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It can be a fine line that separates comedy and drama. A versatile cast of La Conner student actors, often playing dual roles, showed last weekend that it can deliver multiple fine lines that deftly meld comedy and drama. The La Conner Drama Club did so with its well-received performances Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon of Mark Dunn's "A Delightful Quarantine," literally the story of what people do when there's no place to go. Two more shows are scheduled at 6:30 p.m. March 22 and 23 at the Bruce Performing Arts Center on the La...
No one in town knows a better yarn than Chris Jennings. The owner of Jennings Yarn & Needlecrafts, a fixture on First Street for more than a half-century, is spinning a yarn in the literary sense these days, coordinating the plot for La Conner’s Second Annual Murder Mystery event set for March 23. Chamber of Commerce Director Mark Hulst credits Jennings with weaving the thread that ties together “The Case of the Bumped-Off Bootlegger,” a throwback to the 1920s Prohibition era of rumrunners and speakeasies, among the more colorful chapt...
TAG did it again! Skagit County’s own Theater Arts Guild musical production of “Mary Poppins Jr.” is full of happy and talented kids on stage and in the audience. It was uplifting, rambunctious and joyful last Saturday night. All 40 performers and crew were 18 years old or under. What a tribute to TAG for creating great opportunities for young talent. We are first invited into the dysfunctional Banks family home in 1910 London by Bert, a jack-of-all-trades, played by 15-year-old Helaina Madden. Helaina’s first local performance at age 8 was a...
The red-breasted nuthatch is one of our smaller songbirds at 4-1/4 inches, with a stubby tail and a slightly upturned beak. It's blue-grey above and features a black cap with a white line and a rusty chest. It's the only bird in this area that can climb down a tree headfirst, checking out the tree bark for insects. The nuthatch will also come to bird feeders to feed on sunflower seeds and suet. During springtime, it typically excavates a nest cavity in rotten wood, but will also use nesting...
“I blackmail people now! You gotta show up [for the pet parade] – or you don’t come into my shop!” joked Gina McCarthy, owner of Enchanted Locks and volunteer coordinator for the La Conner Chamber of Commerce’s third annual Daffodil Pet Parade scheduled for Saturday, March 9. “This is the Daffodil Festival – but each year nothing happens – so this year we are having this [the pet parade,] then the firemen’s ball and then the Murder Mystery event – all part of the festival,” said McCarthy. “It’s the perfect opportunity to get the community toge...
The rousing performance of “The Music Man” at McIntyre Hall Saturday night trumpeted the talents of Diane Johnson, the production’s music director and music department chair at Skagit Valley College. From “76 Trombones” to “Till There was You” – popularized by The Beatles – Johnson, with only her white hair and conductor’s baton visible above the blue-curtained orchestral pit – magically led the packed house into believing the cast of 40-plus actors on stage were actually playing the trombones and trumpets they were dancing with and not...
Friends of the Libraries are nonprofit groups that support libraries in their communities. They consist of volunteers and exist throughout the United States and around the world. In general, most Friends groups work to advocate for the library at the local level and provide direct financial assistance for needs not normally covered by the library’s operating budget. Friends of the La Conner Memorial Library was officially formed in June of 1988 and had its 100th member by that October. Friends raised thousands of dollars, paid the mortgage o...
The Anacortes Jazz Walk offers six stages of live music Friday, March 1 from 6-9 p.m. Add this to the First Friday Art Walk and stop at venues clustered in the downtown core, including The Rockfish Grill, The Masonic Lodge, The Blackbird Wine Bar, The Majestic Hotel Lounge, Johnny Picasso’s and Watermark Books. Sample a wide variety of jazz styles, from Seattle vocalist Eugenie Jones at the Rockfish Grill to The Skagit City Slickers at the Majestic Hotel lounge. Support the musicians by buying a $10 donation button. It is presented by the M...
“Mary Poppins Jr.” opens March 8 at the Lincoln Theatre. This Theater Arts Guild’s production of a younger nanny is Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s “Mary Poppins, Jr., a musical based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney film. Enjoy Bert, the Jack of All Trades, the troubled Banks family and the “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” nanny, Mary Poppins complete with umbrella. Tickets and times: lincolntheatre.org. Source: Lincoln Theatre...
The short-eared owls are migrating birds visiting this area from October through April. They are not nocturnal birds like other owls, but hunt during daytime hours. They look for voles and field mice in open fields with bordering or scattered shrubs and trees. Their short ear tufts are seldom visible, but their light colored face mask and yellow eyes are good identifiers. You can see them in the Samish Flats in an area that is known to birders as the East 90 and also sometimes on the Padilla...
Gardening is a wonderful way to connect with nature, and it's even better when you can use it to help support the local pollinator populations. Bees, butterflies and other insects play a crucial role in pollinating plants, which helps to ensure that we have a bountiful harvest of fruits, vegetables and flowers each year. By creating a garden that is welcoming to these creatures, you can not only help support their populations but also enjoy the beauty of your very own pollinator garden. One of...
McIntyre Hall will ring with perhaps 76 trombones when the Skagit Valley College’s music department presents “The Music Man.” This is Meredith Willson’s 1957 story of the fast talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill and his stop in River City, Iowa, where Marion the librarian captures his heart became a six time, Tony Award-winning musical comedy. It plays weekends through March 3. Tickets and times: mcintyrehall.org....
“The Knight of the Burning Pestle” at Bellingham’s Idiom Theater is a “17th century satire full of equal parts chivalry and whimsy in a disorderly, theatrical romp,” promotions claim. written by Francis Beaumont and adapted for the iDIOM stage by director, Glenn Hergenhahn-Zhao. Summing up: “This rarely performed comedy written in 1607 by a friend of Shakespeare’s is a joyride of a play and a love letter to theatrical invention. Perfect for all audiences.” It plays Thursdays-Sundays through March 2. Tickets and times: idiomtheater.or...
The Madrona Poetry Series brings Claudia Castro Luna and J.I. Kleinberg to read Feb.24 at 7 p.m. at Pelican Bay Books in Anacortes, 520 Commercial Avenue. The Erik Christensen Band will play....
In the Seattle suburb of Lake Forest Park, where Tony Angell lives, crows gather in great numbers before flying off to Bothell to roost by the thousands. One reason they do this is for the social benefits. When Angell spoke at the La Conner Birding Festival Saturday, Feb. 3, more than 100 curious bird lovers gathered to share an evening to remember that brought many benefits, too. Angell, a renowned author and artist, shared his lifelong experiences and expertise with a crowd that filled the...
Last week the Skagit River Poetry Foundation revealed its 2024 Poetry Festival poster art by Fidalgo Island artist Anne Schreivogl in a ceremony at the La Conner Rotary Club's weekly meeting (Weekly News, Jan. 31). The whimsical poster sets the stage for the festival and invites people to "feel that magic ... that spark is always right there when I've attended the festivals," Schreivogl says. The festival is community driven and not a standalone event. The Foundation puts into action learning...
The Museum of Northwest Art on first Street is brimming with newly opened exhibits and they are free. “Silva Cascadia: Under the Spell of the Forest” features noteworthy Northwest women artists whose works center around the fecund dialogue with trees and forests, rippling out in themes that encompass science and environmentalism, history, art practice, and spiritualism. The art includes two- and three-dimensional works by Northwest women artists inspired by forests and trees. The artists: Maria Cristalli, Linda Davidson, Kathleen Faulkner, Patt...
The annual WSU Extension Skagit Ag Summit is, Feb. 9, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Washington State University’s Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center. No registration needed. Lunch included. This year’s themes are leadership, economic viability, innovation and water. The address: 16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon. Information: extension.wsu.edu/skagit/event/...
Take extra time at the La Conner Swinomish Library this Saturday and find a seat to see and listen to a concert from the Skagit Brass Quintet, an ensemble culled from the Skagit Community Band. The free concert is 12-1:30 p.m. at the Morris Street library....
Classical music on classical instruments dating to the 17th century, including works of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, will be performed by Elizabeth Blumenstock on violin and Tamara Friedman on fortepiano at 7 p.m. Friday. The musicians are Duo Amadeus and this is an Anacortes Early Music concert at the Croatian Cultural Center NW, 801 Fifth St., Anacortes. Adult tickets are $30 at the door....
The Anna's Hummingbirds are year round residents in this region: They expanded from California and don't have the instinct to migrate south. Their habitat is influenced by humans; they enjoy parks and residential neighborhoods with flowers, shrubs, trees and hummingbird feeders. It is important to keep feeders clean and to change sugar water at least once a week, because mold can kill these birds. During extreme cold weather it is essential to keep the liquid thawed, especially early in the morn...
A quick stroll – if climbing three flights of stairs is a stroll – to take in the newly opened "Birds of a Fiber" and then a treat by spending time viewing the other two exhibits at the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum proved to be just magnificent Sunday. "Birds" opened to match this week's La Conner Birding Festival Feb. 3-4 in Maple Hall. The exhibit offers 64 pieces of exquisite fiber art celebrating the love we have for birds and art. Six years ago twenty-five local artists sho...
There are two full days of all things Skagit Valley birding and beyond at the La Conner Birding Festival this weekend, Feb. 3-4 in Maple Hall. Doors open at 10 a.m. Saturday winds up with award-winning illustrator and sculptor Tony Angell speaking at 6 p.m. on "For Ravens, Crows, and Other Birds, Timing Is Crucial." Maple Hall will be full, with photographers, painters and other artists displaying their work upstairs. Bird-related activities for kids are on the first floor. Information is at...
Just as regular as the harvest, the time has arrived for the annual Skagit Ag Summit. It will convene Friday, Feb. 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Washington State University’s Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center. The meeting is an excellent place to learn more about the agricultural community in Skagit County and the issues affecting it, said Don McMoran, director of WSU Skagit County Extension. It also is a place to meet professionals from the field. Scheduled speakers include government employees and officials, academic and s...
