JENNY GAY SENFF LEMAISTER IS OUR FEATURED ARTIST FOR JANUARY 2011. BORN IN 1909. AUNT JENNY LEFT HER HIGH SCHOOL SCRAPBOOK OF ORIGINAL PENCIL DRAWINGS TO HER NIECE, ANDI BOWE, THE DIRECTOR OF CSIRI.ORG, WHO LATER USED SOME OF THESE DRAWINGS FROM THE 20TH CENTURY TO CREATE POSTERS ADVERTISING PROJECT MODULES SHE PRODUCED AT COMMUNITYTV.ORG IN SANTA CRUZ CA FROM 1997 -2003.

PICTURE AT RIGHT IS RAINBOW BRIDGE IN LA CONNER, WHERE JENNY AND HER BELOVED HUSBAND, CLYDE LEMAISTER USED TO GO TO THE SMELT DERBY EVERY YEAR, UNTIL THE FISH DISAPPEARED.  THEY ALSO HAD A HOUSE ON WEST BEACH ON GUEMES ISLAND, A SHORT FERRY RIDE FROM ANACORTES, HER HOME TOWN SINCE 1915. hER SISTER IS THE FAMOUS CLARA BOWE WHOSE MEMOIRS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON LULU.COM/ANURADE.

JENNY LEMAISTER IS ALSO KNOWN FOR HER INCLUSION IN THE ANACORTES MURAL PROJECT AS A JOINT EFFORT BETWEEN THE DIRECTOR, ANDI BOWE, AND HER FRIEND AND THE FOUNDER OF THE PROJECT, BILL MITCHELL, ALSO OF ANACORTES. HER PICTURE FOR THE MURAL PROJECT WAS TAKEN FROM A 1939 AD FOR THE SALMON DERBY, HOLDING THE TWO FISH THAT WON HER THE TROPHY IN A PREVIOUS YEAR. BILL USED THE PHOTO AND CREATED A LIFELIKE MURAL THAT WAS INSTALLED IN DOWNTOWN ANACORTES BEFORE AUNT JENNY PASSED ON. SHE ATTENDED THE MURAL INSTALLATION AND WAS GIVEN A BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET OF FLOWERS TO HOLD AS SHE SAT IN THE CAR AND WATCHED. ALTHOUGH ALREADY VERY OLD AND BLIND, SHE ENJOYED THE CEREMONY. HER HUSBAND CLYDE FOLLOWED HER IN DEATH SEVERAL YEARS LATER, AND WAS KNOWN TO STILL ENJOY THE LIFELONG GAME OF CRIBBAGE THAT THESE TWO CHILDHOOD SWEETHEARTS LOVED LATE INTO HIS NINETIES.