Woodturners to meet in Gardiner

The Strait Turners Woodturning Club meets at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Gardiner Community Center, 980 Old Gardiner Road.

Club members Brian Johnson and David Sellman will demonstrate how to turn a variety of Christmas ornaments.

The club meets the third Saturday of each month at the Gardiner Community Center. See StraitTurners.org for more information.

Free family concerts slated at local libraries

The North Olympic Library System (NOLS) is hosting free family concerts with musician Brian Vogan across Clallam County this week. Each hour-long show will get kids and grown-ups alike dancing to fun family-friendly tunes.

Graphic courtesy of North Olympic Library System The Sequim Library temporary location hosts a free family concert with musician Brian Vogan at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21.

Along with West End concerts on Friday Sept. 20, Vogan will play at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, in the Sequim Library temporary location, 609 W. Washington St. He’ll also play at 3 p.m. the same day in the courtyard at Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St. The concert will move indoors in the case of inclement weather.

Vogan is a songwriter, performer and early music educator who has worked with more than 10,000 students over his 15 years of service to Seattle schools. He has performed all over the Northwest, specializing in “creative, inclusive, and fun music influenced by a variety of styles and genres,” organizers said.

For more information, visit NOLS.org/FamilyConcert, email to youth@nols.org or call 360-417-8500. This program is supported in part by local Friends of the Library groups.

BDJ to highlight SCC Fall Kick-Off

Black Diamond Junction will headline the Sequim Community Church’s Fall Kick-Off event starting at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20, at 1000 N. Fifth Ave.

The entire family is invited to join in, with plenty of dancing and sing-along moments throughout the evening. The event kicks off with a community potluck, where attendees are encouraged to bring a dish to share. Following the potluck, Black Diamond Junction will take the stage, offering an evening of their award-winning renditions of classic hits from the 1970s-1990s.

The event is free and open to the public; an offering will be collected during the event, with all proceeds going directly to support the band. RSVP to the church at sequimcommunitychurch.org/fridaysocial.

Gala Garden Show artwork announced

Soroptimist International of Sequim last week announced their 2025 featured artwork for their 26th Gala Garden Show is “Come Sit with the Crocosmia” by Witta Priester.

Priester has participated in more than a dozen print exhibitions in the past 20 years, including two one-woman shows at the Sequim Museum & Arts.

Artwork courtesy of Soroptimist International of Sequim “Come Sit with the Crocosmia” by Witta Priester was recently selected as the featured artwork for the Soroptimist International of Sequim’s 26th Gala Garden Show, set for mid-March 2025.

She has won numerous medals and ribbons in U.S. and international photo-competitions. In 2022, she won the Best of Show award at the Clallam County Fair and has also won a People’s Choice award.

Priester said she also enjoys contributing to local area photo events, and been the Photography Barn superintendent at the Clallam County Fair.

Attendees can participate in a silent auction — and have a chance to own Priester’spiece — at the 26th-annual Gala Garden Show set for March 15-16.

Poetry picnic set

Join Clallam County Poet Laureate Jaiden Dokken for a Poetry Picnic from 4-6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, in Webster’s Woods Sculpture Park at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd.

The event is free and open to all. Wander the woods, enjoy a picnic (bring your own), and write poems in response to the park’s sculptures.

City arts commission seeking applicants

The City of Sequim is seeking applicants to fill two vacant posts on the Sequim Arts Commission. One appointment is to fill a a four-year appointed vacancy for a resident that lives within the Sequim city limits; the term expires Dec. 31, 2026. The other vacancy is for a resident who lives within the Sequim School District boundaries and the appointment will expire on Dec. 31, 2025. Both positions are eligible for reappointment when the terms expire.

The commission meets at 3 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month in the Sequim Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St.

The positions will remain open until filled.

To apply, go to sequimwa.gov/214/Boards-Commissions-Committees, download and complete the “Application for Appointment,” and send it along with a letter of intent and resume to Sarah Hurt at shurt@sequimwa.gov, or mail to: Arts Coordinator, 152 West Cedar Street, Sequim, WA 98382.

PAFAC’s welding, fabrication exhibit to open Sept. 20

The Port Angeles Fine Art Center will present “Sparks of Connection – In Celebration of Fem Fabrication,” from Sept. 20-Nov. 3.

The exhibition highlights fem artists who wield their creativity through welding and fabrication to inspire greater diversity within the trade. “Sparks of Connection” delves into “how women and fem fabricators conceptualize, collaborate and establish their creative presence in the metalworking world.”

Community members are invited to join for the opening reception from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, Sept.20. The opening reception is free to attend and open to the public, with donations welcomed. Light bites will be provided and drinks will be available for purchase.

The featured artist is Heather Dawn Sparks, whose work centers on metal as the primary medium, blending it with intricate paper cut out designs to achieve a harmonious contrast between soft and hard forms, while exploring the dynamic between light and shadow.

Joining her in this exploration of creative collaboration are regional metal artists Nora Hughes, Sulai Lopez, Christine Mackenzie, Hailey Robinson and Karen Sixkiller.

“Sparks of Connection – In Celebration of Fem Fabrication” will remain on display at the Esther Webster Gallery during regular gallery hours (11 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday-Sunday, through Nov. 3).

Beer in the Woods fundraiser set

Tickets are on sale now for the second-annual Beer in the Woods fundraiser, slated for 3-7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at Webster’s Woods, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles.

Join organizers for a walk in the woods while enjoying a variety of mostly Pacific Northwest beer, live Hawaiian fusion music by Junior John, forest stories and locally-prepared food all while supporting the growth of Olympic Nature Experience school.

Families are welcome. The event will feature a free kids scavenger hunt, nature crafts and photo booths.

Tickets are $40 per person; children younger than 5 get in free. The 21+ tickets include: entrance to the event, a commemorative cup, eight “tastes” and popcorn (pints are available for additional purchase). Tickets for designated drivers and youths over age 5 are $10.

Food is available from Pacific Pantry food truck and dessert from So So Sweet by Ashley as well as free popcorn all evening.

The Thanksgiving Play’ auditions set

Peninsula College last week announces auditions for The Thanksgiving Play, a Broadway show by Larissa FastHorse, set for 4-6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 26-27, in the Little Theater, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles.

All those interested are welcome; no experience required, just “an open mind and a sense of humor,” production organizers note. Several acting and technical roles are available.

Directed by Dr. Lara Starcevich, with set and costume design by Marissa Meek, “The Thanksgiving Play” is a satire that follows a group of well-meaning teachers striving to create a culturally sensitive elementary school production about the first Thanksgiving while grappling with their own biases and the complexities of Native representation.

FastHorse, a Native American playwright and choreographer, made history in 2023 as the first known female Native American playwright produced on Broadway with “The Thanksgiving Play” at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater.

Starcevich has been teaching speech and drama at Peninsula College since 2008 and has directed numerous productions.

For more information, contact Starcevich at laras@pencol.edu. To register for Drama 101 and take part in all aspects of the production, sign up at pencol.edu.

Tickets on sale for Music on the Strait concert

Ticket sales opened to the general public on Friday, Sept. 13, for “Bach’s Goldberg Variations,” a special Music on the Strait concert set for Friday, Oct. 4, at Field Arts & Events Hall, 201 W. Front St., Port Angeles.

The concert, which will also feature works by 2023 composer-in-residence Lembit Beecher, will have James Garlick (violin), Richard O’Neill (viola), Karen Ouzonian (cello) and Beecher (composer and piano).

Originally composed for keyboard, this work will be presented “in a haunting arrangement” for violin, viola and cello, concert organizers note.

Ouzounian, making her Music on the Strait debut, joins Beecher, her husband, for a repeat performance of his Elwha-River inspired duo for violin and viola, “The Happiness of Two Salmon Returning Home,” which will be recorded for commercial release

Ticket sales, which opened for donors of $250 or more on Sept. 10, are available at musiconthestrait.com or by calling the Field Hall ticket office at 360-504-2488. Those who have $250 or more in 2024 already will be provided an access code for early/discounted tickets.