What’s happening this week around Thurston County

The Olympian staff
Updated ·8 min read

Editor’s note: Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s town hall at Centralia College, previously scheduled for Tuesday, April 11, has been postponed due to a family illness. Details for the rescheduled event will be announced at a later date.

Monday, April 10

Rachel Corrie’s birthday gathering: On Monday, April 10, the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice will mark Rachel’s 44th birthday with a celebration of the foundation’s 20 years of work in the Olympia community, Gaza, and beyond. The event will feature refreshments, presentations, an open mic, connections with partner organizations, and dancing with the Seattle-based Jafra Dabke Team. The gathering runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the South Bay Grange, 3918 Sleater Kinney Road NE, Olympia. This event is in person, free, and open to all.

Tuesday, April 11

Olympia World Affairs Council speaker program: The topic will be “The Czech Republic, The European Union and the Rise of Populism,” presented by Dr. Martin Nekola, a researcher and historian focused on Czechs abroad, totalitarian regimes, and the Czechoslovak Exile after 1948. Gather at 7 p.m. for social time then the program begins at 7:30 p.m. at the South Puget Sound Community College Lacey Campus, 4220 Sixth Ave SE Suite 1. This event is free and open to the public. For more details, visit the OWAC website.

Environmental groups host a regional forum: The Nisqually Land Trust, Nisqually Delta Association and Sierra Club South Sound Group are partnering to host this family-friendly regional forum called Generations Protecting Puget Sound to address effective solutions for saving salmon and orca. The program begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday on the main stage of the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Presenters will address the natural resources that need protection and how local organizations are working together to provide that protection. Presenters include Jason Hummel, Jason Hummel Photography; music by The Righteous Mothers; Tisa Annette of Puget Sound Orcas; Sept Gernez, interim director of the Washington State Sierra Club Chapter; Jeanette Dorner of the Nisqually Land Trust; and Sean Dixon of Puget Sound Keepers.

Swing dance at the Olympia Eagles: On Tuesday, April 11, Vince Brown will join vocalist Jessica Blinn, saxophonist Kareem Kandi, and bassist Osama Afifi for a swing dance at the Olympia Eagles Ballroom, 805 Fourth Ave. E. in Olympia. All ages and all experience levels are welcome. A beginners swing dance lesson is offered at 7 p.m. and live music at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5 to $10.

Wednesday, April 12

Reader’s Theater Unlimited performs three short comedies: At 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at the Lacey Timberland Library, Reader’s Theater Unlimited will perform the plays “The Badge,” “The $15 Porsche,” and “Express Line.” Admission is free.

Thurston Green Business Awards: Aaron Sauerhoff, CEO and founder of Earth Homes, will be the keynote speaker at the Thurston Chamber’s April Forum honoring more than 100 businesses earning the Thurston Green Business Designation. The gathering begins at 11 a.m. at Saint Martin’s University’s Norman Worthington Center with a Green Business EXPO, open to all businesses that received a Thurston Green Business Designation this year. The gathering also will honor four organizations for their outstanding sustainability efforts: Treasure Chest (small), CapStone Solar (medium), The Evergreen State College (large), and the city of Olympia (municipal). Cost is $30 for Chamber members and $35 for non-members who pre-register online, or $35 for members and $40 for non-members at the door.

Washington State Combined Fund Drive food and book drive: The Combined Fund Drive (CFD) is hosting two food and book drives where people can donate new and gently used children’s books and healthy, nonperishable, single-serving foods for Thurston County children in need. The drop-off events are part of CFD’s Well Fed, Well Read, a partnership with the South Sound Reading Foundation and Thurston County Food Bank. Donations are being accepted from the public, as well as state employees and retirees. The first drop-off event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at the Winged Victory Monument on the Capitol Campus, 302 Sid Snyder Ave. SW, Olympia. The second will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 14, at Washington Department of Labor & Industries, 7273 Linderson Way SW, Tumwater. For more information, including drop-off location maps and a list of the most needed items, visit the CFD website. The CFD also accepts online donations via credit card.

A History of the Northwest Passage in Five Maps: Dave Nicandri, former director of the Washington State Historical Society, will discuss the evolution of the Northwest Passage as a cartographic concept at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at Lacey City Hall council chambers, 420 College St. SE, or on Zoom. Using a series of rarely seen maps drawn from the collection of the Washington State Library and the Washington State Historical Society, Nicandri will discuss the evolution of the Northwest Passage seen through the eyes of British explorers James Cook, his one-time midshipman George Vancouver, Montreal-based fur trader Alexander Mackenzie, and Lewis & Clark. Admission is free. Register in advance to attend via Zoom.

Mills & Mills hosts coffee and conversation: Mills & Mills Funeral Home and Memorial Park is introducing Coffee and Conversation at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 12, and every second Wednesday of each month. Staff will host a discussion about the benefits of pre-planning for end of life, and offer tours of the memorial park and funeral home.

Thursday, April 13

History Pub at Heritage Distilling: On Thursday, April 13, Kelsey Matson will present a program on how the State Highway System shaped and was shaped by the Olympia-Tumwater area’s unique geography and history. Learn how our local bridges and highways connect with history, preservation, and environmental and social justice. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the Heritage Distilling Co., 4200 Capitol Blvd. SE, Suite 104, Tumwater, and is presented by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation, in partnership with Tumwater Parks and Recreation. Admission is free.

Purple Martin Monitoring Training: Interested in monitoring to help track purple martin populations? The Stream Team is looking for volunteers to monitor the nest boxes at East Bay in downtown Olympia from April to September. New volunteers will attend a short training on monitoring basics and bird identification, then commit to monitoring throughout the season. The training begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 13, on East Bay Drive at Marine Drive and Olympia Avenue. Register in advance on the Stream Team website.

Friday, April 14

Skerryvore performs Scottish music: With a mix of fiddle, accordions, pipes and whistles, alongside guitar and vocals, underpinned by driving bass, drums and keys, Skerryvore will perform contemporary alt-pop Scottish music at 8 p.m. April 14 at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE. Their current tour is in promotion of their latest album “Tempus” coming out on Cooking Vinyl on April 28. Tickets are $45 to $25 plus a service fee. There also will be a Skerryvore-hosted whisky tasting event from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Washington Center’s black box theater, before the performance; tickets are $75.

Saturday, April 15

Masterworks performs Mozart’s Requiem: In the 19th century Mozart’s Requiem became the most famous musical setting of the Mass for the Dead, and was sung at memorial services for Haydn, Beethoven, Weber, Chopin, and Napoleon. Masterworks Choral Ensemble will perform this iconic piece with orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 15, at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $24 general admission, $20 for seniors, students and military, and $12 for youth, plus a service fee.

Poetry Party: Do you have a way with words? Do you like to rhyme in time? Have you ever written a poo haiku? Learn to express yourself through poetry from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the WET Science Center, 500 Adams St. NE, Olympia. Admission is free.

Olympia Norway Day: The Sons of Norway Hovestad Lodge and Daughters of Norway Prillar Guri Lodge will host the 15th annual Norway Day sure to convince you there’s more to Norway (and other Nordic countries) than lutefisk and lefse. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 15, in the Expo Center at the Thurston County Fairgrounds, 3054 Carpenter Road SE, Lacey, the festival will offer Norwegian music, arts and crafts, Norwegian history, genealogy, and foods as well as Vikings, Fjord horses and Norwegian Elkhounds. Admission is $3, but children under 12 are admitted free with adult. All are welcome.

Sunday, April 16

Ethiopian Education Fund film night fundraiser: The Ethiopian Education Fund will host a screening of the film “Lamb” by Yared Zeleke, about a young boy in Ethiopia, at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 16, at the Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. SE, Olympia. After the screening, stay for a discussion of the non-profit Ethiopian Education Fund, which enables disadvantaged youth and young adults in rural Ethiopia to receive an education by providing scholarships to youth, especially girls, to attend primary, secondary, and post-secondary school. The organization currently supports 42 students and are looking to expand. Tickets are $12 general admission and $8 for Olympia Film Society members.