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09/24/2007: "28th Annual FRIENDS Picnic"

(Max Field & Chloe Mason at FoSJ Meeting on Shaw -Shannon Davis photo)

Over 130 people attended the Friends of the San Juans Annual Meeting on Shaw Island, Saturday September 15. An inter-tribal crew from Sammish Indian Nation, Lummi Nation, Nooksack Nation, and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community paddled in two canoes to participate in 28th Annual Meeting.

Islanders Marc Forlenza, Kim Sundberg and Debbie Clausen; Gregg and Roan Dietzman; Chad, Kathleen and Even Foley; and Bob Anderson and crew escorted the canoes in their personal boats from Washington Park to Shaw Island on Friday, back on Sunday morning.

Lummi Nation elder, James Hillaire welcomed guests to the event. Fred Ellis, Estella Leopold, Philip Red Eagle, and Helen Engle were keynote speakers. April and Gary Ford of San Juan Island, were presented the annual Best Friend of the Year Award and outgoing board members Jon Christoffersen and Irmgard Conley were recognized for their outstanding service and presented with a copy of Ron Keeshan's recently released, Journey Into the Web of Life, a book of photoghraphs and essays on wildlife and their habitats in the Pacific Northwest.

Guests were invited to paddle in the Lummi canoe, "O'hileqsen" and the Swinomish canoe, "Selalitut artsi s Zuladx w." In addition to the paddle, Friends Science Director, Tina Whitman, led a beach lecture and walk on South Beach.