Chamber Members Meeting
January 10 @ 9 a.m. @ Prima Bistro
Join fellow Chamber members at our Members meeting Wednesday, Janaury 10 at 9 a.m. at Prima Bistro. Our guest speaker will be Angie Mozer from the Port of South Whidbey discussing workforce housing at the fairgrounds.
Chamber Members: Mystery Weekend is February 24 & 25 this year. Don’t miss the opportunity to book your clue and ads starting on January 8, 2024.
Ticket presales going on now!
Mystery Weekend Tickets are now on sale on our website, visitlangley.com
Events
First Saturday Art Walk
January 6, 4-7 p.m.
Artworks Gallery welcomes three new artists this month. Artist Colleen OHair said, “Living on Whidbey Island, I have found my true home, inspired by nature and art. Although technically “self-taught,” I have been learning from others my entire life. My work is recognizable by its vibrant color and joy.” Artist Beth Rahi said, “I am a multi-passionate creative who loves exploring new ideas, challenges, and adventures. I have worked in various mediums, but currently, my passion is bronze sculptures.” Artist Dave Somers–said, “I enjoy working with various mediums. My favorite is my wood lathe and a log; carving the raw wood always surprises me and brings joy. I My art forms are probably a result of a long childhood spent in the sun with crayons and a magnifying glass.”
Artworks Gallery Winter Hours – Wed-Mon, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. & 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on the first Saturday art walk.
For January Museo will be exhibiting a group show featuring gallery artists and other guests. Be sure to stop by to see the beautiful window installation, “Season of Light”, by Nancy Stentz and David Harto. Open for the Art Walk Saturday, January 6.
Museo Winter Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday and Thursday-Saturday, 12- 4 p.m. Sunday. Closed Jan 7-11 for seasonal refresh.
Rob Schouten Gallery will be closed January 1-10 and will be open Thursday-Monday throughout January. Thursdays, Fridays, Mondays 11 – 4, Saturdays, Sundays 11 – 5.
Whidbey Art Gallery offers the members’ show, ‘”Winter Beauty.” The gallery is filled with inspiring work by 35 local artists.
Art Walk will be on Saturday, January 6 from 4 to 7 p.m. It’s a nice time to gather with friends and family and come meet many of the artists who attend.
In January, we feature a compact vertical wall calendar with photographs of Whidbey Island scenes and surrounding views of the Salish Sea composed by the creative eye of Linda Schwarz, longtime resident of Langley and member of Whidbey Art Gallery.
Leroy Bell in Concert @ WICA
January 6 @ 7:30 p.m.
LeRoy Bell returns to WICA for a January concert that is sure to kick of the new year right! You don’t want to miss out on this concert.
Buy your tickets today! www.wicaonline.org
National Guitar – A Paul Simon Tribute Band with Nathaniel Talbot @ WICA, Friday, January 12, 7:30 p.m.
National Guitar is a tribute band featuring Pacific Northwest all stars, including musicians from Polecat, Petty or Not, Skillethead, and the Jenner Fox Band. The ensemble was formed on a fateful election night when they found themselves listening to “American Tune” and discovered a mutual reverence for Paul Simon. National Guitar performs a range of Simon’s music from Garfunkle to Graceland and everywhere in between. Come prepared to sing along, groove, and celebrate some of the finest music from a true American original.
The five-piece band features piano, organ, electric guitar, bass, dobro, acoustic guitar, and layered vocal harmony. With decades of arranging and touring under their belts, National Guitar brings new life to Simon’s beloved catalog.
Tickets available @ wicaonline.org
WICA Star: $45
Standard: $30
by request to the box office: $20
Youth 18 and under: Free
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts
565 Camano Avenue Langley.
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. Day observance on January 15 from 3 to 6 p.m.
The show will be on view January 15 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.
Bluegrass Festival Day One:
Tony Furtado Acoustic Trio
Wednesday, January 24, 7:30 p.m.
Our first Bluegrass Festival opens with the Tony Furtado Acoustic Trio, featuring John Reischman and Luke Price.
Very few musicians of any stripe so personify a musical genre as completely as Tony Furtado embodies Americana roots music. Tony is an evocative and soulful singer, a wide-ranging songwriter and a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist adept on banjo, cello-banjo, slide guitar and baritone ukulele who mixes and matches sounds and styles with the flair of a master chef. Tony is also an accomplished and awarded sculptor.
Bluegrass Festival Day Two:
Stephanie Schneiderman Trio
Thursday, January 25, 7:30 p.m.
The second act of this first Bluegrass Festival is the Stephanie Schneiderman Trio!
Stephanie Schneiderman is an award winning singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and activist based in Portland, Oregon. Whether pursuing her prolific work as a solo artist (9 albums), playing drums for all-star roots pop act Swan Sovereign (formerly Dirty Martini), stepping on the stage in the musical The Full Monty, producing a wildly successful humanitarian concert series for refugees in Uganda (raising over $70k) as well as producing the soundtrack for three popular children’s DVDs, Schneiderman is hands-down one of the most diversely talented artists the NW has to offer.
Tickets available @ wicaonline.org
WICA Star: $45
Standard: $30
by request to Box Office: $20
Youth 18 and under: Free
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts
565 Camano Avenue, Langley
Story Time @ River Horse Writing Studio
Thursday – Saturday @ 1 p.m.
Join us for a free story and playtime at River Horse Writing Studio!
All About Conifers Sunday, January 14, 1 – 2 p.m. with Tobey Nelson CPH
Looking for a year-round interest plant for your garden? Or do you have conifers in your garden but aren’t sure how to care for them? In this class Tobey will discuss the most common types of conifers and the conditions and care they prefer. We’ll talk planting, watering, pruning; who needs protection from deer or wind; and specific varieties suitable for hedging, containers, focal points, beaches, drought, and more. This class will include a tour through the nursery to view the range of conifers available for just about any niche in the garden! Class cost is $10, to register call us at 360-321-9931.
Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop Sunday, January 21, 1 – 3 p.m. with Tobey Nelson CPH
Join us at the Organic Farm School for a hands-on workshop on fruit tree pruning. We will start with the basics of how to identify vegetative wood from fruiting wood, and how to prune to encourage development of fruit spurs. We will then analyze select trees in the orchard to learn how to make decisions about structure and form, thinning, height reduction and more. Students will have the opportunity to participate in evaluating, deciding & pruning to gain a deeper understanding of how to maintain their home orchard. The cost is $45/person, a portion will go to OFS and students will get a coupon for 20% off plants from Venture Out. To register call us at 360-321-9931.
We will limit class size to 8-12 students so sign up soon if you are interested. Given the time of year and the possibility of snow, freezing, or torrential rain, we have scheduled a back-up date of January 28 in case of weather cancellation. Please plan to dress for the weather and to bring your own pruners and loppers. Class will take place at Organic Farm School located at : 6390 Maxwelton Rd., Clinton.
Celebrations of Love in the Currents of the World @ WICA
Saturday, January 27, 7:30 p.m.
Poetry and music celebrating love featuring:
Judith Adams, poetry
Gloria Ferry-Brennan, violin
Eric Mulholland, poetry
Tickets available @ wicaonline.org
Standard: $30
by request to Box Office: $20
Youth 18 and under: Free
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts
565 Camano Avenue, Langley
Bloom’s Winery & 5511 Bistro Live Music
Saturday, January 6, 5:30 p.m.Brad Thomas, jazzy piano and vocals
Saturday, January 13, 5:30 p.m. Secrets Alicia and David
Saturday, January 20, 5:30 p.m. Flamenco guitar with El Colonel
Saturday, February 3, 5:30 p.m. Jana & Yana–The Lounge Sound
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.
Happy New Year! Our 2024 live music program starts this Saturday, January 6 at 6 p.m. with The Hipocrats. If you haven’t heard them before, they are amazing!
As you know, our beer selection changes rapidly. Highlights this week are the Heartmountain Dry IPA and our Whiskey-barrel aged Scotch Ale and Imperial Stout. Also coming on tap this week are the Imperial Red Rye Ale (Dob3) and our gold-medal winning Brown Ale.
We look forward to seeing you!
Cheers, The DBLF Beer Crew
Ott & Hunter Live Music Saturdays 7 p.m.
Saturday, January 6, Bahia $25
Saturday, January 13, Pax Williams Quintet Featuring Kelly Johnson and Jay Thomas. $35.
Saturday, January 20, Polly O’Keary & The Rhythm Method $25
Saturday, January 27, Nathaniel Talbot
Ott & Hunter Winery Tasting Room
204 First Street, Langley www.otthunter.com
Penn Cove Brewing Company Events:
Coupeville Taproom
Every Thursday Quiz Nite with the Count at 6:30 p.m. Come join us for Quiz Nite with the Count Thursdays!
Fridays January 12 & 26 Karaoke with Kristo at 7 p.m. Get ready to hit the high notes and unleash your inner rockstar! Join us for Karaoke with Kristo – an epic night of singing, laughter, and good vibes. Whether you’re a shower singer or a seasoned pro, this is your time to shine. Grab your friends, warm up those vocal cords, and let’s turn the spotlight on you! Don’t miss out on the fun – it’s going to be a night to remember!
Freeland Taproom
Every Thursday Open Mic with Asa at 6 p.m. Bring your musical talents to Freeland and join the fun! Very popular event with local musicians and customers who love supporting live music. Come down for a pint and show off your musical talents! Sign up at the bar.
Fridays January 5 & 19Karaoke with Kristo at 7 p.m. Get ready to hit the high notes and unleash your inner rockstar! Join us for Karaoke with Kristo – an epic night of singing, laughter, and good vibes. Whether you’re a shower singer or a seasoned pro, this is your time to shine. Grab your friends, warm up those vocal cords, and let’s turn the spotlight on you! Don’t miss out on the fun – it’s going to be a night to remember!
Sales and Markets
Venture Out Nursery
Winter Hours and Sales
The holidays have come and gone, and we can’t wait for the 2024 growing season to begin. Join us during our normal business hours, we’re here to help you with all of your gardening needs!
50% off Holiday Décor
Stock up on ornaments, table toppers, lighted faux trees and more before these beauties are gone! Next year you will be so happy that you planned ahead!
January 4th – January 8th
Hemlock Bark Mulch
Buy four get one free
Hemlock Bark Mulch will insulate plants, hold in moisture, and prevent weeds in your garden beds, with the added benefit of looking quite nice. It’s a great time to refresh the beds or stock up before spring when you can buy 4 bags and get 1 free! While supplies last…
Coming Soon…
Conifer Sale! January 13 – 21
Conifers can add interest and color to your space all year round. Get 20% off all conifers during our upcoming sale, and don’t miss our class All About Conifers on the 14th!
Announcements
From Sweet Mona:
January is when we need to count everything in the store. It’s also when we clean, clean, clean! This year, we’re lucky enough to have a new retail floor going in at the end of January. Tony and I have painted it a few times, and it’s been a lot of hard work. The new floor is a gray commercial laminate, and I smile just thinking about it. No more painting for us!
To accomplish everything, we need to close the store during the week. So, we will be open each week on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in January. Then, in February, we will be back to regular hours.
Seabiscuit Bakery to Close January 16
To Our Community,
We can’t really believe that we are writing these words, but we are closing the doors of Seabiscuit Bakery & Co, as it is, at 2 p.m. on January 16, 2024. We have fought valiantly for this endeavor to make it, but it just isn’t, and without risking Prima and Saltwater, we can no longer forge on. We realize this isn’t how it looks from the outside, but the Café has never been profitable. There have been countless roadblocks standing in our way to success at this location, but there have also been many accomplishments that should be celebrated.
To be completely transparent with you – unforeseen circumstances, planning mistakes, errors in judgment and space limitations have been detrimental in being able to fully realize our business plan for the Café. For example, I was certain that we would sell far more alcohol day to day out of the café, which in the plan helped us be more profitable on paper than we were in reality. The bakery business doesn’t afford the same margins as the restaurant business does, especially with our made from scratch model. And it turns out that running a production bakery and café in the woods on a septic system isn’t ideal. Together, it uses too much water to be able to operate both to the level of excellence we would like. We’ve had many unexpected expenses and these limitations have prevented us from maximizing the space for private events while operating a café. Sieb and I take full responsibility for all of this and are crushed.
Our crew has worked tirelessly through hard times in getting Seabiscuit off the ground. From the beginning operating out of the little shack behind Saltwater, to the excitement of this opportunity offered from Beth and Gary, to the amazing build out and beautiful space that we are so proud of having created. We’ve been open for exactly two years in this location, but the bad luck with equipment issues already exceeds our other restaurants. It has been an incredible labor of love and this is devastating and heartbreaking to announce after all this fight. We mostly feel a deep sadness and disappointment in having to close and let down our wonderful staff. Please support us in these last few weeks. Tip our people well. Many of them will have to go onto unemployment as January is not a great time to be looking for work. We acknowledge how horrible this is and we wish it were anything but unavoidable. We are eternally grateful to our crew for all they’ve done.
I am hopeful that you, our amazing community, know us to be fighters, having witnessed what we’ve been through these last 4 years; keeping Prima and Saltwater alive during Covid and somehow opening a new location after an extensive remodel. We still could find more fight in us if there was some miraculous solution – we are open to listening to any Hail Mary ideas that not only stop the bleeding, but can help build us back up. We started out as a tiny production supplying our own restaurants and slowly grew with a few wholesale accounts. The Seabiscuit (Salt & Sea Provisions) pop-up during Covid inside Saltwater was truly the heartbeat of Langley there for a little while. Then we debuted in other restaurants, procured 3 shelves at the Star Store, grew into Payless, the Goose and now quite a few other shops and stores. We know the demand for Seabiscuit Bakery goods is high, and could we have pivoted (again) into a production bakery, we believe we could have made it. This product should be out in the world, we are so proud of the amazing breads and pastries that our team has created.
And finally, to all our amazing community who have gotten us to this point. Thank you for ALL the support over the years. We know many have become regulars – some of you every single day. We are deeply sorry to take this beautiful space away from you. We are working closely with Beth to figure out the best path forward, as we know it’s a really special place in so many of your hearts. We have events planned for next summer that we will be assessing and will be in touch. We apologize also for not thinking of the holiday gift cards that many of you purchased. Please try to come in to redeem them in the next few weeks at the bakery, but we will also be able to transfer gift cards to Prima after January 16th.
The Bakery & Café will be keeping normal hours of operation through Tuesday, January 16 (our last day) 7 a.m.-2 p.m. daily, except closed on Wednesdays. We will not have any more Wednesday Pizza Nights during this time. Wholesale accounts and planned private events will be dealt with individually and we will be in touch with each of you directly. Stay tuned for more information as we finalize plans. If you have any questions (or any of those Hail Mary ideas), please reach out to me by email at Jenn.jurriaans@gmail.com
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we are just so sorry.
Jenn and Sieb
Fairgrounds Camping Closed for a Few Months For Electrical Repairs
Electrical issues have led to a prolonged closure of the campground at the Whidbey Island Fairgrounds while officials work to identify a solution.
The Port of South Whidbey, which owns the fairgrounds, recently received an extension of its Rural County Economic Development Grant, which will be used to address the problem. The grant, which was awarded in 2018, totals $688,610.
Angi Mozer, the port’s executive director, said a customer who was wearing gloves did receive a shock from one of the pedestals on the campground, which alerted port staff to the electrical issue.
“This may have been a fluke, but we decided to be as cautious as possible and closed the campgrounds to ensure safety,” Mozer said.
The campground has been closed since October 11. Mozer said the port hopes to catch the tourist season next year for the reopening. She hopes the closure will last only a few months.
“We already started the process for updating the electrical system,” she said. “We received an assessment of the system in June and we are working with our engineer to start the process of getting the system refurbishment out to bid.”
New Free Resource for Seniors and Caregivers
Island Senior Resources has added a new free resource for seniors and caregivers — Downloadable Activity Books — available on our website at https://senior-resources.org/activity-hub/.
There will be about 15 new books each month filled with mental engagement activities (puzzles, games, coloring, mazes, and more) in easy and challenging versions and a monthly guide for Caregivers on using the books with those they care for. Users can print full books or just a few pages at a time when they want them.
Island Senior Resources
360-321-1600
Island Senior Resources needs volunteer Meals on Wheels drivers. Please call 360-321-1600.
Join the lunch bunch at Island Senior Resources for nutritious food and good company.
Keep up to date with ferry schedule changes:
Washington State Ferries | WSDOT https://wsdot.wa.gov
