Coupeville Sports

Coupeville’s annual arts and crafts festival attracts the photogenic in the early 70’s. (Photos courtesy Sarah Lyngra)

It’s a time machine back to a different Coupeville.

Sarah (Powell) Lyngra, a local music teacher and volleyball coach who was a standout athlete at CHS growing up, is working on a project honoring her parents and the history of the town’s arts and crafts festival.

Lyngra’s mother, Beatrice Powell, had her first booth at Coupeville’s annual fest in 1972, after she and husband David moved to Whidbey a year earlier.

Now, their eldest daughter will have a booth at this year’s event, where she will sell postcard sets of photos snapped at early 70’s festivals, as well as prints of her mom’s artwork.

Beatrice Powell died in Feb. 2021 at age 86, three months after her husband passed at the same age.

Lyngra digitized slide carousels the duo left behind and has been sharing some of the photos on Facebook as we head towards this year’s fest, which is set for Aug. 13-14.