As Freeland grows, community members and business owners want to see new multi-use buildings remain diverse rather than veer towards bland uniformity, at least according to those who showed up to the Freeland Subarea Plan open house on Monday evening.
Little by little, performance by performance, Langley resident and storyteller Jill Johnson is restoring the island’s knowledge of its heritage.
Johnson has traveled the state and parts of the country for the past 13 years performing “Little, But Oh My!”, the story of a fiery little woman named Berte Olson who was the face behind the first ferry line at Deception Pass from 1920-1930 before the bridge was constructed. Now the story is making a comeback where it all happened.
Whidbey Island is home to an array of produce and food products: fruits and vegetables, beer, bread bakers, etc. One of the few things the island was missing was its own kombucha brewer — until now.
The fermented tea drink is now brewing on South Whidbey at the hands of the island’s first wholesale kombucha business, Amrita Kombucha.
If South Whidbey’s school campuses look a little bit cleaner lately, there’s a reason for that.
Families often come to specialize in certain crafts as traditions are handed down through generations, and for Jan Gross’ family that specialty is homemade jam.
Gross and her daughter Becca Hyman are the faces behind 3 Generations Jam, a Greenbank-based mother-daughter team that operates out of a commercial kitchen that was once a laundromat. Gross will share her jam expertise at Slow Food Whidbey Island’s upcoming jam-making workshop on Tuesday, July 26.
Plumes of smoke could be seen for miles on South Whidbey Wednesday afternoon when a pickup truck burnt to a crisp in Freeland.
The truck, located on Timber Lane, was fully engulfed in the middle of the street when South Whidbey Fire and EMS received the call around 2:30 p.m. The flames reached as high as nearby power lines — about 25 feet, South Whidbey Fire/EMS Deputy Chief Mike Cotton said. The cloud of smoke rose about 50 feet. The truck was on fire for about 20 minutes before it was extinguished by firefighters. Nobody was injured in the incident.
Those who walk through Langley’s streets will be able to enjoy a new sculpture in the near future, and the installment will tower over the existing art pieces scattered across the sidewalks.
The Langley Arts Commission selected a winner on July 14 for their contest for South Whidbey artists to install their own art piece in front of the post office on Second Street in Langley. The City of Langley approved the arts commission’s plans for the art installation at the regular city council meeting on Monday night.
The old growth forests of South Whidbey State Park have always been a prime destination for hiking and trail running, but the park will have a different element over the weekend — live music.
Nonprofit organization Friends of South Whidbey State Park has organized the first-ever Forest Music Festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 23 at the park’s amphitheater in an initiative to increase the park’s usage. South Whidbey’s “conductor of fun” and go-to host Jim Freeman will emcee the festival, and five Whidbey-based groups will perform throughout the afternoon with performers covering a range of genres from jazz to maritime tunes to bluegrass.
To many, the members of Western Heroes are South Whidbey legends. For years their grooves have gotten people young and old out of their seats and onto the dance floor.
Representatives from a slew of Whidbey Island organizations have teamed up to roll out the first of three automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to be located in public places on the South End.
The installment of the AEDs is part of a push from Rotary of Whidbey-Westside, WhidbeyHealth Hospital Foundation and South Whidbey Parks & Rec to bring defibrillators out of business closets and onto the streets for public usage.
South Whidbey residents want affordable housing. That desire was made clear during Island County Planning and Community Development’s open house on the comprehensive plan Monday at South Whidbey High School.
As the bands filled the Langley air with twangy sounds and infectious grooves, the city’s feet were moving.
Nights are long, picnic blankets are fully stocked with finger food and music is flowing through Community Park. The Concerts in the Park series is back and in full swing.
