Editorial: A week wrapped in garland
Published 11:30 am Tuesday, December 2, 2025
The holiday season is officially upon us after Thanksgiving dinner — and feels like a rush of green and red, garland, warm lights just about everywhere.
We have some great and festive stories in this week’s paper, highlighting how Vashon gathers, celebrates and comes together as a community.
One place that captures that spirit is the Vashon Island Chorale, returning to Vashon Center for the Arts with its holiday concert, “Night of Silence.”
As reporter Elizabeth Shepherd writes, the title is a misnomer — the program will be full of soaring, seasonal works led by longtime conductor Gary D. Cannon. The Chorale’s 70 singers range from teens to 94-year-old June Langland, bringing together voices from across the community.
Cannon says the concert’s theme is togetherness, a fitting note for a season that can hold both joy and loneliness.
We also step back in time with Bruce Haulman and Terry Donnelly’s latest “Time & Again” column, tracing the long arc between the uneasy 1970 Memorial Day Rock Festival and today’s Concerts in the Park.
Their piece connects the island’s turbulent counterculture years — cannabis farms, clashes, fears of a “hippie invasion” — with the easy communal joy of this past summer’s finale featuring The Great Divide. It’s a reminder of how much Vashon changes, and how much it absorbs.
This week also marks the long-awaited full reopening of Dockton Park’s marina and boat launch, concluding a six-year renovation.
After persistent closures and pandemic delays, boaters finally have full access to upgraded docks, safer moorage and a rebuilt breakwater — improvements the county says will serve the island for years to come, even if they arrived just in time for the chilliest month of the year.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving week without movement: more than 100 runners — and plenty of dogs — took part in the 2025 Turkey Trot, raising funds for Vashon High School’s cross country and track programs.
Across the island, the Sportsmen’s Club kept its own tradition going with the annual Turkey Shoot, where two competitors posted perfect scores.
Finally, we look ahead to WinterFest, set to transform uptown into a glowing winter streetscape this Saturday evening.
Between illuminated tractors, Santa’s arrival, the library’s jingle-bell craft hour and a community tree lighting, it’s the kind of event that reliably brings Vashon outside — warm coats, scarves, cocoa and all.
