8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
St. Mary’s Star of the Sea
holds Musicfest, auction
ASTORIA — St. Mary’s Star
of the Sea Catholic Church
will hold its fourth annual
Musicfest event, featuring
a silent auction and raffles,
from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday,
Nov. 19.
The event will be held in
the old school auditorium
located at 1411 Grand Ave.
Admission is two cans of
food at the door, to be donat-
ed to a local food bank.
The event will feature
live music by two local
groups.
Two Crows Joy has
played in the local area for
several years. The band is
led by Jane Duncan on fid-
dle, banjo, guitar and vocals
and her partner, Russ Hos-
ley, on guitar and vocals; the
rest of the group is made up
of Darwin Turner on bass;
and Dave Gager on drums
and vocals.
Astoria musician Barbie
G. will also perform acoustic
folk music.
The event will also fea-
ture free food, silent auction
items and a drawing. Only
cash and checks will be
accepted.
Sponsored by Court 151
Catholic Daughters, the
event is a fundraiser with
proceeds distributed among
several local charitable
organizations including food
banks.
E vents
894 Commercial Street
503*325*4356
thursday
NOV. 17 * 8 pm
Free Local Country Music with
Rusty Spurs
wednesdays
6-11 pm
Open Mic &
Jam Session
Port of Call Bistro & Bar
J AM SESSION MOVING TO
T HURSDAY NIGHTS
STARTING D EC .1 ST !!!
Sunday GAME DAY
Pacifi c Northwest
Professional
Wrestling
(Last Sunday of Every Month)
Astoria Event Center
Doors Open at 4:30 PM
Port of call specials
• Monday: Closed for winter hours
• Tuesday: Closed for winter hours
• Thursday: Burger and draft beer for
10.00
• Breakfast every Sunday and Saturday-
open at 10am
• Sunday: $10 Bloody Mary Bar-10am
to 2pm. Active military appreciation
day 20% off with proof of service.
$10 bottomless mimosa’s for 2 hours
between 10am to 2pm.
(LIFE-SIZED JENGA, CORN HOLE)
Come in for the Bloody Mary bar & football!
K
LEVERKILL
saturday
November 19 * 8 pm
Astoria
Event
Center
$
8
Author to share historical novel at Seaside library
Novel set after
World War II in
Southern Rhodesia
SEASIDE — The Seaside
Public Library will host
author Diana Polisensky for
a presentation about her book
“Whitewashed Jacarandas” at
1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19.
Polisensky has just
returned to the U.S. from
a photo safari in her native
southern Africa, where she
also hosted book signings
of her historical novel. After
her PowerPoint presentation
at the library Nov. 19, she’ll
discuss the era of her book:
the years after World War II in
Southern Rhodesia, which is
now called Zimbabwe.
Polisensky considers
herself a recluse living in
a tree house on the Central
Oregon Coast, although her
friends think she gets around
quite a lot. She was born into
a medical family and grew up
in a swimming pool in Africa,
in the days when colonialism
AUTHOR
APPEARANCE
1 p.m. Saturday, Nov.
19
Seaside Public
Library
1131 Broadway,
Seaside
Free
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Diana Polisensky will talk
about her book “White-
washed Jacarandas” at 1 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 19 in Seaside.
was still respectable on the
other side of the Pond. She
crossed it as a young woman,
ending her career in genetic
engineering “behind the hedg-
es” at Rice University.
“Whitewashed Jacaran-
das” is the first of a quartet of
novels about a Jewish doctor
and his gentile wife in the
burst of development after
World War II until the crisis
with Britain over the rise of
African Nationalism that led
to rebellion, civil war and
finally the election of Robert
Mugabe.
Glowing reviews for
“Whitewashed Jacarandas”
range from London to Israel,
South Africa, Australia, New
Zealand and of course on the
Oregon Coast.
“A remarkably detailed
tour de force,” wrote Gerald
Clarkson, a former reporter
for Reuters. “An epic first
book,” said Dave Bloom, an
Israeli community historian.
“It’s a fascinating book with
engrossing story; beautifully
written,” wrote Marcella
Carmen, who lived in Tan-
ganyika. Sharon Drews of
Newport urges, “Every book
club should read this book.”
“Whitewashed Jacarandas”
remained in the top five on
Amazon’s Hot New Releases
for a whole month.
There are many contempo-
rary books about Zimbabwe
but very few about the time
when life there was full of
possibilities. It’s a controver-
sial novel about a country
that remains controversial 70
years later.
Tea and shortbread will
be served while Polisensky
signs books available for sale
at Seaside Public Library after
the presentation and discus-
sion of “Whitewashed Jaca-
randas.” It is also available on
interlibrary loan from Drift-
wood and Newport libraries
and for sale at Bob’s Beach
Books in Lincoln City and
Canyon Way Bookstore in
Newport. Also from Amazon,
including a Kindle version.
Hear gritty roots country
at the Sou’wester Lodge
SEAVIEW, Wash. — The
Sou’Wester Lodge will host
a performance by Chuck
Westmoreland at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 19.
The Sou’wester Lodge is
located at 3728 J Place. For
more information, call 360-
642-2542.
Eight years ago you
would’ve seen Chuck West-
moreland onstage, a busted
sprinkler head of awkward
and endearing gyrations,
gesticulations, and sweat.
Eight years ago he
would’ve been preaching
psycho-sexual pop songs
with his band, The King-
dom. Singing conceptually
interconnected catchy
nuggets about cars, gender
metamorphosis, Dog Day
Afternoon and — somehow
— Johnny Unitas in a war-
bling falsetto caught some-
where between the pearly
gates and a truck stop.
Eight years ago. Before
he walked away from it all.
Before marriage. Before his
wife’s cancer fight brought
him to his knees. Before
the birth of his first child
chiseled away whatever
remained of that almost-fa-
mous man that used to
bounce around under the
spotlight.
Nearly a decade lat-
er, the Portland musician
returns with his self-titled
solo debut, a powerful roots
country album that takes his
gift for character sketches
and deconstructions and
turns the focus squarely, and
unblinkingly, on himself.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Chuck Westmoreland will perform Nov. 19 in Seaview.
Owing more to Gordon
Lightfoot than Guided
by Voices, Chuck West-
moreland shears away
all outer influences for a
singer-songwriter’s lunch
pail full of bare-knuckle
blood and guts. His heavy,
lyric-driven songs focus on
what to do with life gets
tough and finding the good
where you can.