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Guitar All-Stars strike chord at school concert
Nico V arela
Staff Reporter
Guitarists and music fans
alike saw an impressive
showcase of student talent at
the Guitar All-Stars Concert on
March 11. Both acoustic and
electric guitar music filled the
auditorium with wonderful
sounds.
The show began with local
Grammy winning guitarist
Mark Hanson playing a
few numbers, including an
acoustic song with his wife,
Greta Pedersen. Then Halynn
Blanchard, sophomore, joined
Hanson on stage for a duet of
the Turtle's "Happy Together."
Hanson then proceeded as the
night's master of ceremonies.
Hanson organized the
concert in conjunction with
Music and Arts Partners, the
adult group that raises money
for school arts and music
events. After the auditions,
Hanson worked with the
performers for three months to
prepare them for the concert.
Thomas Pittenger, junior,
was the first player of the night
to use an electric guitar. He
used a wah pedal in his cover
of Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind
Cries Mary."
The first original song of the
night was an uptempo acoustic
song performed by Alexander
Earhart, junior. Samuel
Samuel Huck and Donevan Karr, sophomores, perform their original song "My Voice” at the March 11
guitar concert. The Guitar All-Stars concert featured the culmination of three months of preparation
alongside Grammy winning guitarist, Mark Hanson.
Photo by Nico Varela
Huck and Donevan Karr,
sophomores, followed Earhart
with an original song of their
own. The audience responded
well to the two’s witty lyrics
from their, "My Voice." Josh
Clark, sophomore, then played
an acoustic number and the
last performer before the
short intermission was Chase
Wanamaker, senior. After
some technical difficulties,
Wanamaker ensued to shred
guitar with his cover of "Bed of
Razors," by Children of Bodom.
"Pay it Forward,
S hoshana K o ON
Staff Reporter
The inspirational book
"Pay it Forward" by Catherine
Ryan Hyde is a must read.
Filled with motivation, drama,
love and the reality of life, it
is not only about being kind
to one another or doing good
things but about
hope and faith.
Sometimes all
people need is
for someone to
believe in them
and encourage
them. For
example, in the
story a woman
was about
to jump off a
bridge when a
man came up to
C A T H
her and coaxed
R yan
her off the ledge
with just a few
kind words.
The only way to fully grasp
the value of what this book
has to say is to read it and then
tell others about it, essentially
paying it forward. "Pay it
Forward" will touch your heart
in such a way, that you won't
want to put the book down
until it is over and then once
it is, you'll be hesitant to let
it go. It is heartfelt, inspiring
and truly amazing. As you
read the book you watch
how relationships grow and
change, and it's almost as if the
characters are just as real and
alive as you. The emotions the
characters feel are so profound
that you notice yourself
empathizing with them.
In this uplifting book, a
young boy
named Trevor
walks into
his seventh
grade social
^ studies class not
knowing how
dramatically his
world is about
to change...
literally. Written
on the board
are the words,
"Think of a way
E R 1 N E
you can change
H yde
the world,
and put it into
action." From
that extra credit opportunity,
Trevor thinks globally and
comes up with the most
interesting idea.
He chooses three people
that he thinks needs help
and decides to help them in
major ways. One of them is
a homeless person that he
invites into his house for food
and a shower. He also gives
him over $100 of his savings
"It was really nerve-racking,
but it was worth it. It was great
that I had my friends there for
support," Wanamaker said.
The concert returned from
the break with two original
songs by 1998 WLHS grad
Tyler Stenson. Stenson was
named Portland's "Performing
Songwriter of the Year" in
both 2007 and 2008. Next the
sophomore duo of Summer
Veil: and Travis Andersen
took the stage. Veit sang as
Andersen accompanied with
his acoustic guitar to perform
an original called "Be All
Right."
After two Wilsonville acts,
Zachary Ritz, senior, sang
and played acoustic on his
song called "Motivation."
Following Ritz was Two Peace
Victory, a band made up of
Troy Spivey and Jacob Weston,
seniors. They performed their
original song called "Stars and
Shadows."
"Like I said on stage, great
music can come from humble
beginnings," Spivey said.
"People need to realize that
music is really important. Like
really important."
Kyle Revilla, junior,
performed Death Cab for
Cutie's, "I'll Follow You into
the Dark." Oliver Jackson,
freshman, showcased his
talent by playing acoustic
guitar to end the student
performances.
Hanson ended the
show playing two songs
alongside guitar teachers
Matt Whitehead and Andrew
Webster from Wilsonville and
West Linn, respectively.
"It was a real kick to play
the trios at the end with
Andrew and Matt. It reminded
me of how much fun it is to
play in a band," Hanson said.
The concert far exceeded
my expectations of what a
$5 concert would deliver.
Everyone had a solid stage
presence and performed with
confidence. The original songs
were quite impressive and
the covers displayed some
mighty fine guitar playing. If
this concert continues, I wo . ^ L
highly advise attending and ■
watching some first-class
performers.
Señor Hico and ?!5C Q)ip present
Dragons—their everyday life revealed
"demands
attention
m Nico
V arela & M ark C hspperfe
and hands his paper route
over to him for two weeks.
When the three people that
he chose say, "How can I pay
you back?" Trevor simply says,
"Don't. Pay it forward." That
causes those three people to
help three other people and so
on. Each act quickly becomes *
a link in the chain of kindness.
Though discouraged by
classmates and other peers, it's
exactly what he set out to do,
with little knowledge of just
how far it would actually go.
There is a movie based
on the book that came out in
2000. It follows the story fairly
closely, but like all movies, has
slight alterations. It stars Helen
Hunt (Trevor's mom), Kevin
Spacey (the new teacher),
Haley Joel Osment (Trevor
McKenny), and Jon bon Jovi
(Trevor's deadbeat father).
The order in which events
occur in the movie make
more sense and fits together
better than in the book and
the ending has more of an
impact. However, the movie
portrays the relationship
between the mother and boy
to be far worse than it actually
is, and makes the boy behave
more defiantly. The book is
available at libraries as well as
bookstores and the movie is
available for rental and sale.
Staff Reporters
Wablam! Shazam! What was
that? I don’t know, so let us
start out with a brief history
lesson. Dragons were origi
nally birthed in the foothills
of China. In the age of the di
nosaurs, a pterodactyl and a T-
Rex crossbred. The result was
a litter of 12 scaled, winged,
fire breathing dragons. Since
that time, a mix of humans and
other creatures have tried to
e x - \ \ %. term in ate
th e
earth. \\j
Today,
o n l y
three survive.
The oldest of them is an
orange dragon named
Balthazar. He is the ^ 1
wisest of the three. The Artwork
youngest but biggest
is Elrog, a green dragon that
just does what he does. The
middle child is a blue backed,
orange bellied dragon named
Falknor. Falknor is blessed
with the ability to read. Now
for the tale.
One day while they were eat
ing, they saw lightning above
in the sky. They considered
fleeing when entered the cave
a massive Norwegian guy.
Magnus was his name and
slaying dragons was his game.
His sword shone bright, then
the dragons took flight. Until
they remembered they were in
a cave. They feared they were
laying in their grave. Elrog
saw Magnus had ridiculously
long hair and decided to set it
aflare. Magnus let out a violent
scream and fled to the nearest
stream. Now
they saw their
" chance, did a
little dance,
and took
M agnus's
la n ce as
Balthazar
led the way
to France.
H o w ev er,
F a 1 k n o r
went back
tostealMag-
by Brennan Wagner nUs'booksto
read, while
Elrog peeled back to feed on
his noble steed. Yes, indeed.
Magnus then returned, his
head a little burned. He saw
his horse was eaten dead and
his books had been read.
Magnus was really, really,
mad.
Then Balthazar ate him.
end.
A
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k