Other News
Apr 25, 2025: New Daily Service Schedule, Growing Ridership & Other Insights on County’s Pilot Transport Services
Apr 24, 2025: Building and Land Use Permits, Long-Range Planning Projects, & Staff Recruitments: DCD Leadership Provides Spring Update
Apr 4, 2025: 2025 Comp Plan Update: Transportation Element, Plan Intro, & Administration Piece Ready for Review
Mar 19, 2025: San Juan County Establishes Interim Inter-Island Transportation Services as RFP Process Continues
Mar 7, 2025: 2025 Comp Plan Update: Climate Element and Draft Official Map Amendments Available for Review
Mar 6, 2025: Governor Ferguson announces plan to restore Washington State Ferries to full service by this summer
Mar 4, 2025: Public Meeting: Land Bank Using Prescribed Fires to Manage Wildfire Risks & Restore Ecosystems
Feb 19, 2025: San Juan County Seeks Proposals from Transportation Service Providers for Pilot Project
Feb 12, 2025: Call for Candidates: Three-Day Special Filing Period for Lopez Metropolitan Park District Commissioners
Jan 19, 2025: Four districts, six unions, three PTAs, and county leadership all agree: legislators must take action to fully fund education no
Dec 19, 2024: San Juan County Parks and Fair Announces New Camping Software; Delaying Reservation Availability
Dec 10, 2024: County Council Considers Extending Agreement with Lopez Solid Waste to Allow for More Collaboration
Dec 5, 2024: San Juan County to Consider Updated Interlocal Agreement with Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District
Dec 2, 2024: San Juan County Council Sets Public Hearing for Cultural Access Sales Tax at Dec. 10 Meeting
Nov 25, 2024: San Juan County Celebrates Completion of Lopez Skate Park and Calls for Inaugural Skaters
Nov 7, 2024: How Has Extreme Weather Impacted You? Participate in the County’s Climate Resilience Planning Effort
Nov 1, 2024: UPDATE: Sea Wall Repairs Temporarily Close MacKaye Harbor Dock and Boat Ramp on Lopez Island
Oct 22, 2024: DRAFT North Shore Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Oct 21, 2024: Reminder: You’re Invited to Attend Open Houses for the 2025 Comp Plan Update This Fall
Oct 1, 2024: LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE SAN JUANS SPONSORS OCTOBER COUNTY COUNCIL VOTER FORUMS ON SJI, ORCAS, AND LOPEZ
Sep 24, 2024: County Hosts Community Meeting on Lopez Island to Discuss Public Safety during Hunting Season
Sep 24, 2024: SJC Reviews Shoreline Habitat & Infrastructure Adaptation Strategies in the face of Sea Level Rise
Sep 23, 2024: DRAFT Watmough Bay Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Aug 29, 2024: San Juan County’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging Survey Sets Baseline for Ongoing Change
Aug 27, 2024: 2024 San Juan County WSU Master Gardeners Gardening Workshop Series, October 15-24, 2024
Aug 27, 2024: County Representatives Discuss Solutions to Ferry Service Disruptions with Governor Inslee
Aug 21, 2024: County Council’s Request to Governor for Relief from Ferry Service Disruptions Not Fulfilled
Aug 20, 2024: San Juan County Certifies Primary Election Results & Celebrates Highest Primary Turnout in Years
Aug 13, 2024: WSF Commits Additional Crews to Interisland Route to Ensure Service During County Fair Week
Aug 13, 2024: Ferry Data from Staff and Local Partners Shapes Council Request for ‘Executive Relief’ From WA State
Aug 5, 2024: The Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival returns to Lopez for its 27th Summer Concert Season
May 2, 2024: WA State Governor and Assistant Secretary of WSF Talk Ferry Service & Solar Power with SJC Officials
Apr 11, 2024: Community Meeting: Sea Level Rise Adaptation for Outer Bay and Agate Beach Areas on Lopez Island
Mar 11, 2024: Queers in Unexpected Places: Searching for (and Finding) Gender and Sexual Non-Conformity in the Rural and Early PNW
Mar 7, 2024: DRAFT Richardson Marsh Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Dec 5, 2023: County Council Member Jane Fuller and Senator Liz Lovelett to Host Public Meeting on Lopez
Nov 3, 2023: County and Town Send Open Letter to State Officials Regarding Impacts of Poor Ferry Service
Sep 29, 2023: Conservation Land Bank Announces Special Meeting to Discuss Watmough Bay Preserve Addition
Sep 14, 2023: The mobile dental van is coming to Lopez! // ¡La camioneta dental móvil ya llega a López!
Aug 22, 2023: San Juan County Adopts 32-Hour Work Week in the Name of Fiscal Health, Recruitment, and Islander Wellness
May 25, 2023: Recap of Lopez Neighborhood Meeting Regarding the Relocation of Public Works Facilities
May 23, 2023: District 3 Councilmember Jane Fuller Opens Office on Lopez and Hosts Community Conversation
Apr 17, 2023: Give Lopez Starts April 17th - A two week fundraiser benefiting 15 Lopez Island Non-Profits
Sep 22, 2022: Interim Watmough Preserve Addition Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
ANOTHER $25,000 Match Keeps Swim Center on Path to Construction
Dec 19, 2021
By Friends of Lopez Island Pool
Inspired by Randy and Karen Wilburn’s $30,000 match, long-time Lopezian Rita O’Boyle is also jumping in to add to the year-end challenge! Donate to FLIP now until December 31, 2021, and Rita will match donations, dollar to dollar, up to $25,000, keeping the pool on its path to construction in 2022!
FLIP recently spoke with Rita about her passion for swimming and the community she’s experienced as a result.
What’s your reason for supporting the Swim Center?
I’m a long-time Lopezian and long-time user of pools. I’ve spent my life swimming. I swam through [primary and secondary] school and through college, competitively.
Now, I’ve had one knee and two hips replaced; I feel like having a place to immerse myself in nice, warm water would be an answer to all my physical ails.
How do you see the Swim Center fostering our community’s development?
It will bring people together. For the aging community, especially, I feel like it’s a gift for the body and the mind.
How has swimming impacted your life?
The water is a wonderful gift. It’s been something to look forward to and a way to feel at one with the world.
My family’s swimming history is deep. I have two daughters and a granddaughter who all swam competitively all the way through high school. My father, Eric Cross, was a swimmer and almost made it to the Olympics, save for an injury. He made it possible and encouraged me and my four siblings to swim.
I grew up near Port Sunlight, England, an amazing township built by the Lever Brothers; they built the town to accommodate their soap-factory workers. It had a pool that I could cycle to, and there was never a question asked as to why I was late coming home! The best part [of belonging to a swim team in my youth] was having a comfortable set of people to travel and go to meets with. Even though the sport was competitive, it was based on “do your best,†and everyone got along.
The local swim club had a men’s division and a women’s division. My father’s mother was on the ladies’ team - so I understood early on that swimming can be a real confidence builder. For my father, who was an engineer and often single-minded, swimming was his passion. If there was a swimmable sea, he would swim in it. He was recognized both locally and nationally. People would say, “There goes Eric Cross.â€
What is your favorite swimming story?
In my 50s, I belonged to the Seattle Athletic Club. I used to play squash there but was attracted to swimming. One day, the pool pro suggested I join the swim club. I told him, “I could never do that!†But he urged me on anyway, so I finally relented. We would swim a mile or so every time we got together. My favorite chuckle was when a younger person was ticked off that I could swim faster than she could.
That experience reinforced the idea that whatever I put my mind to, I could do: “If you get in the water, you can stay in the water.â€
Supporters can give online at www.lopezislandpool.org/donate.
The FLIP Board is so appreciative to Rita for her inspired match and to Randy and Karen for jump-starting this year-end campaign. Thanks to all FLIP donors for their steadfast support of this critically important project!
What’s your reason for supporting the Swim Center?
I’m a long-time Lopezian and long-time user of pools. I’ve spent my life swimming. I swam through [primary and secondary] school and through college, competitively.
Now, I’ve had one knee and two hips replaced; I feel like having a place to immerse myself in nice, warm water would be an answer to all my physical ails.
How do you see the Swim Center fostering our community’s development?
It will bring people together. For the aging community, especially, I feel like it’s a gift for the body and the mind.
How has swimming impacted your life?
The water is a wonderful gift. It’s been something to look forward to and a way to feel at one with the world.
My family’s swimming history is deep. I have two daughters and a granddaughter who all swam competitively all the way through high school. My father, Eric Cross, was a swimmer and almost made it to the Olympics, save for an injury. He made it possible and encouraged me and my four siblings to swim.
I grew up near Port Sunlight, England, an amazing township built by the Lever Brothers; they built the town to accommodate their soap-factory workers. It had a pool that I could cycle to, and there was never a question asked as to why I was late coming home! The best part [of belonging to a swim team in my youth] was having a comfortable set of people to travel and go to meets with. Even though the sport was competitive, it was based on “do your best,†and everyone got along.
The local swim club had a men’s division and a women’s division. My father’s mother was on the ladies’ team - so I understood early on that swimming can be a real confidence builder. For my father, who was an engineer and often single-minded, swimming was his passion. If there was a swimmable sea, he would swim in it. He was recognized both locally and nationally. People would say, “There goes Eric Cross.â€
What is your favorite swimming story?
In my 50s, I belonged to the Seattle Athletic Club. I used to play squash there but was attracted to swimming. One day, the pool pro suggested I join the swim club. I told him, “I could never do that!†But he urged me on anyway, so I finally relented. We would swim a mile or so every time we got together. My favorite chuckle was when a younger person was ticked off that I could swim faster than she could.
That experience reinforced the idea that whatever I put my mind to, I could do: “If you get in the water, you can stay in the water.â€
Supporters can give online at www.lopezislandpool.org/donate.
The FLIP Board is so appreciative to Rita for her inspired match and to Randy and Karen for jump-starting this year-end campaign. Thanks to all FLIP donors for their steadfast support of this critically important project!

Long-time Lopezian and swimmer Rita O'Boyle, pictured as a youth with her swimming trophies.