Nancy Miller, Regent of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter, presents the Excellence in Community Service Award to Andy Zall.

On Tuesday, February 17, 2026, Andy Zall of Friday Harbor was awarded an “Excellence in Community Service Award” by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), San Juan Islands Chapter.

Andy volunteers for multiple community organizations, including helping to manage the vegetable booth at the San Juan County Fair. He is also the President of the San Juan Island Historical Society and Museum.   Over the past several years he has organized, labeled and digitized thousands of photographs, and currently spends an average of 20 hours per week volunteering at the museum.  He is an informative and gracious host, leading visitors through the museum buildings and exhibits while sharing wonderful stories about early life on San Juan Island.

 Andy was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the San Juan Islands DAR chapter and he told the story of “Exercise Sea Wall,” a United States military exercise in 1961 involving the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The exercise conducted a mock liberation of San Juan Island from “aggressor forces,” involving approximately 12,000 military personnel and included tanks landing on South Beach.    

Nine community members were guests at the meeting to hear  Andy Zall’s talk and  witness the presentation of the Community Service Award.  Many of the guests are members of “long time” island families and were children or teenagers in 1961. They shared stories of their interactions with the military during the weeks-long exercise and talked about souvenirs that they kept.