingenious odd jobs in and around the Marblemount area. He worked in the timber business helping his fat...
Lettuce consider this bunch of actions: A simple online search for the “La Conner Food System” results in a variety of sites – some with logistic details that highlight nutrition information, free/reduced lunch ratios, farm partnerships and practices. A simple online search for the La Conner School District website depicts similar information, along with the importance of establishing and supporting wellness, placing a high priority on serving students the most nutritious meals possible and the value placed on optimum good health. Stu...
Warm weather, warm memories. It was a perfect combination for those who gathered at La Conner area cemeteries on Memorial Day to honor deceased veterans and departed loved ones. A large sun-splashed crowd at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery was greeted by Rev. Don Robinson, who said the occasion was an opportunity to embrace both the past and future. “We look back with gratitude,” he said, “for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. We’ve inherited much and have much for which to be g...
Baked potatoes were the main course, but it was love that flavored a community dinner at the Swinomish Gym last Wednesday. Health food was the fare of the night as proceeds from each plate were donated to help three La Conner young men who have battled serious health issues. Members of the La Conner High chapter of Key Club, which is affiliated with Kiwanis International, organized the May 22 “Spud Dinner” benefit. La Conner High students Danny Rapada and Frank Scott, and La Conner High alu...
Though living in the moment, hundreds paid tribute to the past as they literally stepped into the future during annual Swinomish Blessing of the Fleet and First Salmon ceremonies Thursday. Following a seafood feast enjoyed by a large crowd that spilled over from the Tribal gym and youth center to an outdoor tent in the adjacent parking lot, a procession stretching across Pioneer Parkway walked to Swinomish Channel off Moorage Way for an honored ritual marking the start of fishing season. The...
Alvin Michael “Al” Strutzel, 94, a resident of La Conner, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at Life Care Center, Mount Vernon, WA. He was born November 6, 1924 in Monitor, WA, the son of Rudolph and Wilma (Warren) Strutzel. Al’s family were early settlers in the Monitor area, having arrived in 1902. Al attended schools in Monitor, graduating from Cashmere High School in 1943. School sports were a big part of Al’s life, lettering in all three sports, baseball, basketball and football all four years. After graduation, he joined...
Dixie Otis’ death last December was a shock and a huge loss to the greater La Conner community. A charter member of the La Conner Soroptimist Club, and its co-president, Otis was an even longer term teacher, both in and out of the classroom. The Club, and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, recognized Otis and her family last Wednesday at a dinner at the Swinomish Yacht Club. The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community honored Otis that evening by presenting $5,000 to the Club: “Dixie Louise Oti...
On Monday 20 students from La Conner High School took to the grass outside the elementary school with not one purpose, but many. Led by Samantha Nelson, a junior, students walked out during their first period class to protest not only what they considered to be an unsafe environment, but also the looming notion that their voices and opinions are seen as nothing more than trivial by district administrators. At 8:20 a.m. the 20 congregated in the Freshman Commons, and after quick deliberation, mad...
He was a versatile teacher, computer whiz, avid hiker, skilled mariner, world traveler, civic leader and handy man par excellence. Plus much, much more. Tom Winn never spoke about himself in such glowing terms. Always humble, he let others do the talking. And a week after his sudden passing, folks in La Conner are still sharing thoughts and reminiscences about the adventurous 73-year-old Winn, whom they describe as having been a modern renaissance man. “He saw life as an adventure,” Town Councilmember Jacques Brunisholz said of Winn. “A lot o...
Tom Winn, of La Conner, WA, passed away at Skagit Valley Hospital on May 6, 2019 after a sudden and brief illness. Tom was born in Guatemala, Central America on August 11, 1945. His sense of adventure was evident immediately. He went on to live in Colombia South America, New York City and then Kobe Japan, where he graduated high school from Canadian Academy. While in Japan, he climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji and discovered a love of the ocean floor. He got his scuba license, which he maintained for his entire life. He relocated to Seattle to...
Elaine (Mom) passed away at home surrounded by her loving children, after an extended illness. Mom was born January 13th, 1937 in Argura, Jackson County, North Carolina to Robert and Lonnie Harris. She had fond memories of her childhood in North Carolina and was proud of her “Tar Heel” heritage. At a young age, Mom lost her parents and was grateful for the families that cared for her afterwards. She graduated from La Conner High School in 1955, where she met the love of her life, Ivan Carlson, Sr. They were married August 12th, 1955, and as new...
The first tulips in Skagit Valley were grown commercially on a forty-acre farm on Samish Island about 1905. Bulbs were imported from Holland to improve this crop and the valley’s bulb industry flourished. Early farmers were critical of the bulb growers for putting the rich valley land to such trivial use when it was excellent for cabbage seed, oats, hay, hops and barley. The bulb industry soon proved its value as more bulb farmers settled in Skagit County. They were an industrious and quiet b...