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Oyster Crackers make music, feed the hungry
Feb. 9 concert will benefit peninsula food bank
By PATRICK WEBB
FOR COAST WEEKEND
ette Lu Krause has a per-
fect answer when asked
about why she loves mak-
ing music.
“I think singing in harmony is
the highest human endeavor,” she
said.
It’s a view shared by all three
members of the Oyster Crack-
ers, a group formed more than a
year ago combining the talents
of Krause, Christl Mack and Rita
Smith.
“I agree,” said Mack, who emi-
grated to the U.S. from Germany
in 1978. “Singing in harmony
B
with others is personally one of
the highlights of my life.”
The group will perform in con-
cert 2 p.m. Feb. 9 at the River
City Playhouse in Ilwaco, Wash.
The event will benefit the Ocean
Park, Wash., Food Bank. Admis-
sion is by cash donation; the per-
formers hope people will also
bring nonperishable food items to
donate.
Smith spends a lot of her time
in the playhouse, a former Ameri-
can Legion Hall that is the home-
base theater for Peninsula Play-
ers, one of the Long Beach area’s
two year-round theater troupes.
As a director and performer, the
stage is familiar territory; Krause
has appeared in a couple of the
group’s musicals there, too.
Smith scheduled the benefit
concert to take place before jump-
ing into directing the troupe’s lat-
est musical, “HMS Pinafore,”
which opens at the end of March.
The trio are all vocalists who
have performed with the Bayside
Singers choral group on the Long
Beach Peninsula.
They discovered they shared a
common delight in Rory Block’s
“Heather’s Song” — about the
wish for young to repay the care
they have received from their now
elderly kinfolk. They especially
enjoy the interpretation by the
Misty River Band, a country/blue-
grass women’s group from Ore-
gon, which includes a mother and
daughter in its quartet.
Treasure the Beach Cleanup is a real pick-me-up
SEASIDE — The first
Saturday of every month,
rain or shine, there is an
organized beach cleanup
between 9-11 a.m. with the
Seaside Aquarium, city of
Seaside, Seaside Down-
town Development Associ-
ation, Inn at Seashore and
Solve.
Sign in for the Trea-
sure the Beach Cleanup in
at The Seashore Inn on the
Beach, 60 N. Prom. Get
your bag, and when done,
drop it by trash receptacle
along the Prom.
This will be 14th year
of Treasure the Beach.
Did you know a single
cigarette butt can take
up to years to decom-
pose? Or that it takes 450
years for a plastic bottle to
decompose?
According to the
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administra-
tion, once in the water,
plastic never fully biode-
grades but breaks down
into smaller and smaller
pieces eventually being
dubbed a “microplastic.”
How can you help?
Reduce, reuse, and recy-
cle. By cleaning the beach
you are helping to remove
trash before in enters or
re-enters the ocean sav-
ing countless lives in the
marine environment.
They also draw on inspiration
from the Wailin’ Jennys, a Cana-
da-based women’s trio.
“When Christl and Bette asked
me to join them, I don’t think we
ever thought we would come as
far as we have come, where now
people ask us to perform,” Smith
said.
Since they united, they have
performed at a house concert
hosted by North Peninsula writer
Sydney Stevens and at the Pen-
insula Performing Arts Center.
Their 2019 schedule includes a
fall appearance for Stevens, as
well as the Empty Bowls commu-
nity fundraiser in April and a ses-
sion during the summer vespers
series at the historic Oysterville
Church.
The performance Feb. 9 will
feature two musical sets, with
an opportunity for the audience
to enjoy coffee and dessert at
intermission.
Bluegrass, blues, Celtic and
other styles will be featured. A
large portion of the repertoire will
be a capella, with the remainder
accompanied by guitars, violin,
mandolin, harmonica and even a
penny whistle.
Smith and fellow musicians
hope those attending have as
much fun as they do. “Even when
we are together in the car, we will
start singing some of our songs,”
she said.
Mack echoed the sentiment.
“We enjoy each other’s com-
pany, and we have such fun,” she
said. “We end a lot of our songs
simply laughing.” CW
Au Naturel: ‘The Nude in the 21st Century’
Gallery visitors are
ASTORIA — The
invited to cast their vote
13th annual international
for their favorite piece
juried exhibit Au Naturel:
in the show during the
The Nude in the 21st
exhibit. The ballots will
Century will be on dis-
play through March 14 at
be tallied at the close of
Clatsop Community Col-
the exhibition and the
lege’s Royal Nebeker Art
winner of the “People’s
Gallery, 1799 Lexington
Choice Award” will be
Ave.
announced.
A community recep-
This year, more than
tion is at 6 p.m. Thurs-
400 images were sub-
day, Feb. 7, and this
mitted for consider-
ation by artists from 24
year’s juror will be pres-
ent to give a brief gal-
states plus the District
lery talk.
of Columbia, as well as
international submissions
Awards to be
from Canada, France,
announced at the recep-
tion include cash prizes,
Italy, and Taiwan.
The 2019 exhibit will
purchase awards, a spe-
cial exhibit award to be
include 43 works of art
held during the 2019 —
by 32 artists from 11
2020 exhibition season,
states plus Canada.
Submitted photo
and a select number of
Ashley Stull Meyers,
“The Photographer” by Henk Pander a writer, editor, and cura-
workshop awards. This
tor, was the juror for this
reception is free and open of Portland.
exhibit. She has curated
to the public.
exhibitions and public programming for
A special post-reception gathering will
a diverse set of arts institutions along the
be held at the Inferno Lounge, located at
West Coast. She will give a talk at 2 p.m.
77 11th Street immediately following the
Friday, Feb. 8 in the gallery.
reception. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. —
For more information about all artists,
5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Satur-
days from 11 a.m. — 4 p.m. The gallery is
visit the Au Naturel website at www.auna-
open on Sundays and holidays by appoint-
turelart.com and navigate to the 2019 Au
ment only.
Naturel online gallery.