Judy Lynn has spent countless hours listening.
With more than 200 oral history interviews conducted on behalf of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve and the Island County Historical Society under her belt, this Coupeville resident knows a lot about local history.
Carol Barnes clicked through picture after picture on her desktop looking for one she could share.
Most are too disturbing to be shown, she said.
The stage is built. Lines are memorized. And the roll-drop is ready to go for the Christmas production of “Fruitcakes” at the Whidbey Playhouse in Oak Harbor, currently showing.
“We all know Coupeville is a very unique and special place and the Greening of Coupeville events make it even more so,” said Lynda Eccles, executive director of the Coupeville Chamber of Commerce.
As in years past, a cheerful atmosphere will greet those who venture downtown for the two-day celebration that begins with a concert on Friday, Nov. 30 and wraps up with the annual Christmas parade and holiday tree lighting the evening of Saturday, Dec. 1.
Whidbey General Hospital — and its patients — have been very lucky.
So far deadly “superbugs” resistant to all antibiotics have not set-up shop in this facility and the hospital is committed to keeping it that way, said Shannon Wolfe, infection prevention specialist at WGH.
After six years of offering summer tours of Deception Pass by boat, Brett Ginther and Terica Taylor of Deception Pass Tours decided to offer a gray whale tour this spring.
After getting positive feedback, they decided to add a weekly orca-watching excursion to their offerings. Passengers have been thrilled.
Three generations gathered in the living room of the old farmhouse on Ebey’s Prairie. Most had flown in from California to be there. One drove in from Seattle. All wanted to reconnect with their ancestral home.
The smiling faces belonged to the descendants of Edward Jenne, who with his brother, Jacob, settled in Coupeville in 1876. And this fall, the family returned to those roots for a family reunion at the Engle Road farmhouse that Edward built in 1910.
First red. Then white. Now green.
For Whidbey Island communities trying to entice customers to their local businesses by offering prizes, the competition has grown stiffer this holiday season.
People visiting local businesses now have a chance to snag tickets to win cash or prizes when they go shopping in Coupeville, Langley and Oak Harbor.
In the Coupeville area, oil from leaking cars, fertilizer from farms and flowerbeds, and other chemicals get flushed into Penn Cove – if left uncaptured and untreated. As water heads downhill it picks up contaminants along the way.
And this impacts the health of aquatic wildlife.
JillHein collects wildlife.
She does not mount their heads on her walls, or display their stuffed bodies in cases.
Rather, she captures their images in photographs.
“The sun sets on Chapter One of Mosquito Fleet Chili,” Rita Tomayko wrote this week on the Facebook page for her Front Street eatery.
The family opened the Coupeville business four years ago, and recently sold the beloved chili place to Janjira Rattanasint and Aroon Saivaree, who own The Cove Thai Cuisine just up the hill on North Main Street. Rita and her husband Chris are headed to a new home near family in Florida.
Winter is fast approaching and that means two things.
The weather is getting colder and the Town of Coupeville is close to adopting its budget for next year.
Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard said the proposed $4.9 million budget for 2013 is balanced and maintains staffing and services at their current levels.
Driving along Boon Road, Matt Klope spots a large, dead bird on the side of the road.
He pulls his truck over, steps out to take a closer look, then grabs his gloves and a plastic bag to scoop the barred owl up. Once tagged, he puts it in his truck.
Back at his home south of Oak Harbor, Klope puts the carcass into a large freezer filled with dead birds, where the owl will remain frozen in time until he has a chance to pull it out and put his taxidermy skills to work.
