Those who cycle Whidbey agree it’s a bikers’ island, from the splendid scenery around every turn to the well-maintained roads to the plethora of cafes, coffee shops, and restaurants available to serve the hungry pedaler. Experienced cyclists pass along their wisdom to the rest of us and encourage us to jump on the saddle and take to the road.
With its beaches, inland lakes, and shoreline access, Whidbey Island offers numerous opportunities for water recreation. Whether you prefer skim boarding, swimming, diving, kite surfing, kite boarding, paddle boarding, rowing, kayaking, or sailing, Whidbey is a water lover’s paradise where you’ll find your favorite way to float.
Mystic Sea Charters
719 28th Street, Suite B
Anacortes, WA 98221
Toll Free: 1 (800) 308-9387
Local: (360) 588-8000 mysticseacharters.com
Langley Marina
South Whidbey Harbor at Langley
228 Wharf Street
Langley, WA 98260
360-221-1120 portofsouthwhidbey.com
Photo courtesy of Whidbey Island Kayaking.
Oak Harbor North Puget Sound Dragon Boat Club
North Puget Sound Dragon Boat Club
1401 SE Catalina Drive (location)
P.O. Box 907 (mail)
Oak Harbor, WA 98277
Schooner Suva
Coupeville Maritime Heritage Foundation
PO Box 532
Coupeville, WA 98239
Email: suva.schedule@gmail.com
360-320-4337 schoonersuva.org
South Whidbey Parks and Recreation
5475 Maxwelton Rd
Langley, WA 92360
360.221.5484 swparks.org
Photo by Marcia Wesley
South Whidbey Yacht Club
PO Box 316
Greenbank WA 98253 swyachtclub.org
Urban Surf
2100 N Northlake Way
Seattle, WA 98103
UrbanSurfKiteSchool@gmail.com
Whidbey and Camano Islands Tourism
Island County Tourism Committee
P.O. Box 365
Coupeville, WA 98239
Whidbey Island Dive Center
1020 NE 7th Av. Suite #1
Oak Harbor, WA 98277
Phone: (360)-675-1112
info@whidbeydive.com
Photo by Marcia Wesley
Whidbey Island Kayaking
360 221-0229 or 800 233-4319
info@whidbeyislandkayaking.com
Whidbey Island Skimboards Everywhere
kayonaze@yahoo.com
Facebook page for messages
BY “THE SMILING BUTCHER” (WILLIAM WALKER)
Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor
June 28, 2017
Your neighbor is there every day, greeting you with that same smile, child in a stroller, beagle on a leash, passing your garden. Funny how much she looks like the woman flying around the track at the Roller Barn. The one with the tattoos, helmet, mouth guard, and sleeveless tee, leaning, twisting, and shoving her way through a crowd.
Could they be the same person? Did your mild-mannered neighbor join an outlaw biker gang? Is she out to bust up the town after she skates?
Publicity is a community effort: Pace Picante (Erin O’Connor) gets a hand from her friends before the bout. (Photo by William Walker)
“We get that a lot,” laughs “Adelita Beatah,” the public relations chair for Whidbey Island Roller Girls. When she’s not skating, Beatah sheds her derby name and persona and becomes Monica Lopez. She serves the community as a case manager and advocate for homeless housing.
“People think we’re a bunch of beer-drinking hooligans. That’s just not true. We build character and empowerment among women. We come from everywhere in the community. We’re teachers, active-duty Navy women, and at-home moms. We are Chamber of Commerce members. We volunteer everywhere, supporting local charities and especially our hosts here at the Roller Barn, the Boys and Girls Club.
“We even have rules about how we behave in public. Like: No drinking in team gear.”
Introductions are an event in themselves. (Photo by Jeff Jackson)
Derby women represent a vast range of ages and body types. Maybe they didn’t know it when they joined, Beatah says, but they all know now: “We’re athletes. Every one of us. No matter what we look like.”
Before a Saturday bout at Oak Harbor’s Roller Barn, there’s a unique paradox afoot: skaters’ affection for each other, even for the competition, is about to morph into unbridled aggression on the track.
Derby names lay it right out there – shocking or funny, sweet or unprintable, from the far side of that chasm that separates your sweet neighbor from the terror on wheels you see at the bout. Machete n Meatballs (Lauren Maynard). T-Wreckz Yo Face (Tracie Bryant). Hippo Pottymouth (Sandra Kimberling, who skates for the competition). The local women circle the track sharing hugs and high fives with their opponents: Overbeaters Anonymous.
T-Wrecks disarms with a smile. (Photo by Jeff Jackson)
Ginger Poundcake (Teresa Warden-Wollas), a mom of two teenagers, braids a teammate’s hair at trackside and tells how she got involved. “My son talked me into it. ‘Mom, you really should try it.’ I said, ‘Ummm, I’m not so sure.’ He said, ‘Mom. Really. You have to do this. Maybe you’ll, uh, get all that stress out.’” Ginger flashes a grin. “I think he wanted me to be mean on the track so I’d be nicer to him at home.”
Did it work?
“Yeah, he got his way. I checked it out. That was two years ago. And, man, I’m glad I did. I love it!”
It’s all about love for the sport. Referees, officials, announcers, and EMTs all volunteer their time for derby. (Photo by Jeff Jackson)
“Suzy Bruizy” (Susana Hendrick) runs the merchandise counter, hawking T-shirts and team gear. She’s wearing a leg brace, and her crutches rest in the corner.
“Our last bout, the whole pack of skaters fell at once. All eight of them collapsed on my ankle. Three broken bones. Surgery, metal plates and screws in there. I’m all good.”
She’s matter-of-fact about the injury, the surgery, the coming months of rehab. The pain only creeps into her eyes when she’s asked about a return to the team, skating again with her sisters. “All the doctor said was ‘maybe.’ I really hope so. Derby has given me so much. I was active-duty when I joined, and now I’m out of the Navy, I have a husband and a child. I still want so much to be a part of it.”
Whidbey jammer Pace Picante breaks free and looks to score. (Photo by Jeff Jackson)
You get the feeling that this club changed Bruizy’s life. What’s it all about, this sisterhood, this sport that arouses such passion?
Derby rules and play are simple on paper. The oval course features two straightaways 35 feet long and 15 feet wide, connected by sweeping turns. Four skaters from each team jostle in the starting area, and at the referee’s whistle, a fifth – the “jammer” – from each club attempts to break through the other club’s four blockers. The jammer tallies points for every opposing player she passes.
Whidbey’s Glory S (right) diverts the attention of two Overbeaters as Machete n Meatballs (left) uses the opening to make a pass. (Photo by Jeff Jackson)
This is no brutal pro-wrestling relic of the 1970s. No elbowing, grabbing, punching, or tripping is allowed. There’s a penalty box for offenders. Jamming and blocking are about hips, shoulders, teamwork, and agility.
Whidbey scores first, tallying four points as jammer “Wild Sockeye” (Whitni Schurr) darts through the pack. The home crowd loves it, but the Overbeaters take control. By halftime, the visiting team, which is made up of plus-size skaters who call themselves “fatletes,” leads by more than 100 points.
Wild Sockeye (L) sees an opening in the pack. (Photo by Jeff Jackson)
As the teams leave the rink, Whidbey’s “Chefzilla” (Mary Arthur) rolls by with a grin. “Am I having fun? It’s always a good day when you’re playing derby!” Jerking her head toward the scoreboard, she adds, “In spite of the score.”
Whidbey looks stronger in the second half. They skate with precision, tap dancing along sidelines and scoring with confidence. But the visitors won’t let them close the gap, and the 100-plus margin remains as the final seconds tick away.
When the bout is over, nobody’s down about it. Both teams skate through high fives and embraces from each other and from cheering fans. Everyone’s smiling. Overbeaters coach “Thurston Gore” (Aaron Managhan) excuses himself from an interview: there’s a group photo shoot, both teams, mingling, hugging, mugging for the camera.
Skaters and coaches from both teams celebrate after the bout: Strong. Focused. Together. (Photo by Jeff Jackson)
When Gore has a minute to talk, he passes the praise on to the skaters he coaches. Overbeaters Anonymous draws more than 100 women from around the region. Most belong to other clubs. Some are current or former Whidbey members. “We love coming here to Whidbey. It’s such a positive place, and it’s an honor to coach this team. I feel like I’m just along for the ride. We never practice, since we’re from all over the Northwest, and we bring a different group to every road bout. But this team plays like they’ve been practicing forever. They’re that good.”
Adelita Beatah stands straight and tall on her skates, telling a stranger that she weighed more than 300 pounds when she joined the club. She spent her first practices holding on to the wall all the way around the rink and needed a railing to get up when she fell. That same woman now skates with pride and confidence: she’s lost well over 100 pounds and gained immeasurable self-esteem.
ChefZilla’s partner Jim wipes the sweat from her face. (Photo by Jeff Jackson)
Overbeaters coach Gore says, “Derby can be empowering for anyone who plays it. It’s a great way for people who may not have played traditional sports growing up to get the benefits of confidence and team dynamics.”
We hear “empowerment” in political settings, meaningless in far-off partisan arguments. But here on Whidbey, when ten women skate around a track, and do it with love and power, it brings the meaning home. It’s about a woman taking control of her life. It’s about pride and confidence.
Club founding member and current Women’s Fast Track Derby Association liaison “Glory S” (Kristen Adams), with her neon green hair and incandescent smile, exudes pride when she talks. “I’m not the only original. There’s one… and one over there… and there’s even one skating for Overbeaters,” she says as she points out the pioneers who got WIRG off the ground in 2010.
Trackside fans give the Roller Girls some postgame love. (Photo by Jeff Jackson)
“We want to keep growing. Everybody’s welcome,” she adds. Fresh Meat Roller Derby Boot Camp is on Sundays from 5 to 7 p.m. for women who want to be part of it. The next 10-week series runs from September 20 through December 20, 2017.
After the bout, Ginger Poundcake is moving, well, gingerly, as skaters make their way to the dressing room. “I’m not hurting. Just tired. It’ll hurt two days from now, when the adrenaline wears off. You can’t help getting a little black and blue.”
When asked how she feels about her bruises, she says. “Bruises? Ha. Those aren’t bruises. Those are derby kisses.”
Makes sense. There was a lot of love in the air.
“The Smiling Butcher” (William Walker) is a writer who lives in Oak Harbor. His first novel, “Diamonds and Dirt,” will explore parents’ obsession with sports and their adulation for abusive coaches. The Butcher follows the Mariners and Yankees, gets lit up about our judicial system’s lack of support for victims, and keeps you up-to-date on all of it at www.playininthedirt.com.
Enjoy more articles in the print edition of Whidbey Life Magazine, which you can purchase at local and off-island retailers or receive in the mail via subscription.
WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. You may link to this story. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, please contact us.
BY LECKEY HARRISON Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor June 14, 2017
Many people who live on Whidbey Island claim that the island is a calling, saying that they didn’t choose to come here; instead, the island called them home. Whidbey resident Robert G. Armstrong Jr. was called twice. The retired Marine gunnery sergeant, combat veteran, former firefighter, and martial arts instructor says,“I didn’t choose taekwondo, it chose me.”
Armstrong holds a book that’s part of a character-development program for 3- to 6-year-olds. Each level is designed to build character qualities such as courtesy, respect, and discipline, and also to develop motor skills and enhance the ability to pay attention and follow directions. (Photo by David Welton)
As a child, Armstrong gathered cast-off items during Spring Clean Day in Tivoli, New York, and cobbled them together so he could use or sell them. One day, amid all the junk, he found a book with a man’s face on the cover. He doesn’t remember the title of the book. “Something about Kung-fu, or Shaolin,” he says. But in between typical boyhood chores, school, baseball, and other interests and responsibilities, he devoted hours to practicing the martial art it described in its pages.
One December day in late 1984, his dad said, “Get in the truck.” In their household, talking back wasn’t encouraged, so he simply complied, without asking where they were going. A silent 15-minute drive ended at Klee’s Taekwondo, on Rural Route 9 in Red Hook. Armstrong’s heart sank. He didn’t want to learn taekwondo, an ancient martial art of unified Korea. He wanted to be like Bruce Lee and learn Kung fu.
In sparring stance are Karissa Napoli and Gavin Baker. The adults behind them (from left) are Trevor Fleming, Jennifer Cisney, and Stephanie Chia. (Photo by David Welton)
But one used uniform, a white belt, and a pair of white sweat pants later, he was hooked. Yet, another challenge loomed.
In Armstrong’s family, money was tight, but his grandmother left him a small inheritance that he could access when he was older. Armstrong succeeded in convincing the bank that he deserved a rule-change that enabled him to access the money sooner. Then he succeeded in convincing Master Klee to train him to the black-belt level for that amount of money. In the end, he also succeeded in convincing his mom that it was all a good idea.
Karissa Napoli and Grady Armstrong work on combinations on the bag. (Photo by David Welton)
Armstrong devoted the next 15 years to practicing, competing in, and teaching taekwondo at Klee’s. “I was completely loyal to the cause of taekwondo because I saw what it did to me, the setting of goals, and the Yes-I-Can attitude,” he says.
Then came the Marine Corps. He was able to put the lessons he learned in taekwondo to use immediately. The vision and discipline he developed through the martial arts gave him the perseverance he needed to be a Marine.
Armstrong reviews techniques with Bardya Kaschkooli. (Photo by David Welton)
Armstrong was told that the day he became a United States Marine would be the proudest day of his life, but it didn’t compare to the day he earned his black belt. He devoted twenty years to the Corps, and before he retired as a Marine gunnery sergeant, he had 250 people reporting to him. The pride he felt the day he retired finally did supersede his pride in having achieved a black belt.
After he retired, Armstrong found himself with no one to lead. He kept asking himself “Where are my marines?” He worked in a juvenile center for a while, telling the kids there what he could. He coached baseball, attempting to teach the kids what he knew. He became a firefighter, looking for those he could lead. Eventually, he knew he had no choice but to do what had to be done. He had to open his own school and make “Armstrong’s Taekwondo,” a return address he used in correspondence as a young student, a reality.
Holly Davison assists Sawyer Schaeffer. (Photo by David Welton)
The school took shape in 2014 when Armstrong and his wife Tara finally opened the doors to Armstrong’s Taekwondo at Ken’s Korner in Clinton. In 2017, they opened a branch in Oak Harbor.
Watching from the back of a class reveals the influence that the Armstrongs have on their students. On the backs of uniforms worn by children, teens, and adults are the words, “State Champion,” “District Champion,” and “Regional Champion.” Those words belong to people with goals, people with perseverance.
Armstrong helps Bardya Kaschkooli and Alexa Napoli practice self-defense. (Photo by David Welton)
Along with the skills required to earn such achievements come the lessons that Armstrong learned along his path, what he would call a “black belt attitude.” Those lessons include confidence, the Yes-I-can attitude of self-esteem, perseverance, integrity, communication, honor, goals, and of course, leadership.
“The brain is the weakest muscle,” Armstrong says. “If you let your brain rule your heart, you’ve lost the battle of life. If you have heart, the sky’s the limit. You have a journey that means much more to you than learning to defend yourself. Here we say, ‘Make it a way of life.’”
Braxtyn Fleming reaches for his training weapon. (Photo by David Welton)
In the end, Armstrong would experience pride even greater than what he felt the day he retired from the Marines, and that was the day he tied the first earned belt on to a student at his new school. All those years of dedication to serving, to educating others, to leading, to learning the emotional, intellectual, and bigger-than-self lessons that formed his early years in Tivoli, and years in the Marine Corps, now came together for him. “I knew when I tied that first belt on that I could impact the community, making leaders of the young men and women, the adults that come through here. One black belt at a time.”
Tara Armstrong and Joel Davison practice kicks. (Photo by David Welton)
David Welton is a retired physician who has been a staff photographer for Whidbey Life Magazine since its early days. His work has also appeared in museums, art galleries, newspapers, regional and national magazines, books, nonprofit publicity, and on the back of the Whidbey Sea-Tac Shuttle!
Enjoy more articles in the print edition of Whidbey Life Magazine, which you can purchase at local and off-island retailers or receive in the mail via subscription.
WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. You may link to this story. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, please contact us.
One of Langley’s most waggish events for people and their dogs, the PAWZ 5K/10K Run/Walk has something for everyone. This year is the fourth annual run, which starts on Second Street on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29th.
Encouraged to bring two- or four-legged friends, the race is open to everyone, whether you want to run or walk, are young or old, have a dog or not.
The 5K race begins at 9 a.m., 10K at 9:15 a.m. and the Kids Fun Run at 10:30 a.m.
The top 10 women, men, and dogs all receive awards with random prizes given to dogs with feats including most drool, shortest legs, biggest eyes, and most active tail.
Sponsored by Animal Hospital by the Sea and Langley Main Street Association, the event benefits Good Cheer Pet Food Bank and the Happy Hounds 4H Club. For more information, see the race course, and to register go to www.pawzbythesea.com.
BY KATE POSS
Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor
April 19, 2017
Hardly anyone likes thinking or talking about death, yet planning our final act can be a gift we give our loved ones. Lucinda Herring, an ordained minister, licensed funeral director, and after-death care consultant helps people reclaim their right to care for their own deceased loved ones. She creates funeral rituals that can provide greater closure and healing for the person who has died and for the families and communities left behind.
Sitting in Herring’s cozy cottage, with the afternoon sun shining behind her, we sip tea and our talk turns toward how removed from death we are in our Western culture; how the habit of having “someone else” care for our dead has become the norm, so we often don’t know what to do or how to be when our loved one passes on.
Herring plants flowers for the Lepisto family in the green burial area of Langley-Woodmen Cemetery. (Photo by David Welton)
“We give the power to the funeral industry and don’t know of the alternatives,” Herring says. “There is a huge cost — financially, spiritually, and emotionally — when we give that sacred task over to strangers. My work has shown me how healing and helpful it can be for families to remain connected to their loved one during the dying and after-death process. As a culture, we’re no longer in direct relationship with the dead. Hospice helps. Yet there’s an important gap time between dying and disposition of the body that we’ve forgotten today.”
This gap time, as practiced in other cultures and available in ours, Herring says, is a sacred time, just like birth is.
“In some spiritual traditions, the sense of being with the body for three days is important,” Herring says. Such traditions, which include esoteric Christianity and Buddhism, hold that it can take up to three days for the etheric or life forces and the soul and spirit to fully leave the physical body. In this view, the process of death is more fluid, and isn’t considered complete at the time of the last breath, as modern medical science believes.”
Herring stands beside a green burial site in the Langley-Woodmen Cemetary. (Photo by David Welton)
It is important to know that loved ones can legally spend time in vigil for up to three days, Herring says. She has helped families make arrangements to be with the one who has passed, without the unwanted interruption of the body being taken away shortly after death. This way, a person who has died has more time to depart, survivors have time to adjust to the passing, and loved ones can prepare the departed for cremation or burial.
“The time immediately after a death is a precious opportunity,” Herring explains. “An intimate relationship exists between the person and his/her body for a time after death. It can be profoundly helpful for the deceased to lie in state in a peaceful and supportive environment for this time out of time. Family and friends can keep watch and accompany the deceased for this vigil time, saying prayers, reading to them, singing or making music. The presence and support of loved ones is of immense help and comfort to the departing soul.”
Before he died, Jake, pictured, encouraged Herring to use his photo as an example of the power and beauty of green burial. (Photo courtesy of Lucinda Herring)
One of Herring’s earliest vigils involved holding sacred space for a husband and father who died eight years ago. At that time, men in his community built a simple pine box. In his home, before a window that looked out into his wooded yard, the man was placed on dry ice and surrounded by greens that were picked from the forest and gardens around his home. His children’s school friends painted flowers, butterflies, and angels on the lid of his box. His face was serene as family and friends visited him, telling him how much he meant to them. His favorite music was played, and the guests danced with abandon.
Herring directed the event with sensitivity. Family members placed the lid on the box while a friend played a Native American flute, and then the guests walked out in procession. The man’s friends carried the box into a waiting station wagon and took him to be cremated. It was a beautiful, sacred event, which I attended and remains clear in my memory.
Langley resident Janice O’Mahony recently attended a vigil and funeral for a friend, directed by Herring.
“It was so human and so intimate,” O’Mahony recalls. “It was my first experience with something like this, and it was a wonderful experience.”
Jeanne Lepisto and her family held a three-day home funeral vigil for her father after he died. “There was no pressure concerning the timing of others,” she says. “There was freedom to be uniquely ourselves and express grief, caring, and love as needed in the moment. Time for the family members to have alone time with Dad to say goodbye. Time for memories to come and be explored with other family members. Time to cry together. Time to get real with death and to take back responsibilities we have given away because we might think it will be less painful if we let someone else do death for us. Experiencing the reality, death is part of life.”
Lepisto adds, “I love you, Dad, and celebrating you in this way has brought great healing to our relationship.”
As an alternative, Herring helps families and communities have both home funeral vigils and green burials. Green burial means the simple, natural burial of a body that has not been embalmed in a container that is biodegradable — either cardboard, untreated wood, or simply a shroud. There are no concrete vaults and no caskets of steel, metal, or endangered species of wood. Compost and biomass are placed in the grave with the body to accelerate the natural decomposition process. People who choose green burial do so because they want their bodies to be “recycled,” so they serve as a source of nourishment to the earth when they die.
Green burials mean a body is placed in the earth in a shroud or biodegradable container and returns to the earth naturally, without embalming or the use of concrete vaults. (Photo courtesy of Lucinda Herring)
Home funeral vigils and green burial go hand-in-hand, Herring says. They allow families to actively engage in caring for their loved one — both right after death and during the disposition. Also, in green burial, it often takes a few days to complete the necessary paperwork before a person can be buried. Having a person simply remain at home during this process, rather than being transported to a funeral home and then transported again to the cemetery makes a lot of sense. Families can transport a loved one from the home to the cemetery themselves, in ways that are more natural, creative, and healing for all.
“There is no one way to do this. I meet with families and get a sense of who they are and their dynamics,” Herring says of her custom approach to compassionately working with families. “If possible, I ask the dying what their wishes are. I listen deeply to what they want. Some of the gifts that result from my work are that people can be themselves and grieve easily. Being more present with the dead can bring comfort and solace and a greater acceptance. As someone who does ceremony naturally, I can gently suggest bringing nature to the experience. Death is fierce no matter what. I want to bring in the healing life forces and softness of nature, flowers, mementos of a person’s life. In my mind, to “green a death” is to bring these elements of art, beauty and creativity, creating circles of wholeness rather than separation.”
Herring is passionate about helping others get their after-death care plans in place, especially if they want alternative options such as home funerals and green burial. She helped form and is a member of the National Home Funeral Alliance, which supports educating people about home funerals and the legal rights involved.
“In many ways, I would say life has chosen me for death work rather than the other way around,” says Herring. “Perhaps it’s because I’m not afraid of standing at the threshold or edge of the unknown with others. Perhaps it’s because I see death as a natural and even beautiful part of life, no matter what the circumstances. I’m committed to helping others change the heavy thought forms of avoidance, denial, and fear we all carry about death today. I’m also committed to finding more ecological and sustainable after-death practices that care for the earth while caring for others. The home funeral and green burial work is doing much to transform our relationship to death. It’s this possibility of transformation and healing that keeps me saying ‘yes’ to this work.”
Kate Poss worked as a library assistant at the Langley Library until last June, when she retired. She worked for three summers as a chef aboard a small Alaskan tour boat from 2008 to 2010. Kate was a newspaper reporter in Los Angeles for many years before moving to Whidbey Island, where she likes cooking for new and old friends, hiking, reading great fiction, and writing her second novel with her friend Fred Bixby.
David Welton is a retired physician who has been a staff photographer for Whidbey Life Magazine since its early days. His work has also appeared in museums, art galleries, newspapers, regional and national magazines, books, non-profit publicity, and the back of the Whidbey Sea-Tac shuttle!
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Enjoy more articles in the print edition of Whidbey Life Magazine, which you can purchase at local and off-island retailers or receive in the mail via subscription.
WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. You may link to this story. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, please contact us.
BY DEB CRAGER Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor
April 19, 2017
This is her gift — putting newborns into parents’ hands — and then bringing them into her own life. As a midwife, Cynthia Jaffe has delivered more than 1,200 children on the island, in a career that continues, even after 26 years. The petite, dynamic midwife sails into a room with enough energy to rival a toddler, of which she sees plenty. In larger cities, she explains, you may never see a child after it’s delivered. Living on Whidbey keeps her involved in many lives, a benefit she embraces.
“This is a small community, and I get to see those babies grow up and follow them throughout their lives,” she says. “Now, I’m starting to see the second generation have their children.”
Jaffe cares for all aspects of a laboring woman, including physical and emotional. (Photo by Kline Photography)
When Jaffe had her two children in Jerusalem, she used a midwife, which was common. She was intrigued by the whole process, and when her midwife told her of an opportunity to assist another midwife, Jaffe quickly signed on. She spent a year assisting, then came to Seattle to take her prerequisites. She went directly to midwifery school, where she delivered numerous babies during her three-year training.
At the time, there was another midwife who lived in Everett and came over to assist women on the island. Jaffe and her family made their home in Greenbank while she trained in Seattle. She applied for and received a grant from the Arise Charitable Trust of South Whidbey, and then built the Greenbank Women’s Clinic and Birth Center in 1992. Now, according to Jaffe, half of the babies she delivers are born at home, and the other half are born in the center. More providers have joined the staff, which includes another midwife and a physician.
Within the first week after their birth, Jaffe sees babies three times to make sure all is well.(Photo by Kline Photography)
“Women are making a choice,” says Jaffe. “This is just one of their options in the decision-making process.” Women choose to use a midwife for a variety of reasons, which include being comfortable at home, wanting the whole family involved, and occasionally, finances. Her job is to educate and reassure them during the process, making sure they’re comfortable wherever they are. But she offers more than just her skills and experience.
“She’s the calm to my storm,” says Rebecca Starkweather, who has five daughters. Even though Starkweather says her births have been quick and easy, it’s still nice to have Jaffe close. Calling herself an old-fashioned Whidbey girl, Starkweather has delivered three of her five daughters with Jaffe. “She walks me through it gently and lets me be me,” she says, highly recommending Jaffe, both as a midwife and a friend.
“Everyone I know who decides to have their babies at home comes to her,” says Starkweather. Her latest arrival, Raven, is at the center for a follow-up, and Jaffe spends plenty of time with her and her sisters. Jaffe visits babies at home after the first 24 hours, after 72 hours, and then again on day five. “We make sure that everything is going well and that both mom and baby are comfortable,” she says. Those visits might continue while children are growing.
Approximately half of the births Jaffe attends take place at home. This one is an example. (Photo by Kline Photography)
Jaffe and the other providers at the center have discussed creating a group environment for the women, no matter where they are in their pregnancy, with each group offering support for the next. She has been considering retirement but concedes that it’s difficult to leave a career she loves. She sees herself working with Doctors without Borders or in some other international group at some point. But spending time with family comes first, something she hasn’t always had time for, given the unpredictable nature of what she does.
Just last weekend, she delivered two more babies into the hands of parents — and right into her own heart.
Deb Crager is originally from the Midwest but has lived on the island for 26 years. She wrote the book “101 Things to Do on Whidbey Island: For a Day, a Weekend, or a Lifetime” available on iPad and Kindle Fire, with older copies in print from Amazon and ebay.
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Enjoy more articles in the print edition of Whidbey Life Magazine, which you can purchase at local and off-island retailers or receive in the mail via subscription.
WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. You may link to this story. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, please contact us.
BY MARK FORMAN Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor
April 12, 2016
If any Whidbey Islander has earned the right to indulge himself with an extended stay in Europe, it’s Lucas Jushinski. A veteran of the Iraq war — including service as a combat medic in the battle of Fallujah — and a successful local businessman whose generosity has benefitted Good Cheer and several other island organizations, Jushinski would be justified in laying back and just taking it easy. But his temporary residency in Grenada, Spain, has a deeper purpose and can’t really be called an indulgence. It’s a purpose that grew out of his eight-year service in the U.S. Navy.
Lucas Jushinski behind the counter at Island Herb before leaving for Spain. (Photo by Michael Stadler)
“I’d traveled to these different countries where people speak two, three, four, five languages, and I’m sitting there only able to speak English,” he recalls. In early February, Jushinski arrived in Grenada, determined to change that. His goal is an ambitious one. “I’ve dedicated myself to staying here until I can speak Spanish fluently,” he says. But Jushinski has pushed through far more intimidating challenges in his 40-year life. And the patience he cultivated in confronting those other challenges is serving him well in accepting the pace of his language acquisition. “It’s coming, it’s just slow. It’s slower than I was hoping for, but I’m okay with that,” he says.
“Slower than I was hoping for.” The same could be said of his transition out of the military after suffering traumatic brain injury and PTSD stemming from his front-line service as a combat corpsman. And like many returning veterans, Lucas found that the effects of the large cocktail of drugs prescribed by VA doctors was worse than the conditions they were meant to alleviate. As he recalls, “I felt like a zombie. I didn’t feel like I was being healed at all.”
Ultimately, the pain of that led to a moment of decision and a commitment to personal power. “I said okay, this isn’t working, and I took myself off all those pills. I had to find my own path of healing.” Support for that path came through the Warrior Transition Program at Evergreen State College, where Jushinski returned to finish his degree. “I started studying what warrior transition was and what it meant. It really started to help give me a better idea about the process I was going through, because I didn’t understand the process. I didn’t know what I needed at the time.”
Part of the Evergreen experience involved volunteer work, which Lucas performed as an intern in the Good Cheer Garden. The simple processes of that work were therapeutic, “Digging dirt, getting on my hands and knees and planting food, helping people.” he recalls. The “helping people” part was especially meaningful for him. “Being of service again to other people was a big part of my healing. Working at Good Cheer was instrumental in my recovery.”
During this time, Jushinski remained true to his commitment to steer clear of the synthetic drugs that had left him feeling he had “lost connection with humanity.” He was open to the possibility that the natural medicinal properties of certain plants could be beneficial. He obtained a medical cannabis card and began using it. The results were welcome. “I noticed how cannabis really helped me to calm down, to find some sort of peace of mind again. It helped me to sleep. It helped me in all sorts of ways.”
That was 2011. At the time, there were no medical cannabis dispensaries on Whidbey Island. Dealing with the necessity of traveling to Seattle to buy his cannabis triggered a realization, “I can’t be the only one on the island who’s suffering, who needs to go off the island to get cannabis.” And it led him to a decision that would change the direction of his life. He decided to open a medicinal cannabis dispensary.
Jushinski had no background in business, but he received support from the community, not only in terms of mentorship and financing but even with the set-up of the store when he was finally able to put all the necessary pieces together. “People also came together to help me build the store out, with construction. The community came together to help me when I was struggling.”
As Island Alternative Medicine’s client base grew, so too did Jushinski’s awareness of the benefits people were receiving from the various cannabis strains and preparations that he carried in the dispensary. “I knew what it was helping me for, but then all these other people would come in and tell me their stories and I would be overwhelmed with how much it was helping people.”
Some changes arrived with the legalization of recreational cannabis — including the launch of a new company, Island Herb. In the original dispensary model, Lucas would see only one person at a time. “And they would come back, they’d get complete privacy, and we’d be able to talk about their condition and what they’re going through.” In the new company, Jushinski has tried to mitigate the impact of that change. “I’ve hired a lot of great people to work there. So, usually when you come in, you don’t have to wait, there’s someone to help you right there.” Another way he seeks to maintain the original medicinal intent in an environment that now includes recreational use as well, is through training. “My goal is to send all of my employees to the medical cannabis program they offer at Seattle Central Community College.”
Island Herb employee Bret Wilhoit helps a customer. (Photo by Michael Stadler)
Jushinski remains grateful for the support he’s received from the Whidbey community — especially Good Cheer, to whom in May, 2014, he pledged to match up to $10,000 in donations. Cary Peterson, garden program coordinator for the South Whidbey School District, who came to know Lucas during his internship, believes his generosity is deeply ingrained and his success well-earned. “Lucas is a very generous and open-hearted person. That’s his intrinsic nature, and I’m just really glad he’s been able to flourish in this community.”
As Jushinski focuses on his current challenge of achieving fluency in Spanish, he feels the day-to-day operations of the store are in good hands. “Eric, my store manager, and his team are super stellar performers. They run the store with integrity. They treat our customers with kindness and respect. And they all have a great amount of knowledge with regard to the products we carry.”
And after Grenada and fluency? Jushinski is beginning to think about a new project: a retreat center for veterans dealing with PTSD. “I want to create a place where veterans who are suffering can come and experience a different type of healing than maybe they’ve had any awareness of. The VA and the military, they only know the pills, they only know the narcotics. They’re coming up with new ways, but I’d say that’s their primary way is through pills. And I want to show veterans that there’s a different way.”
Mark Forman is a filmmaker and writer who moved to Whidbey Island with his wife Kathleen Secrest in 2015. Mark’s favorite projects include: “The King of the Hobos,” a film portrait of Steam Train Maury Graham, which aired on PBS at the beginning of Mark’s career; a promotional video for La Romita School of Art in the Umbrian region of Italy filmed in 2008; and a fund-raising video that he and Kathleen produced last fall as a donation to the Whidbey Institute.
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Mokihana Calizar, a Hawaiian storyteller, blogger and writer of medicine stories will appear at the South Whidbey Tilth Farmers’ Market on Sunday, Sept. 25 starting at 11:30 a.m. She will tell a Hawaiian tale “Pele and Lono,” strumming her ukulele between. She invites the audience to join in group readings: a story of the original medicine of the Safety Pin Café, and a freshly minted story, “Feed the Land,” for the Tilth land. This is a medicine story about land, not property; about people, not consumers; about community not ownership; about pirates dressed in everyday clothes; about hearts and souls craving remedy and solutions that criss-cross the borders.
Donations will benefit the work of Real Change, a Seattle-based group which “exists to provide opportunity and a voice for low-income and homeless people while taking action for economic, social and racial justice,” and South Whidbey Homeless Coalition (SWHC) whose mission is to “help us make homelessness a brief and rare experience in our community.”
Calizar, who lives with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), knows first-hand the issues of homelessness and life on the edges of a civilized society. “Come fragrance free,” she requests, “suspend your disbelief and be open to create a more robust version of reality.”Her blog can be seen at www.thesafetypincafe.blogspot.com.
Artist Carla Walsh will also be at Tilth and will engage young and old in making leaf prints during the market.
The South Whidbey Tilth Farmers’ Market is located at 2812 Thompson Road, on the corner of Thompson Road and State Route 525. The market is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Oct. 16. It features fresh produce, flowers and concessions. SNAP card customers get double value. Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program coupons are accepted by many vendors. Artisans have unique gifts for early holiday shopping. Visit www.southwhidbeytilth.org, call 360-321-0757 or email market@southwhidbeytilth.org.
BY JUDY FELDMAN Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor August 31, 2016
Wendell Berry, farmer, poet and cultural critic, has said: “Eating is an agricultural act.”
Perhaps nowhere is this more visible and visceral than at a Farmers Market. Wandering through table after table of produce that was harvested just the day before, talking with the people who grew it, sharing ideas for how to store it, prepare it, preserve it, offering feedback to the growers about what we like and don’t…it’s possible that we think more deeply about the quality and importance of our food while at a Market than at any other time in our busy lives.
Bill McInvaille of Bur Oak Acres Farm weighs out vegetables for a happy customer. (photo by Judy Feldman)
Here on Whidbey, we’re fortunate to have many of these farmer-eater mashups. Langley, South Whidbey Tilth, Bayview, Clinton, Coupeville and Oak Harbor all boast lively markets that feature small-scale farmers, artisans, bakers, food vendors and music.
Folks who include Farmers Markets in their weekly shopping routine can rattle off a long list of why they do so: they like buying very fresh vegetables, they enjoy bringing visitors to a local experience, they want to support their farming neighbors, they appreciate being able to shop outside.
If you dig a little deeper though, you’re likely to discover that there is much more going on at a Farmers Market than an idyllic version of grocery shopping.
“Our family is here,” say Pam and Kelly Uhlig of Sonshine Farm. And by family, they mean not only the customers who buy their sustainably grown flowers, but the farmers they connect with in between transactions.” Britt Conn of Full Cycle Farm echoes this, saying “the Markets offer us an old-school version of social networking.”
Kelly Uhlig sees the Farmers Market as the best way to spread the word about the flower farm she and her mother, Pam, operate on South Whidbey. (photo by Judy Feldman)
Farmers, as small business owners, work hard. Their day to day tasks are obviously place-based, and are often driven by factors mostly out of their control…weather, water, soil, market demand, pollinators and other slippery elements. Keeping up with planting, weeding, irrigating, pest control, harvest schedules, washing and packaging takes a very large percentage of their waking time. They can become a bit isolated. And yet, sharing crop information and collectively making sense of the farming experience is important to them. Farmers Markets give them a platform for connection.
That connection extends beyond the network of farmers to their customers. “This is face time,” says Annie Jesperson of Deep Harvest Farm. “Here at the Market, we have the chance to really relate to each other as human beings with needs, challenges and celebrations.” Loren Imes of Quail’s Run Farm agrees. “It’s really fun for us to see people excited about the food we work so hard to grow…we get to watch as it transforms from produce on our table here to sustenance for them.”
Standing at a produce booth for 20 minutes can provide more insight as you listen to the stories shared back and forth between those who grew the food and those who will eat it. “I’m beating cancer,” says one woman. “And taking care to select good, whole, fresh food—grown by people who know me—is a huge part of my plan.” Another says “my kids say these tomatoes are better than candy!” Yet another holds up a bunch of beets, remarking “these always remind me of my mother.”
Farmers Annie Jesperson and Beth Wheat share observations of tomato varieties that have done exceptionally well this summer. (photo by Judy Feldman)
All of this is not to say that Farmers Markets are the be-all and end-all. “We’re so grateful to our community for coming out to buy from us,” says Stephen Williams, “and Market income makes up a significant portion of our farm revenue. But it’s hard won. While the customer traffic varies each weekend, depending on the weather and what else is going on here on the island, our harvest has to be consistent. Each step of getting here takes time—time to grow, time to harvest, time to stand here selling instead of working at my farm.”
Williams and others are quick to add that it’s an investment they happily make. “The connections we make here lead to some folks working with us on bulk purchases for food preservation,” says one farmer. Another chimes in, “we get booked for weddings and special events because people like what they see here at the Market.”
Over the seasons, customers learn a lot from “their farmers.” Arwen Norman of Sky Root Farm smiles proudly as she explains “we are not home gardeners…we are farmers. This is our job, our livelihood…we have seasons of experience and we have so much information we can share with those who come out to buy our food.”
It is this shared learning—between growers and eaters—that is generating more and more interest in locally sourced food here on Whidbey. In addition to the Markets, there are roadside stands, CSAs and even the occasional local item in our grocery stores. Hopefully, with efforts from agencies and non-profits like Goosefoot, which is interested in finding ways to support value-added, shelf-stable food projects, we may one day soon be able to enjoy the summer harvests even in the midst of our dark and damp winters.
Farmers Markets are for EVERYONE! (photo by Judy Feldman)
We speak to our “rural character” and we say we love having new young farmers working in our communities. We mourn the loss of flavor in the tomatoes grown by industrial ag and celebrate the ripe, tangy flavors that burst from those grown on island soil. We sometimes even acknowledge the vulnerabilities associated with being an island, separated from the commercial food system that we do still rely on for most of our needs.
So, perhaps what Farmers Markets do best is allow us to recognize the capacity for a more resilient local food scene, one that can indeed expand—but only if eaters and farmers grow together.
There are still lots of Farmers Market days left in this summer. Most run through October and some farmers can offer a smaller selection of goods even beyond that if you ask. August and September often yield the most abundant harvests, which is very useful for those who love hot-weather crops like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, or those who love to pickle and can.
Anna Petersons of 12 Birches Farm weighs out a huge garlic bulb. (photo by Judy Feldman)
Talk with that smiling, hard working farmer that hands you a bag of beans or carton of tomatoes. Ask how you can take the food experience just a little deeper. As Wendell Berry suggests, you’ll be engaging in agriculture… entering into a relationship of growing a community together.
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