FRIDAY
International Chicken Dinner 5 to 7 pm at the Mid-Columbia Senior Center, sponsored by The Springs at Mill Creek and prepared by Rick Leibowitz & Company. Cost $20 per person.
SATURDAY
The Second Saturday of each month the WAAAM Air and Auto Museum opens the doors to roll out and run some of its antique airplanes and cars. Visitors watch airplane operations up close and may get to ride in old cars too. Open 9 am to 5 pm, with activities from 10 am to 2 pm. WAAAM is located three miles from downtown Hood River at 1600 Air Museum Road and parking is free.
Free Kids Movie at Columbia Cinemas in The Dalles. Saturday’s movie is the PG rated CGI animated movie Hotel Transylvania Doors open at 9:15 am movie starts at 10am. Limited to the first 400 people. Doors close at 10:10am. YOUTHINK will be collecting canned food donations which are appreciated but not required.
Northern Wasco County Parks & Recreation District presents a Valentine’s Day Fun Run which includes a 3k, 5 k and 10k run/walk this Saturday, February 10 from 10 am to noon at Lewis Clark Festival Park. Registration is $25, and it’s free for all District 21 K through 5 elementary students, though shirts are not included for the free registration
Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society meets Saturday from 10:30 to 12:30 in the downstairs meeting room at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. The topic for this month’s general meeting and program will be “Learn Evernote in One Hour.” Evernote is a popular note taking and archiving software program used by many genealogical researchers. An instructional video by genealogy lecturer, author and genealogy program host, Thomas MacEntee, will be presented. The Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society is a non-profit organization serving Wasco, Hood River, Sherman, Klickitat, and Skamania Counties. Admission is free and the public is welcome.
Retired math teacher Loren Delaney was born in The Dalles and raised in Wishram. At the Regional History Forum at the Original Wasco County Courthouse Saturday he will present a tour of the north shore railroad history between mile posts 94 and 108. The talk is titled “Fourteen miles on the Spokane, Portland and Seattle.” Of special interest are photos of the “Norma,” the sternwheeler that plied the river prior to the Wishram-to-Celilo bridge, key to James Hill’s victory in the race to construct the Oregon Trunk railroad. Program starts at 1:30 – admission is free but donations are welcome, and coffee, punch and cookies are served afterwards. The Original Wasco County Courthouse is located behind The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce at 410 West Second Place.
Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association STAGES has announced February audition dates for Chicago: The Musical. The audition process will be in two parts, and all interested actors must participate in both. “Not every role requires an ability to sing and dance well, but I do want to evaluate every possibility during auditions,” explained director Bruce Ludwig. All roles are for men and women, and the large cast can accommodate many adult age ranges. There are no roles for children under 17. The first round of auditions will focus on dancing. Choreographer Susan Sorensen, owner of Columbia Gorge Dance Academy, will open the session by teaching a short sequence that actors will be asked to immediately perform in small groups. Audition participants who attended the Chicago dance preparation series may also be asked to perform a combination taught in that class. Participants may select one dance audition to attend, which are scheduled for Wednesday February 7th at 7pm, Saturday the 10th at 2pm, and Sunday the 11th at 7pm. Dance auditions will be at the Columbia Gorge Dance Academy, at 2600 May Street in Hood River. The musical’s choreography will be in the Bob Fosse style of jazz dancing, plus the production needs one female actor who is trained in ballet and can dance en pointe. All dance audition participants will continue to the vocal and acting auditions, and can choose from Sunday February 18th at 2pm, Wednesday the 21st at 6:30pm, or Saturday the 24th at 10am at the Hood River High School Choir Room, at 1220 Indian Creek Road. For these auditions, people should prepare a song that demonstrates vocal range and ability. A piano will be provided (participants bring their own accompanists) plus a system to play MP3 accompaniment tracks. A musical accompaniment is required, as a cappella auditions will not be accepted. Questions regarding music can be sent to Chicago Music Director Mark Steighner at msteighner@gmail.com. The acting component will be cold readings from the script. If necessary, call backs for both singing and dancing will be on Sunday, February 25th at noon. Performances will be the second, third and fourth weekends in June at the Bingen Theater in downtown Bingen. For anyone who does not perform but wants to be involved, Ludwig has plenty of backstage roles to fill. “This is going to be an amazing production, and our backstage team of set production, props, costuming, lighting and management will be crucial for our success.” Questions or concerns may be directed to Bruce Ludwig at bludwig50@gorge.net, or call 541-380-0857.