March 10th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Every Orcas and Waldron public school student is eligible to submit entries for the First Ever OISD Student Chef Competition. The Farm to Cafeteria Committee needs to received your recipe for the greatest sandwich, soup, dessert, casserole, meatloaf, pasta, omelet, granola, salad or taco in the world by March 19!
Students need to submit a detailed menu which includes ingredients and cooking methods, along with a photo of the item you will be preparing in the competition (if possible and advisable) as well as a written overview of why you feel this item is appropriate, it’s nutritional value, its practicality as an item on the school lunch menu and any other information that will entice its selection to compete. We would also like a short bio of yourself. Be sure to include your name, grade, and contact information.
For complete information on submitting an entry and more details of the competition, go to www.orcasislandf2c.org and click on “Student Chef Competition” to download the guidelines.
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March 9th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
The Orcas Choral Society announces a piano accompanist position to begin in September 2010 for the 2010-2011 season.
Advanced piano skills and accompanying experience are required. The pianist accompanies weekly choral rehearsals September through mid-May and additional prescheduled rehearsals. The pianist accompanies the choir in two major choral performances and possible additional performances each season.
The position is salaried. Please apply with a resume describing your accompanying and choral experience to:
The Orcas Choral Society
P.O. Box 47
Eastsound, WA 98245
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March 9th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Miss Rose and Her Rhythm Percolators brings the art of the ukulele to Orcas Island this Saturday afternoon and evening
Contributed by Mark Morris
On Saturday, March 13, travel back in time to the earliest days of the Jazz Age with Miss Rose & Her Rhythm Percolators. They’re playing one show only, at 8:00 p.m., at the Odd Fellows Hall in Eastsound. Orcas’ Charly Robinson will open the show with a set of her own. It’s a family-friendly, all-ages event. A portion of the proceeds from the show will benefit the Orcas Island Education Foundation.
The Seattle-based quartet faithfully re-creates the vintage jazz of the early 1920s to the mid ’30s—the era when this original American music provided a playful soundtrack for the flappers who danced the Charleston and sipped illicit booze in the glitzy underworld of the speakeasy.
Miss Rose & Her Rhythm Percolators play well-known popular tunes that have since become part of the great American songbook and dust off forgotten gems from the early jazz era. Audiences delight at the unabashed romance, the playful humor, and the irresistible swing rhythms. Some can’t help but dance or sing along.
To fully transport audiences, the band members dress in period clothing, share some of the music’s history, and run a slideshow of art and photos from the era during performances.
Singer Sunga Rose croons and strums a ukulele while the Percolators—Ericka Kendall (upright bass), Holly Michelle Eckert (piano/violin), and Carey Rayburn (trumpet/flugelhorn)—keep time and knock out solos. Miss Rose & Her Rhythm Percolators revive for modern times a wonderful sound from a bygone era.
Come enjoy the band in their premiere San Juan Islands concert appearance.
Dancing is strongly encouraged. A selection of beer, wine, and nonalcoholic beverages will be available for purchase. Tickets are $10 per person, available in advance at Darvill’s Bookstore, Orcas Elementary School, Gordeaux’s, and Eastsound Instruments. For more information, call 376-3148.
Also on Saturday, March 13, Sunga Rose will lead two ukulele workshops at the Odd Fellows Hall:
Beginning Ukulele (age 10 – Adult)
2–3:30 p.m., $30
The ukulele is experiencing a new rise in popularity. Don’t you wish you too could play this extremely versatile and portable instrument? Come on! Jump on the bandwagon! This workshop truly is for absolute beginners. I’ll get you started with a few simple chords and some basic strums and send you off with a nice packet of songs to work on. You’ll be surprised at the number of songs you can play with only 2 or 3 chords! Bring your ukulele tuned G-C-E-A.
Intermediate Ukulele: Let’s go to the bar!
3:30-5 p.m., $30
Bar chords aren’t that scary, and adding a few to your uke arsenal is a great way to grow as a player. We’ll learn by working on some popular tunes and replacing your old “open” chords with “closed” chords (bar and other closed chords, too). You’ll be relieved to find that this will actually make some chord transitions much easier! We’ll also cover some music theory that will give you the tools to find many versions of the same chord all over your uke. Students should be comfortable with the basics and be able to change chords smoothly. Bring your ukulele tuned G-C-E-A.
If you’d like to pre-register for either workshop or have any questions, please contact Miss Rose at contact@missroserhythm.com.
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March 9th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
"Stroking Into a New Day" watercolor by Caroline Buchanan, who resides on Obstruction Island.
Contributed by Caroline Buchanan
Do you have a story, a journey story to tell? How did you get to the Islands? Or how did your family come West?
Do you have a meaningful journey such as a high-mountain backpacking trip in which you discovered truths about yourself? Or how about a children’s story – that amazing journey (down the creek, through a part of town you weren’t supposed to go, or ….) through the eyes of the little child you once were? It is time to tell those stories.
This July the Orcas Island Historical Museum will host the “Journey Stories,” a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum on Main Street. This is an outstanding exhibit for Orcas. As part of the exhibit, the Historical Museum is encouraging us islanders to become involved and tell the stories of our journeys.
How to choose the story? What to include? How do you present it? To help you get started and guide you in exploring ways that best present your story, Caroline Buchanan is offering a class at the Senior Center, Telling a Life Journey Story. It is on Fridays, two weeks apart March 12, March 26, April 9, and April 30, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Come this Friday with ideas for your story and any materials you have. Caroline will help you decide how to use line drawings to illustrate it. Or photographs. Or mementos, like tickets. She will show you how you can draw (even if you don’t really draw) to illustrate your story. She will guide you in developing the writing.
If you want to do a children’s story, Caroline will demonstrate an easy way to story-board and set the pages up. Or perhaps a large collage is the answer. Your way of telling your story should be as unique as the story you tell.
In between the class sessions, you will continue work on your story, using the class time to review your progress and work with guidance. Although she is known for her watercolors, Caroline says she is delighted to be teaching a class again that combines writing and art. She has taught journalling (drawing and writing) workshops frequently, overseas as well as in the Islands.
Several students from past children’s story workshops have gone on to publish their work while others created them just for grandchildren. For this class, she believes the important thing is to get you on your way – the journey of telling your story – and see what happens from there.
You may contact Caroline with questions or for more information: 376-5509, or watercolors@rockisland.com
The price of the class is $165. Register with the Senior Center, 360-376-2677.
A story not told is a journey not taken.
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March 6th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Writer’s Roundtable will meet once again on Saturday, March 13, with Sandy Thompson leading the gathering with “Let’s Make a Scene!”
Sandy is a local writer, actor, and director who, with Doug Bechtel, co-created Orcas Island’s annual Ten Minute Playfest.
The Writer’s Roundtable on March 13 “will be fun and functional for any writer–with or without an interest in scripts,” promises Sandy.
.At the Roundtable, attendees will walk through the process of setting up a scene, play with writing some lines/action, and see how the framework of staging can help with any kind of writing. All are welcome, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Public Libary.
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March 6th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Darvill’s Book Club will meet Monday, March 8th to discuss The Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti. The group meets at 5:30 p.m. at Mia’s café in Eastsound Square. Al Bentley will lead the discussion. Mia’s will provide coffee or tea and delicious soup at a 10% discount.
All are welcome to join in. For further information, call 376-2135.
Coming in April, Jean Spalti will facilitate a discussion of Little Bee by Chris Cleave at the regular monthly meeting of the book club.
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March 5th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
During the month of March, the quiet graces of teatime will be on display at the Senior Center in Eastsound.
Emily Reid will share her collection of teapots at the Senior Center from March 8 to March 30th. Emily has been collecting teapots since she was 6 years old and started drinking tea at the family’s ranch in Adams County, Washington. She still drinks black tea without sugar or cream.
Her collection includes over 20 pots, some manufactured before 1900. She has her mother’s childhood service, depicting Robinson Crusoe’s adventures, which was hand-painted prior to 1895. Her collection includes teapots from Shanghai, Japan, England and the United States. Tea boxes and tea cloths will also be on display.
Marcia Spees’ colorful, light-filled watercolor paintings celebrate home, nature and community. Her series, “The Grace Collection,” is inspired by her childhood memories of teatime with her grandmother Grace.
Also displayed at this exhibit are paintings of still-life and landscapes by well known local artists Sue Watkin, Glenna Richards, Maggie Sharkey, Caroline Buchanan, Lois Baney and several paintings from Lois Baney’s private collection.
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March 4th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Dallas Brass will play at Orcas School and at the Orcas Center next weekend.
Orcas Center will present the nationally-acclaimed Dallas Brass on March 13 in a performance that will also feature more than 30 members of the Orcas Island Community Band as well as students from Orcas and San Juan Islands.
Founded in Dallas in 1983 by Michael Levine, Dallas Brass has become one of America’s foremost musical ensembles. With a repertoire that includes classical masterpieces, Dixieland, swing, Broadway, Hollywood and patriotic music, the Dallas Brass appears in solo engagements and with symphony orchestras nationwide.
They have performed at Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center, have shared the stage with the late Bob Hope, and have performed for Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush.
With a strong dedication to working with young musicians, the Dallas Brass will interface with the Orcas community in several ways. They will perform in an all-school assembly on Friday, March 12, and they will instruct young and adult musicians in a master class on Saturday. They will invite students and members of the Orcas Island Community Band to perform one number of their American Musical Journey program which will include selections from the ensemble’s vast repertoire: Copland, Bernstein, Gershwin, Berlin, John Williams, Sousa, the Tijuana Brass and Chicago; and from many musical styles, even hip-hop!
Joe Babcock, director of the Orcas Island Community Band discusses the impact of the ensemble’s visit: “Having a group like the Dallas Brass come to Orcas Island is a real treat for everyone on the island. With their diverse musical offering, there will be something on the program for anyone of any age. The community band was delighted and excited to be invited to play on stage with the Dallas Brass. It’s really special for us to be able to perform with professionals of such caliber.”
Steve Alboucq, Orcas Horns member, remarks: “The Dallas Brass are some of the best brass instrument players in the country, plus they are also fabulous educators who are eager to spread the joy of making music in band. Our young music students, at every level, will enjoy their lively music clinic. The lucky students and community band members who rehearse and perform onstage with the Dallas Brass will never forget the magic of making music with first-class professionals. I know I’m looking forward to it.
This presentation of the Dallas Brass Quintet is generously underwritten by Steve & Nancy Alboucq, Craig Canine & Molly Cox, Dimitri & Lorena Stankevich, Richard Strachan, Ed & Judy Zimmerman and the Five Bells Quintet. Support has also been provided by the TourWest Program of the Western States Arts Federation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Dallas Brass performance is on Saturday, March 13 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25, $17 for Orcas Center members and $11 for students. Tickets may be purchased at www.orcascenter.org or in person or over the phone during regular box office hours: Thursday-Saturday, noon-4 pm. 376-2281 ext.1. If the cost of Orcas Center tickets prevents an individual or family from attending a performance, please call the box office to explore free and discounted tickets made available through the generosity of an Orcas Center donor.
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Prior to the performance of Dallas Brass, Orcas Center and the Lower Tavern will host Burgers & Brew in the Madrona Room, beginning at 5 pm. For $12, diners will enjoy an authentic Lower burger and beverage of their choice. It’s delicious, it’s festive, and all proceeds benefit Orcas Center programs.
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March 4th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Sign up for the teams and buy tickets tomorrow and Saturday
There will be a special showing of “Indian in the Cupboard” at Seaview Theater Sunday, March 14th at 2 p.m. All proceeds will benefit youth baseball/softball.
Advance tickets will be on sale Friday, March 5th from 2 to 5 p.m. and Saturday, March 6th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of Island Market. There’s a discount for pre-registered players ($6), otherwise kids are $8, and adults $10 ($1 more day of show).
Registration forms are available for pickup and drop off at these times as well.
“The Indian in the Cupboard” is based on the book by the same name by Lynne Reid Banks. On his ninth birthday a boy receives many presents. Two of them first seem to be less important: an old cupboard from his brother and a little Indian figure made of plastic from his best friend. But these two presents turn out to possess mysterious qualities.
The New York Times reviewed it as “Enchanting… the best family movie choice of the year” when it was released in 1995.
Mark your calendars for this fun event and help support our baseball/softball program at the same time!
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March 3rd, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Katie Gray returns to Orcas Island to perform with Kurt Baumann at Doe Bay Resort this Friday, March 5th at 7 p.m.
Gray last performed on Orcas in 2008. Since then she traveled to Los Angeles and met up with musician Kurt Baumann. Gray says, “We’ve been hopping between LA, Colorado, Mexico, England, Germany, Morocco, Texas and now Orcas… writing, recording, co-producing and performing. Our home is Austin, Texas, but you never know with us.. we like spontaneity!
“We’re coming up to Orcas to support the passing of my dear, dear friend Connie Zehner. We figured as long as we’re there, we might as well play some music, and Doe Bay appears to be the spot these days. Our set is a harmonious fusion of our individual songs and collaborated ones.
“It’s mellow and moody music.. slightly folky.. super chill. His solo project is called ‘The Burned’. It has airplay on radio stations across the country and our songs have gotten featured on FOX, HBO, and ABC.
“We’re stoked to come share a cozy and sweet evening with the family there on Orcas!!
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