Please let us know if you can provide a prize for the drawing at the Mystery Reveal. Gift cards for your store or lodging or merchandise make wonderful prizes and advertises your business beyond the weekend. Give us a call or send us an email if you can help out with the prizes. (360-221-6765) or langley@whidbey.com Thanks to the merchants who have bought clues and/or ads for the program and/or back of clues..Our program goes to press several weeks before the event.
Mystery Weekend 2024 Synopsis:
The Silence of the Mime
This year’s mystery centers on, essentially, a talent contest. In the story a PR firm has been hired to select 12 individuals to act as Langley Host for one month. Each month advertising will feature a different individual and theme promoting Langley and its businesses. For example, January’s host might focus on the town’s artistic history, giving tours of our architecture, galleries, and teaching classes on chainsaw carving. March might be about our performing arts highlighting upcoming plays and teaching juggling and busking. June might be about water sports, kayaks, and windsurfing with classes in teaching your dog to paddle-board.
First though hosts must be chosen and our PR guru is holding a series of group auditions. Those hoping to land a spot will gather twice a day during the weekend and they will be taught a brief dance. The PR guy doesn’t care how well they dance but it allows him to look for individuals with the charisma, joy, goofiness, energy and attitude he wants.
The town is awash with Langley-ites in ridiculous costumes practicing their juggling, showing off their paintings made by bugs and trying to coordinate their kazoo band – anything to get attention. Anything?
As the audition days draw near a windstorm hits town knocking down trees and power lines and ripping holes in roofs. It’s not all bad though, A Buncha Dufas Roofers are on the job!
In the midst of this craziness, we have a murder! A local businessman, dressed as a mime, and practicing his unicycle skills is run down by a car with no driver. No driver, and yet it was seen tracking him, turning as he did. How is this possible? Who’d do such a thing? And why?
Read the Langley Gazette, gather the clues, visit the scene of the crime and ask the hard questions, then turn in your best guess and join us for the reveal!
Advance Clue #1
Ray and Electra Lux keep complaining that their son, Cy, has no ambition. He must have done something right financially because just before Valentines Day he walked into Sweet Monaś and ordered a big box of chocolates for every widow or widower in Langley. According to the candy clerk, Cy paid with an AMEX black card and signed all the gift cards “Just a local friend.” You have to have some bucks for that card and those gifts so I don’t know what the Luxes are complaining about.
Events
First Saturday Art Walk February 3
Artworks Gallery is recovering from a flood caused by a burst pipe upstairs. On Saturday, January 20th, able members gathered at the gallery to pack up all the office supplies, display furniture, operating items, etc. On January 21st, Backbreakers moved everything to a secure and dry location nearby. It looks like drywall and flooring will need to be replaced. Our wonderful landlord, Christine Goodwin, who rushed home from her Mexico vacation, is doing all she can to organize the repairs/rebuilding. We will let you know a potential reopening date for the gallery when the construction schedule is set! So many have voiced their concern and offered to help Artworks through this time. We want to express our gratitude for the amazing community support! If you wish to contribute, please consider ordering something from one of our artists in the Online Store. It will help with morale tremendously! artworkswhidbey.com
In February Museo welcomes “Abstraction” – an exhibit featuring new work by Seattle painter Nino Yuniardi. Nino fuses bravura brushwork with elegant design and color choices, resulting in paintings that are rich and dynamic. The show includes Museo gallery artists Laura Viola Preciado, Michael Howard, Don Fels, Robert Jessup and Dion Zwirner, along with Whidbey Island guest artist Nancy Stentz. Visit the gallery and be enveloped by the visual poetry, the meditations on color, line, form that this work evokes.
Rob Schouten Gallery presents their Mid-Winter Group Show February 1 – March 25 with a variety of outstanding pieces from our gallery artists. Included are works by painters Alfredo Arreguín, Anne Belov, Peggy Woods, Bruce Morrow, Rob Schouten, and Keiichi Nishimura, sculptures by Georgia Gerber, Dan Freeman, and Sharon Spencer, glass by Dale Reiger, Dan and Joi LaChausseé, Richard La Londe, and Robert Adamson, mixed media by Sara Saltee, woodwork by Don Wodjenski, Gary Leake, and Bruce Launer. Above: Tlingit Dancers – oil on canvas by Alfredo Arreguín
Whidbey Art Gallery offers a new member show entitled “Romance and Reds.” Need something special for your Valentine? This is the place to find one of a kind pieces for everyone. Don’t miss the jewelry cases for unique ideas. Our featured artist is talented calligrapher Mary McLeod. Her carefully done work is inspiring and collectable.
The Liberation of Color II
Works by Ian Joseph Jackson at the Hub Gallery
Join us at the Hub Gallery for a new art show opening reception and Martin Luther King Jr. The show will be on view through February 26.
Through a wide spectrum of color and style, Jackson’s vibrant, timely work captures the emotion and complexity of the encounter between the historical, the archetypal, and the human—sometimes embodied in images of figures from the US civil rights movement adjoined by mystical figures from spiritual and religious traditions worldwide.
In addition to music and community reflection, the artist will read poetry from his forthcoming book, The Liberation of Color: A Hero’s Journey. Jackson will also give a gallery talk about his work on Friday, February 2 at 6 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
Hub Gallery @ Bayview Cash Store
5603 Bayview Road
Open 7 days a week, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Story Time @ River Horse Writing Studio
Thursday – Saturday @ 1 p.m.
Join us for a free story and playtime at River Horse Writing Studio!
Learn the art of pasta making with workshops at Wildly Beloved Foods Marketplace and Studio. Register for one of our classes instructed by founding owner Aurora Echo or guest instructor Renee Blair of Nourish the Roots.
Choose your favorite themes including: vegan pasta, egg pasta, spinach pasta and stuffed pasta, paired with authentic traditional Italian recipes. Inquire about private events! Friend events, birthdays, family gatherings, corporate team-
building, and just for group foodie fun.
Workshop Dates:
Saturday, February 3 @ 3:30 p.m. Fresh Ravioli Pasta Class with Aurora Echo $95.
Saturday, February 10 @ 3:30 p.m. Fresh Beet Pasta Class with Aurora Echo $75.
Saturday, February 17 @ 5:30 p.m. Fresh Egg Pasta Class with Aurora Echo $70.
Saturday, February 24 @ 3:30 p.m. Fresh Egg Pasta Class with Aurora Echo $70.
Whidbey Island Language, Art & STEM Center (WILASC) is partnering with Pamoja Place to host a party to celebrate Lunar New Year for Whidbey Island community. We invite families of Asian descent on the island to come together and celebrate this traditional holiday. We also invite all families in the community who are interested in learning about this cultural festival, to come and share the joy with us!
Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is a joyous celebration observed by billions of people across East and Southeast Asia. Its origins can be traced back to ancient China, where it marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of a new year based on the lunisolar calendar.
This is a volunteer-led, donation-based event. Everyone is welcome to attend (please RSVP so we can prepare enough food and craft supplies!) Donations are appreciated but not a must. We look forward to seeing you there!
Volunteers Welcome!
Volunteers are needed for: setting up and venue decoration, cleaning up, supporting
the dumpling making team, facilitating games, prepping and bringing food, etc.
We are also assembling a dragon dance troop to perform on the day (DIY style). No
experience is needed and it will be great fun! Please let us know if your kids want to
join this troop.
To volunteer, please contact Hai Anh at hello@wilasc.com.
Sound Waters University February 3
A lot of extraordinary things happen where the land meets the sea. Let us show you at Sound Waters University on February 3. Attend in person at Coupeville High or via Zoom, and be sure to take the optional (additional cost) Cornet Bay Marina field trip the next day with marine scientist Gwendolyn Hannam. Tickets $70 – Zoom $50 https://whidbeycamanoislands.com/…/sound-waters…/
Save the date! February 9, 2024
South Whidbey Hearts & Hammers
Annual Spaghetti Dinner
Sign up today as a volunteer for this cherished Whidbey Island tradition! All proceeds support the work our organization does in the community. http://www.heartsandhammers.com/
South Whidbey homeowners, there’s still time to apply for help for this year’s Workday event. The deadline to apply is January 30.
Visit www.heartsandhammers.com for more information and for this year’s application.
Sleuth Debuts at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts
An elaborate game of cat and mouse is set to open on the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) mainstage with the February 8 premiere of Sleuth. A staged screenplay by Harold Pinter and based on the Tony Award Winning play by Anthony Shaffer, the WICA production is directed by David Churchill and coincides with the Langley Chamber of Commerce Murder Mystery Weekend (February 24-25). With a three-week run (February 8-24), Sleuth is a “quick-witted [and] theatrical” play with numerous plot twists and homage to literary icons like Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
“Think of the perfect murder…then go one step further,” says Churchill. “Sleuth has been entertaining audiences for more than fifty years. WICA’s February production melds the original script with the screenplay by Harold Pinter, one of the most revered playwrights in the world of theater. The result is a fast-paced, twisting thrill ride that is sure to keep audiences guessing until the final shocking moments.”
Set among the quaint English countryside in the house of celebrated mystery writer Andrew Wyke, the play pits Wyke against his young rival Milo Tindle in an elaborate revenge and power game. Originally premiering on Broadway in 1970, the 1972 film adaptation featured Laurence Olivier (Wyke) and Michael Caine (Tindle) and earned four Academy Award nominations. The second film adaptation in 2007, which was directed by Kenneth Branagh, starred Michael Caine (Wyke) and Jude Law (Tindle).
WICA’s adaptation of the play features Seattle-trained actor David Mayer as Andrew Wyke. Mayer is a veteran of other WICA performances, including his recent portrayal as the Duke of Aumerle and King Henry the Fourth in the December production of Scott Kaiser’s Falstaff in Love. He is joined by cousins Ethan Berkley and Jonathan Janus. Berkley, a Whidbey Island local who is no stranger to the WICA mainstage, will play Milo Tindle. His cousin Jonathan Janus, who is making his WICA debut, will be playing Inspector Black.
“I’ve loved this script for years,” says Deana Duncan, WICA’s executive artistic director. “Sleuth won the Tony Award for best play in 1971…but I wasn’t sure it was ‘fresh’ enough for today. Then we stumbled upon the script to the 2007 Harold Pinter screenplay version, knitted it together with the original brilliant/heart stopping Shaffer ending and realized we had a new, original, and tantalizing revenge play. This clever, caustic game of deception escalates into psychological warfare; if you love games and mystery you won’t want to miss this production!”
February 9– 24
Friday, Saturday February 9, 10, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 11, 2 p.m.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, February 15, 16, 17, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 18, 2 p.m,.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday February 22, 23, 24, 7:30 p.m.
Check out our upcoming lineup of Friday “Crafts at Noon” demos at Good Cheer Langley!!
Season of Love with Whidbey’s Saratoga Orchestra February 10
Enjoy a special night out as members of Whidbey’s Saratoga Orchestra presents a “Love-ly” evening of dinner and music
on Saturday, February 10 at Whidbey Golf Club, 2430 SW Fairway Ln., Oak Harbor
Choose either the “A” Premium Dinner and Concert Seating or “B” Concert and Dessert Only Seating — “A” PREMIUM DINNER, DESSERT and CONCERT TICKETS – 5:30 p.m. seating $125 pp
The evening begins with you and your friends sharing tasty appetizers while listening to the sounds of “Nelson’s Nautical Notes” Jazz Combo filling the air with jazz standards. Guests may enjoy one hosted drink ticket with additional “no-host” libations available. The delicious buffet will include Beef of Baron and Shrimp Scampi, savory roasted garlic mashed potatoes, mixed vegetable medley and fresh garden salad. Then sit back and enjoy an assortment of delectable desserts as the “Sounds of Saratoga String Trio” perform original compositions and popular arrangements in a concert to cap off this special evening. “B” CONCERT AND DESSERT TICKETS – 7 p.m seating $50 pp
Join the festivities at 7 p.m. for a spread of delicious desserts, one hosted drink ticket (additional “no-host” drinks available), and a performance of original compositions and popular arrangements by the “Sounds of Saratoga String Trio”.
Your attendance helps benefit the mission and goals of Whidbey’s Saratoga Orchestra: to entertain, to provideeducational opportunities to island students, and to enrih the lives of our community through the power of music.
Information and Tickets at www.sowhidbey.com
Whidbey’s Saratoga Orchestra
360-929-3045
Mardi Gras Party at Bayview Hall
We hope you’re just as excited about Mardi Gras as we are this year, because we have an incredible party planned!
Tuesday, February 13, 6-8:30 PM
Bayview Community Hall
Free admission and family friendly
Live music from Ken Pickard and Zydeco Explosion, free beads at the door, and a costume contest with some truly incredible prizes! I hope you’re working on your awesome costumes, because thanks to our generous small business community, you’re going to want to work to earn these!
Jayme Stone’s FOLKLIFE at WICA
Thursday, February 29, 7:30 p.m.
Jayme Stone’s Folklife treats old field recordings not as time capsules, but as heirloom seeds passed down from a bygone generation. Planting these sturdy seeds in modern soil, this versatile gathering of musicians has cultivated vibrant Sea Island spirituals, Creole calypsos, and stomp-down Appalachian dance tunes for contemporary listeners. They also play entrancing indie-pop originals.
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts
565 Camano AvenueLangley
Tickets @ wicaonline.org WICA Star: $45
Standard: $30 by request to the box office: $20 Youth 18 and Under: Free
Spoiled Dog Winery Offers Wine and Chocolate Pairings
Looking forward to our wine and chocolate pairings February 9-11. Flights and glass pours will be paired with locally made fudge from the @chocolateflowerfarm .
Flights will also include a smooth dark chocolate pairing from @brixchocolate.
Whidbey Island Distillery Pairs Chocolate and Spirits
Valentine’s weekends February 11-12 and February 18-19
Enjoy a complimentary chocolate from Sweet Mona’s alongside your tasting (while supplies last) at Whidbey Island Distillery
Whidbey Island Distillery is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for complimentary tastings.
Comforts Winery Presents Red Wine and Chocolate Event
Join Comforts of Whidbey for our Red Wine and Chocolate event. For the month of February we are offering a Valentine Tasting. Four wines paired with four specialty truffles, (while truffles last)
Open Friday 2 – 6 p.m. & Saturday-Sunday 12 – 6 p.m.
Sunday February 11, 5-6 p.m. at Hierophant Meadery.
Tickets coming soon! We’ve got a flight of meads to pair with absolutely gorgeous truffles and caramels. Trust us, thorough research was conducted!
Thanks Sweet Mona’s Chocolates for this fun pairing.
Venture Out Nursery Offers February Classes
Venture Out Nursery Offers three classes in February:
February 11 – Caring for Fruit with Tobey Nelson CPH
February 17- Rhododendron Class with Kristi O’Donnell
February 24 – Caring for Mason Bees with Calluna CPH
Drop your children off at The Backyard on Valentines Day, Wednesday, February 14, 5-7:30 p.m.!
We will feed them and you can go out and have a nice dinner in Langley!
Reserve by visiting our website and clicking on the flyer.
Children must be potty trained.
Valentine’s Concert Featuring Whidbey Island String Trio @ WICA
February 14, 7:30 p.m.
The Whidbey Island String Trio is a chamber group whose music is a nod to the past and leap toward the future. Gideon, Gloria and Aniela all have a classical foundation and love for musical adventure. Their repertoire includes elegant waltzes, playful blues with forays into bossanova, swing, hoedowns, and fiddle tunes. Their concerts combine delicate elegance with spontaneous exuberance. Tickets are available here: http://wicaonline.org
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts
565 Camano Avenue, Langley
Join the Greatest Treasure Hunt in the Pacific Northwest February 16-25
Join the 15th Annual Northwest Glass Quest on Camano Island, a thrilling treasure hunt organized by the Camano Island Chamber of Commerce. Celebrate the rich heritage of fine glass artists in the Pacific Northwest as you embark on a quest to find hand-blown
glass treasures.
Starting on February 16th and running through the 25th, this 10-day event offers a unique opportunity for art enthusiasts. Collaborating with artists Mark and Marcus Ellinger, the Camano Island Chamber invites you to search for hidden plastic clue balls scattered across Stanwood and Camano Island. Turn in these clue balls to receive a limited-edition, stamped, and signed hand-blown glass treasure. With over 400 clue balls hidden, the excitement is boundless.
For a seamless experience, familiarize yourself with the content on the event website
(www.northwestglassquest.com) prior to questing, especially the FAQ section.
Bloom’s Winery & 5511 Bistro Live Music
Saturday, February 3, 5:30 p.m. Jana & Yana–The Lounge Sound
Saturday, February 10, Piano w/Pax Wallace & Kelley on vocals
Wednesday, February 14, Valentines Day w/ Keith & Kristi
Saturday, February 17, June Shellene
Now open Wednesday and Thursday for dinner, seating from 4 to 6:30 p.m.
Open Friday and Saturday lunch and dinner, seating from noon to 7:30 p.m.
Open Sunday lunch and dinner seating from noon – 6:30 p.m.
Following our successful holiday markets, we’re pleased to continue our support of local, Whidbey Island small businesses.
Save the date Sat February 10 for our first 2024 event: the Valentine’s Pop-Up Market.
Shop unique, handmade gifts and seasonal treats for all of your Valentines.
Bring the kids to create handmade Valentine’s cards and other crafts in the barn loft.
Announcements
Comprehensive Plan Open Houses & New Engagement Website!
Island County is hosting four open houses in February for the Comprehensive Plan update. Review the flyer attached to learn more about the open house dates and be sure to check out the new Comp Plan engagement website! https://www.islandcounty2045.com/
Thursday February 1, 6-8 p.m.
Island County Camano Annex Convergence Room
121 E Camano Dr, Camano, WA
Tuesday February 6, 6-8 p.m.
South Whidbey High School New Commons
5675 Maxwelton Rd, Langley, WA
Saturday February 10, 10-12 a.m.
Island County BOCC Hearing Room
1 NE 6th St., Coupeville, WA
Tuesday February 13, 6-8 p.m.
The Center in Oak Harbor Multi-Purpose Room
51 SE Jerome St, Oak Harbor, WA
Comprehensive Plan for Deer Lagoon Preserve
We encourage people to help get better wildlife habitat protections in place through the Comprehensive Plan for Deer Lagoon Preserve. The call to action gives lots of information at this website: https://www.whidbeyaudubonsociety.org/deer-lagoon-advocacy
Whidbey Community Foundation Open Call for Board Candidates
Whidbey Community Foundation is growing and embracing the next stage of impact through relationships, trust, and community. It’s more vital than ever to have broad community participation and diverse voices at the table to help guide our grantmaking, steward the community funds entrusted to us, and lead our strategic work.
We’re pleased to announce that we’re openly seeking community members to serve on our Board of Directors. This opportunity is a great way to inspire local philanthropy and support the Whidbey community you love. Please consider whether this may be a good fit for you, nominate yourself, and help us spread the word to your networks!
Whidbey Community Foundation envisions a more vibrant, healthy, and unified Whidbey Island community. Our mission is to improve the quality of life on Whidbey Island by providing support for the nonprofit sector, assisting donors to build and preserve enduring assets for charitable purposes, and meeting community needs through financial awards. Since our founding in 2016, we have awarded more than $2 million in grants. Today we steward over $4.8 million in assets across 30+ separate funds. To learn more about us, explore www.whidbeyfoundation.org (including our history, values, and commitment to anti-racism and DEI).
Pledge Your Passion!
Did you know that if every person who attended a performance last year pledged just $14 per month, Island Shakespeare Festival’s (ISF) 2024 annual budget would be met? When you think of it that way, it sounds pretty doable! So, we’re going old-school, crowdfunding the old(er) fashioned way with personal phone calls. That’s right, on February 24 and 25, a team of ISF volunteers will sit together (in person, and virtually) to call friends like you to ask for your pledge.
Skip the call and Pledge your Passion today!
Already a recurring donor with a monthly or quarterly plan? THANK YOU! You might get a call too, but just so we can tell you how great your sustaining impact is.
See, this year, the Post-it® reminder on our office computer says “Sustainability.” That’s been a core value at ISF all along, but it’s one that can be really hard to live up to. As we build out of recent challenges and forge the path of our future, it’s going to take the sustaining support of our audiences near and far to ensure a balance of that sustainable value (financial, environmental and human) with our fervent commitment to financial accessibility.
Basically, we gotta pay our collaborators more and keep their workloads manageable; we gotta pay a little more for recycled and recyclable products; we gotta prioritize health and safety; and we don’t want to have to charge for tickets to make it all possible.
Tickets at professional regional theatres can cost over $100 across our country. They cost that much for a reason. We aim to bring the same quality of work to our stage on Whidbey Island while also making it possible for everyone in our community to attend. Keeping barriers of cost out of the picture is the most immediate way we do this.
So, get ready for a call! Or, get ahead of the game (or phone call anxiety) by making your pledge today! Whether it’s $5 or $14 per month; $50 or $500 per quarter, you’ll be pledging your passion for accessible classical theatre that inspires, empowers, and builds empathy on Whidbey Island and beyond.
Seeking Home Projects for South Whidbey Hearts & Hammers Workday
South Whidbey homeowners, there’s still time to apply for help for this year’s Workday event. The deadline to apply is January 30th.
Visit www.heartsandhammers.com for more information
and for this year’s application.
