It only seems fitting that John Kamb, Jr. would serve two years rather than the customary 12 months as president of the Skagit County Pioneer Association.

Kamb, after all, was a history major in college and for years his Fir Island home has been the repository for photographs, correspondence and records collected through eight generations of his family’s Washington residency, much of it in Skagit County.

But despite a love of history, his two-year term wasn’t by design.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellation of the 2020 Skagit County Pioneer Association’s annual picnic and general...