In the living room of Jason and Jorae Blackwell’s home in Oak Harbor are six Christmas stockings.
One for each of them and one for each of their three young children, Sophia, Paxton and Gabriel.
The sixth one is for Ana, the family dog.
A discarded metal sign turned into gold for Steel Springer.
Springer’s dad discovered the sign after it was left behind at a rental property and gave it to his creative son.
Springer, an advanced art student at Oak Harbor High School, used his imagination and a Sharpie marker to draw a zombie face, giving even more of an ominous meaning to the yellow “Dead End” sign.
Kumi Kosbar never thought such a thing was possible in her lifetime.
The idea of slipping on tights, a tutu and funny little shoes while dancing as a ballerina was the furthest thing from her mind.
“The image of ballet never existed in my brain,” said Kosbar, who grew up a competitive gymnast.
Kosbar learned, however, that the power of a 5-year-old daughter should never be underestimated.
Although the journey isn’t long, Byron Skubi knows that leading a parade of boats on a chilly winter night in Puget Sound can pose some challenges.
“There are a fair number of crab pots you have to watch out for,” Skubi said. “You always have to worry about someone falling overboard at night, which can be a problem. Many years ago, a cat fell overboard and was actually rescued.”
Skubi has seen a lot in 25 years of participating in the Oak Harbor Yacht Club’s Lighted Boat Parade.
During rehearsals for a musical revue at Whidbey Playhouse, Karina Mitchell heard a voice that made her eyes light up.
Known for her own booming voice that grabs an audience’s attention, Mitchell was taken back when she first heard Lisa Berritella sing.
“She owns a big operatic voice,” Mitchell said. “I thought, ‘Where did she come from?’ It’s always nice to discover new talent here.
“Lisa’s good.”
Carrying a tuba around every day can take a toll on the triceps.
But what felt like a struggle a year ago seems a little less laborious these days for Jordan George.
He’s gotten stronger, and so has his tuba playing.
George, an eighth grader at North Whidbey Middle School in Oak Harbor, recently was selected to participate in the Washington Music Educators Association Junior All-State band Feb. 15 in Yakima.
For three months out of the year, Patti and Harry Keller don’t worry about the electric bill.
They shrug it off as a temporary inconvenience essential to enjoying their favorite pastime.
“Oh, it shoots up the last three months of the year,” Patti said of their bill. “We really don’t want to figure it out. It’s not the point.”
The point is, joy radiates from the Keller’s front yard during the holidays.
The organizer of the North Whidbey Community Harvest called it a Thanksgiving like none other.
The 12th annual event drew about 4,000 people to the Oak Harbor Elks Lodge on Nov. 28 while volunteers delivered meals to about 1,000 more, according to Jack Stiltz, the event’s coordinator.
“This ranked as the best we’ve ever had in 12 years,” Stiltz said.
For Re McClung, watching toys pile up in her garage is a joy to see.
In a way, it’s therapy.
McClung said she is pleased to still be involved with the Toys for Tots donations program on Whidbey Island this holiday season.
She knows what the sight of those toys would have meant to her daughter Megan McClung, a former U.S. Marine killed in Iraq in 2006. And she knows what they would have meant to her husband Michael McClung, also a former Marine who died of natural causes in July.
Both had giving hearts and held soft spots for children.
Glenn Anthony’s attempts to stop his wife were turning futile.
He’d look away for a moment, and his wife would sneak in the door with another couple of packages in her arms. He didn’t want her lifting so much.
“Let me get the rest of the stuff before she unloads the car,” Anthony said as he walked outdoors.
It’s a busy time of year for Mollie Anthony and husband Glenn.
Jean Wieman could hardly believe her eyes when she saw a bright yellow school bus approach bulging inside with boxes of food.
“I kept going, ‘Is that stacked with food? That’s a lot of food,” she said.
When she was told it was only the first of two buses stuffed with food, her jaw dropped.
Coordinating a feast that serves an entire community is no small task.
Jack Stiltz tackles that role every Thanksgiving in Oak Harbor with the support of a dedicated core group of organizers and an army of volunteers.
And he said he still draws inspiration from another man he called his best friend.
Keith Bartlett is still heavy on his mind.
For months, Sasha Castaneda told a tale that only seemed to raise eyebrows.
A tale about spotting an enormous bull elk, sporting a “huge” rack of antlers.
An elk so big and so still as she approached along a country road on North Whidbey in June that she was sure it was fake, clearly one of those life-size plastic imitations that people place in their yards.
