Page 11
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, February 8, 2006
‘B Wishes’ a ‘De-licious’ performer NOAA announces Oregon Coho
By CHRIS HILL
IVN Correspondent
An Illinois Valley per-
former is spicing up Thurs-
day nights at the Pizza Pit in
Cave Junction.
Elizabeth Kay, whose
stage name is “B Wishes,”
hosts the open mic night
from 6 to 8
p.m.
“It’s
getting really
good and a
lot more peo-
ple are turn-
ing out,” she
observed.
K a y ,
who started
the open mic
night several
months ago,
may be new
to Pizza Pit,
but she’s no
stranger to
the
stage.
This long-
time singer-
songwriter,
who
has
been singing
to the strum
of her guitar
for decades,
said that she
sort of stum-
bled into her
stage name
several years
ago.
“It’s a really long story
from a really long time
ago,” she mused. “Me and
my ex-husband and our
friend were joking around
saying that we were going to
start a holiday trio, and we
all had stage names.
“Since my nickname is
Beth, we joked that my
stage name would be Beth
Wishes, like best wishes,
and then ‘B Wishes’ just
sort of stuck. It’s a really
silly story,” Kay said.
While Kay’s stage
name evolved over time, her
love and passion for music
go back as long as she can
remember. She was born
into a musical family.
“I’ve been around mu-
sic all my life,” she ex-
plained. “I started playing
the guitar when I was about
6 years old and started writ-
ing songs when I was about
7. I grew up out in the
woods in Alaska. We had no
TV and no other children to
play with since we were
way out in the woods.
“We used correspon-
dence schools, and the clos-
est town was a little tiny
town about 12 miles away.
So, that’s what we did every
night. My brother, sister,
dad, mom and I would all
pass the time by singing and
playing guitar and making
up songs,” Kay recalled.
In 1993, Kay and her
ex-husband moved to Med-
ford. At the time, they were
in a band, “The Toyes,”
with which they still per-
form a couple times a year,
but mostly in Northern Cali-
fornia.
“We did a show out
here in I.V. with ‘The
Toyes,’ and we just loved it
here. So we moved out here
and have been here six
years,” said Kay.
Kay also performs at
McGrew’s in O’Brien Fri-
day nights.
“I write all kinds of
songs,” she said. “The stuff I
do with ‘The Toyes’ is to-
tally different than the stuff I
do with my other band.”
When Kay plays with
her “other band” she consid-
ers herself a rock artist. ‘The
Toyes’ style is a little more
rock-reggae, Kay said.
“I do every style except
heavy metal, country and
rap,” she added.
“Sometimes, when I do
solo acoustic, people think I
am a folk artist,” she contin-
ued. “But, I just
write what I’m
inspired to write.
I don’t like coun-
try, but some-
times I’ll write a
song and it just is
country and has
that whole coun-
try feel to it.
“When I get an
idea for a song, it
comes out with a
flavor. I get a feel
that this would be
a good country
song or this
would make a
great rock-reggae
song.”
Sometimes Kay
will write “five to
10 songs in a
week or maybe
nothing
for
months.”
“I’ve done a lot
of music for
documentaries
and have sold
lots of music, but
I haven’t had a big artist
come along and buy any of
my songs yet,” Kay said.
Her biggest claim to
fame, she said, is a song she
performed with ‘The Toyes’
called, “Waiting for the
Aliens,” which played on
one TV episode of
“Roswell.”
“My dream is to sit at
home, write songs and have
a big artist come along and
buy it, then they go out and
do the touring and every-
thing else and I just walk to
my mail box and get a
check,” said Kay.
“So they do all the hard
work and I get to stay home
with my 12-year-old son,
Zachary. That’s my dream,”
Kay said.
Besides hosting the
open mic night at Pizza Pit
and performing at
McGrew’s, Kay gives pi-
ano, guitar and vocal lessons
as a part-time job.
not likely to become endangered
Following a two-year
collaborative process with
the state of Oregon, the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration’s
(NOAA) Fisheries Service
announced that the Oregon
Coast Coho is not likely to
become endangered and will
not be listed under the En-
dangered Species Act
(ESA).
“The Bush administra-
tion remains solidly com-
mitted to recovery of Pacific
salmon, and I am pleased to
join the state of Oregon and
local stakeholders in cele-
brating this important mile-
stone,” said Bob Lohn,
NOAA Fisheries Northwest
regional director. “I applaud
the hard work of local agri-
culture, forestry, state, tribal
and other federal partners to
develop a solid plan for re-
covery.
“This is an encouraging
example of diverse interests
that can come together to
improve conditions for
salmon in the Pacific North-
west,” Lohn said.
An in-depth assessment
by the state concluded that
state actions to reform har-
vest and hatcheries had
helped turn the Coho popu-
lation around, and that the
population’s ability to re-
bound from very low levels
demonstrated that it is likely
to persist into the future.
NOAA Fisheries Ser-
vice agreed with the Oregon
analysis, although it noted
many uncertainties about
what the future holds for the
Coho. The state and NOAA
Fisheries Service will con-
tinue to monitor Coho for
population changes.
Under the ESA, an en-
dangered species is one that
is in danger of extinction;
and a threatened species is
one that is likely to become
endangered in the foresee-
able future. NOAA Fisher-
ies Service biologists said
that ocean conditions are
likely to continue to play a
dominant role in the popula-
tion’s health and that it’s
anticipated the population
will undergo natural fluctua-
tions in the future as a result.
Between 2001 and
2004, NOAA provided
more than $3.2 million
through the Pacific Coastal
Salmon Recovery Fund to
the Oregon Watershed En-
hancement Board, and
nearly $600,000 to the Ore-
gon coastal Coquille and
Siletz tribes for more than
150 habitat protection, en-
hancement, research and
monitoring projects to im-
prove conditions for Coho
and other listed species
along the Oregon coast.
The NOAA Restoration
Center also provided
$950,000 for 79 local resto-
ration projects including the
Lower Columbia and Tilla-
mook Estuary Partnerships
that benefit a variety of
aquatic species including
Coho. Additionally, Oregon
received $250,000 in federal
funds to support scientific
work necessary to reach and
sustain recovery of Oregon
coast Coho.
NOAA Fisheries Ser-
vice said that it is dedicated
to protecting and preserving
the nation’s living marine
resources and their habitats
through scientific research,
management and enforce-
ment.
Sticks and stone are thrown only at fruit-bearing trees.
- Saadi -
A letter to cats, dogs from the email bag
Dear Dogs and Cats:
The dishes with the paw
prints are yours and contain
your food. The other dishes
are mine and contain my
food.
Please note that placing a
paw print in the middle of my
plate of food does not stake a
claim for it becoming your
food and dish, nor do I find
that aesthetically pleasing in
the slightest.
The stairway was not
designed by NASCAR and is
not a racetrack. Beating me to
the bottom is not the object.
T r i p p i n g
m e
doesn’t help because I fall
faster than you can run.
I cannot buy anything
bigger than a king-size bed. I
am very sorry about this. Do
not think I will continue
sleeping on the couch to en-
sure your comfort. Dogs and
cats can actually curl up in a
ball when they sleep.
It is not necessary to
sleep perpendicular to each
other, stretched out to the
fullest extent possible. I also
know that sticking tails
straight out and having
tongues hanging out the other
end to maximize space is
nothing but sarcasm.
For the last time, there is
not a secret exit from the
bathroom. If by some miracle
I beat you there and manage
to get the door shut, it is not
necessary to claw, whine,
meow, try to turn the knob or
get your paw under the edge
and try to pull the door open.
I must exit through the
same door I entered. Also, I
have been using the bathroom
for years -- canine or feline
attendance is not mandatory.
The proper order is kiss
me, then go smell the other
dog’s or cat’s butt. I cannot
stress this enough! To pacify
you, my dear pets, I have
posted the following message
on the front door:
Rules for Nonpet Owners
who visit and like to com-
plain about our pets.
*They live here. You
don’t.
*If you don’t want their
hair on your clothes, stay off
the furniture. (That’s why
they call it “fur”niture.
*I like my pets a lot bet-
ter than most people.
*To you, it’s an animal.
To me, he/she is an adopted
son/daughter who is short,
hairy, walks on all fours and
doesn’t speak clearly.
Dogs and cats are better
than kids because they eat
less, don’t always ask for
money, are easier to train,
usually come when called,
never drive your car, and
don’t hang out with drug-
using friends.
They don’t smoke or
drink, don’t worry about hav-
ing to buy the latest fashions,
don’t wear your clothes, and
don’t need a gazillion bucks
for college.
And if they get pregnant,
you can sell the children.
ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE
1:10
1:30
2:00
2:45
3:15
Youth Marimba Duet Ashly Wissler/Layni Pistone
Harry & Dorothea
Tenor/Piano
Carol Valentine
Singer/Songwriter
Libby Goines
Vocals & Piano
Illinois Valley String Band
George Shook/Banjo Jack Dwyer/Mandolin
Kent Fisher/Guitar
3:45 Uncle Fluster
Coreen & Scott Hampson
4:15 Seldom Saints Jazz Band Charley Greenwood-Guitar Don Shaw-Coronet
Alan Sorin-Keyboards Kenny Houck-Percussion