Welcome, summer! Check out the incredibly diverse events going on in Southwest Washington for June. From the Long Beach to Stevenson, Vancouver to Winlock, there are plenty of choices and no excuses for staying home!

June 10 and 25 – Waikiki Beach Concert Series – Cape Disappointment State Park. No, you don’t have to fly to Hawaii to experience this Waikiki Beach. The summer concert series kicks off with Mighty Ghosts (country pickin’, bluegrass harmonies and back-porch folk) on June 10 and Southwest Washington’s favorites Misty Mamas (home-style bluegrass, oldtime, gospel and folk) on June 25. Concerts are at 7 p.m.

Misty Mamas

June 10-25 – Magenta Theater Company presents Life with Father – Vancouver. Magenta Theater presents the classic comedy set in the 1800s. Magenta’s intimate, and recently reconfigured, theater in downtown Vancouver is a very fun place to experience plays up close and personal!

Life with Father

June 11 – Divine Consign Home and Garden Tour – Vancouver. Tour homes and gardens in historic downtown Vancouver. Proceeds will benefit at-risk youth. Tickets and tour maps may be picked up at 1101 Officers Row in front of the Grant House on the day of the tour beginning at 11 am. $20 in advance. $25 at the door.

June 11 – Fleur de Lis Festival - Westport Winery, Westport. Enjoy this well-programmed festival including Art in the Vines, local blue cheese samplings, book signings, a belly dance troupe, music, French Onion Soup, grapevines for sale and 5000 blooming iris. And, of course, don’t forget the wonderful wines of Westport Winery, too.

Tasting wine at the Westport Winery

June 11 – The David Lanz Liverpool Trio – The Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center, Stevenson. The Skamania Performing Arts Foundation presents pianist David Lanz, flutist Gary Stroutsos, and cellist Walter Gray. The trio most recently came together to perform David’s arrangements from the recording Liverpool…Re-Imagining the Beatles.

David Lanz Liverpool Trio

June 18 – Fort Vancouver Brigade Encampment, Vancouver. See costumed re-enactors demonstrating the annual return of the fur trappers to Fort Vancouver. Hands-on activities in the Fort Vancouver Village just west of the Fort’s stockade, on the trail to the Land Bridge.

Re-enactors at the Fort Vancouver Village in 2010

June 18-19 – 30th Annual NW Garlic Festival – Ocean Park. More than 70 specialty food and craft vendors will offer prepare and use garlic in every imaginable way. As they say, “Just follow your nose” to the festival.

June 19 - Vancouver USA Marathon – Vancouver. It may be too late to start training, or is it?! The event includes a half marathon and welcomes walkers. Vancouver’s first marathon will should be a good one. Produced by Energy Events.

June 24-26 – Rusty Scupper Pirate Daze Festival – Westport. You are going to have to enter the festival Web site to learn about ALL the pirate events. Prepare to read pirate lingo or walk the plank!

Pirates on parade

June 24 – Gorge Blues and Brews Festival Friday Night Waterfront Jam – Skamania County Fairgrounds, Stevenson. The Gorge Blues and Brews Festival kicks off with a Friday night jam. The party starts at 6 pm and the show, featuring local musical talent, begins at 7 pm. Music will include the soulful vocals and driving rhythms of Jackbone Dixie as well as traditional sax blues from The Richard Wilkins Blues Band. Free!

June 25 – Gorge Blues and Brews Festival - Skamania County Fairgrounds, Stevenson. Three blues bands, 16 regional micro-breweries, 8 wineries and food vendors. Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King will be the headliners. Admission is $15 per person and includes your choice of a commemorative beer mug or wine glass. Children 12 and under are free.

Gorge Blues and Brews Festival

June 25-26 – Recycled Arts Festival – Vancouver. One of the most creative events of the year happens in Esther Short Park on the last weekend of June. For a preview, take a look at last year’s Festival, take a look at this ZEST blog post.

Glass garden sculptures at the 2010 Festival

June 24-26 – 75th Annual Egg Day Festival - Winlock. The parade starts at 11 a.m. June 25 with the theme “Egg Days and Diamonds Forever.” The festival will include an Egg Day Run and royalty. Check out this charming video about the World Largest Egg and Winlock.

World's Largest Egg in Winlock

Spring is kicking in with LOTS of activities and events in Southwest Washington. Here are a few ideas to get you moving:

March 18-April 24 Spring break is FIVE weeks long at the World Kite Museum in Long Beach. Make a kite, get coupons for local businesses at a museum treasure hunt, participate in themed weekends at the Spring Fling.

April 1-3 – Passport Weekend to a World of Wines in 40 Miles -Start the month with a trip to Columbia Gorge wineries with this special event, which takes place on both sides of the river. Details here on where to purchase your $15 passport, which will give you special offers including lodging deals.

April 1 – First Fridays. Both Vancouver and Camas have first Friday events. Enjoy art, meet the artists, have dinner and celebrate with friends. Camas even has “Will you pick the golden egg?” contest happening at various shops. Details are at Vancouver Art Walk and Camas First Friday.

April 2 – 30 – Woodland Tulip Festival No need to travel to The Netherlands to touch tulips. Tour the bulb fields and display gardens of Holland America Bulb Farms. This annual event includes crafts, music, children’s activities and more. Check here for details.

April 4 – Guitarist Greta Pedersen performs a matinee concert at the Columbia Theatre in Longview as part of the Rainy Months Series. Information and tickets are available here.

April 9 – International Discovery Walk Festival This beloved event attracts walkers from all over the world to Vancouver. It is such a delight to see the flags of the countries represented. Biking and swim events are offered, too. Admission charge. Go to the Festival Web site for more information.

April 16-May 8 – Lilac Days Festival We have plant hybridizer Hulda Klager (plus MANY volunteers) to thank for this fragrant festival, which is held on the Klager homestead in Woodland each year. All things lilac are offered at a special store (including lilac starts) and Hulda’s home is open for tours. The Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens are located at 115 S. Pekin Road, near the Holland America bulb fields. Admission. Click here for more details.

April 23 – Easter Tea Tour the historic house at the Pomeroy Living History Farm and enjoy tea with scones, sandwiches and desserts. Admission. Visit the Pomeroy Web site for more information.

April 27 – What do I do now? A financial summit for women will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Red Cross Building at the Fort Vancouver National Site. Financial writer (www.sixtyandsingle.com) Julia Anderson will moderate a panel of experts. Admission. Details and tickets are available here.

There is so much to do this month. See you out there in Southwest Washington!

How do you do justice to the memory of one of the world’s most important leaders for equality and peace? The life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was remembered with music, poetry, video presentation and an inspiring sermon on Saturday, January 15 at Clark College. The Dream and the Dreamer, a breakfast celebration, also honored Vancouver’s Earl Ford, who received the Mosaic Compass Award.

From Clairece Rosati’s moving performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Visions” to the dramatic poems of Emmett Wheatfall on slavery, civil rights movement and the Constitution, it was a time to reflect on the incredible life and impact of Dr. King.

Dr. Terryl Ross of Oregon State University shared a documentary video “The Door to Equality is Voice Activated,” which interspersed clips of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement with comments from OSU students on what needs to be done now to achieve equality.

In his impassioned sermon, Pastor Matthew Hennessee of Portland’s Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church asked: “We have the stories. Do we have the courage and the heart” to make a difference and stand up for justice? “We’re too worried about what the cost will be…The problem is the 18” between our heads and our hearts,” he said. “We have the intellect to understand,” he pointed out. “We need to close the gap.” Pastor Hennessee also honored Coretta Scott King, a personal friend. “I didn’t just marry Martin,” she had said. “I married his cause.”

Event organizer Deena Pierott shared advice that she received from award winner Earl Ford. When she expressed concerns about running her company he told her she could “stay on the porch or run with the big dogs.” She chose to “run with the dogs,” working to expand her business, Mosaic Blueprint, an international job recruitment and placement firm. Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt presented Earl with the Mosaic Compass Award for outstanding community service and diversity advocacy. Earl is past president for 10 years of the Vancouver Chapter of the NAACP, among many other achievements.

You cannot remember Dr. King’ courage and actions without being inspired to do more. In his words: “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just that the first step.”

Yes, January 2011 has FIVE weekends. But whether you celebrated at a gala or fell asleep before midnight, your New Year’s Weekend is behind you. What about the next four weekends? No need to migrate south across the Columbia or drive to Seattle. Check out these SW Washington activities:

Weekend 1: January 7-9
Go snowshoeing. The Mount St. Helens Institute is kicking off a series of snowshoeing trips on January 9 with a 3.3 mile roundtrip to the Trail of Two Forests and Ape Cave. Trips are filling fast so register online to purchase your slot in the class. (Note: if you miss this weekend, there is another trip on January 30 plus February 13, 27, and March 13 and 27)

Weekend 2: January 14-16
Go fly a kite. Think kite flying is only for hot, windy days? Not so. You can join the Windless Kite Festival at the Long Beach Elementary School in Long Beach. You can even take a lesson in windless flying. Combine this with the annual Crab Dinner hosted by Ilwaco High School Booster Club at the Long Beach Elks Club and you’ve got a great plan.

Weekend 3: January 21-23
Go to the theatre. Love the Gershwins? Then you won’t want to miss S’Wonderful , a NEW Gershwin musical that celebrates the music and lyrics of George and Ira Gershwin. Travel to Longview to the Columbia Theatre for this one evening only performance on January 21.

Weekend 4: January 27-29
Go for jazz. You can end the first month of the year at the 49th Annual Clark College Jazz Festival in Vancouver on January 27-29. More than 60 high school vocal and instrumental jazz ensembles will perform during the three day competitive festival.

Or go for rock. And if jazz isn’t your favorite, you can always head to Centralia to hear the Kingsmen. Remember Louie, Louie the 1963 hit, which was investigated by the FBI, and love child of high school marching bands? Well, that classic lives on and will be performed by “The Fabulous Kingsmen” on January 29 at the President’s Scholarship Performance concert at Corbet Theatre at Centralia College. They will also play other hits from the 1960s. Tickets are here.

Jazz, rock, a musical, kites, crab, snowshoeing. You’ve gotta love it here. Have fun!

Question: What do deer, snowmen, butterflies and angels have in common?

Answer: They are all featured at this year’s Festival of Trees. And they all make stunning decorations for the holidays.

I just previewed the trees from the Vancouver Rotary Foundation’s 15th Annual Festival of Trees, which kicks off at noon on Friday, November 26 at Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver. Placed among the vintage airplanes, the trees look great! (Full disclosure, I’m a member of the Vancouver Rotary Foundation Board of Directors so I’m a little unobjective about the event!)

Watching the decorators work their magic on their trees (some fresh, some artificial, some flocked, some not), I learned a lot about how to create a beautiful tree or other holiday decor.

Here are a few of the many lessons I learned:

1. Start with a theme.

One tree has a charming “birds of a feather” theme. Another features snowmen. A third is covered with charming ornaments related to deer. Could I come up with a theme from my mishmash of ornaments? Possibly.

A theme can start with a snowman.

2. Work with a color scheme.

Each Festival tree has a definite color scheme. I love warm colors and copper is a great base color to start with like the tree “Sylvan Revelry.” Reds and blacks can make a dramatic statement.

Copper, olive green and off white make a beautiful color scheme.

Red and black add drama and elegance to a tree.

3. Get your decorations in a row before starting.
All Festival decorators seem to be very organized, with their lights and ornaments spread out on long tables. Maybe it’s time to cover a table with my decorations to inventory what I own, what I should toss, what might look better on a gift package than on a tree and which ornaments could be fun to add to a wreath or garland.

Don't hang one ornament until you are organized!

Do an inventory of your ornaments before you start.

4. Put the lights on first and feel free to mix them.

I knew that lights should go on the tree first. But it never occurred to me that you could mix different kinds of lights. One Festival tree has mixed strands of small white lights with blue snowflake lights for a charming look.

A mix of white lights and blue snowflakes illuminate this tree.

5. Go elegant.

Flowers. Butterflies. Birds. Ribbon. Words. All can bring an elegance to your tree.

Bejeweled butterfly ornaments can help create a stunningtree.

Joy is what your holiday decor should be about!

6. Go whimsical.

There are some very silly and fun decorations out there. One of the Festival trees is covered with hilarious deer ornaments.

A charming deer ornament.

Yet another deer!

A matching deer top completes the tree.

7. Make your own tree topper.

The days of a lone star on top of the tree are gone. Make something fun or unusual to crown your creation.

The decorator made this top for her snowman-themed tree.

Add vertical elegance to the top of your tree.

8. You can’t go wrong with birds.

Okay, it goes without saying that birds and trees belong together. So why not do a tree that focuses on our feathered friends like one of the Festival creations?

A charming feathered ornament.

Another feathered friend.

Owlet ornaments.

Every bird-themed tree needs a bird house.

9. Pull it all together.

Think about your complete picture. Do you want a matching wreath and gift wrap to go with your tree? Check out this Zebra-themed design.

A fully coordinated theme and look for your tree.

10. For more ideas, you need to visit Vancouver Rotary Foundation Festival of Trees!

The trees will be on display at Pearson Air Museum on Friday, November 26, noon to 9 p.m.; Saturday, November 27, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, November 28, Noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Other events include the Community Tree Lighting on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. at Esther Short Park followed by the Vancouver Pops Concert at the Hilton at 7 p.m. Runners and walkers will enjoy Hot Buttered Run and Kids Kandy Kane Race on Sunday at Pearson Air Museum at 10 a.m. (Fees, registration and details at Energy Events)

See you at Vancouver Rotary Foundation Festival of Trees!

{Full disclosure from the writer: I love cranberries. This will not be an expose or even objectively reported. However, no free cranberry products were accepted during or after the researching of this blog post. We bloggers have our ethics, right?!}

Consider the cranberry. One of a very few fruits native to North America. Used by Native Americans for food, medicine and dyes. Named “crane berry” by Dutch and German settlers.

Ocean Spray, the cranberry grower co-op, which reports selling seven out of every 10 cranberries in the world, is out to educate us about the cranberry. Me, too.

Did you know these cranberry facts?
• U.S. cranberries are grown primarily in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon and, of course, our beloved Washington. Of those states, Washington ranks fifth in harvest size. I asked. Enquiring minds want to know.

• 20 percent of cranberries are consumed during Thanksgiving. I thought it would be a higher percentage. Then again, you can only eat so many cranberries during one dinner.

• Sailors used cranberries to prevent scurvy. I am married to a sailor. He has never had scurvy to my knowledge. It must be the cranberries I feed him. Case closed.

• Cranberries bounce. It’s true! I tested this statement at home. This, by the way, was discovered by a New Jersey grower named John “Peg Leg” Webb, who dumped his crop down steps because he couldn’t carry the berries. The fresher berries bounced. The rotten berries didn’t. This led to the creation of “bounceboards” which help growers separate their berries. Who knew?!

I will admit that I have had misconceptions about cranberries over the years. As a child, I assumed that cranberries came only in cans. On Thanksgiving and Christmas, a can was opened and a jiggly, red, cylindrical mass with grooves appeared on the table.

Years later, when I moved to the Northwest, I thought, like many, that cranberries grew in large ponds. Wrong again! Cranberries grow on vines in marshy bogs and, in the fall, are “wet harvested” when the bogs are flooded with water and the berries float to the surface or “dry harvested” with lawnmower-like machines. Something else I didn’t know – cranberries are perennials.

So how do WE celebrate the cranberry?
In Southwest Washington, we have apple tree and cherry blossom festivals, crab and salmon celebrations. The bog-rich, Long Beach Peninsula knows how to honor the cranberry. The Cranberrian Fair was first celebrated more than 100 years ago.

This year, the October festivities started at Ilwaco’s Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, which is well worth a visit with or without cranberries. There, 101 cranberry-peach pies were sliced by the ladies of the Willapacific Chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), who were raising money for college scholarships. A craft fair offered art plus cranberry products and baked goods. Cranberry bread, cookies, jam, sauces were featured. We immediately consumed pie and cookies, tasted cranberry chutney and purchased a five-pound bag of cranberries from a grower who was selling on the street.

Cranberries for Sale on the Streets of Ilwaco

The Cranberry Trolley

The Cranberry Trolley transported festival goers to the Pacific Coast Cranberry Research Foundation Museum and Gift Shop on Pioneer Road, where the bogs were flooded. Finally, I could witness a Northwest cranberry harvest – floating red berries, men in waders, machines that could remove and corral the berries. Of course it was pouring rain – a quintessential Northwest experience.

Harvesting the Berries

We learned about the history of the cranberry and industry in the museum. From cranberry wine to dental floss, the museum gift shop showed the diversity of these little berries. A salmon lunch was seasoned beautifully with cranberry barbeque sauce. Is there anything that you cannot create with cranberries?

One of the Cranberry Museum Exhibits

Cranberry Wine from K-W Cellars

Salmon with Cranberry Barbeque Sauce

The harvest may be over but the museum and gift shop are open daily (Apr 1 – Dec 15 and by appointment). And you can do a self-guided tour along the bogs. Don’t forget to buy some cranberries and start cooking. You’ll find recipes and a lot more on the Ocean Spray Web site. Why wait for Thanksgiving? I’m starting now with the Roasted Cranberry Quesadillas.

Floating Cranberries in a Bog