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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 2015)
10 A SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 A night on the road to Carnegie Hall at FEC ‘Ken Lavigne concert’ Review B Y E LLEN T EMPLAR The sounds of upbeat music from piano and double bass rang out as Ken Lavigne walked out clapping his hands and encour- aging his audience to join him Saturday, Nov. 21, on stage at the Florence Events Center. Dressed in concert black, Lavigne sang full out one of Luciano Pavarotti’s favorite songs, the Neapolitan tune “Funiculi, Funicula” written in 1880 by Luigi Denza and Peppino Turco. It is risky to perform works favored by famous and well- loved singers — but Lavigne has a powerful voice and amazing timbre and carried it off well. The audience continued to clap along at the appropriate times and the piece ended to resound- ing applause. Lavigne had a good start to an evening of songs of mixed eth- nicity and genre. Between selections, Lavigne took the audience along on his Road To Carnegie Hall with tales of his dream to get there, his struggles at times with the dream and the many on his team that assisted with his eventual performance on stage there. And tales they were. Lavigne is an accomplished and multi- talented performer who has honed his many talents to near perfection. He is as intriguing as a storyteller as he is as a classi- cally trained singer. His true-to- Soroptomists seek to give food, toys The Soroptimist Inter- national of Florence’s local Christmas Baskets Project is in full swing. Monetary donations are being accepted for the pur- chase of food for the project. Send donations to Soroptimist of Florence, P.O. Box 1209, in Florence, with “for food” or “toys” noted on the check. All mon- etary donations are tax deductible; Local businesses have giv- ing trees or totes available for donated new toys for children aged infant to age 12. The dispersal is open to any needy family in the Florence Food Share service area. Distribution for toys will be from the Church of the Nazarene, Dec. 19, begin- ning at 9 a.m. Foods will be dispersed from the covered area at the Siuslaw Middle School, Dec. 19, beginning at 10 a.m. PHOTO BY ELLEN TEMPLAR From left: Patrick Courtin, SEA producer Sandy Kuhlman, Ken Lavigne, SEA producer Karen Smales and Casey Ryder life stories were compelling and his fun sense of humor often peppered them with spontaneous laughter from his audience. One audience member said she would have opted for more singing and less talking. After hearing Lavigne talk about his personal singing dream, another attendee was challenged to ques- tion if she had any dreams and discovered that she did. No doubt Lavigne’s story- telling talents became thought- provoking throughout the hall as he sang Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion’s 1965 hit from “Man of La Mancha” — “The Impossible Dream” — beautifully. Early in the program Lavigne again took a big risk singing Maruo Malavasi and Andrea Sandr’s “Dell’amore non si sa” which was made famous by Andre Bocelli. Lavigne had a bit of trouble reaching some of the high notes in this one. It may have been that his voice wasn’t warmed up enough because the rest of the evening he nailed all of the many high notes that were to come. One outstanding period in the evening was when Lavigne spoke of his discovery of Robert Goulet as a Broadway singer in “Camelot.” Lavigne performed Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s “C’est Moi” as well as anyone has. But it was his surprising musi- cal theater presence and anima- tion that caused him to delight- fully shine during this song. Any singer is only as good as his backup band and Casey Ryder on both double bass and guitar and Patrick Courtin on keyboard were barely notice- able. They were that good. Attention is focused on the Christmas Fudge at Sea Lion Caves Come one, come all to the Sea Lion Caves for your Fabulous Festive Fudge for Holidays. All through De- cember we will have these fl avors available; Candy Cane Eggnog Raspberry Cinnamon Crumble Mrs. Santa Chocolate Santa Chocolate Walnut Reindeer Rocky Road Mistletoe Maple Nut North Pole Chewy Praline Elf Chocolate Mint Ho Ho Chocolate Peanut Butter Sea Lion Dark Chocolate Carmel Sea Salt Ask or call about other fl avors. We can make a special fl avor for you – (three pound minimum). Give us a call to reserve your pound or pounds of mouthwatering fudge during December as our fl avors do sell out quickly. Many tree ornaments available too. Come on up to Sea Lion Caves for the Holidays. Free coff ee and cookies on the weekends during December. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Sea Lion Caves! 11 miles North of Florence on Highway 101. 541-547-3111 solo performer and except for a couple of mini-solos along the way, the two instrumentalists played so well that they didn't stand out. That’s a good thing. Singers do not always perform a piece exactly the same way every time and musicians must be attuned to every nuance, pause, breath, entrance and possible hiccup a singer may make. And they must do it perfectly. Courtin and Ryder did just that. Lavigne was admittedly inspired to classical training by Luciano Pavarotti who Lavigne believes is the greatest male opera voice of all time. Pavarotti ended every concert singing the 1898 Neapolitan song “O Sole Mio” written by Giovanni Capurro and Eduardo di Capua. Lavigne took another risk singing this one but was totally up to the task and received a standing ovation for his efforts. There were some wonderful Elvis Presley interpretations, some actual 1940s style croon- ing and more but space runs out to report on it. Lavigne, Ryder and Courtin were impressed with Florence and very much wish to return. When they do, be sure not to miss them. Ken Lavigne was one of Seacoast Entertainment Assoc- iation's 2015-2016 series con- certs. Don’t miss SEA’s next excit- ing concert with award-winning guitarist Jesse Cook on Friday, Jan. 29. Join SEA for the pre- concert talk at 6:15 p.m. and the performance at 7 p.m. For tickets, phone the FEC box office at 541-997-1994. Brought to you by this newspaper in partnership with PUBLIC NOTICES Always in your newspaper: Now in your inbox, too. I f n o b o d y k n o w s w h a t ’ s g o i n g o n , n o b o d y c a n d o a n y t h i n g a b o u t i t . That Th T h at at’s ’ s w hy ’s y w e ke e ep e p sa s ay a y in ing g y ourr l loc ocal al and s ta tate te g ovv er e nm m en n t shou sh h ou o u l ld d k eep e e p ee p u bl pu b is ishi hing ng g t the heir ir p pub ub b lil i c no noti ticess in n t the he n newsp spap aper er.. No N o w yo you o u ca c a n st t ay a y i inf n for nf o rm or me d AND med me AN N D kee e p th h o s e pu pub b l icc n ot o t ic c es e s i n th t h e n e ws ne w pa p a pe p e r. r J Ju u st t go to o p u ub b li i cn n ot o tic t i ceads ds.com ds o /o /or, sig gn u up p f for or t h he e f fr re r e e Sm m a ar r t tS S e ea a rc r c h se e rvic rvv ic c e, e , an nd ge get e t al a l l o of f t hi hiss p pa a pe e r r’ ’ s pu bl b lic l ic i c n not ottic i es s del d el e iv i er ered ed t o you yo o u vi v i a em m ai ail.l publicnoticeads.com/or Do your part and volunteer today to help support these local non-proft organizations in our community! Volunteer•Get involved•Donate Habitat for Humanity Restore Staffed by volunteers, the ReStore accepts donated appliances, household items and building materials; fi xes them, displays and sells them to raise funds for Habitat programs. Come and join the fun! ReStore 541-997-583 • 2016 HWY 101, Florence Helping Hands Coalition Assisting those in need in our Community. Free Hot Meals Mon-Wed-Fri 11 AM - 2 PM PO Box 1296 • 1339 Rhododendron Dr., Florence, OR 97439 Call 541-997-5057 to Volunteer Meals on Wheels and Cafe 60 Meals on Wheels are available to people over the age of 60 who cannot get out much due to illness or advanced age and who are not eating properly, regardless of income. Cafe 60 is available for those who prefer to make new friends in a dining room setting. 1570 Kingwood PO Box 2313, Florence 541-997-5673 laneseniormeals.org Peace Harbor Volunteers Join the Peace Harbor Hospital Volunteers, you will fi nd an area of interest in a caring organization. 400 9th Street, Florence 541-997-8412 ext. 209 Siuslaw Outreach Services CONCEAL CARRY CARRY CONCEAL PERMIT CLASS CLASS PERMIT Oregon –Utah Oregon – Valid in 35 Utah - Valid 34 States States Wednesday, December 16th 1pm or 6pm Recruiting volunteers for front desk reception and help line. 9am-4pm Mon.-Fri. Please contact our volunteer coordinator 541-997-2816 lori@fl orencesos.org 1576 West 12th Street • P. O. Box 19000, Florence Us Too Florence Saving men one PSA test at a time. “Someone to talk to...who understands!” 541-997-6626 maribob@oregonfast.net www.ustoofl orence.org Walk-ins Welcome Florence Event Center, 715 Quince St. OR/Utah–valid in WA $80 or Oregon only $45 shauncurtain.com ~ ~ shauncurtain@gmail.com FIREARMTrainingNW.com FIREARM TrainingNW@gmail.com 360-921-2071 To include your organization in this directory, please call us @ 541-997-3441