Drink up for a calendar year

Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink.

The ancient mariner’s lament was shared hereabouts by not-so-ancient photographer Pete Saloutos, a frequent swimmer at the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center and among the many patrons dissatisfied with the quality of the pool’s drinking fountain.

Last month in these pages, we reported on the sale of Saloutos’ 2007 scenic calendar, chockablock with images of wild areas he’s photographed in his travels. Proceeds from the calendar sales went toward purchase of a triple purification and water cooling system for the aquatic facility. We can now report that the effort was successful – so the next time you’re at the pool, drink up!

To the extent that anyone feted the first sip of cooler, more refreshing water, though, Pete wasn’t on hand. “The only dedication ceremony I was a part of was that I got to turn it on and it worked,” he told us this week. “What’s important is that we got it raised. My hope was to raise that much.” In all, 108 calendars were sold, raising a total of $2,160 for the project. Aquatic center manager John DeMeyer was happy the calendars could pay for the system. “It’s been a big deal over the years not having a good source of water,” he told us. “We have a lot of fitness-conscious people who don’t like drinking chlorinated water while working out.”

Readers will recall that Saloutos has been doing calendars for 25 years and he always enjoys his work. “It’s fun,” he says. “It’s evolved over time from how to get the photos, text and dates on a calendar that people can give it to others and not have it sitting somewhere. It’s nice to have a picture that I’ve produced that people can look at every day for a month and hopefully provides a positive impact.”

While the 2007 calendar is still available, Pete is already hard at work on the 2008 edition. He recently returned from a shoot in Costa Rica, and plans to travel to the Moab Desert, the Seychelle Islands off the coast of Africa, the Oregon Coast and the Olympic Mountains for more images.

To better water: cheers!

Remembering a fine doctor

Intelligent. Compassionate, and a good communicator in times of family distress. One of the best doctors with whom her colleagues ever worked.

That’s how longtime Bainbridge Island pediatrician Diane Fuquay was eulogized at her passing in September 2005 at age 55. Now word comes that Fuquay will be memorialized for her years of service to the community through a mural at the new Bainbridge Pediatrics medical clinic slated to open on the island this spring.

Organizers say the clinic’s entryway will have a 36-square-foot mural of kiln-fired, brightly colored glass shards depicting the Olympic Mountains, forests and trees, sea stars and fish, Mount Rainier and other natural images dear to Fuquay, who greatly enjoyed the outdoors and beachcombing. Friends and former patients are asked to help assemble the mural in a two-day workshop at Mesolini Glass Studio on Bainbridge Island, Feb. 3-4. Call the studio at 842-7133 to participate in this worthy tribute to the longtime health care practitioner.

“She provided a level of care to seriously ill children who would not be able to get in a small community,” former colleague Dr. Tom Haggar said at Fuquay’s passing.

In the mural, her service will be deservedly honored.