PUD, PointNet and Whidbey wait

In January, PointNet LLC partnered with the Public Utilities District #1 (PUD) to apply for a Washington State Broadband Office (WSBO) grant to provide highspeed internet access to all underserved and unserved customers in Point Roberts. The areas chosen would avoid any conflict with private providers such as Whidbey Telecom. The project has a $3.5 million budget and would cover at least 1,200 homes in designated areas. The company is led by president Bob Hillman and will offer a mix of service levels utilizing fiber optic and cables. They will be utilizing infrastructure originally constructed by Delta Cablevision which formerly offered cable television wired directly to homes throughout the Point.

Originally, WSBO said the successful applicants would be announced on February 28. The grant process, however, allowed for any party to file a challenge to grant applications. Whidbey Telecom filed a challenge to the PUD/PointNet application claiming that it currently provides high speed service and have begun construction in the area that PUD and PointNet’s grant application included. However, the WSBO ruled the objection invalid and dismissed it. A number of other WSBO grant appli- cants in the state faced objections from Comcast, a large national internet provider and cable company. Consequently, the WSBO is currently sorting through the objections and have postponed the announcement of successful applicants until April.

Whidbey Telecom has served Point Roberts for over 25 years. Almost two years ago they installed fiber optic cables for the commercial corridor, including the library and community center on Gulf Road. “Whidbey Telecom is investing in Point Roberts because grants did not cover the entire commercial area, including a lot of the mainline, the backbone of the fiber,” said Martha Ford, director of marketing for Whidbey.

In December 2021, Whidbey was awarded a $1 million USDA Community Connect grant to bring broadband to underserved residents and businesses along the south and western edges of Point Roberts. Last summer, they began installation of underground fiber optic lines to homes near the marina on Edwards and Marine Drive. They are currently working their way westward on Marine Drive and are contacting customers as they approach their homes to offer them service. The company will continue working throughout the summer and plan to finish their multi-phase project in the next three years.

Save The Earth

It’s

Wine and Chocolate Tasting

• 70’s Sing-a-long with Savilla Kress.

• Silent Auction of Gift Certificates – all sorts of services from haircuts and mani/pedis to personal chef, wine-paired dinners. Tickets are $15 per person, $25 per couple (only 50 tickets will be sold so get yours soon!) Tickets will be for sale at Marketplace April 4th and 5th from 1-4pm and the 12th from 11am to 4pm. Or contact prcircleofcare@gmail.com to purchase tickets at any time.

Saturday (Earth Day), April 22 from 6:30 - 9:00 pm Trinity Church Hall – 1880 APA Road

130 years of Icelandic heritage

European settlement of Point Roberts dates to the mid-19th century, but it was the arrival of a specific ethnic group, Icelanders, who propelled the population growth and development of Point Roberts. This is the 130th anniversary of the arrival of the first Icelander, Kristjan Benson.

Over 40,000 Americans and 90,000 Canadians tell the census they’re of Icelandic heritage, together, nearly half the current population of Iceland. They are descendants of a time in the late nineteenth century when one-fifth of Iceland’s population emigrated to North America.

Benson arrived at Point Roberts on March 7, 1893, from Bellingham. He encouraged a large group of Icelanders in Victoria, which was in a recession, to join him in Point Roberts and settle it as an Icelandic community. He told them a cannery was about to open at Lily Point that would provide jobs, and that there was land available.

In her 1975 memoir, Echoes from the Past, Runa Thordarson, one of the Point’s notable Icelandic residents, recounts Ben- son’s sales pitch as tax-free living on the condition that each man would cooperatively help to build roads for two-and-ahalf days without pay in spring and summer. The land that they bought, however, gave them squatters rights only. Homestead rights would be granted 14 years later, allowing all residents to claim their holdings.

The Icelanders from Victoria arrived in 1894, and went on to operate many businesses and institutions on the Point. By the 1900 census, half of Point Roberts was Icelandic, and many only spoke Icelandic. As late as the 1930s, many children only learned English when they reached school age. Though there are few Icelandic speakers left, ties with Iceland are maintained through cultural exchange programs.

Today, seven generations after his arrival, Kristjan Benson is best known as the namesake for Benson Road. His overgrown house still stands on Benson Road near Tyee Drive.

Stop in to the Point Roberts History Center (open Saturdays) to learn more about the 130-year Icelandic heritage in Point Roberts.