December 2024

An Apology from The Loop
December 2024, Island Businesses

An Apology from The Loop

We do our best, but every once in a while we have something slip through the net, and we’re sorry to say this happened for our December issue. You’ll be hearing from Vashon Bikes in our next issue, but in the meantime please be sure to drop by and thank them for being an island…

DispatchHealth Adoption
December 2024, Editorial Page

DispatchHealth Adoption

Investor and Warren Buffet partner Charlie Munger famously said, “Show me the incentive, and I’ll show you the outcome.” The quote serves as a rule of thumb when thinking about business and performance metrics, shorthand for how human behaviors can be profoundly altered by what at first glance may appear to be minor changes. Recently,…

Santa Loves Cigars! 
December 2024, Island Voices

Santa Loves Cigars! 

By Seán C. Malone and John Sweetman As very young children, Christmas was always an exciting and wondrous time, but not for the same reasons that adults experienced. We were totally taken in by the family and church gatherings. Religious rituals, stories, and experiences were just taken for granted. We did have the eminently logical…

Going Shopping in ’78
December 2024, Legends of Vashon

Going Shopping in ’78

Legends of Vashon By O.S. Van Olinda This account of a day’s shopping in 1878 is from the diary of a fifteen-year-old boy, whom I shall call Bill Jones. His real name is John Smith, but he might not wish that his identity be disclosed. Bill’s father was among the first settlers on Vashon Island,…

Book Review: Discovery of Geminus
Book Review, December 2024

Book Review: Discovery of Geminus

By Neil Orint Earth has a magical twin, and it is called Geminus. While on Vashon Island, 15-year-old Henry Brooks discovers Geminus, a twin world to Earth powered by spirit and magic instead of materialism and technology. He travels to this new land with his friends Kate, Max, and his faithful dog Rocky. Upon his…

December 2024, Editorial Page, Island Voices

Boys Save the World

By Andy Valencia Even as an old dude, I still remember bits of my own boyhood. Parts were great, and parts were terrible. But I thought I should mention the thing that really sticks out in my memory: Boys are the greatest force for good in the world. The odd part is that, mostly, modern…

December 2024, Island Voices

Re-read, Re-connect, Re-ligion

By Michael Shook    “Christmas is coming” … I don’t know if the goose is getting fat, but some of us undoubtedly will add some, given all the delicious, butter-laden food that is such a wonderful part of the season. We should also grant that, for those not fond of wet, short, cold, and dark days,…

Making Christmas
December 2024, Island Voices

Making Christmas

By Suzanna Leigh In Oatman, Arizona, the gold-mining ghost town where we were living when the boys were small, there were no malls, no blaring of tired old Christmas Carols, no Salvation Army Santa’s jingling bells on the street corners. Actually, there were no street corners to speak of, unless you count where the pot-holed…

Tuesday Morning at the IGA
December 2024, Island Voices

Tuesday Morning at the IGA

By Pam (aka Gates) Johnson One of the great things about aging on Vashon is Tuesday at the local IGA. If you are on the south side of 50 – or is it 55 – you get a 10% discount on your entire order every Tuesday. This is a serious bonus if you, like me,…

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