MAY 4, 2017 // 7 Ales & Ideas hosts Oregon Book Award nominees ASTORIA — The next Ales & Ideas community lecture — featuring Oregon Book Award nominees Nick Jaina and Martha Grover — will be held 7 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at the Fort George Lovell Showroom at Duane and 14th streets. Doors open at 6 p.m. with food and beverages, includ- ing seasonable beers, but no purchase is required. Minors are welcome. The authors are renowned for their honest, insightful and frequently funny creative nonfiction memoirs, according to press materials. Martha Grover is the author of “The End of My Career,” a 2017 Oregon Book Award finalist in creative nonfiction. Martha Grover Nick Jaina Her poetry, illustrations and essays have been published in various journals and mag- azines. She’s been publish- ing her zine, Somnambulist, since 2003. Nick Jaina is a musician and writer living in Portland. He is the author of “Get It While You Can,” a 2016 Oregon Book Award finalist in creative nonfiction. He tours the world performing music and reading from his works, in addition to composing film soundtracks and writing for contemporary dance. Grover is also teaching free writing workshops Friday, May 5, at the Seaside Public Library and Saturday, May 6, at Manzanita library. Contact Susan Moore for details at susan@literary-arts.org. College MERTS campus holds open house ASTORIA — Clatsop Community College invites the public to an open house at the college’s MERTS (Marine and Environmen- tal Research and Training Station) campus 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, May 5. The MERTS campus — Oregon’s designated Mar- itime Training College — houses the Maritime Science Department; Fire Response & Research Center; the Liv- ing Machine; Industrial & Manufacturing Technology Center, including Automo- tive Technology, Welding, and Historic Preservation and Restoration. For the one-day event, programs will have displays and interactive demonstra- tions. Tours of the college’s training vessel, M/V Fore- runner, will be conducted. Visitors can also meet representatives from the col- College teaches systems for sustaining small farms ASTORIA — In May, Clat- sop Community College is offering a class on four elements that help small farming operations become sustainable. Taught by Larkin Stentz — who has run an organic landscaping company and taught organic gardening courses — “Small Farm Sustainability: Best Prac- tices” will be held 10 a.m. to noon on four straight Saturdays — May 6, 13, 20 and 27. The cost is $49. Students explore a new facet of sustainability each week. First, they learn about biointensive food production designed to maximize the amount of food grown on small farms; next, about wa- ter catchment systems; then about wind and solar energy production and its appli- cations; and finally, about the mechanics of producing seeds and storing harvest. To register, visit www. clatsopcc.edu/schedule and search under “Course Title,” or call 503-325-2402. lege’s business department and admissions, try out a virtual welding machine, and explore Air National Guard and National Guard displays, according to press materials. MERTS is located off U.S. Highway 30 on Liberty Lane, three miles east of Astoria. For more information, visit www.clatsopcc.edu/ about-ccc/campuses/merts or call 503-338-7670. Learn how the Columbia River jetties were built ILWACO, WASH. — Local historian Gary Kobes will discuss the creation of the jetties at the mouth of the Columbia River at the next Salty Talk presentation, “Building the Jetties,” 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 10, at the Salt Hotel & Pub (147 Howerton Ave.) in Ilwaco, Washington. The enormous structures, which took more than 50 years to build, were con- structed with the state-of- the-art technology of their time. “Steamships and locomo- tives moved and placed over 3 million tons of stone to build the North Jetty alone,” according to press materials. The building of the jetties has had “a profound effect on both the people and the landscape of our region.” Kobes, the manager of the Port of Astoria Airport, is a self-described “history addict” who graduated from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri and has more than 35 years of experience in commercial and institutional real estate, SUBMITTED PHOTO Large cars carry boulders for the building of the jetties in this old photograph. facility development and project management. He serves on the Colum- bia Pacific Heritage Museum board in Ilwaco and the Columbiar River Maritime Museum in Astoria, and is a founding member of the Nahcotta preservation committee. Salty Talk presentations are located upstairs in the Salt Pub & Hotel, on the Ilwaco waterfront. The event is free. They are the result of a partnership among the establishment; Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum; Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission; Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, with support from Friends of Columbia River Gateway, and the Port of Ilwaco. Coaster Theatre Playhouse Bay Center Willapa Bay KOA LOCAL SPECIAL! Take $25 off any Cabin or Yurt rental* May 5 - 28, 2017 *Offer Valid 4/19 - 5/25 • Camp in your own backyard • Dig for Steamer Clams** **License required - not sold at the campground 457 Bay Center Road Website KOA.com/campgrounds/bay-center Call 360-875-6344 to reserve & ask for the “local special” Tickets $20 or $25 Shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday May 7 & 21 shows at 3:00p.m. Sponsored by Becker Capital Management Tickets: 503-436-1242 or coastertheatre.com 108 N Hemlock Street, Cannon Beach, OR