The 2007 tapestry of Island people and their passions includes the likes of Walter Witt, Mariner fan of 2,000 games … two mothers of five turned entrepreneurs — Lori Moll of Dooz and Carole Airut Murphy, the pop-top jeweler … Ashley Brewer and her mini-menagerie on the Island’s tiniest farm … Fran Call and Erica Hill, former and current track coaches who build fitness into young people’s lifestyles.

Others are Dick Nicholl, retiring Islander football coach of 30-some years; designer-architect Jerry Gropp and his plea for post-modern preservation amidst proliferating craftsman mansions; Phil Flash, a NW Senior Games champ in his 88-year-old bracket and promoter to update MI’s history book.

Passages: Memorial benches honor our late stalwarts — Ed Vierling, naturalist, and Gloria Riley, business woman — and a kiosk tribute at Island Books honored Elinor MacDonald, a founder. Dorothy Woodcock, 88, taught piano here for more than 50 years, instilling music appreciation even when her students couldn’t tickle the keys. Assistant City Manager Deb Symmonds was feted on her retirement in March, and we mourned her death months later.

The public dedicated a plaque downtown to remember Art’s Food Center, an early Island hangout. Frank Lane’s memorial funds provided bike racks in parks.

Nature reigns on an island. Margaret and Ken Quarles donated acreage now known as Engstrom Open Space and became Citizens of the Year. Raccoons continued their antics, eagles nested and herons waded around the Island, and thousands of crows blackened the sky at dusk as they returned to roosts.

Chris Peterson, daughter of the late teacher Thero North and former director of Seattle Audubon Society, was inspired by Island birds at Ellis Pond to create “Bird Note,” a one-minute segment on NPR most mornings.

Dogs had their own space at Luther Burbank, in Yoga classes at the nearby Humane Society, and even their own afternoon bar on the patio of Cellar 46 during the summer. Canine stars were Arthur, the 170-pound St. Bernard, and Lucky Louie Goldstein, who sniffed out two $20 bills on St. Patrick’s Day.

Volunteers cleaned up hillsides, Ellis Pond and parks and the city improved several neighborhood parks and trails. A “letter box” was discovered inside a hollow burl in Pioneer Park, proving that the British tradition has jumped islands.

Andy and Susan Anderson’s peaceable kingdom, once a lakeside summer home in East Seattle, turned 100 years old, while downtown sprouted cranes and deep pits for more high-rise condos.

Smaller changes delight us. The VFW got an internal uplift. The Roanoke Inn sold T-shirts and blankets to further its historical preservation. The Craft Guild re-roofed and expanded membership to keep the sawdust flying. Sunnybeam celebrated 50 years as a preschool and honored Marienne “Nuky” (Vinal) Fellows for her lifetime efforts. Myra Lupton’s dream of a “handkerchief fleet” of non-motored boats took sail. Luther Burbank’s powerhouse was cleared out and will be used for rentals next spring.

Islanders know how to party. Roger and Nancy Page threw a midnight magic Harry Potter Party at the community center for hundreds of Harry’s best friends in costume. Chuck and Judie Wischman waged their Sixth Annual Fig Festival. Neighbors donned fig-leaf crowns from the Wischmans’ 40-year-old fig tree and feasted on fig recipes. A pirate-filled Summer Festival and Seafair, music and Shakespeare in the parks, a Hitchcock film series, and Youth Theatre productions drew applause.

Camille Chrysler, MI dancemeister, has taught ballet, jazz and modern dance and shepherded prot/g/s for 50 years. She enjoyed watching former students Mary Ann Lamb dance in “Curtains” on Broadway and Amber Cameron as a Radio City Rockette.

U-Tango, which rewards long-term marriages and merchant loyalty through “Tango-Bucks,” COBS bakery and Cellar 46 wine bar opened. The Travelodge, our last public lodging, closed. A Farmers’ Market idea hatched. New eco-trends: reusable bags for shoppers and Adopt-a-Ramp to clean up litter.

Bicyclists continued to tour the Island and trekked to Portland and Vancouver; 3,700 joined in the MI Rotary Half Marathon; women completed breast cancer walks and triathlon in Seattle; and Richard Nagel continued his peripatetic daily Island walking. Local bus riders were treated to an aria en route by day driver Chai Ahrenius, who sings opera by night.

MI’s educators included fifth-grade teacher Thelma Ritchie, who helped Island Park students construct a telescope and augment astronomy studies; IMS teacher Monica Phillips and her leadership class helped supply Christmas for 30 homeless Seattle children. MIHS secretary Jean Field, who has assisted student-of-the-month program and daily life in the halls for more than a decade, was honored by high school staff.

Harriett Morton won a Jefferson Award from the Seattle PI for initiating “Invest in Youth” program, to supply volunteers at four Seattle elementary schools. Bob Lewis was honored for four decades of humanitarian service worldwide by Rotary International. Suzanne Philen, manager of MI Thrift Shop, cleared $700,000+ for youth and family programs here.

Special salutes: Veteran’s Day: WWII legends Huston Riley and Guy Townsend; Fathers Day: Seth Landau, surrogate father to Kenyan John Ouko Silas, helping finalize his law education and political work; Mother’s Day: Centurion Iva Johnson, matriarch of 31 offspring who still keeps house, walks at Luther Burbank, and inspires others with her wit and grit.

Jane Meyer Brahm, president of MI Sister City Association, led a delegation to visit Thonon les Bains, France; Andrew Mok began cultivating a sister-city alliance with Wujiang City in China; and Eva and Yogi Agrawal attracted Islanders to development efforts in Akola, India.

Closing punch: Jack McHale, who fell from a giant Sequoia tree and had to be put back together at Harborview, is making a miraculous recovery — “from gurney to flat on my back, to wheelchair, walker and now cane. My next mode will be unicycle,” says Jack. The last remaining question: “Whether or not to take down the tree out of pure vengeance, to which my tree-hugger wife, Laurie, objects!”

This may not be settled in 2008, they agree.

To contact Nancy Hilliard, e-mail her at nancybobhilliard@msn.com.