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Island Voices
Songs of Kindness, Music of Love
The songs are soft and gentle, sung in what is called a “lullaby voice,” all voices blending in music that is not intended for performance, but for the comfort of those who are suffering near or at the end of life. Two to four singers gather at the bedside, offering restful songs to soothe and…
Announcements
The February Issue is Here
Pick up the latest issue in businesses and stores throughout the Island. Do you live elsewhere than Vashon? Go to the “Current Issue” tab (in the menu above) and find a pdf of The Loop there. Enjoy!
Literary
Carla DeCrona’s Lyrical Poetic Moments
My Mom was a lifelong writer, artist, musician and wonder-filled being. Before her transition to the life that comes next, she was blessed with the opportunity to go through all of her diaries. Boxes and boxes of them. The vast majority, dating as far back as her early 20’s, she released. A few, she kept,…
Island Businesses
Vashon Cemetery’s First Green Burial
On January 21, 2023, Patricia Buchanan was laid to rest in the manner of her choosing, in the new Green Burial section of the Vashon Cemetery. After a lifetime of achievements, both as a community organizer and a world-class triathlete, her son Donnie Sakaida said, “Mom was ultra-competitive, so being the first one there, and…
Health Matters
Yes! Supplement With Vitamin D To Protect From COVID-19
If you live in the Pacific Northwest, or any climate that goes relatively sunless over winter, it’s important to think about vitamin D. For half the year, your body synthesizes vitamin D, thanks to the sun. But that changes in the winter, thanks to gray skies and less daylight. This winter gap is a problem,…
Editorial Page
Challenges LOVE Creative Solutions
In the summer of 2022, three members of our Editorial Team gathered in a garden to discuss our Island’s media landscape. No one newspaper can do it all, we concluded, and voila! The Vashon Loop was rebirthed, under new ownership! At the same time, the cost of paper and fuel skyrocketed. Two months later, we…
Editorial Page
Why Not Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Starting with this issue, The Vashon Loop has updated its editorial policies to clarify that AI-generated art and writing are not eligible for publication in the paper or on the web site. I felt like I should explain my reasons for proposing this new policy, and why I’m pleased it has been adopted. Why do…
Editorial Page
How Does a Mistake Become a Lie?
Many of us have heard the story of a regretful young George Washington who, upon being accused of harming his father’s cherry tree, said something along the lines of, “I cannot tell a lie … I did cut it with my hatchet.” This story perfectly illustrates the well-understood and universally accepted axiom that honesty is…
Island Voices
Treaty Day – December 26, 1854
The Vashon Loop is grateful to the author and those involved with its writing, and to the Vashon-Maury Heritage Museum for permission to reprint this article. In late December 1854, hundreds of Native people from villages in south Puget Sound gathered at šxʷnanəm (Medicine Creek), having been invited to a potlatch by Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens. They…