Community Briefs

Veterans, others invited to join choir

The Great Bend Chorale is collaborating with the nonprofit Quixote Communities and the residents of its Shelton and Orting Veterans Villages, and other local veterans, on a program that uses the healing power of music.

The choir is open to veterans and nonveteran residents and will alternate music from Eric Whitacre, Eriks Esenvalds, Eric William Barnum, Frank Tichelli and Sean Kirchner with spoken anecdotes and stories from participating veterans about their healing.

Rehearsals began Feb. 27 at Faith Lutheran Church in Shelton. There is no audition to join, and no fee for participating veterans. The fee for non-veteran singers is $140 for the term — Feb. 27 to May 12 — and is charged on a sliding scale.

Seafood dinner fundraiser benefit

The Pioneer Kiwanis Foundation hosts its annual seafood dinner and auction March 23 to benefit youths of the Pioneer School District and Mason County.

The auction is the group’s largest fundraiser of the year. The group is seeking donors and sponsors, who will receive recognition in the auction materials and will be named in a “thank you” ad in the Journal. Sponsors will also receive recognition during the auction and in the live auction catalog.

Money raised at the auction will be used for scholarships for Pioneer School eighth-graders for post-high school education; scholarships for high school graduates from the Pioneer School District attending Cedar, CHOICE, North Mason and Shelton high schools; scholarships for Pioneer staff to further their educational goals; support for the music program at Pioneer; support for the STEM garden; to sponsor two eighth-grade girls for a week at Tech Trek Program at Pacific Lutheran University and to sponsor assemblies for elementary school to encourage reading and writing by providing pizzas.

The event March 23 at Pioneer Elementary School, the doors open at 4 p.m., with the silent auction items ready for bidding. The dinner starts at 4:30 p.m. and the live auction begins at 6 p.m. The meal includes clams, shrimp, spaghetti and coleslaw. Tickets are $35 for adults and $15 for children ages 3 to 12; children 2 and younger are admitted for free. For tickets, call Sherry at 360-229-0673. For more information, call Pamela Harrell at 360-490-0954

Harstine talk on Washington museum oddities

Harriet Baskas talks about “Weird, Wonderful and Worrisome Objects in Washington State’s Museums” at 2 p.m. March 24 at the Harstine Island Community Hall, 3371 E. Harstine Island Road N.

The Seattle author of nine books, Baskas says most museums display no more than 10% of their holdings, and she uncovers some of the stuff from the museum’s back rooms: a Spokane institution that holds Bing Crosby’s toupees and a museum in Lynden that’s home to a 150-year-old pickle.

The Inquiring Minds series is presented by the Harstine Island Community Club and Humanities Washington.