By Caitlin Rothermel What’s brought Russ Baum, a central Indiana-based touring musician, to Vashon’s Strawberry Festival? It started with a long-distance friendship formed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is part of a bigger story about the ways musician-audience engagement changed, quite suddenly, during that time. Baum describes his music style as “folk-rock, Skamericana,” that also…
Vashon Island, WA Weslie Rodgers, maker of smile dispensers Weslie Ann Rodgers passed away on June 23rd, 2025. Perhaps best known for her “Please do not eat animal” sign campaign, her touch can be found almost anywhere you look on Vashon. She and her husband Saul first reached Vashon in 1979, and have been permanent…
The Vashon Care Network and Vashon Senior Center, in partnership with the Presbyterian Church, are launching the Vashon Island Old Friends Club, a daytime program for adults living with dementia or cognitive decline. Based on the successful Old Friends Club model (www.OldFriendsClub.org), the program offers engaging, meaningful activities for participants while giving family caregivers consistent, scheduled…
By Rich Osborne Eight years ago, my buddy Karen Dale came up to me and said “Rich, you have got to come out next Tuesday afternoon and sing and play guitar with this group of musicians at 1:30 at the Vashon Community Care Center (VCCC). We have a sing-along for folks living with Alzheimer’s or…
By Jane Valencia This month, let’s learn to say: ʔəsx̌id čəxʷHow are you? To hear how to pronounce the phrase, go to: https://www.puyalluptriballanguage.org/basics/greetingdepartures.php You’ll find plenty of Twulshootseed language learning resources there. Read our Loop articles about Twulshootseed
(also known as Lushootseed) By Jane Valencia In the January and February issues, David Turnipseed, a language instructor with the Puyallup Tribal Language Program, taught us about Twulshootseed, the language spoken by the indigenous people of Puget Sound. He invited us to support its revitalization by learning some of it ourselves. Today, we embark on…
By Travis Holman Did you know that Vashon Island is currently working toward setting a world record? This attempt is something that may bring out the inner child in you, because the mission is to collect and assemble the longest Hot Wheels track in history! If you need a refresh, Hot Wheels are those little,…
An Infomercialby Bernie O’MalleyMayor 2016 Oh my, nobody told you we got Island Bluebirds who drive cars? Over Town in the City? Well, it’s true. If you have a medical/dental appointment off-Island, a Neighborly Bluebird picks you up, whisks you there, waits for you until the visit is done, then brings you home, true door-to-door…
By Erin Durrett Everyone who lives on Vashon, no matter how young or old, has had an amazing experience with birds: a song so sweet it melts your heart, a majestic heron sweeping over the water in the early dawn light, or the screech of an owl hunting in the depths of a windy night….
By Jane Valencia Under the effort and direction of Daniel Hooker, the Clothing Drive has been running for ten years, for the past 2½ years at the Food Bank. Distribution takes place on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. As mentioned in last month’s issue, Daniel is retiring from running this program. Thank you…