So ya’ wanna’ play a musical instrument do ya’? You say you went down there to the big guitar store and got yourself the prettiest and shiniest little red electric guitar you could find and a sweet looking amp with all the blinking-red-and-green-light-adorned knobs to go with it? Or maybe you went down to the neighborhood instrument shop and bought that cool looking acoustic; the one that looks just like the one Jimmy Page played on Stairway to Heaven.
Brandi Carlile spends much of her time on the road touring these days but her home is never far from her mind.
Carlile, who released her first album little more than five years ago at the tender age of 23, is now on the road playing music from her third album, “Give Up the Ghost,” and living her dreams.
There’s only so much we can do to better ourselves, and once we’ve done what we can, it still may not have been enough. Here’s a poem by Michelle Y. Burke, who lives in N.Y., in which a man who does everything right doesn’t quite do everything right.
Dace Anderson and Arielle Young think the music school they run is the best kept secret in Maple Valley and they’re all for sharing this secret with anyone who will listen.
Ed Wynn’s Variety Show starts at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Maple Valley Creative Arts Center, 23220 Maple Valley Highway S.E., Maple Valley.
This month is about breaking the control of abusers and ending the power of secrecy.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It is observed nationally by those who work to help victims, support survivors and make efforts to prevent domestic violence — a phenomenon described by experts as a pattern of coercion and assaultive behaviors that one person uses to gain power and control over an intimate partner or family member.
I’ve spent my seventy years on The Great Plains and have lived all that time amidst vivid and touching stories about the settlement of our area, lots of them much like this one, about a long ago courtship and marriage, offered to us in a poem by James Doyle, who lives in Colorado.
For seven years, Angela Jones lived in fear, trying to stay alive.
She is a survivor of domestic violence who even 10 years after her divorce is still struggling with the manipulative behavior of her ex-husband.
Jones met her ex-husband, James, when she was barely out of high school.
I love to sit outside and be very still until some little creature appears and begins to go about its business, and here is another poet, Robert Gibb, of Pennsylvania, doing just the same thing.
The Corner of Love Christian organization located in Maple Valley is planning its fifth annual Nica Dinners fundraiser for Sept. 24.
The dinners cost $10 and can be ordered by e-mail at nicadinners@corneroflove.org or by calling 425-432-0433.
It was an day of service Sept. 11 as volunteers spread out across Covington cleaning up everything from graffiti to garbage.
People met at the city maintenance facility at 9 a.m.. They picked up cleaning supplies and went around the city scubbing off grafitti.
Over the past 15 years Max Prinsen and his wife Erin Wojewodzki-Prinsen have been working to preserve the Shadow Lake Bog.
Saturday they will celebrate the work they’ve done and the work ahead with the 14th Annual Frog Frolic from 1-6 p.m. at the Shadow Lake Bog: Richter Interpretive Center, 21656 184th Ave. S.E., Renton.
Surprises, appreciation and unexpected gifts were part of the Soup Ladies fundraiser on Sept. 10.
Christy Todd, who helped spearhead organizing the fundraiser, said “the event went really, really well.”
Lacey O’Grady, an Enumclaw resident, organized her fifth annual Green River cleanup Aug. 25. O’Grady is a young woman who was born and raised in southeast King County. A few years ago some friends from out of town came to visit her. She told them what a wonderful place the Green River was and sent them out to float a beautiful section of the river in August when the weather is warm and the river flows are languid and inviting.
The Maple Valley Farmers Market featured the a chili cook off with 12 entries and a panel of happy judges.
Victoria Laise Jonas photographed the event as it was happening.
One of my friends told me he’d seen a refrigerator magnet that read, PARENTING; THE FIRST 40 YEARS ARE THE HARDEST. Here’s a fine poem about parenthood, and about letting go of children, by Chana Bloch, who lives in Berkeley, California.
The Maple Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra is adding a new program. This season, the symphony will be adding an group called debut orchestra. This group was created to help the student with 1-3 years of playing experience develop confidence and skill in playing and performing in a group setting. With many school districts cutting elementary band and orchestra programs, the orchestra hopes to provide a much needed program for students.
Chili was the name of the game at the Maple Valley Farmers Market Saturday.
The fun, games and food at the Black Diamond Labor Day celebration Monday was photographed by Ron Olness.