A reading by a Romanian poet and composer and pianist William Doppmann’s farewell concert are among the events planned on the North Olympic Peninsula this weekend.
For information about other arts and entertainment events, see Peninsula Spotlight, the Peninsula Daily News’ weekly entertainment guide, in today’s print edition.
Other events are in the “Things to Do” calendar, available online at www.peninsuladailynews.com.
SEQUIM
Play auditions
DUNGENESS — Auditions are slated today and Saturday for “The Last Lifeboat,” a new play about the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago.
Readers Theatre Plus and director Jim Dries are encouraging men and women — of all ages and experience levels — to try out at the Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. today or between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday.
The production of “The Last Lifeboat,” written by Los Angeles-based playwright Luke Yankee, will take the Dungeness Schoolhouse stage April 27-29.
For more details, phone Readers Theatre Plus at 360-681-3862.
Landscape design
SEQUIM — Don Marshall will present “Successful Landscape Design” at McComb Gardens, 751 McComb Road, at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Marshall is the director of the environmental horticulture program at Lake Washington Technical College.
Copies of his book Northwest Home Landscaping will be available for purchase.
The seminar is free and open to the public.
Auction, talent show
SEQUIM — Dungeness Community Church, 45 Eberle Lane, will host its annual silent auction and talent show Saturday.
Early bidding will begin at 6:30 p.m., and the talent show starts at 7 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public.
Proceeds from the event go to support youth mission trips.
For more information, phone 360-683-7333.
Benefit breakfast set
SEQUIM — The Sequim Guild for Seattle Children’s Hospital will host its annual pancake breakfast benefit Sunday.
The benefit will be from 8:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sequim Elks Club, 143 Port Williams Road.
The cost will be $7 for adults, $4 for children.
Pancake breakfast profits go toward uncompensated care for children at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
In 2011, the hospital served 744 children from Clallam County with 1,821 visits.
The guild holds many fundraisers throughout the year, including bunco and a holiday bazaar.
In 2011, Sequim Guild raised $44,642 for uncompensated care.
For more information about the breakfast or the guild, phone Sandie McFayden at 360-452-4760 or Pat Finn at 360-582-9738.
Back Yard Birding
SEQUIM — Bob Boekelheide, former director of the Dungeness River Audubon Center, will lead the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society’s Back Yard Birding series Saturday.
He will present “Spring Gardening for Birds” at the center, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Boekelheide will discuss different types of plants and garden settings that may attract specific birds that are now returning from the South to set up breeding territories, as well as those that will hold over-wintering species.
He will discuss specific ideas for this spring as well as plants to start now for attracting birds in future years.
He also will address questions from participants.
Cost is $5 for adults.
Thrift shop open
SEQUIM — The Sequim-Dungeness Hospital Guild Thrift Shop, Second and Bell streets, will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
All white-tagged items will be marked at half-price.
The shop is featuring a large collection of glassware; gently used men’s, women’s and children’s clothing; and accessories for the home.
Volunteers continue to be needed at the shop.
For more information, phone 360-683-7044.
PORT ANGELES
Romanian poet
PORT ANGELES — Liliana Ursu of Romania will read in English from her latest book, A Path to the Sea, at 7 p.m. today.
The reading, hosted by Port Angeles poet Tess Gallagher, will be in the Raymond Carver Room of the Port Angeles Library at 2210 S. Peabody St.
Admission is free to the event, which is part of Peninsula College’s Foothills Writers Series.
Gallagher and Ursu met at a writers’ festival in Barcelona in 1990.
Ursu was newly free after Nicolae Ceausescu, the Romanian dictator who hadn’t allowed her to leave the country, was executed in late 1989.
Since then, Gallagher, with fellow writer Adam Sorkin, have translated Ursu’s poems into English for her first book published in America, The Sky Behind the Forest.
Sorkin and Gallagher also are the translators of A Path to the Sea, which contains poems inspired by Ursu’s travels to places such as San Francisco and Lisbon.
Ursu has lectured at Penn State, taught creative writing at the University of Louisville, Ky., and was a poet-in-residence at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa.
Science Saturday
PORT ANGELES — Physical therapist Eric Palenik will discuss movement and physical fitness at a Port Angeles Library Saturday Science program Saturday.
The talk will be at 2 p.m. at the library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
Saturday Science programs are the first Saturday of each month through June.
Presenters share how they use science in their lives and careers, and they provide hands-on interactive science activities.
This enrichment program is recommended for children 7-12 years of age.
Saturday Science programs are always free of charge, with no registration needed.
For more information, visit www.nols.org or phone 360-417-8502.
Tolo dance slated
PORT ANGELES — Rainbow Assembly No. 33 will hold its annual tolo dance, in which young women invite men, at the Masonic Hall, 622 S. Lincoln St., from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets are $12 in advance at Black Diamond Bridal, 109 E. First St., or $16 at the door.
Photos will be taken beginning at 6 p.m.
Refreshments will be available for purchase.
Attendees who bring a canned food donation for the Port Angeles Food Bank will receive a discount at the refreshment stand.
A dance rules sheet to be read by parents/guardians will come with every ticket.
For more information about rules or pictures, phone Vickie Larson at 360-457-9444.
Checkpoints group
PORT ANGELES — The Stop the Checkpoints group will meet at the Museum at the Carnegie, 207 S. Lincoln St., from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
The meeting will honor International Women’s Day and discuss the effects of immigration policies on women, children and families when a family member is detained or deported, and the effects on children and youths who are worried about being separated from their families will be discussed.
The film “With Dignity,” which depicts a Shelton family’s dealings with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will be shown.
Lauridsen talk set
PORT ANGELES — Research librarian Dona Cloud will present “The Life and Times of G.M. Lauridsen 1861-1940” at the Clallam County Historical Society’s History Tales lecture series Sunday.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will be at 2:30 p.m. in Port Angeles City Council chambers, 321 E. Fifth St.
Lauridsen, a world traveler, played an important role in the development of Port Angeles.
His “Lauridsen money” kept the town going during hard times starting in 1893, Cloud said.
His legacy lives on in the form of the Lincoln Theater, Lauridsen Boulevard and the Lauridsen Charity Trust.
Cloud, who also is an artist, has been the volunteer research librarian at the Clallam County Historical Society since 1979.
For more information, phone the Clallam County Historical Society’s office at 360-452-2662 or email artifact@olypen.com.
Benefit breakfast set
PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles Masons Lodge No. 69 will host an all-you-can-eat benefit breakfast Sunday.
The breakfast will be from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the lodge at 622 S. Lincoln St.
The requested donation is $8 for adults, $5 for seniors 65 and older, and kids younger than 10 are admitted free.
Proceeds will benefit the Masons’ charity and scholarship funds.
Each attendee who donates two or more nonperishable food items can receive $1 off the cost of the meal.
Selfless birthday girl
PORT ANGELES — NaTasha Smith Zavodny is inviting the public to roller skate with her and bring donations for the Port Angeles Food Bank instead of gifts to celebrate her eighth birthday Saturday.
The celebration will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Olympic Skate Center, 707 S. Chase St., from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Smith Zavodny has selected to ask for nonperishable food bank donations instead of gifts at her birthday the past few years.
Cake, ice cream and soda will be provided by her family.
Donations will be given to the Port Angeles Food Bank on Monday.
‘Ghost Stories’ show
PORT ANGELES — “Ghost Stories” a show of work by Erik Sandgren, continues at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center this weekend.
Nearly four dozen of the Pacific Northwesterner’s work will be displayed until March 10 at the fine arts center at 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Sandgren will give a free lecture on “Ghost Stories” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the center.
The center’s hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.
Admission is free to the gallery and the surrounding Webster’s Woods Art Park.
The woods are open daily from dawn until dusk.
For more details about the center, visit www.PAFAC.org or phone 360-457-3532.
Saturday hours set
PORT ANGELES — The Habitat for Humanity Store, 728 E. Front St., will have new Saturday hours starting this Saturday.
The store will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays.
Proceeds from the store help Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County build decent, affordable homes for families throughout Clallam County.
The Habitat store accepts a wide variety of home-improvement items.
For more information or to schedule a donation pickup, phone 360-417-7543.
Vintage Cat Days
PORT ANGELES — The last day for a special rate when adopting an older cat from the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society is today.
All senior cats are available for $5 at the Humane Society shelter at 2105 W. U.S. Highway 101, Port Angeles, through the Vintage Cat Days programs.
The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Each adoption includes the cat’s spay/neuter surgery, rabies vaccine, health check by a participating veterinarian and a microchip.
Individuals interested in adopting a cat can visit www.petfinder.com to learn more about the cats available for adoption at the Humane Society.
Phone the Humane Society at 360-457-8206 with any questions.
Girl Scouts display
PORT ANGELES — An exhibit of Girl Scout history is on display this month at the Museum at the Carnegie, 207 S. Lincoln St.
The exhibit is in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts.
Hours for the Museum at the Carnegie are 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
Suggested donations are $2 for adults and $5 for families.
PORT TOWNSEND/JEFFERSON COUNTY
Classical music set
PORT TOWNSEND — Composer and pianist William Doppmann will perform a Farewell to Port Townsend concert Sunday.
The concert will begin at 2:30 p.m. at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave.
Doppman and his wife, Willa, will move to Hawaii later this spring.
Doppman served as artistic director for Centrum’s Chamber Music Series from 1975 until 1998 and as a volunteer for the Port Townsend Chamber Music Society.
For this program, he will discuss the form and structure of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” before performing this piece.
Suggested donation is $10.
Party for filmmaker
PORT TOWNSEND — A family-friendly party to raise money for Sequim-based videojournalist John Gussman’s documentary film project on the removal of the two Elwha River dams is planned today.
The party will be from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Undertown, 211 Taylor St., in downtown Port Townsend.
Admission to the party is free.
It will feature light food and beverages, clips from Gussman’s film so far and music by the SuperTrees rock-funk-soul band beginning at 8 p.m.
There will be a drawing for a special Elwha dam removal photo taken by Gussman.
IRS tax-deductible contributions to Gussman’s film project can be made at the party via computers hooked up to his website, www.elwhafilm.com.
For details, phone Gussman at 360-808-6406.
Boiler Day slated
PORT TOWNSEND — Boiler Day, an annual celebration offering free food, live music, a dance party and arts and crafts will be held Saturday.
The Boiler Room is located at 711 Water St.
Live music will begin at 2 p.m., soup will be served at 3 p.m., and the all-ages dance party will start at 8 p.m.
Musical performers include Solvents, Mike DC, Mages Guild, Usana, Low Ones and more.
Geology lecture
PORT TOWNSEND — Hugh Shipman will present “Geology of Bluffs and Beaches” at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Saturday.
The lecture will be at 4 p.m. at the fellowship at 2333 San Juan Ave.
It is sponsored by the Jefferson Land Trust Geology Group.
The event is free and open to the public, but a $5 donation is suggested.
Shipman has been a geologist with the Shorelands Program at the state Department of Ecology since 1989.
He will discuss the coastlines of the Quimper Peninsula and much of Puget Sound that are characterized by steep, irregular bluffs and beaches with cobble, pebble and sandy surfaces.
These bluffs and coarse-grained sediments are remnants of Puget Sound’s recent glacial legacy.
First Friday lecture
PORT TOWNSEND — Author Carole Estby Dagg will be the featured speaker at the Jefferson County Historical Society’s First Friday Lecture today.
The event will be at 7 p.m. in Port Townsend’s historic City Council chambers, 540 Water St.
In her book The Year We Were Famous, Estby Dagg explores the story of her suffragist great-grandmother and great-aunt who walked across America in 1896.
They walked from Spokane to New York City to prove the endurance of women and win $10,000 to save the family farm.
The 4,600-mile trek took them 232 days.
Along the way, they camped with Native Americans; took tea with President-elect William McKinley; survived highwaymen, blizzards and flash floods; and wore out 32 pairs of shoes.
Dagg lives and writes in Everett and San Juan Island and has been a children’s librarian, certified public accountant and assistant director of the Everett Public Library.
Admission is by donation, which supports historical society programs.
FORKS/WEST END
Fashion benefit
JOYCE — Crescent School will hold its annual fashion show in the Crescent School cafeteria today.
Doors will open at the cafeteria at 50350 state Highway 112 at 6:30 p.m.
Along with the latest spring fashions, there will be a silent auction and a bake sale.
Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for students and free for youths 5 and younger.
Proceeds from the show will be used for senior scholarships and to help finance the senior trip in June.