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on March 5, 7:00pm in Langley at South Whidbey High School and March 6, 2:30pm at Oak Harbor High School. Music Director Anna Edwards will lead the ensemble in musical works by Vivaldi, Bach, Lauridsen and Wagner. OHHS’ Harbor Singers will again be sharing the stage with the Saratoga Orchestra after last season’s overwhelmingly successful presentation of “Carmina Burana”. Music Director Edwards, a strong advocate for presenting educational experiences for youth, is pleased to showcase Darren McCoy’s select 55-voice Harbor Singers on Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and Pacific Northwest composer, Morten Lauridsen’s, “Veni Sancte Spiritus”. Mr. McCoy, Director of Choirs at Oak Harbor High School, was recently acknowledged by GRAMMY In the Schools™ program for his outstanding choral ensembles here on Whidbey Island. The program will also feature J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 for Strings. Bach’s Six Brandenburg concerti were dedicated in 1721 and exemplify the rich textural writing of the baroque period. The orchestra is pleased to welcome baroque violin specialist and founder of the Whidbey Island Music Festival, Tekla Cunningham, as the orchestra’s guest concertmaster for these concerts. Ms. Cunningham brings a vast knowledge and experience of baroque music as a member of Pacific MusicWorks, American Bach Soloists, Seattle Baroque Orchestra and Musica Angelica. This season, the Saratoga Orchestra is offering a pre-concert chat beginning 45 minutes prior to each concert to enhance the concert going experience. For this series, Music Director Edwards will be joined by Darren McCoy to discuss the music and musical process for this series. General Admission tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors/military. Students under 18 admitted free (under 14 must be accompanied by a paying adult). Tickets available with cash and check at Moonraker Books in Langley, bayleaf in Coupeville, and Click Music in Oak Harbor, on-line at Brown Paper Tickets and cash/check/CC accepted at the door. For complete information and tickets, please visit www.sowhidbey.com or call (360) 929-3045.
year terms. The initial terms will be staggered so that one-third of the member’s appointments expires each year. The CAB is composed of nine (9) voting members that represent conservation and community planning expertise and technical knowledge. Within the nine (9) voting members, there are two (2) members representing each commissioner district and three (3) members representing the county at large. Applicants must reside within the area they are representing. The CAB reviews and evaluates applications to acquire by purchase, gift, grant, bequest, devise, lease, or otherwise, except by eminent domain, the fee simple or any lesser property interest, development right, easement, covenant, or other contractual right necessary to protect, preserve, maintain, improve, restore, or limit the future use of, or otherwise conserve selected open space, wetlands, habitat areas, farm, agricultural, and timber lands for the public use and enjoyment and as one tool for salmon preservation purposes. This process usually occurs during April of each year. Interested individuals should provide a letter of interest and statement of qualifications by mail, email or fax to: Island County Board of Commissioners, Attn: Pam Dill, Re: Conservation Futures Program Citizens’ Advisory Board (CAB), Post Office Box 5000, Coupeville, WA 98239. The fax number is (360) 679-7381 and email applications should be sent to pamd@ co.island.wa.us. Application materials should be received no later than 4:30pm on February 26, 2016. For additional information, please phone (360) 679-7353 or e-mail Pam Dill at the above address.
Admission is $165, and everyone of every age and background is invited to attend. Learn more: visit www.whidbeyinstitute.org/ thriving-communities-2016, email dan@whidbeyinstitute.org, or call 360.341.1884. [Submitted by Marnie Jones, Whidbey Institute Communications Manager]
Conservation Futures Program Citizens’ Advisory Board (CAB) The Island County Board of Commissioners is seeking citizen member representatives from each of the three County Commissioner Districts to serve on the Conservation Futures Program Citizens’ Advisory Board (CAB). The Board of County Commissioners appoints Conservation Futures Program Citizens’ Advisory Board (CAB) member representatives for 3
Sweet Mona’s chocolates have won several awards including Most Luxurious Chocolate Experience at the Seattle Chocolate Salon. Her chocolates have received 5 and 6 stars through various competitions, including the San Francisco Chef’s Roundtable. Her dark chocolate salted caramels have been rated 5 stars through Amazon sales for nearly three years now.
By Melissa Crowe For Sno-Isle Libraries
Forget their seedy past as serious contraband. Teachers and librarians are changing their philosophy about graphic novels and the format’s ability to motivate new readers. T. Andrew Wahl, an Everett Community College journalism instructor and Humanities Washington comic book historian, laughs when considering the paradigm shift graphic novels experienced over the last 65 years.
Burley Funeral Chapel Welcomes Claudia Kulvinskas
Their power comes from the juxtaposition of words and pictures working together. ”You can immerse yourself in another world,” said Wahl, who has created a list of recommended graphic novels from the SnoIsle Libraries collection. A new, fast-growing library collection Graphic novels are on the New York Times bestsellers list, they’re behind box-office hit films and successful TV series. They’re inspiring a new generation of readers. From the fringes to the mainstream, the popularity of the graphic novel is soaring. Sno-Isle Libraries is letting its graphic novels shine by sorting them into a special collection, a change made in 2015.
The Burley Funeral Chapel family is very excited to welcome Claudia Kulvinskas to their team. Claudia is originally from Texas, but don’t hold that against her, she left as soon as she could. She’s been living in Washington State for nearly four years, and loves everything about it. Claudia had a bad case of wanderlust and even lived in Kazakhstan for a few years teaching English, but has promised her mother she will finally settle down. She’s joining the Burley Funeral Chapel team as an intern funeral director and is very excited to become part of the Whidbey Island community. When she has downtime, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, cooking, reading and writing.
“Before, they were just lost in the stacks, filed by author with all the rest of the general fiction books,” said Jackie Parker, the district’s lead librarian for readers’ services. “We weren’t really highlighting them and they weren’t easy to find.” More than good vs. evil Although Marvel’s 1960s superheroes are the most recognizable graphic novel and comic book characters, the libraries’ collection includes more than good vs. evil plotlines. Whether you prefer Shakespeare and Dostoevsky, history and civil rights, humor and sci-fi, there’s a graphic novel for you. “If there’s something you like to read in fiction or nonfiction, we can find a graphic novel that you will enjoy too,” Parker said. “We are here to help customers find books to read.”
For more information about Burley Funeral Chapel and the services they provide, visit www.burleyfuneralchapel.com or call (360) 675-3192.
When words and artwork come together on the page, the storytelling possibilities are endless.
Sweet Mona’s, Chocolate Boutique, Celebrates Ten Years in the Chocolate Business
Becky Buckingham, who is in charge of selecting teen and adult graphic novels at Sno-Isle Libraries, remembers when she was hired in 1982, and there wasn’t a single one on the shelves.
Two weeks after lease signing in the small front portion of a building on February 17, 2006 under the name of 1 Angel Place, Chocolate Bar, Mona Newbauer opened what is now known as Sweet Mona’s, Chocolate Boutique. It is with great enthusiasm that she and her husband, Tony Newbauer would like to celebrate this great success with their community.
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In 2014, Sweet Mona’s realized a dream by purchasing a building in Langley, allowing expansion of manufacturing area, as well as the retail space. Sweet Mona’s also captured the eye of Seattle Chocolates and DandyLine Distributors and both are partnering with Sweet Mona’s to Sweeten the World with confections. Please join Mona and Tony on Saturday, February 20 from 10:00am to 5:00pm at Sweet Mona’s, 221 2nd Street, Langley. There will be drawings for prizes for chocolates, gifts, and free chocolate tasting throughout the day. Sweet Mona’s, Chocolate Boutique is a gourmet specialty chocolate shop featuring handmade chocolates and confections, gelato, and offers espresso, tea and other beverages. For more information, please contact Mona Newbauer at (360) 221-2728.
Graphic Novels Go Mainstream
Local Business News
[Submitted by Pam Dill]
Fifth Annual Thriving Communities Conference: Water & Community
The conference will feature short documentaries produced by Thriving Communities on the Methow Conservancy, Dreamrider Productions, Duwamish River Cleanup Coolition, and Whidbey Watershed Stewards. Participants will help one other envision possibilities and practical outcomes, explore how solutions might take root in their own communities, build networks of collaboration and support, and be fed by music, food, art, poetry, the land, the forest, and our community.
During the past 10 years, Mona has been challenged to create that special mix of chocolate products and services that spell success in a small town. It’s been a wild roller coaster ride. Since opening, Mona has offered everything from bakery to breakfast. In December 2010, she decided to focus on what she does best— chocolate. It was with the decision to focus that helped to create the perfect retail plan to set Sweet Mona’s, Chocolate Boutique on the road to success.
“The stigma came during the 1950s when a psychiatrist blamed juvenile delinquency on comic books,” Wahl said. Now, he said, some of the best fiction being done today is done in this format.
[Submitted by Larry Heidel]
The fifth annual Thriving Communities Conference will take place March 17 to 19 at the Whidbey Institute. Water is a vital, life-giving substance for people and ecosystems, and many communities are touched by challenges to maintaining clean, safe water. As a testimony to the success of this model, over thirty communities have already exchanged and implemented ideas from previous Thriving Communities gatherings, which focused on the topics of food, economy, health, and shelter.
FEBRUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 24, 2016
A regional sensation
By the early 2000s, libraries across the country started jumping on the graphic novel bandwagon. Sno-Isle’s collection started with in the 2000s in the teen section with manga, which are Japanese or Japaneseinfluenced comics and graphic novels. Graphic novels are a growing part of the
Sno-Isle collection While the manga collection still has fans — girls and women particularly like the romance-heavy shojo manga, Buckingham said — graphic novel offerings have expanded far beyond to include more collectible materials, superheroes and literary works. “The Walking Dead” is what really got people interested, Buckingham said. “There’s a community within the graphic novels community,” she added. “It’s not just American. There’s a broad range of people working in it now.” There’s also a large community in the Puget Sound region. Willow Wilson, a Seattle resident, created the story of “Ms. Marvel.” The character is a typical 16-year-old until she discovers she has super powers.
Ms. Marvel, known to her parents as Kamala Kahn, is a second-generation American Muslim, the first person with her background to star in a graphic novel series. “Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo & Me,” by Seattle-based artist Ellen Forney, explores her diagnosis with bipolar disorder and its effect on creativity. Then there are the humor pieces by Matthew Inman, also based in Seattle. Inman, creator of The Oatmeal, wrote a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, “My Dog; the Paradox.” Keeping up with demand “In July of 2015, we made special shelving for children’s graphic novels and, since then, we have purchased about 20,000 of them,” said collections librarian Lorraine Burdick. “The librarians tell us that they can’t keep enough books on the shelves. The most popular children’s title? “My Neighbor Totoro 1,” a comic based on the Japanese film of the same name. Graphic novels are an alternative for reluctant readers, said Nancy Messenger, collection development manager. “Some people love the artwork of the format, for others it’s a way to get into reading and a way to learn about a new topic.” For Wahl, who is 45 and a lifelong graphic novel reader, it’s more than the storylines interacting with the artwork. It’s the way the format makes him feel. Graphic novels are such an important aspect of his life, that he named his daughter, Katja, now 17, after a character in X-Men No. 129.
“She thinks it’s great she was named after a mutant,” Wahl said. “She was raised Geek.” From the classics like “Dark Knight Returns” and “The Watchmen,” to a Romeo and Juliet inspired tale in “Saga,” Wahl revels in the growing collection in Sno-Isle Libraries. “As an academic, I can give you 10 reasons why graphic novels are worthwhile,” he said. “The truth is, these are the comics that make me feel like a 10-year-old boy again and there’s magic in that.”
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