OPAL Community Land Trust thanks our supporters and sponsors, the Orcas community, the dignitaries, and all our volunteers for a fun and successful picnic and rally held July 12 in support of affordable housing.

Thank you, Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib, for being our keynote speaker, sharing stories from your life about the importance of family and community, and for making Washington state a more inclusive and entrepreneurial friendly place.

Senator Kevin Ranker, you are a good friend to the larger San Juan County population, and especially to your Orcas neighbors. We are delighted you see the importance of affordable housing here. We thank you for inspiring us and for negotiating better legislative deals on our behalf.

We had fantastic food donated by the Orcas Village Store (Mary Russell Rebman and Ron Rebman) which was enjoyed by the crowd while Turtleback Brass, under the leadership of Steve Alboucq performed. Thank you, band. Live music IS best.

Janet Brownell wrote our skit, Housing Jeopardy (with an ironic nod to the lack of irony) and the cast and crew did an outstanding job of entertaining while making serious points about the rental situation on Orcas. Thank you Mallory Hagel, the honorable Rick Hughes (San Juan County Councilman), Jacob Linnes (co-manager of Island Market, the lead sponsor), Monique Turner, Carla Stanley, Jeanne Beck and Jeff Horton. We had some great laughs during your performances.

Thank you to the additional sponsors of the event: San Juan Propane, Islanders Bank, Nickel Bros. House Moving, San Juan Insurance, Washington Federal Bank and The Exchange/Orcas Recycling Services. You helped make this possible.

A list of our individual volunteers is too great to publish in this letter. We believe you know who you are and how greatly we value you!

The theme of the event was “Let’s Hear It for Affordable Housing!” And once again, the Orcas community and friends rose to the occasion.

The team at OPAL Community Land Trust