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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, JuNE 24, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
SHANNON ARLINT
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
Seeing each other again
ow do we come back? When?
And what will it look like?
A small audience got to see
the beginning of the arts’ next chapter on
Sunday afternoon at the Liberty Theatre
in a concert with members of the 45th
Parallel Universe Orchestra.
Just under two hours,
the concert was the Lib-
erty at its best: intimate.
And it went off with-
out a hitch. Besides a
few films shown to audi-
ences in the fall, this was
the clearest return to live
JONATHAN
operations for the theater
WILLIAMS
amid the pandemic.
It was also the first
concert I had seen in a year and half. The
previous one, the Columbia River Sym-
phony’s 2019 holiday concert, also at the
Liberty, was packed. On Sunday, you
could almost clearly glimpse the face of
an audience member rows away.
I saw that concert and this one with
my grandma, Shirley. We’ve gone to
concerts at the Liberty for years. We love
it. The music fills us with joy and pas-
sion. Growing up playing viola, it con-
nects me to my roots.
Getting in was easy. Masks were still
required, and you simply walked through
the lobby to the ushers who helped iden-
tify where your seat was and handed you
the concert program.
Back too were the delights of the con-
cert experience: the creak of a seat, a
cough or sniffle and the crackling of pop-
corn being eaten. I also saw the theater
more clearly, looking up at the gold paint
around the vaudeville stage, the majes-
tic chandelier and Italian murals high up
on the walls. A mood of calm anticipa-
tion permeated the hall before the music
began.
But in listening to Jennifer Crockett’s
opening remarks, it was clear, as the pan-
demic has time and again laid bare, noth-
ing is given.
Crockett, the Liberty’s executive
director, hailed the theater’s progress in
ongoing renovations (a new concession
stand, renovated ticket kiosk and glass
wall vestibule to dampen the sounds of
Commercial Street) and also lamented
H
Photos by Jonathan Williams/The Astorian
A ticket to the chamber music concert at
the Liberty Theatre.
Members of the 45th Parallel Universe Orchestra performed at the Liberty Theatre on Sunday.
the challenges of the pandemic. Without
the support of locals and lovers of the
arts, it’s difficult for places like the Lib-
erty to flourish and keep the lights on.
We need each other. As Crockett said,
the audience and musicians were there
“because of each other.”
Sunday’s concert was similar to the
delights of seeing an old friend: remem-
bering the good times, enjoying the
moment and wondering at the future.
Each piece was introduced by clari-
netist James Shields, who gave excellent,
accessible summaries of the composer,
the work and instruments featured. He
even noted one piece with connections to
those of Finnish and Swedish roots.
The three works played by the Port-
land-based ensemble offered their own
delights. A through line? Seeing the faces
of Shields, violinists Emily Cole and
Greg Ewer, violist Charles Noble and
cellist Pansy Chang.
A face, like music, contains multi-
tudes: exhibiting vigor and intensity in
one instance only to change to relaxed
and supportive in the next. You can see
joy and passion. Focus. Connection.
After more than 15 months of not see-
ing people up close without a mask on,
it was a revelation of what we’ve missed
and are beginning to regain.
The first piece, Bernhard Henrik
Crusell’s Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major
for clarinet and string trio, was bright
and gentle, with a steady pushing from
the strings throughout.
The second, Mozart’s Allegro for
clarinet, basset horn and string trio, was
short, with strong unisons and transfers
of the piece’s theme among the ensem-
ble. It also featured Crockett on clarinet.
The third piece, Brahms’ Quintet in
B Minor for clarinet and string quartet,
which was also the longest, showed the
ensemble’s range.
Like the face, a musician’s eyes are
also worth noticing. Musicians visually
communicate with each other: gazing at
each other while playing in unison, cut-
ting off at the same time.
A cornucopia of emotions emanated
from the piece, with moments of long,
light passages to vigorous runs with brief
moments highlighting each instrument
and their range: the violin’s shine, the
viola’s deeper middle voice, the cello’s
power and the clarinet’s range.
In short, the music matched the
moment.
Chamber music, as it was origi-
nally performed, included having small
ensembles of musicians come to patrons’
home to perform a salon-style concert.
As Gustav Mahler, a composer of major
symphonic works once said, “In its
beginnings, music was merely chamber
music, meant to be listened to in a small
space by a small audience.”
So it was true, too, for Sunday’s
concert.
While there weren’t any rumbles from
timpani or a choir accompanying an
orchestra, as has been the case in Junes
past during the Astoria Music Festival,
the smaller ensemble was more fitting
for where we are now.
Just being there together, masked
and spread across the hall, is worth
celebrating.
Whether it’s music, theater, dance
or art, when you’re ready, go out again
with a friend. You’re bound to see famil-
iar faces.
As the audience left the theater with
the sun still aglow outside, an old emo-
tion seemed to fill us: quiet hope.
Jonathan Williams is the associate
editor of The Astorian.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Voter support needed
D
id you know that many Oregonians
live in homes built before 1978?
Most are energy inefficient, and in need of
repair.
People living in these homes are more
likely to experience sick days and hospi-
tal visits caused by mold, cold weather and
an inability to take refuge from bad out-
door air quality, such as occurs in wildfire
season.
We can’t afford to tear down this older,
cheaper housing, especially at a time when
affordable housing is hard to come by.
House Bill 2842, the Healthy Homes Act,
will help us improve current housing stock
statewide, while adding good paying jobs
to each local economy.
As we increase the availability of
healthy homes, we can acknowledge that
the move to clean energy standards is inev-
itable. HB 2021B, 100% Clean Energy for
All, sets a reasonable timeline for accom-
plishing this transition, and will prohibit
the construction of new fossil fuel power
plants.
It will maximize community benefits by
setting aside $50 million for local energy
projects, and require workforce equity and
livable wages for workers. This bill pro-
tects ratepayers with cost caps that will
minimize rate increases.
Both bills have passed out of their orig-
inal committees and are now in Ways and
Means, where our own Sen. Betsy Johnson
is chairwoman. Please email or call her to
ask for her support to bring these to the
full House and Senate chambers.
We need Sen. Johnson and Rep.
Suzanne Weber to vote “yes” as we pre-
pare Oregon to successfully meet both
present and future needs.
CHERYL CONWAY
Astoria
Misses the boat
he guest column on June 15 regarding
the Astoria High School mascot misses
the (fishing) boat. Constance Rouda, the
Astoria High School valedictorian, argued
that it was time to change the Fishermen
mascot to a more inclusive symbol.
The writer launches into a long essay
on the importance of fishing to Astoria. All
true. The request for a mascot change in
T
no way is dismissive of history, but rather
seeks to be more inclusive of all Asto-
ria High School sports participants and
spectators.
Weakening the argument, the guest col-
umn author writes that Toni Marsh, who
worked in the fishing industry, stated,
“You earn respect as a male or female
fisher, so the gender labels are not neces-
sary.” Exactly. Note the word, “fisher.”
All sports participants, whether male or
female, work hard. The idea is not to elim-
inate the fishing legacy, but to eliminate
exclusionary symbols or awkward names
like “Lady Fish.” If we have Lady Fish,
should we not have Gentlemen Fish?
The nationally recognized literary event
held annually in Astoria for those who
work on the seas is FisherPoets. Come
one, come all. Let’s move into the 21st
century with our mascots and team names.
The proposed change can continue to
honor the legacy of fishing, while being
inclusive of all who participate.
MARIAN DERLET
Astoria
Scientific advances offer hope
hile most people have been preoccu-
pied with the global pandemic cri-
sis, the global warming crisis continues
unabated:
Atmosphere carbon dioxide has passed
420 parts per million for the first time
in recorded history; a recent series of
droughts in Europe were more severe than
any over the past 2,100 years; and, over
the past 200 years, atmospheric methane is
now over 400 million tons a year, due pri-
marily to rising temperatures and changes
in rainfall.
Unless there is a full-fledged effort to
reverse course by the end of this decade,
global warming poses an existential threat
to life on this planet as we know it.
Fortunately, many scientists and envi-
ronmental organizations have devoted
time and money in finding ways to ame-
liorate or reverse the current global warm-
ing trends.
Some of the more promising devel-
opments include the plummeting cost of
solar and wind power. We can now cap-
ture more than 100 times global energy
demand. By 2030, solar energy is pro-
jected to be cheaper than fossil fuels.
W
The cost of batteries also continued to
go down; this will make electric cars less
expensive, on the average, than conven-
tional cars. Fifteen states, including Cali-
fornia, are now collaborating to require at
least 30% of trucks and buses be electric
by 2030.
Much work remains to be done to tame
the global climate crisis by the end of
this decade. It will also require the time,
money and involvement of the public.
CAROLYN EADY
Astoria
Absolutely gendered
egarding the guest column “School
mascot a reminder of our history”
(The Astorian, June 15): We all love fish-
ermen and history, but women, including
student athletes, rightly want to be seen as
equals today.
Their current mascot is very literally
a man. And the nickname “Lady Fish” is
absolutely gendered and condescending.
Over a hundred years ago, when this mas-
cot was chosen, women couldn’t vote.
Should we be nostalgic about that, too?
And isn’t it ironic that Sue Dowty’s
opinion ran opposite an article on the
women’s varsity swim team winning their
league championship? Let’s celebrate and
recognize wins of all our student athletes
and scholars today, not revere a caricature
R
of an old coach from the 1960s.
Why not consider Fishers? A neutral
term has worked for the FisherPoets Gath-
ering for decades, or are they disrespecting
fishing and history, too?
Or even Brewers — it’s likely Buoy
Beer and Fort George do more for the
local economy today, providing jobs
for current and future generations of
Astorians.
NIKKI ROUDA
Astoria
Not pretty
ave you ever lived close to a pickle-
ball court? Believe me, it’s not pretty.
I have a house in Arizona close to four
of these courts. When they were built, and
the noise started, six families sold their
units at a loss, and a lawsuit was initiated.
As a result, sound-proofing was
installed on a 10-foot high fence, and can-
vas wrapped over it. The noise still carried
throughout the area. If there’s any doubt,
then go and visit Camp Rilea when they
are playing.
These courts will benefit about 30 peo-
ple, and they can go to Camp Rilea if they
need to play. The park is the only park for
children’s T-ball in Seaside, and it’s where
dogs can go to roam and play.
BOB COOK
Seaside
H