Blog Archives - chuckanuttransition.com

Tree Planting Event on Silver Creek

11/20/2014

Please join us! Tree Planting Event on Silver Creek

Hello everyone! Please join us on Saturday, Nov. 29th to help plant 300 native seedlings, which will be planted to help protect the water quality of Silver Creek and the Samish Bay watershed and to provide valuable habitat for salmon!
When: Saturday, November 29th – 9 am to noon

Where: Home of Dawn Harju, 1780 Lake Samish Road in Alger (across the street from the Alger Tavern). Directions: Heading either north or south on I-5, take the Alger Exit #240. At exit, head east on the Lake Samish Road for 0.8 miles. 1780 Lake Samish Road will be on your right. If you get to the stop sign at the intersection with Old Hwy 99, you just missed itJ

Bring your favorite shovel and work gloves (dress for weather) – great opportunity to work off that Thanksgiving dinner and enjoy the camaraderie of your friends and neighbors.

Please email Dawn at: dawnh@wcrinc.com or call Kristi at 224-1072 if you plan on attending.

Salmon Are Running - Fish count in Bear/Silver Creek

11/20/2014

Hello Dave - The chum are in and in both creeks!! Here are my survey results from Wed. 11/5.

Silver Cr.
Water level high, some color
Water Temp. = 52.7 F @11:20am

                             Live     Dead
Coho                     37         0
Chum*                   52         1
Chinook                    0     12

Bear Cr.
Water level high, clear
Water Temp. = 51.4 F @ 1:52pm

                             Live     Dead
Coho                     88            1
Chum*                   63            1
Kokanee               20            0

* No chum seen before 11/5

Thanks, Brady

Kurt - Here are my results from last Wednesday, Nov. 12.

Silver Cr.
Water level low, clear
Water Temp. = 43.3 F @10:02 am

                        Live    Dead
Coho                   9          2
Chum                48        33

Bear Cr.
Water level low, clear
Water Temp. = 43.2 F @ 12:17 pm

                        Live     Dead
Coho                 65         8
Chum               54       35
Kokanee     1000+     20+

NOTE: Friday Creek above Bear Creek turbid; H2O Temp = 51.2 F @12:47 pm

Thanks, Brady

Big Thanks from John Boettcher!

11/20/2014

Hi,
So much appreciation for all of the volunteers.
Every market had life lessons and visual images.
Thank you for letting me be apart of it.
John Boettcher
VERY PROUD SUPPORTER OF THE BOW LITTLE MARKET

Many Thanks From Michelle of Mimi's Garden!

11/20/2014

Greetings Patty and Sarai,

Thank you for yesterday [Holiday Festival] from the bottom of my heart. It was a stellar day, hanging with my granddaughter, seeing lots of friends, enjoying wonderful soap and cider, laughing and smiling the whole day, and even making some money for the holidays. Please please pass this on to all the amazing women and men who made yesterday happen. I am also looking forward to making some market banners, ... And helping out in ANYWAY I can. Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New year in advance.

Abrazos,
Michelle (Mimi's Garden)
Walk gently upon our Mother Earth

How "Hygge" can help you through winter

11/20/2014

Interesting article on Danish culture and how they cultivate happiness during those long winter months.
How "Hygge" can help you through winter.

The Secret Sisters of Alger would like to adopt a local family in need for Christmas.

11/20/2014

Could you or someone you know use a little help this Holiday Season?
The Secret Sisters of Alger would like to adopt a local family for Christmas. If you would like to recommend a family, please fill out a form at the Alger Bar & Grill before Dec. 8, 2014.

November Newsletter:An Attitude of Gratitude - A Note From the Editor, Sarai Stevens

11/20/2014

A Note From the Editor
November 2014

It's an odd Catch-22: If we feel the Unspeakable and then try to speak of what we felt, we sound like fools. But if we feel the Unspeakable and don't speak, we feel like ingrates. I'm inclined toward gratitude. So, foolishly, I speak.
~David James Duncan, author of The River Why

And so I speak...My breaking point happened the day I read that methane (34 times stronger a heat-trapping gas than CO2) was escaping from thawing Alaskan tundra permafrost at such a rate that one could hold a match above it and it caught flame. For you see, nearly 14 years ago the Alaskan Tundra was were I took my first born son home to. It is where my husband and I lived over the coarse of a school year. It is where we personally witnessed the first year that Norton Sound failed to freeze over in recorded history, and a village elder drove his snow machine into the sea on one of the Inuit village's yearly hunting trips across the bay. I am grateful for that breaking point. I am grateful for my fear.

This fear pushed me off my island of isolation and made me embrace love. I began reaching out to neighbors and asking if they were interested in more cooperative efforts. I began talking about my concerns and heard them echoed - so affirming and calming. Suddenly I didn't feel crazy, caught in a world that refuses to see that the emperor has no clothes. The conversations evolved from concern to vision to intent. I now define myself by what I do want, not what I don't want. Over the course of nearly five years, I have joined the board of the Alger Community Hall, I've helped establish our Sustainable Samish Garden Tour and the Bow Little Market. I surround myself with people who, for the love, make, grow and do things. I am slowly and methodically localizing my life and setting it in tune with the seasons. I am learning to accept the limits of my space and time. I trade seed, plants, produce, preserves and medicine. I help, I give, I receive. I am fascinated by the power of giving. It is like a piston this machine. I pump love in and out flows abundance.

I am grateful to the people I have encountered along my way for they have restored me. They breath a sense of life, deep culture and hope that simply does not exist in the sterile aisles and crowded lanes of consumer mainstream America. This life I call happy is not easy. It requires a lot of physical work, but what I have in return is a much more peaceful mind.

Can we focus it in an area? Can we amplify it to epic proportion? Can each of our areas ripple out and overlap?...Below I share many thanks to just some of the those that help fuel this love machine.
~Sarai Stevens

Thanks to all that contribute time and resource to the all-volunteer cooperative Bow Little Market, the only rural farmers market in Washington State. According to the website independentsector.org, volunteers in Washington State earn the estimated equivalent value of $26.72 per hour. If time is money then this market is truly rich!

All these people help to keep our budget small and heart big. Thanks to our all-volunteer administrative team: Patty Sweaney, Janet McKinney, Kathi Marlowe, Anette Witter, Allen Berry and John Blackmore and our dedicated volunteers: Dan Sweaney, John and Leslie Ann Braun, John and Lindsey Boetcher, Tony and Adrienne Bourque, Michelle VanSlyke, Katy Keener, John Barnard, Frank Smith, Virginia McKinney, Jill Weber, Elaine Blackmore, Keith Witter, Jenny Foertsch, Jenny Aaron, Rachel and Brett Parker, Gina Watkins, Anne Bromwell, Stan Ross, Chuck Nafziger, Chris Soler, Jamie Wisswaesser, Verena Giebels, Kate Bowers, Darla Binder, Peggy Bridgman, Bill and Gilda Gorr, Kathy Brown, Dennis Hall, and Wendy Swanson.

Thanks to the Curry Family of the Belfast Feed Store!
Much appreciation to Kathy, Earl and Cindy Curry for donating their land for our weekly Thursday markets and their barns for our Harvest Market. Because we are a rural market, we do not receive support from an affiliated city government but instead are dependent on donations from local businesses, like Belfast Feed Store.

Thank you to the Alger Community Hall. The Alger Community Hall Board generously donated the use of their land for our Garden Swap and Sale and our Special September Community Market. Thanks to all the Hall board members, Donna Spenser (Pres.) Dawn Thomas (VP), Kathy Corbell (Secretary), Kim Blumenhagen (Treas.), Ruth Morrison, Keith and Anette Witter (Anette schedules the hall and manages communications, opens the doors and lights the fire), Janet McKinney, Barbara Self, Jennifer Taylor Mixon, Kathy Brown, David Skrinde (Alger Volunteer Fire Dept. Chief), Trina Forest, and Rosemary Ryan for there efficient management of such an important community resource.
Thanks to Mary Elmore, owner of Beau Lodge, for her support.

Thank you to Banner Power Solutions of Bow, specialists in solar electric, for their generous $600 sponsorship. Banner was at the Bow Little Market this summer promoting their business, and in turn the company is supporting us. Thank you Banner Power Solutions for your generous sponsorship! Renewable energy, local business, community networks...it's a win, win, win. Above is a photo taken by Jill Weber of Eric and Guy presenting a check this summer to three of the market board members - Janet McKinney, Patty Sweaney and Sarai Stevens.

Special Thanks to Jessica LaBelle!
Jessica LaBelle donated her artistic talent to this years Bow Little Market poster. Working from real life photos she sketched scenes of market. Thank you Jessica!

Thank you to the Alger Food Bank Crew!
Amy Berryman is the organizing force behind the Alger Food Bank. She and her committed team of volunteers, Leonna Robinson, Theresa, Bill and Donna, Maria and Fidel, and Anette Witter hand out much needed food the first and third Tuesday of every month. These caring, committed people would certainly welcome more help. If interested contact the algercommunityhall@yahoo.com

Thanks to all who donate twisty ties, clean plastic containers, aluminum cans and garden produce. Keep 'em coming! Special recognition to Barry Christianson for regularly donating apples and other fruits during the harvest season.

Here are pictures of one of the many Community Action Resource Fairs hosted at Skagit food banks over the summer. Here is Bow Little Market Lady, Kathi Marlowe, sharing information about our Double Up Bucks program, free box, kid's activities and entertainment. Other folks were there to share information about senior resources like Meals On Wheels. United General was there with their bike powered blender demoing how to make blueberry and kale smoothies and helping those in need to sign up for food assistance.

Special Thanks to Patty Sweaney!
A heart felt thanks to Patty Sweaney, Bow Little Market vendor and musician coordinator and editor of our weekly market newsletter. Five years ago, Patty visioned a market in our little rural community and because of her dedication and consistent hard work the market is what it is today. In the end of August, Patty suffered a grave health issue which was resolved after many tests and the installment of a pacemaker. Despite her near death experience, Patty was back coordinating our Harvest and Holiday Festival vendors to finish out the season, now that is commitment to vision and community.

Thanks to all who came to the movie A Place At The Table.
It is an excellent movie and critical look at hunger that Community Action of Skagit hosted earlier this month at the Lincoln Theatre. The conclusion from the movie and the guest speakers: the problem is not going to be solved at the federal level, and it us up to us as communities to put in place the local food systems and economies that can help us create food security for all. If you missed it at the Lincoln you can watch it on YouTube. Watch Movie

Led by Community Action of Skagit, Skagit Food For Skagit People is just one of the innovative local strategies being implemented in our county to find local solutions for food insecurity. We will first be hosting six listening sessions to learn what are the major road blocks for our under served community members in accessing healthy, local food. We will then take this information to two different stakeholder meetings in the spring to begin collaboratively looking for innovative solutions and cooperative efforts between community, farmers and existing organizations. If you would like to be involved as a stakeholder in this on going project Skagit Food For Skagit People please email us at chuckanuttransition@gmail.com.

Thank you Laura Matthews!
Here's a picture of Laura Matthews turning tops on opening day of the Bow Little Market. Through out the season, Laura made and sold her tops for a suggested donation of five dollars with all proceeds going to our county wide Double Up Bucks program. This program is a project of the Skagit Valley Farmers Market Coalition, which the Bow Little Market is a part of. It is a fantastic program for both customers and farmers. When EBT card (foodstamp) recipients use their card at one of the four Skagit Farmers Markets we match what the customer spends, up to $10 dollars.
Laura is a shining example of ordinary people working cooperatively towards "community feeding community" in Skagit County. Thank you Laura for your generosity and action!

Thanks to the Skagit Valley Farmers Market Coalition!
Thanks to Rita Ordonez of Community Action of Skagit, and Mouse Bird, Keri Knapp, Ginny Good and Jeremy Kindlund of Skagit Valley Farmers Market Coalition and all your work helping to create our county-wide Double Up Bucks EBT (food stamp) incentive program that makes our markets more inclusive and puts more money in the pockets of our farmers and families in need. The Coalition is currently working on additional grant funds, which may increase our match from $10 to $20, as well as increase the longevity of the program.
If interested in donating to the Double Up Bucks program, learn more here.

Thank you John Boetcher!
Thank you to John Boetcher for his support of our market and community. John a vendor, otherwise know as the "Farmer's Friend" at market, brought his printing press to our Harvest Market. Using his beautiful, old printing press, he printed off bumper stickers to be sold for $1 donation to raise funds for the market. John also donated his garden grown pumpkins to give away free to kids.
Earlier in the season John worked with SKAT (Skagit Transit) to get our new bus stop. The special Thursday route had been created last spring, but it took a invested community member to coordinate and make it happen.

John Blackmore is an unsung hero!
For five years, John Blackmore has been helping with all the physical aspects of the market. He helped to paint and retrofit our little storage shed that the Curry family of Belfast Feed Store donated to us. He has painted many signs including the one below for the Holiday Festival. During the season, he and his wife Elaine manage our complimentary coffee table we provide for vendors. Every Thursday he helps set up and break down. He quietly and consistently attends the Bow Little Market meetings and manages to keep us rooted in the practical...most of the time. He, Dan Sweaney and Stan Ross were at the Beau Lodge for several days raking leaves, grass and filling potholes getting ready for the Holiday Festival. Thank you John!

Thanks to the Beautiful People of the 2014 Bow Little Holiday Festival
Thanks to all who volunteered, vended and attended. The 2014 Bow Little Holiday Festival doubled its total vendor take. Much applause and celebration in honor of this real, rural economic revival here in the Samish Watershed. One dollar spent locally is multiplied by 2.5, versus a dollar spent at a big box store, which is only multiplied by 1.4.

Check out the slideshow of the Fifth Annual Bow Little Holiday Festival. What a day! What a wonderful, wonderful day!

Thank you to Sue Mitchell of Friday Creek Habitat Stewards, Kristi Carpenter of the Skagit Conservation District and all those who helped put in the Native Demonstration Garden at the Alger Community Hall!
A special thanks to Sue Mitchell, of Friday Creek Habitat Stewards, for spearheading and earning the grant that funded this project. Thank you to Kristi Carpenter, of Skagit Conservation District, for coordinating the volunteer effort. Thanks to all who showed up in driving rain and pounding heat (we had both) to dig in and plant.

Much gratitude to the Memory Tones, Ted Martinez, Jill, Sylvia and Bud Weber for playing at the Naturescape Garden Opening! One of my favorite moments was listening to Bud sing falsetto - "Daddy sings base...Momma sings tenor!" That's deep culture.

Stay tuned...Because so many local businesses offered their support, there is left over money from the project. Sue Mitchell is planning to help plant a native hedge row along the Alger Community Hall's eastern boundary. Good fences (or hedges!) make good neighbors. Thank you Sue!

Thank you to Darcy and the Diva's!
Once again, Darcy and the Diva's were doing what they love for the community. Here is Darcy Haugian and her band at the 2014 Alger Funraiser. Thank you for the donation of your wonderful talents.

Thanks to all who participated in the Alger Community Fun'raiser. Because of your support we made record amounts of money this year! After the BBQ area is finished we will be replacing our wood shed and adding on a storage room to store the Hall's new cider press.

View slideshow of the Fun'raiser

Many Thanks Keith Witter and the Soler Family for the Hall's new cider press!
The Soler Family donated the press. Master craftsman, Keith Witter replaced all the beetle infested wood. Because of them there is a beautiful, functioning relic that is now available to the Alger community.

Richer Than The Richest Man By Chuck Nafziger

11/20/2014

Richer than the Richest Man
Essay and Photo by Chuck Nafziger
November 2014

Thirty five or so years ago, I went on a two month dive vacation in the Philippines. I got to go on many dives with local dive clubs. While in Ilo Ilo on the island of Panay, the dive club president, Susing Maribilia, told me that his favorite soothsayer would like to read my palm. The seer told me that if I lived past 40, I would become the richest man in the world, far richer than Aristotle Onasis, who was known for both his fabulous wealth and for marrying widow Jacqueline Kennedy. But the soothsayer said it was much more likely that I would die in a plane crash before I was 40.

A couple of days before I was 40, I was sitting in a bar thinking that my life was not going anywhere, and wealth did not seem to be in my future, so I went on a sight seeing flight in a float plane to give the prediction a chance. The sight seeing flight was uneventful: but so beautiful and fun that it became a once per year ritual for me and my family. I even got to fly with northwest aviation pioneer Lana Kurtzer on one of his last commercial flights, after he had had a major stroke, but before he quit flying. Still no crash.

About seven years ago, I was sitting around the table in my cabin with some Seattle friends, talking about how much happier I am here than when I was in Seattle, About how I thrive in this place with a big pond and old cedars all around. About how I felt I was really at home in these beautiful surroundings. The connection with nature had restored my soul.

One of my friends who knew the soothsayer story realized that the prediction had come true. To paraphrase John Muir, "I had become richer than the richest man. I have all I want and he does not." My definition of prosperity is "No greed, met needs, we dance!"

Jamie's Musings And Mutterings On An Attitude of Gratitude

11/20/2014

Jamie’s Musings and Mutterings
By Jamie Wisswaesser
November 2014

So the wife says, says she
after having encountered a number of folks in continual or recurring pain-
We have our health so We gotta just shut up.
(in actuality her terse imperative form was
"You have your health, so Shut up.")
Finding gratitude tho for one's fate, can sometimes be a stretch
when one does that comparison up the ladder.
I see those seemingly fortunate footloose young souls
-with a history of good dentistry and diet-
snowbirding away from frozen feet and waterlines,
heading off to warm romantic locales with pockets full of discretionary-
and I sigh, remembering those times it had been I.
But then not to be a drag to myself
esp. coming from that new-agey belief in
-free will agency-
(i.e. There really is little/no victimhood.
-corollary-
One (The self actualized) can always leave
and so
One must have chosen to be
Here and Now in
The Best of all Possible Worlds...)
So then,
there is this daily task/stretch to be upbeat
and grateful for ones station, intimacies, and challenges,
knowing that for the flow to be smooth it has to be primed with attitude.
To start the day right, I pay attention to the small pleasures
such as in the mornings when I can waken sans alarm and joint pain
with the vestiges of dream mood fading,
I go out the front door into open air
to greet the sun and listen for the birdcalls of the season.
The big ungulates noticing my appearance come over with hope.
I proffer a bite of apple and then take pleasure in providing
to their appreciation of the deliciousness of life.
(Just some weeks ago, I too was so grateful
for those delicious mushrooms that the rains delivered up there on the mountain)
Dealing with the humans later in the day can be taxing.
I try my best to be open to thankfulness for their presence
...and forget often....

Naturescape Garden Opening at the Alger Community Hall, July 2014 - Thanks to all that made the dream reality.

11/20/2014

This was a wonderful but a hot, hot day in July that honored all the volunteers that had worked so hard to make this dream a reality. Now the Alger Community Hall and our neighboring food bank share a beautiful, park-like setting. Folks can enjoy and learn about the native plants that support wildlife, humans and our shared ecosystem. A special thanks to Sue Mitchell, of Friday Creek Habitat Stewards, for spearheading the project and winning the grant that funded the project. Thank you to Kristi Carpenter, of Skagit Conservation District, for coordinating the volunteer effort. Pictures below were provided by Kristi Carpenter.

Stay tuned...Because so many local businesses offered their support, there is left over money from the project. Sue Mitchell is planning to help plant a native hedge row along the Alger Community Hall's eastern boundary. Good fences (or hedges!) make good neighbors. Thank you Sue!