South Fidalgo resident Leigh Sawyer recently entered a contest to describe in 100 words or less an extraordinary woman’s contributions to her community.

Sawyer chose Bev Martin.

“Five years ago, my friend Bev Martin lost the love of her life, her husband, Pete Martin, to cancer. In an effort to give back to our small island community for the love and support she received while he was sick, she established an annual auction fundraiser, the Gala of Hope, for the local hospital. In the three years since its inception, this annual volunteer driven event has generated over $750,000 for Island Hospital and the local community. This amazing woman motivates and incites people to be altruistic, enthusiastic and involved. Bev truly embodies her philosophy, ‘Bitter or Better’!”

Sawyer was notified in May that her essay won her a three-day/two-night trip for her and Martin to Los Angeles, Calif.

They also received tickets to the LA Film Festival, $500 and participated in a photo shoot of nominees, which may be featured in one or more magazine advertorials. The approximate retail value of the prize was $2,500.

For more information on the Celebrating 100 Extraordinary Women contest hosted by Kraft Foods of North America, go to http://www.nabiscoworld.com/100caloriepacks/#/100ExtraordinaryWomen/.

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The Anacortes Sister Cities Association hosted four students from Lomonosov, Russia, and their English teacher chaperone July 30 to Aug. 18 as part of an ongoing Sister Cities relationship that was established by a group of Anacortes travelers in 1992.

This active and rich relationship over the years has involved several visits by Lomonosov “Kalinka” Sister Cities members, student exchanges and at least one marriage.

The guests were hosted by ASCA members. During their stay they planned to attend the Anacortes Arts Festival, be introduced at a noon luncheon of Cap Sante Retirement Center on Aug. 4 and be taken on a tour of Anacortes High School by Principal Pam Estvold.

The visit was made possible by the efforts of several ASCA stalwarts including Maria Papritz, Willy Evans, Nancy Andrich, Rae Kozloff, Chairman Don Lapworth and President Duane Clark, to name a few. Anacortes’ other sister cities are Kisakata, Japan, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada, and Vela Luka, Croatia.

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Danny Holiday, a 1961 Anacortes High School graduate, is back on the airwaves.

He worked his way to radio disc jockey in Seattle after graduating and retired in 1998 from the oldies station KBSG.

He’s now back on the radio with “The Rock ‘n’ Roll Time Machine,” 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays on Everett’s KSER 90.7 FM.

“My show will be a rolling history of pop music from 1955 to about 1975,” Holiday said.

Listen to him at http://www.KSER.org then click the “listen live to KSER” option. Visit http://www.dannyholiday.com.