"Spirit of the River"celebrates the Columbia

September 20, 2007

Celebrate the "Spirit of the River" with a festive evening of music, dance, spoken word, and art on Saturday at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) in Astoria.

The evening is a benefit for Columbia Riverkeeper and the opposition to liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the Columbia River. The evening begins at 7 p.m. with a silent auction of works by regional artists.

Local author Robert Michael Pyle will be speaking about what he calls "living for keeps in a forgotten place." Featured performers include Kim Angelis, violinist; Jim Dott, poet; David Drury, classical guitarist; Jennifer Goodenberger, pianist, and Jay Speakman, fisher poet. The folk music groups Willapa Hills and Brownsmead Flats will present favorite songs, and the group Serous will dance. Susi Brown is the producer and director.

"We were born with the opportunity to be aware, to care, and to create meaning in action," said photographer David Lee Myers, whose photographs of the Columbia River fronts the event's poster and program. Additional artists with works for sale during the silent auction include Robert Adams, Sharon Amber, Vicki Baker, Jamie Boyd, Andrew Cier, Roger Hayes, LaRee Johnson, Philip Johnson, Andrea Kosharek, Sally Lackaff, Darren Orange, Scott Reuter, John Rippey, Kristin Shauck, Deborah Starr, Noel Thomas, Judy Vander Maten, and Mary Tanguay Webb.

Tickets for "Spirit of the River" are $20 and available at Lucy's Books, 348 12th Street in Astoria and at the PAC the night of the performance, which starts at 8 p.m. The PAC is at 16th and Franklin in Astoria.