Calendar

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" debuts on NBC (1964)

The Rankin/Bass animated television classic, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” debuted on NBC on this date in 1964. Burl Ives gave an iconic performance in the film as Sam the Snowman, with many of the songs he sang in the film becoming Christmas standards. Sam, Rudolph, Yukon Cornelius, Hermey the misfit elf and several other characters became honorary citizens of Anacortes a couple of decades later, when the folk singer moved here and commissioned Eddie Strivens of Anacortes to paint a set of large mural cutouts of them. They were displayed in front of the Oakes Avenue home he shared with his wife Dorothy during the holidays for many years, but now make their holiday appearances at the Anacortes Museum.

Bettye Bryant becomes first female mayor of Anacortes (1976)

“I don’t know if I’m ready or if the city is ready for me,” Bettye Bryant (1924-1990) told the Anacortes American when she became the first female mayor of the city on this date in 1976. She had served three years on the Anacortes City Council when, under the council-city manager system, when she was elected mayor by her fellow council members. Bryant’s father, Joy Busha, was a Skagit County Commissioner. Her children remember her as a single mother with four kids and two jobs. She moved to Anacortes in 1955, the year she and May Carpenter were hired by Scott O. Richards as the city’s first female real estate agents. She opened Bryant’s Realty in 1964 and bought a Century 21 franchise in 1976, selling lots at Skyline by day and playing in Skyline Marina’s piano bar at night. She received the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce’s Distinguished Woman of the Community Award in 1980.

City Council Public Safety Committee Meeting

Pet Food and Supply Drive

Pet food and supplies may be dropped off in the lobby of the Anacortes Police Department or at Pet Place Market through December 31.

Museum Advisory Board Meeting

Museum Advisory Board Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month at 9AM in the Carnegie Building Research Room on the 2nd Floor of the Anacortes Museum - Carnegie Gallery. These will be web-based meetings until further notice. For more information please contact the Anacortes Museum.