Best of 2023

Mount Vernon Christian's Carolanne Votipka takes a shot on Dec. 12 during a Northwest 1B/2B League game against Concrete in Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon Christian won, 82-3.

Anacortes' Davis Fogle launches toward the hoop on Dec. 11 during a Northwest Conference boys' basketball game against Burlington-Edison in Burlington. Anacortes won, 83-63.

Sedro-Woolley's Owen Vellegas poses for a portrait on Dec. 5 in Mount Vernon.

Anacortes lineman Evan Hopps reacts after the Seahawks scored their first touchdown of the game on Dec. 2 at the Class 2A State Tournament championship game in Seattle.

Anacortes' Landon Schafer makes a one-handed catch on Dec. 2 during the Class 2A State Tournament championship game in Seattle.

Sue Whittle, a volunteer at the Sedro-Woolley Senior Center, poses for a portrait on Nov. 17 in the senior center kitchen. Whittle has been volunteering on and off for about two decades.

Mount Vernon Christian's Kiera Link spikes the ball on Nov. 2 during a tri-district 1B tournament game against Neah Bay in Mount Vernon. Neah Bay won, 3-1.

Bill Fairey poses for a portrait at his desk where he ties flies on Oct. 17 in his home in Anacortes.

First grader Lincoln Bryson drags a fire hose on Oct. 13 during a Fire Prevention Week field trip to the Clear Lake Fire Department.

Jason Haugland, winner of the Sasquatch Calling Contest, belts out a call on Sept. 29 at Skagit Bigfoot Fest in Mount Vernon.

Kadynce Nicholson (left), Madison Engberg and Rylee Polansky, sixth graders at Edison School, laugh as they reveal their self-portraits on Aug. 30 during the first day of classes at Edison School in Edison.

Gilberto Medrano, a student in the Skagit Valley College Summer Bridge Program, shows off his strength while hanging out with classmates on Aug. 24 during a field trip to Washington Park in Anacortes.

Ethan Ross, 10, reels in the line while fishing with his grandfather in the Skagit River on Aug. 23 at Edgewater Park in Mount Vernon.

The sun rises above Burlington Hill and smoke-filled skies on Aug. 20 in Burlington.

Mateo Martinez receives a fresh haircut from Daniel Gonzalez, a student at Northwest Barber Academy, on Aug. 19 at the Back to School Blessings at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon.

Canoe racers in the 16U boys single division paddle south on the Swinomish Channel on Aug. 12 during the Swinomish Days canoe races.

Eli Johnson takes aim with a homemade bow and arrow on Aug. 10 at the Advanced Wilderness Survival Camp at Little Mountain Park in Mount Vernon.

Diaper Derby winner Carlos Serrano III gets pumped up with a battle cry before a race on Aug. 10 at the Skagit County Fair in Mount Vernon.

The sun sets behind a barn on Aug. 9 in Bow.

Little Wick greets Sophia Jones with a lick as heÕs held by Michael Geerdes on Aug. 9 at the Skagit County Fair in Mount Vernon. The three-year-old Brahma steer was born very weak to a mother who did not make it. Little Wick was raised by Geerdes and has grown an attachment to him.

Tristin Lorass (right) and Samantha Gates pack their belongings on Aug. 3 at the Skagit Motel in Sedro-Woolley. The sudden closure of the motel due to a drug contamination left little time for residents to move out.

A helicopter used to fight the Sourdough Fire performs a dust abatement before landing at base camp on Aug. 1 in Concrete.

Maritza Sanchez (left) and Yareli Barrera perform the jarabe Mixteco dance on May 22 during the Mixteco Community Celebration at Washington Elementary in Mount Vernon.

Incoming junior Kelsy Martin, a student working for the Concrete Farm to School Program, puts together a bouquet on Aug. 1 in Concrete.

Chuck Metcalf does a burnout in his 1955 Chevrolet Gasser on July 29 during the 22nd Annual Lyman Car Show.

Leah Serna smells drying lavender on July 20 at Leah's Lavender and Flower Farm north of Sedro-Woolley.

Scenes from the first day of the Constitution Cup on July 15 north of La Conner.

Elsie Mae sleeps on a beach at Kiwanis Waterfront Park on July 14 in Anacortes. The elephant seal, who returned to Anacortes last month, was born on Whidbey Island.

Ella Aiken uses a wand to blow a large bubble on July 13 at the Concrete Youth Activity Day at Silo Park in Concrete.

Ernest Jackson, 6, looks up at a drone used by the Skagit County Sheriff's Office as he climbs out of a SWAT car on July 13 at the Concrete Youth Activity Day at Silo Park in Concrete.

Asher Shannon adds paint to a fish-shaped board on July 8 at the Kids-R-Best Fest in Anacortes.

Caseyn J Pearson flies off a bucking horse during the saddle bronc event on July 3 at the Sedro-Woolley Loggerodeo.

Mike Ayers, a chain saw carver from Maggie Valley, North Carolina, competes in the Quick Carve next to his angler fish carving on June 30 in Sedro-Woolley.

Tobias Weinberger, a magician in the Up Up Up Crane Truck Circus, pulls a ribbon out of his mouth on June 29 during a free performance in Bow. The non-profit circus' will perform locally on July 16 on Guemes Island.

An Anna's hummingbird feeds from a huechera on June 27 at the Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener Discovery Garden west of Mount Vernon.

Gardening expert Ciscoe Morris exclaims after a person in the crowd correctly answers a question on June 24 at the 20th annual Rose Festival at Christianson's Nursery and Greenhouse west of Mount Vernon.

Drivers race their lawnmowers around the track on June 17 during the Berry Dairy Days Lawnmower Races in Burlington.

Ayanna Dotse reaches for flying bubbles on June 9 during the Mount Vernon High School Graduation Parade through downtown Mount Vernon.

State Street High School senior Elizabeth Perez hugs her sister Kai-Leigh on June 8 during the Parade of Graduates at Evergreen Elementary in Sedro-Woolley. Each year before graduation seniors at State Street and Sedro-Woolley High School return to their elementary schools to visit teachers and relive memories.

A line of people move rocks toward the rock wall of the clam garden on June 5 at the Salish Summit at Kukutali Preserve on the Swinomish Reservation.

People walk through the nearly-finished Janicki Industries aerospace manufacturing building on June 2 during an open house in Hamilton.

Students run through colorful clouds of dyed cornstarch on May 31 during the Samish Elementary Color Run fundraiser at the school north of Sedro-Woolley. The fundraiser supports the Samish Elementary Parent Group's goal of raising funds for school clubs and field trips.

Megdalana Dokken (left) poses as Mayur Tari takes her photo in front of a crashing wave on May 29 during a visit to Deception Pass State Park south of Anacortes.

Students from Harriet Rowley Elementary dance on May 22 during the Mixteco Community Celebration at Washington Elementary in Mount Vernon.

Burlington-Edison's Ben Wilson chips out of a bunker on May 16 at the District 1 boys' golf tournament at Lake Padden Golf Course in Bellingham.

A white-crowned sparrow calls out from a field of tulips on May 3 at Tulip Town west of Mount Vernon.

Emily morales, a senior at Mount Vernon High School, puts the finishing touches on the honor society mural on May 2 in Mount Vernon. Morales helped bring back the tulip mural competition as part of her senior project.

Burlington-Edison's Bennett Howe competes in the high jump on April 26 at the 115th edition of the Skagit County Track and Field Championships in Burlington.

Six-year-old Mitchell Pawson reacts as he grips a cup with his new prosthetic hand on April 26 at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon. The hand was printed thanks to a partnership between e-NABLE and the Skagit Valley College manufacturing club.

A group of kids run around light-up stepping stones on April 20 during Night Bloom at Tulip Valley Farms west of Mount Vernon.

A crowd reacts to an explosion created using nitrogen and water on April 20 at Science Night at Mount Vernon High in Mount Vernon.

Mount Vernon's Jonathan Mancillas-Garduno celebrates after scoring his second goal of the night on April 19 during a Northwest Conference game against Burlington-Edison in Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon won, 4-0.

Members of the Mount Vernon High School Baile Folkl—rico perform for students and families on April 19 at Washington Elementary's Multicultural Night in Mount Vernon.

Scenes from the Skagit Drag Show on April 8 in Mount Vernon. Saturday marked the 10 year anniversary of the show.

Jim Grenz (right) lathers an oil mixture onto salmon filets on April 7 at the Kiwanis Salmon Barbecue at Hillcrest Park in Mount Vernon. The annual fundraiser serves salmon meals every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in April.

La Conner's Tommy Murdoch competes in the 110 meter hurdles on March 29 in Mount Vernon.

Two train engines and one other car derailed in the early hours of March 16 near the Swinomish Casino and Lodge.

Skyler Venner, a fifth-grader a Jefferson Elementary, takes a moment to think while reciting 252 digits of pi on March 14 in Mount Vernon. The 252 recited digits broke a six-year record at the school.

Mary Purcell Elementary students Elyl French Hanson (left), Finn Hanson and Josie Hershaw watch a book vending machine release a book on Feb. 16 at the school in Sedro-Woolley.

Jim Holleman hands a rose to wife Betty on Feb. 13 at the Sweethearts' Dance at Bradford House in Burlington. The two have been together for 58 years.

A flock of snow geese fly past a view of Mount Baker on Jan 20. in Bow.

Anacortes' Angela Hernandez poses for a portrait on Dec. 13 at Fidalgo Pool in Anacortes.

Scenes from a Northwest Conference boys' basketball game between Burlington-Edison and Anacortes on Dec. 11 in Burlington. Anacortes won, 83-63.

Sedro-Woolley's Kiersten Hendrickson poses for a portrait on Dec. 8 in Sedro-Woolley.

Anacortes' Landon Schafer makes a one-handed catch on Saturday during the Class 2A State Tournament championship game in Seattle.

People walk along the Skagit River on Nov. 26 at Skagit River Park in Burlington.

Liam Gustin, a sophomore at Sedro-Woolley High School, carries branches past a large Christmas tree on Nov. 25 in downtown Sedro-Woolley.

Steven H. Hulbert (right), a culinary arts student at Skagit Valley College, stirs a pumpkin pie filling on Nov. 21 in Mount Vernon.

Gary Brown, the photographer behind the 2024 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival poster, poses for a portrait on Nov. 13 east of La Conner.

Members of the hazmat team prepare to enter the Skagit County Auditor's Office after an elections official found an envelope containing a white powdery substance on Nov. 8 in Mount Vernon.

Mirah Heiderich picks apples on Nov. 8 outside the Samish Bay Cheese store in Bow. They were recently hired as the gleaning coordinator for Skagit Gleaners.

Lauren Hedlin (right) hugs her aunt Mary while visiting the farm stand on Oct. 14 in La Conner.

Scenes from a Northwest Conference boys' tennis match between Sedro-Woolley and Anacortes on Sept. 6 in Sedro-Woolley. Anacortes won, 6-1.

Anacortes High School quarterbacks run through a passing drill on Aug. 16 in Anacortes.

Layers of eelgrass float in Padilla Bay during low tide on Aug. 4 west of Burlington.

A crane barge removes a section of a derelict vessel on July 20 north of Kukutali Preserve on the Swinomish Reservation.

Don Smith paints a scene next to one of his walking sticks on April 27 at Rockport State Park. Smith would create the sticks for hikers who walked 100 miles in the park.

Scenes from the Skagit Showdown track meet on April 12 in Sedro-Woolley.

Brent Humble looks down at an eroded section of North Shore Drive on April 4 along Lake Cavanaugh.

Alec Blume, a member of the cultivation team at High End Farms, applies predatory mites, a type of biological pest control, to cannabis plants on March 15 at the farm west of Burlington.