Here it is again, Bainbridge, another scrumptious, piled high helping of weekend.
Dig in …
First, see two shows for one ticket at Bainbridge Performing Arts’ Theatre School’s annual Fall Play Festival, a family friendly affair featuring “Tales from Asgard” and “Thor in Valhalla,” plus a special musical treat “Jukebox Divas” at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10 at Bainbridge Performing Arts.
Tickets, $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, youth, students, military and teachers, may be purchased online at www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org, by phone at 206-842-8569 or in person at BPA (200 Madison Ave. North). Box office hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and one hour prior to each performance.
BPA Director of Education Liz Ellis on the Fall Play Festival: “Great family fun for kids of all ages, whether they’re affiliated with the theatre school or not.”
In the show, BPA Theatre School students, grades 2–4, dive deep into Norse Mythology with “Tales from Asgard.” In this enchanting adventure, you’ll meet all the tricksters, warriors, gods, dragons and more that would form a cornerstone for so much of popular culture to come.
“Thor in Valhalla,” meanwhile, features Theatre School’s fifth- through eighth-graders. Fighting all day long may sound like a good time for Viking warriors, but when there’s a break in the action we learn what these heroes are really thinking. Valkyries, Frost Giants, shape shifters, and more will guide Thor as he explores this ancient world and tangles with Loki, the king of malicious mischief.
Find out more about BPA at www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org.
On Saturday, get outside for a good cause.
The Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation will host an “environmental service” event and open house at the new Waypoint Woods Park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11.
The 3-acre property is bounded by Olympic and Harborview drives, the Washington State Ferries repair yard and the Winslow ravine. It is being improved as a native woodland park with trails, under a partnership between the parks foundation, the Bainbridge Island Park District and WSF, the actual property owner.
“Waypoint Woods is a true gem of an open space in Winslow,” said Barb Trafton, the park foundation’s executive director. “Islanders and visitors will enjoy it as it takes shape.
“A vibrant pocket forest will be a great addition to the island’s gateway.”
Work got started over the past two summers, as the park district’s Student Conservation Corps and Summer Trails Crew removed ivy and holly and started roughing in a new trailhead to the existing loop trail. Additional site prep has been supported with thanks to the Bainbridge Community Foundation.
The trailhead is near the anchor on the Waterfront Park commuter path, and the loop trail includes views overlooking Eagle Harbor.
Volunteers at Saturday’s event can help remove invasive plants and mulch several restoration zones. Basic tools will be provided, but volunteers are asked to bring their own favorite implements, if possible, along with a pair of work gloves.
Those who don’t want to work are still invited to come walk the woods, meet the parks foundation board and staff, and discuss park plans and opportunities.
“Join the parks foundation board for a little workout as we clean up this wonderful natural area, or just enjoy the trail and bring along your ideas for the park,” Trafton said. “We are eager to share this surprisingly lovely woodland with you.”
For more information, email barb@biparksfoundation.org.
In keeping with that theme of nature, consider learning about a more exotic locale come Sunday.
Arctic explorer and geologist Ernest Leffingwell did groundbreaking research in the far north in the early 1900s, and many of his discoveries still inform scientists and scholars today.
To learn more, join author Janet R. Collins as she gives a presentation on her new book, “On the Arctic Frontier: Ernest Leffingwell’s Polar Expeditions and Legacy” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12 at Eagle Harbor Book Company in downtown Winslow.
Eager to investigate rumors of land north of Alaska, Ernest deKoven Leffingwell and Ejnar Mikkelsen organized the 1906 Anglo American Polar Expedition. Despite extreme conditions, they determined the edge of the continental shelf — a significant geographic discovery.
Leffingwell remained behind, and with substantial assistance from his Inupiat neighbors, the driven young geologist explored, surveyed and documented geography along Alaska’s north coast and what is now the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. On the North Slope of the Brooks Range, he pioneered research in ground ice (permafrost), observed birds, and collected wildlife specimens.
His story is fascinating and still relevant, the author says, in an age of climate change.
Along with her own passion for the Arctic, Collins, former director of the Huxley Map Library at Western Washington University, has an undergraduate degree in geography and a master’s degree in library science. For Leffingwell’s biography, she consulted his journals and professional reports, family papers and memories, and published and unpublished writings of Alice Barnard, Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Ejnar Mikkelsen.
The event is free and open to the public.
Visit www.eagleharborbooks.com for more information.
Sunday’s also totally metal at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, which will present a lecture by Seattle master metalsmith and jewelry artist Nadine Kariya at 4 p.m.
The lecture will be followed by a reception with light food and drink.
“Nadine Kariya’s jewelry art retrospective reflects her decades of artistic visions and the times we have lived in,” said Greg Robinson, BIMA’s chief curator. “This master metalsmith shares 40 years of art making, reflecting a variety of inspirations spanning from her Japanese-American heritage to contemporary designs and personal and political narratives.”
Reserve a spot in advance at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3103150. There is a $5 suggested donation at the door. Kariya’s retrospective exhibition, “The Hammer and the Peony,” is on display through Feb. 4 in the Steve and Harriet Davis Community Gallery.
“Recently, I have felt compelled to make narrative statements,” Kariya said. “I carved my favorite bird, the Kingfisher, for two ecology-themed necklaces. Kingfisher Bon Voyage was inspired by mother-in-law Milly’s souvenir coaster from San Diego… and her ‘Michelangelo’ snack tray became the foundation for Kingfisher Caught Between Man’s God and Mother Nature.”
Kariya studied painting in graduate school and later realized that she was drawn to working in small-scale, focused ways. When she took a metals class, she discovered an entirely new world of materials and opportunities, including enameling and cloisonné. She now describes herself as a colorist who combines metal, gems and found objects, and enjoys “indulging the plasticity of metal.”
This program is part of the Eye on Artist Lecture Series at BIMA.
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