SPORTS | Viking basketball coverage [7] LETTERS | Commentary from islanders [4] WINTER BLUES | Ideas for beating the stress of winter [9]
POLAR BEAR PLUNGE Kick off 2013 with this annual icy dip Page 7
SOUN OUNDER THE ISLANDS’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
www.islandssounder.com
WEDNESDAY, December 19, 2012 VOL. 45, NO. 51 75¢
Help in the wake of disaster Orcas resident Sheila Gaquin was one of several islanders who flew to the East Coast to help with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts by COLLEEN SMITH ARMSTRONG Editor/Publisher
When Sheila Gaquin took a Red Cross training course last year, she never imagined it would lead to 10-hour days of delivering supplies to Long Island home owners. After Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast in late October, volunteers across the country were called in to help with relief efforts. Gaquin, who initially became part of the Red Cross to help with disaster planning for her Deer Harbor neighborhood, didn’t take long to say yes when she received the call. “It was mind boggling – there were miles and miles of destruction,” she said. “The winds weren’t the issue, it was the water … it’s low elevation there, and sand buried cars and bikes – all you could see were the handle bars. In New York, 350,000 homes were damaged beyond repair.” Gaquin says one neighborhood burned down after salt water got into the electrical units. Firefighters stood chest deep in water while putting out the flames. There was also humor amid some of the destruction. One family put a sign beneath a vessel sticking straight of their house: “Thanks, Sandy. I always wanted a boat.” The hurricane impacted 24 states from Florida to Maine and west across the Appalachian Mountains to Michigan
and Wisconsin. The bulk of the damage occurred in New Jersey and New York. The storm also devastated portions of the Caribbean. When she flew out on Nov. 16, Gaquin assumed she would be assigned to a shelter, which are stop gap measures until displaced people can find more permanent housing. By the time she arrived, most of the shelters were packed up, so she was appointed to “bulk distribution.” Every day at 6 a.m., volunteers would get into school busses and drive two hours out of Manhattan. They would then load up trucks with supplies like food, blankets, coolers, diapers and bleach – an item that Gaquin says became “like gold” because it could remove mold from the massive water damage. She would drive through Long Island neighborhoods and hand out items. Gaquin wouldn’t be back in her New York hotel room until after nightfall, at which point she collapsed into bed. Most of the residents in the Long Island communities were working class folks who Gaquin says “never accepted help for anything.” “Their wealth is invested in their home, so it’s really devastating,” Gaquin said. “The hardest part was seeing older
SEE SANDY, PAGE 5
Sheila Gaquin photo
A Long Island home devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
Sounder deadlines
The race is on
Display advertising: Friday at noon Classified advertising: Monday at noon Legal advertising: Thursday at noon Press releases, Letters: Friday at 3 p.m.
by CALI BAGBY Staff reporter
Where once there was six, now there will be three. The special filing period for candidates for three new San Juan County Council positions was held last week from Dec. 12 to 14. The Special Election will be held to fill the positions created by the passage of Proposition 1 in the November election, reducing the six-person council to three. Prop. 1 was one of three propositions devised by the Charter Review Commission and passed in the election. Prop. 2 replaces the executive county administrator position with a county manager and Prop. 3 mandates that all
contributed photos
Left to right: County council candidates Greg Ayers, Lisa Byers and Rick Hughes. All are Orcas residents. county council meetings are open to the public. Council positions that more than two candidates file for will be narrowed to two candidates in a county-wide “primary” election held Feb. 12. The winners of that election, plus the candidates for any positions for which two or fewer candidates file, will be elected in a county-wide “general”
election held April 23. Rick Hughes, Lisa Byers and Greg Ayers filed for District 2, which includes Orcas Island, Waldron Island, Blakely Island, and surrounding smaller islands. Here’s a quick run-down of the candidates. Greg Ayers has extensive business experience in the medical device industry and brings a multi-
decade career of operating over a dozen privately financed biotech companies. He is an elected commissioner of the Eastsound Water and Sewer District and serves in a variety of volunteer positions. Ayers holds degrees in biomedical engineering and medicine, is a recognized expert in the cause
SEE ELECTION, PAGE 6
How to reach us Office: 376-4500 Fax: 376-4501 Advertising: advertising@ islandssounder.com Classified: 1-800-388-2527, classifieds@ soundpublishing.com Editor: editor@ islandssounder.com