Journal
The
NEWS | Minor sex trafficking panel [4] ARTS | Community exhibit on marine life [9] CULTURE Royal treatment for Palace Theatre | [11] Food Anna’s Fourth of July cake| [12]
WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2015 n VOL. 108, NO. 26 n 75¢
Fireworks suspected in Goose Island blaze Legislators voting on state budget By Anna V. Smith Journal Reporter
A grass fire allegedly caused by a homemade firecracker started on Goose Island at 6 p.m. Friday, June 26 and is still smoldering. Goose Island is located off of Cape San Juan, between San Juan Island and Lopez Island. “As far as we can tell it was a fireworks-caused fire, based on witness reports,” Fire Chief Steve Marler said. “The last time I checked eagles don’t smoke, and we didn’t have any lightening, and there’s nothing else there.” According to a press release sent out from San Juan Island Fire & Rescue, neighbors on Cape San Juan heard a booming noise and saw smoke coming from Goose Island, and residents on Lopez Island saw flames. The Fire Boat Sentinel was dispatched, and two residents from Cape San Juan went in private boats to try to See BLAZE, Page 4
By Dennis Box Editor
Contributed photo / Lynne Deal
Smoke rises from Goose Island Monday as the fire continues to burn. The fire began Friday and firefighters hoped it would burn itself out.
The state Legislature appears to have reached an agreement on the two-year operating budget according to Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island. The race to the budget finish line has taken two special sessions and the beginning of a third. Gov. Jay Inslee had to sign the bill by midnight Tuesday for the government to have the money to continue operating. The signing is past the press deadline. Check online, www.sanjuanjournal.com, for an update. Senate members announced a tentative agreement was reached Saturday, the 163rd day of the session. The budget must first pass out of the Senate. Ranker said by phone he expects it to pass Monday night. If the bill clears the Senate it moves to the
A priest with the spirit to explore and serve By Anna V. Smith Journal reporter
T
he Rev. Edward Douglas Leche III has always had a roaming spirit. It’s what led him to explore the Seattle neighborhoods of his boyhood, what enticed him to sign up for World War II aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga at age 17, and ultimately what led him around the state of Washington to eight different parishes before fulfilling a mission to the San Juan Islands, where he finally settled to stay. June 29 marked Leche’s 60th anniversary of his ordination as an Episcopal priest, originally ordained June 29, 1955. Family members, churchgoers, amateur radio operators and friends gathered Sunday, June 28, to reminisce with Leche, now 89. Father Ted, as most know him, came to the San Juan Islands in 1967 by mission to the three Episcopal churches on San Juan, Orcas and Lopez Islands. The church issued him a boat named the Archangel so that he could minister to the islands with-
Archival photo courtesy Leche family - Staff photo / Anna V. Smith
The Rev. Edward Douglas Leche III came to the San Juan Islands in 1967. He has been serving the community for 48 years.
out ferry service or established churches: Stuart, Waldron and Shaw. “I liked anything that didn’t tie me down,” Father Ted said about his mission service in the San Juans. “Parish work never appealed to me; you got set down in one place and you didn’t get to go anywhere.” The people on the Islands also appealed to him, there seemed to be someone from every walk of life here. “He really did minister to a
wide range of people,” said his son, Edward Leche IV. “Industrialists, producers, environmentalists, the wealthy and those who were searching for themselves — such an eclectic web of people all here for different reasons.” He was paid in chicken eggs in Darrington, held communion on a lake in a boat at Camp Huston, and mediated local spats around the Islands. His family often accompanied him on the Archangel, Edward and daughter Mary DeLong remember
going with him to services, taking friends with them and meeting all of the intriguing characters that he met through his ministry. His wife, Mary Jane Leche, was a fixture in the community as well and helped him throughout the years. “Mom never did know who was coming home for dinner,” Mary said. Father Ted has also seen the changes in the San Juan Islands over time. One by one the churches dropped off his mission as their populations increased, and they became self-supporting churches with their own pastors. Orcas was the first to become their own parish, then Lopez, then he focused on St. David’s until retiring in 1988. “The goal of a mission is for it to become self-sufficient and to become an independent congregation,” said the Rev. Doug Simonsen, Rector at St. David’s. “He succeeded in that, so the need of a San Juan Island mission evaporated. That’s his legacy here.” Another change to the Islands came by way of fishing. As the
See BUDGET, Page 4
means of the business changed, there were fewer fishermen in the harbor. As visitors grew, there were more yachts and pleasure boats. See EXPLORE, Page 7
N Se ation cti a on l P In ark sid s e
Published by the Journal of the San Juan Islands, Islands’ Sounder and Islands’ Weekly
Trails To You
Our 2015 Parks & Trails Guide covers a lot of territory, including trails, hikes and programs at National Parks, State Parks, County Parks and the Land Bank. Check it out in this week’s edition.