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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2018)
10A • January 26, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com When mutual respect, inclusion go hand-in-hand Tillamook County resident celebrates civil rights icon By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette MANZANITA — When LaNi- cia Williams moved to Tillamook County a few years ago, it was the first place she had lived without any sort of celebration for Martin Lu- ther King Jr. Day. “I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I was used to being a part of something,” she said. Williams decided to change that last year by starting the Oregon Coast Love Coalition, an activist group that focuses on equity educa- tion and creating inclusive events of all religions, races, nationalities and sexuality. Last year, she prepared a community breakfast with a fo- cus on racial issues. This year, the coalition expanded celebrating the LaNicia Williams holiday with three days of events, including a movie with commu- nity dialogue, presentations about civil rights leaders at the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita and a day of service. More than 40 volunteers were registered to help build six different homes around Tillamook County for Habitat for Humanity. “Traditionally, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a day of service,” Williams said. “We live in an individualistic society. We for- get that people have needs around us..” It’s important to Williams to plan these events, she said, because in a time where there is an “upheav- al of political and social climate,” people need to find what bonds them together. “It seems like (the community) doesn’t have a lot of diversity, but it does. And it is growing,” Williams said. “I think it’s time to stop focus- ing on what separates us and to start focusing on what bonds us, which to me is love.” Part of what inspired Williams to bring people together comes from the struggles of feeling different herself after moving to the coast. As a black woman in a county that is 84 percent white, Williams not- ed difficult conversations with her neighbors about race. Her devout faith also separated her from her peers, she said. “Back in California, I grew up in church. When I moved here, I almost lost spirituality, because I never had lived around a population where most don’t have a belief in God the same way I did,” Williams said. “I had to learn to be respect- ful of different viewpoints, holding my truths but not casting down my opinion upon others. I matured to a place of listening.” It’s a lesson she hopes her coali- tion can continue to teach by incor- porating new inclusion mentorship programs through the Tillamook and Neah-Kah-Nie school districts, as well as continuing to bring dif- ferent people to the table to talk about equity issues past just one day of the year in January. “You don’t have to agree on ev- erything to live with each other, to live in a world of inclusion,” she said. “To move forward, how do we get different thinkers in the same room and find that we have more commonalities than we think?” WOMEN’S EXPO A gathering of businesses and en- trepreneurs comes to Seaside in February. Oregon Coast Women’s Expo The Oregon Coast Women’s Expo is an annual gathering of women in business, entrepreneurs, change-makers and dreamers. The one-day event brings together women vendors showcasing unique products and services from the Oregon coast, guest speakers, awards ceremony and celebration of creative entrepreneurs and the womanly spirit, Feb. 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center in Seaside. Lifelong love of theater fuels dream for Seaside’s Katherine Lacaze Lacaze from Page 1A and will appear this year in “Noises Off” at the Coaster. She also plans to do the cho- reography for “Musical of Musicals” at the Coaster this summer. In addition, Lacaze is directing “Peter Pan” this spring for the Astor Street Opry Company and a one-act health-related play sponsored by Providence Seaside Hos- pital. Eventually, she said, she would like to establish a non- profit Clatsop Children’s The- atre Company. “I love theater in general,” she said. “It allows me to ex- plore the world around me. It gives me different perspec- tives. I can explore grief and difficult hardships in a safe place.” Lacaze, who moved to Seaside four years ago to be a reporter for the Seaside Sig- nal, said she wanted to help Eventually, Lacaze said, she would like to establish a nonprofit Clatsop Children’s Theatre Company. the community develop activ- ities for children, something she felt was missing. “I feel this community doesn’t have a lot of afford- able outlets for children,” said Lacaze. “This is such a tourist-ori- ented town. We work hard to provide activities for tourists. But we also say we’re a fami- ly-oriented town, and we need to provide fun, enjoyable and educational activities for chil- dren, something they can take pride in.” Lacaze’s idea of partnering with the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District fits COURTESY KATHERINE LACAZE The cast of last year’s production, “Alice in Wonderland.” well with the district’s goals, said Skyler Archibald, district director. “Certain interests are well represented — such as athlet- ics — but this one was not,” Archibald said. “We want to provide positive activities for children, and this was right up play last summer. While she had some as- sistance with “Alice in Won- derland” last year, thanks to friend Ellen Jensen, who also performs at the Coaster The- atre, and the Coaster’s cos- tume designer, Judith Light, Lacaze did most of the pro- our alley. 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