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!
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© 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