Jim Demetro, Elie Kassab and
friends
Battle Ground artist
Jim Demetro,
second from left, created bronze likenesses of Elvis Pressley and Marilyn Monroe
for
Elli Kassab’s
eight-screen cinema in his new Gardner Center in Battle Ground. Kassab
celebrated his birthday Thursday with about 200 other friends for a sneak
preview of the cinema, which offers reclining chair, stadium seating for a total
of 826 viewers. The cinema grand opening is Thursday, April 28. When built out,
the Gardner Center will employ about 400 people. Initial tenants are Lloyd’s Bar
and Grill, Gentle Dental, Bombe’ Gelato and Icecream, Sunrise Teriyake and CZ
Payday Loans. Demetro is completing several other life-size pieces, including
ones of Captain Meriwether Lewis, and an Indian mother and child.
Go no farther than Clark County
for fun and excitement this weekend
Vancouver’s ninth annual Discovery Walk Festival
Hundreds of walkers from a dozen nations converge in
Vancouver today through Sunday for a series of international walking, swimming
and biking events. Up to 2,000 people of all ages are expected to participate in
the sanctioned event that will be headquartered at the Red Lion Hotel at the
Quay. Registration for events is open until 6 p.m. this evening and from 7 a.m.
to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 23 and 24.
Discovery Walk is the only American international walking
event sanctioned by the International Walking Association and the American
Volkssport Association.
There are modest registration fees for most events. For
further information, call (877) 269-2009,
or go to
www.discoverywalk.org.
Home & Garden Idea Fair
Clark Public Utilities’ Home & Garden Idea Fair has grown
to be one of the most popular events in the county, probably attracting 50,000
people this weekend. It is the first home-grown event to be showcased in the
newly opened 100,000-square-foot exhibition building on the county fairgrounds.
The fair is open until 8 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, April
23, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 24.
Exhibits abound—more than 200 booths will be offering
some kind of information or entertainment—but the big draw is the largest plant
sale of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.
Admission is free, but parking on the fairgrounds is $3.
Visitors are encouraged to donate to the utility’s Operation Warm Heart, which
helps low-income residents pay electric bills, and to bring canned goods for
local food banks. Free bus shuttle service is available hourly from the
Vancouver Mall Transit Center and the Salmon Creek Park and Ride.
Nez Perce Chief Redheart Memorial Ceremony
This now annual, nearly three-hour moving and poignant
ceremony, like no other local event, helps reveal the historical importance of
Vancouver Barracks.
The Nez Perce offer the ceremony as a mark of
reconciliation between the tribe and the Vancouver community. After the end of
the Indian War of 1877, one hundred and twenty-eight years ago, Chief Redheart
and 32 members of his band, including women and children, were incarcerated in
Vancouver Barracks.
They had not fought in the war. They were not charged
with any crimes. By the time they were released the following spring one of
their babies had died in the barracks.
The colorful ceremony also honors the Nez Perce
ancestors. Visitors will hear speeches, music and singing, and will see dancing
and an empty saddle ceremony, and military veterans will be invited to
participate in a sacred pipe ceremony.
There is no charge to watch the event that is on the
barracks parade grounds just north of 5th Street at the entrance to Fort
Vancouver. Blankets and lawn chairs are recommended.
Vancouver Farmers Market
The farmers market is open in
The Columbian parking lot just off E 8th
Street, west of Esther Short Park, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 23, and
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 24.
Kaiser Permanente grant hires
puppets to fight school kid fat
Kaiser Permanente has announced a $25,000 grant for
Kids on the Block,
a puppet group, to take its anti-fat message to Clark County elementary
school students. The grant is part of Kaiser’s initiative against childhood
obesity.
The Portland-based puppet organization has performed
twice in the past in Clark County schools. According to
Ned Rosch, executive director of Kids on
the Block, the grant will allow the puppets to perform before an estimated
12,000 county students this year.
Four Kids on the Block puppeteers are from Vancouver. They
are Judy Sunshine,
Tia Christopher, and identical twins
Sally Townend and
Nancy Townend-Janney.
Headlines at home and from around the world:
(Click on the headlines below for the rest of the story)
State Senate
passes resolution supporting Cowlitz bid for reservation--Columbian, Margaret
Ellis
Vancouver
Housing Authority could take lead role in redevelopment of Fourth Plain
Boulevard--Columbian, Jeffrey Mize
Clark County
drug court gaining stature and financing--Columbian, Stephanie Rice
Kevin McClure
named Vancouver prosecutor--Columbian
Intel to get $579 million tax break from Washington County to stay in
Oregon--Oregonian, Mike Rogoway
Bi-state I-5 advocates hire David Evans, three others, to do environmental
studies on new Interstate Bridge--Oregonian
South end of Vancouver Lake to get $665,000 worth of willows, dogwoods,
cottonwoods and crabapples--Oregonian, Bill Stewart
Governor's election lawsuit so far has cost Demos and GOP a combined $4
million--Seattle Times, David Postman
Columbian's best
entertainment bets
Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam
[updates every five minutes]--USDA Forest Service, Mount St. Helens National
Volcanic Monument |
MIRIAM GREEN 
"Working to help you!"
