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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2017)
JUNE 8, 2017 // 3 SCRATCHPAD My writing fi rst appeared in Coast Weekend on July 21, 2011, when I worked as The Daily Astorian’s sum- mer intern. It was a “Shanghaied in Astoria” preview — a center spread I proudly laminated, framed and mount- ed on my bedroom wall as if it was a fresh kill. Now, nearly six years and 750 to 1,000 stories later, I ’m confronted with the task of writing my fi rst editor’s column for Coast Weekend. Though struggling to shift into fi rst-person, I am lucky to helm an arts-and-entertainment publication in a region that nurtures and champions painters, authors, songwriters, thespi- ans — people who act on their creative impulses, and bravely share the output in a small community where it is almost impossible to disappear. It makes my job easy and interesting. coast The moment I donned the editor hat, I found myself buried in an avalanche of press releases for local galleries, book readings, musical performances and theater productions. Certain words, unsurprisingly, crop up frequently: The artist “expresses,” “communicates,” “il- lustrates,” “represents” something vital. Oftentimes, the creative impulse is not simply an effort to please or to en- tertain. It is an attempt to be personally understood — to send a signal from the artists’ inner world that, if received and accepted, validates their feelings and perceptions. The chance that such a connection might be made is one reason we turn to art in the fi rst place. The fi nest art touches us in the deepest parts of who we are . That’s the way I felt when I fi rst heard Cannon Beach musician Michael Corry’s break up ballad, INSIDE THIS ISSUE weekend ON THE COVER CONTRIBUTORS DAN HAAG HEATHER DOUGLAS RYAN HUME BARBARA LLOYD MCMICHAEL See story on Page 10 14 CALENDAR COORDINATOR REBECCA HERREN ADVERTISING MANAGER BETTY SMITH DANNY MILLER/THE DAILY ASTORIAN 10 COAST WEEKEND EDITOR ERICK BENGEL arts & entertainment The Astoria Pride Parade heads along the Riverwalk during the 2016 inaugural event. 4 “Thom’s Song,” attended a pulverizing production of “’night, Mother” at the Coaster Theatre Playhouse and watched a grizzled FisherPoet at Astoria’s Co- lumbian Theater slay the audience with an affectionately sardonic slant on the plights of his profession. In the Columbia-Pacifi c region, where art is central to people’s lives, you can run into artists everywhere and ask them: “What did you want to say with this piece?” Or, in other words: “How can I, through this thing you made, better understand you?” In highlighting our local artists and their work, Coast Weekend can provide answers to that question — answers that refl ect on the nature of art itself, how art helps to form the connective tissue of our community, and what it means to act on that creative impulse. THE ARTS Music Festival launches 15th season Extravaganza makes joyful noise FEATURE Astoria Pride returns Event celebrates LGBTQ community DINING Mouth of the Columbia Nanci & Jimella’s curtain call FURTHER ENJOYMENT MUSIC CALENDAR .....................5 SEE + DO...............................12, 13 CROSSWORD..............................17 CW MARKETPLACE...........18, 19 GRAB BAG...................................22 Find it all online! CoastWeekend.com features full calendar listings, keyword search and easy sharing on social media. To advertise in Coast Weekend, call 503-325-3211 or contact your local sales representative. © 2017 COAST WEEKEND New items for publication consideration must be submitted by 10 a.m. Tuesday, one week and two days before publication. TO SUBMIT AN ITEM Phone: 503.325.3211 Ext. 217 or 800.781.3211 Fax: 503.325.6573 E-mail: editor@coastweekend.com Address: P.O.Box 210 • 949 Exchange St. Astoria, OR 97103 Coast Weekend is published every Thursday by the EO Media Group, all rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced without consent of the publisher. Coast Weekend appears weekly in The Daily Astorian and the Chinook Observer. DANNY MILLER/THE DAILY ASTORIAN Features Editor Erick Bengel
