Whidbey Island: Ferries, Freeland, and a Few “No’s”
By Frashia Njenga
On Thursday, June 12, I traded city streets for sea breeze as I journeyed to Whidbey Island with my supervisor, Cindy Safronoff. At exactly 10:30 ,give or take a few panicked seconds looking for snacks, we left for Mukilteo and caught the ferry. Let me just say, 15 minutes on water, and I was ready to move in. Calm, cloudy, and quiet… just how I like my existential crises.
Once we hit the island, we made our way to Freeland where I temporarily ditched Cindy so she could catch up with her brother and I could begin my solo mission: charming the lovely folks of Whidbey into loving the Christian Science Monitor.
First stop: a chiropractor’s office. I must’ve aligned the right energy because they were thrilled to receive the magazines, they even asked for two sets! If that’s not a spine-tingling start, I don’t know what is.
After covering Freeland like a seasoned island scout, we zipped off to Langley. I revisited a shop that had subscribed last year, but sadly got hit with a gentle “no.” I didn’t take it personally, maybe they just weren’t ready for this level of print greatness again.
But redemption came in the form of Sweet Mona’s Cafe where I landed a shiny new gift subscription. Chocolate, coffee, and commitment to the press, what more could a girl want?
We made it back home around 7:00 PM, ferry and all. Tired feet, happy heart, and just the right amount of small-town magic.
By Cindy Safronoff
On Thursday, June 12, Frashia and I drove to Mukilteo and boarded the Washington State Ferry towards Clinton. It was a cloudy day, but not rainy. We were both in good spirits for the big expedition to South Whidbey Island to do outreach with the Christian Science Monitor Weekly. It was sunnier on Whidbey Island, which is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, and oh so peaceful and quiet compared to the big city of Seattle.
In the ferry cafeteria, the cashier gave Frashia free coffee because it was her first time ever being on a car ferry.
I shuttled Frashia around the Island, hitting Freeland, Bayview, and Langley. Frashia worked alone today, except I went in with her to the Bayview Fire Station. Firestations were the first place the Christian Science Literature Joint Distribution Committee placed Monitor gift subscriptions when the activity first began in 1912. What a perfect place for literature, where men are sitting around for days on end waiting for the next call. But alas, rules and regulations are stricter these days. This fire station said no even to taking sample copies of the Monitor. But we at least talked the receptionist into asking the big boss for us.
We stopped along the main highway to visit the South Whidbey Christian Science Society building. It was all closed up, but we could peak in the windows to see the tiny auditorium. Very peaceful setting in the forest!
Langley is an artsy tourist town. Tourist areas aren’t always the most receptive to our Monitor outreach, we have found, and that seems to be true for Langley.
While Frashia was visiting Langley shops, I made a visit to the Rob Schouten Gallery, which is in a prominent location in town and has a beautiful sculpture garden next to it, as part of the art gallery. Rob is a longtime friend of my family. After catching up on personal things, I shared about the Monitor promotion Frashia was doing in town. Rob was very familiar with the Monitor from long ago, and expressed great appreciation for its different approach to news. He gladly accepted a gift subscription, and when Frashia came by, shared with her some ideas on how to talk about the Monitor with people to help her.
