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What was Washington like during The Great War? Fairy gardens captivate
Speaker program
commemorates
the centennial of
World War I
PACIFIC and GRAYS HARBOR
COUNTY, Wash. — On April
6, 1917, the United States
entered World War I —
The Great War — to fight
alongside its European
allies. Washington state’s
homefront turmoil, however,
began before the country en-
tered the war, and continued
afterward.
Four Timberland librar-
ies will host the program
“Washington at War: The
Evergreen State in World
War I,” presented by Wash-
ington historian Lorraine
McConaghy.
The talks are presented
by Humanities Washington
and the Washington State
Historical Society in com-
memoration of the 100th
anniversary of America’s
involvement in World War I.
The schedule is:
• 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday,
March 23, Ocean Park Tim-
berland Library, 1308 256th
Place, Ocean Park, Washing-
ton, 360-665-4184.
• 5:30 t 6:30 p.m. Friday,
March 24, Raymond Tim-
berland Library, 507 Duryea
St., Raymond, Washington,
360-942-2408.
• 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday,
WASHINGTON AT WAR
2 p.m. March 23, Ocean Park library
5:30 p.m. March 24, Raymond library
10 a.m. March 25, South Bend library
2 p.m. March 25, Westport library
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Historian Lorraine McCo-
naghy will talk about Wash-
ington state during World
War I and lead a readers’ the-
ater reading.
March 25, South Bend Tim-
berland Library, First Street
and Pacific Ave., South
Bend, Washington, 360-875-
5532.
• 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday,
March 25, Westport Tim-
berland Library, 101 Harms
Drive, Westport, Washing-
ton, 360-268-0521.
McConaghy will begin
the program with an illus-
trated introduction to the
war’s themes.
Following that, attendees
may participate in a scripted
readers’ theater designed to
portray the turmoil of the
years 1914 to 1919.
The readers’ theater
script is drawn from
first-person sources such
as letters, diaries, speeches
and newspaper stories. It
allows modern readers to
speak aloud the words of a
past generation and gain an
sense of how Washingto-
nians of that era experienced
the great social, economic
and political changes of the
time: industrialization, im-
migration, women’s rights,
radical labor, epidemic
disease, and worldwide
turmoil.
McConaghy is a public
historian whose work has
been widely recognized and
honored.
She received the Wash-
ington State Historical Soci-
ety’s Robert Gray Medal, the
annual award of the Pacific
Northwest Historians Guild,
and the Humanities Wash-
ington Award.
McConaghy earned her
Ph.D. from the University of
Washington. At the Museum
of History & Industry and
Washington State Histo-
ry Museum, her work as
historian and curator has
dealt with Washington at
war during the Treaty War
of 1855-1856, the Civil War,
World War I and World War
II.
She has participated in
working groups concerning
the opportunities of com-
memoration and presented
lectures and workshops on
readers’ theater programs
at the National Council on
Public History, the Amer-
ican Association for State
and Local History, and the
Washington Museum Asso-
ciation.
In 2009, her readers’
theater script “Speaking
Out” won the national
performance award from the
Oral History Association. In
2015, the American Asso-
ciation for State and Local
History honored her “Voices
of the Civil War” readers’
theater script with a national
award of merit. McConaghy
lives in Kirkland, Washing-
ton.
For more information,
contact the individual librar-
ies hosting the program, or
visit www.TRL.org
Watch ‘Paper Tigers’ with Way to Wellville
SEASIDE — Columbia
Pacific Coordinated Care
Organization and Way
to Wellville in Clatsop
County are hosting a free
community screening of
the movie “Paper Tigers.”
The screening will be
held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 21 at the
Seaside Civic and Conven-
tion Center, located at 415
First Ave.
“Paper Tigers” follows
a year in the life of stu-
dents at an alternative high
school in Walla-Walla,
Washington. The film looks
at the effects that adverse
childhood experiences can
produce, and, following
a change in the school’s
discipline approach, how
the school staff were able
to step up to help these stu-
dents become successful.
The film is the basis
for current work locally
happening for Trauma In-
formed Practices in health
care and schools. After
the movie, the audience
will have time to have a
discussion.
For more information,
contact Patti Atkins by
calling 503-961-2535.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Attend a screening of “Paper
Tigers” at 5:30 p.m. March 21
in Seaside.
kid, adult imaginations
By TRACEE M. HERBAUGH
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A set of little wings.
Ceramic fountains. Tiny
versions of ornate cottages
and brick walkways fit for
the English countryside.
These are just some of the
whimsical decorations that
adorn fairy gardens.
When such miniature
decorations are paired with
similarly diminutive plants,
these gardens — aimed at
luring fairies — can cap-
tivate the imaginations of
children and adults alike.
“I think it is in our DNA,”
said Brenda Williams, a
master gardener at Pesche’s
Greenhouse, Floral and Gifts
in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
For the last four years,
Williams has been teaching
classes to 4H students and
through the University of
Wisconsin’s continuing
education program on how
to create fairy gardens.
We have the itch to gar-
den, she believes, to satisfy a
lingering part of our hunt-
er-gatherer past. “That gene
is still very present in modern
people who no longer need to
garden,” Williams said. And
designing a little fairy abode
turns a garden into “a living
artwork,” she said.
Fairy gardens’ appeal is
similar to that of Japanese
bonsai, the ancient practice
of grooming small trees
inside containers. In 1893,
fairy gardens surged in pop-
ularity in the U.S. because of
the Japanese Pavilion at the
Chicago World’s Fair.
No two fairy gardens are
the same. Some people use
creative containers, especial-
ly antiques — a wash tub,
bird cages or pickle bottles.
“I tell people to imagine
something in your head and
try to recreate it in a pot, or
whatever,” Williams said.
The gardens can be
designed underwater or with
silk plants if the creator is
more of a “set and forget”
type of plant person.
Often, fairy gardens are
a creative bridge between
adults and children. Jayme
Tortorelli Benko, a 37-year-
old mom from Denver, saw
photos of fairy gardens on-
line and wanted to make one
for her young daughter, Alo-
ra. In a large pot, Benko put a
ceramic flower with a resting
fairy (named Nata), some
rocks and an assortment of
potted plants. Creating the
garden was about spending
time together, Benko said,
adding, “Kids love magic.”
Fairy gardens are also
part of a larger DIY move-
ment. Victoria Hannley, a
39-year-old mother of three
who runs the DIY blog
Dazzled While Frazzled,
made her first fairy garden
with items left over after her
daughter’s birthday party
and some empty soup cans.
“It makes me think back
to the days when I had a
dollhouse,” Hannley said.
“You’re able to take every-
day stuff you have and make
something with it.”
Yet fairy gardens also
can take on more solemn
meanings. The 15-foot-wide
fairy garden on the side of
Michelle Peebles’ home
commemorates her daugh-
ter Amanda, who died at
age 12 from complications
from a rare form of cancer.
Peebles, 46, of Broomfield,
Colorado, planted the garden
two years ago with Amanda
and her other children.
“She helped me plant
some snapdragons and she
used to dig for roly polies
(beetles) there,” Peebles said.
There are still snapdrag-
ons in the spot, as well as a
little fairy home and seashell
walkway. Amanda’s digging
tools are still there. “It’s just
a little peaceful place, and
it’s incorporated with her
little stuff,” Peebles said.