Kettle Falls Camp & Jam Returns in August

 Kettle Falls gears up to once again host the Camp & Jam family music event on August 18-20, 2017. Camp & Jam  is about fun with music through education. The event is part of a 10 year history of providing young, old, beginner and experienced musicians workshops to expand their knowledge and interest. In the past we've depended on the performers who travel into the area for the shows and workshops, after which the teacher goes home and the student is left on his own. This year we have also included local teachers so lasting student teacher relationships can be established. Last year over 100 people participated in the free workshops that were offered. Organizers look forward to growth from here on out.

 This year a broad variety of topics, genres and applications will be offered at the workshops, from voice and instrument instruction to songwriting and ethnic dance classes. The workshops are completely free, no festival ticket is required for entry and no fee to sit in a class. Donations are accepted and 100% goes to the  music education fund. Tri-County Music is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that hosts the workshops and pays teachers. Local recognized teachers, from private and public schools alike as well as  guest performers from around the country will help make this year's workshops the best and most informative yet. David Keeley, workshop facilitator,  can be reached at (509) 738-6491 or keeleyguitars@gmail.com.

 The line-up of performers this year at the Camp & Jam include North Country, Michelle Rivers, Chipped & Broken, Sara Brown, Finnessa Fann, Circa Blue, Kettle Creek, Primitive Pines, Browns Mountain Boys, Jim & Lou Meyers, Unckle Richard & the Knot Bumpers and more.

 The event takes place at Happy Dell Park in Kettle Falls, as well as the visitors information center and the Haran Dance Studio located across the street. Tickets for the concerts are $10 for Friday or Sunday, $15 for Saturday or $25 for a weekend pass. Students with ID are $5/day, kids under 13 are free. A camping pass for the weekend is $20. All passes are on sale at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2935408.

For more information, check out www.tricountymusic.org or call Mark Harding at (509) 675-6590.

Kettle Falls Camp & Jam

Workshop Schedule

Friday, August 18 - Information Center

Time - Teacher - Subject

10:00 - 11:00 - Michelle Rivers - Songwriting

11:30 - 12:30 - Richard Eich - Guitar

1:00 - 2:00 - Jesse Maw - Fiddle

2:30 - 3:30 - Sara Brown - Voice

4:00 - 5:00 - Macy Morgan - Fiddle

Friday, August 18 - Haran Dance Studio

Time - Teacher - Subject

11:00 - 12:00 - Brent Purvis - Music History / Theory

12:30 - 1:30 - Ashley Dreyer - Childrens Music

2:00 - 3:00 - Gary Killings Band Playing / Horns

3:30 - 4:30 - Stazya Richman - Vocals

Saturday, August 19 - Information Center

Time - Teacher - Subject

10:00 - 11:00 - Will McSeveney - Banjo

11:30 - 12:30 - Zack Top - Guitar

1:00 - 2:00 - Kent Powell - Bass

2:30 - 3:30 - Dan Gore - Mandolin

4:00 - 5:00 - Steve Harris - Guitar

Saturday, August 19 - Haran Dance Studio

Time - Teacher - Subject

11:00 - 12:00 Claire Worley Irish Dance

2:30 - 3:30 Melissa Stevens County Stompers

3:30 - 4:30 Nora Scott Contra Dance

World Tree Girl: local author captivates again

By Liv Stecker

Maureen Keslyn isn’t your run-of-the-mill heroine, but it’s not just the fragments of silver bullet in her leg or the top secret nature of her professional background. As a woman “of a certain age”, Keslyn poses an intriguing challenge to the status quo of a tough female character. But that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to anyone familiar with her creator, because Kerry Schafer is a far cry from your average novelist.

A full time registered nurse with a background in psychology, Schafer writes in the wee small hours of the morning before heading off to her “real job”. World Tree Girl is the second book in the Shadow Valley series, the riveting follow up to Dead Before Dying which told the story of a geriatric vampire who was only the tip of the iceberg of weird in a small rural town eerily reminiscent of our own. No wonder, since Schafer lives and works in Northern Stevens County and has the rural vibe and it’s potential for secrets down pat. And secrets abound in World Tree Girl.

Catching up with her over-the-hill heroine Keslyn, World Tree Girl picks up at the assisted living home, Shadow Valley Manor, where the residents get a little assistance from the Other Side. The story follows the retired FBI agent through a maze of paranormal phenomenon that leave even the well-acquainted with a shiver down their spine. Part ghost story, part monsters-under-the-bed spy thriller, with a side of sci-fi intensity, Schafer’s latest novel is a page turner with characters that give you just enough to leave you wanting more.

In addition to a glimpse of the small-town variety cast of colorful characters, Schafer also captures the human side of a small crew of good-guys who might be past their prime but sure aren’t ready to be put out to pasture. The Shadow Valley series is Schafer’s second turn at sci-fi/paranormal fiction, following her trilogy, Books of the Beyond. Schafer also recently released I Wish You Happy under the pen name Kerry Anne King, her second work of women’s fiction. The author will be on site at Northern Ales in Kettle Falls on August 12th for a book signing “Authors and Ales” event. You can find Schafer’s novels on Amazon.com in digital and printed format.

A handyman you can trust: H&S Legacy launches home repair service

By Liv Stecker

Owning a home is not for the faint of heart. Without fail, homeowners and landlords are faced with the delicate balance of maintaining the value of their home with regular upkeep and repairs. Even for the do-it-yourselfer, sometimes unexpected events require expertise or time that a homeowner just doesn’t have. Then comes the dilemma of finding a reliable, trustworthy contractor that is willing to undertake jobs of all sizes that arise. Enter H&S Legacy, a licensed and bonded, full service home maintenance and repair contractor serving Stevens, Pend Oreille and Ferry County.

As a homeowner and landlord, owner Jim Hall understands the struggle of taking care of properties while trying to work a regular job. As a contractor for 20 years before he stepped into a career in law enforcement, Hall did maintenance and repair on rental properties throughout the area, specializing in mobile homes. Now a full time police officer for the Kalispel Tribe, as well as the minister of a church in Ione, Hall also owns and maintains rental properties. It was the demands of his own properties that led to the establishment of H&S Legacy: the H is for Hall and the S is for Strickland, the married name of his daughter who helps take care of the bookkeeping for the business along with Hall’s wife Debbie who is the area manager for H&R Block.

“We wanted the business to be a family thing, a legacy,” Hall says about the name and the involvement of his family. His son, Jimmy, is also part of the business.

“Our hope is to specialize in home maintenance - if people have a broken window or a rotten floor, they don’t know who to call.” He says. Large scale contractors doing new construction often aren’t interested in bidding small repair jobs, and the wait for help can be months, especially when homeowners are looking for someone they can trust.

If Jim Hall the pastor, law enforcement officer, husband, father and homeowner can’t offer trustworthy service to the rural area where he has lived his whole life, probably no one can. Hall is a fourth generation resident of Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties, the descendant of homesteaders in Ione and Prouty Corner near Colville. His small, hand picked crew is based out of the Colville and Chewelah area, and will travel as far as Ferry County for repair jobs. “We don’t plan on getting into heavy construction or new homes,” says Hall. But they can do excavation work, remodels, additions, outbuildings and decks, as well as much more. They also offer rental maintenance to landlords, lawn equipment repairs, gutters and finish work.

For more information about H&S Legacy and the services they offer, call Jim at 509-680-6417, or check out their Facebook page, H&S Legacy, LLC.

Giants in our midst: grunge legend to visit Republic Brewing

By Liv Stecker

Photo Credit: Megan Blackburn

The pioneer grunge band Nirvana disbanded in 1994 after the untimely death of frontman Kurt Cobain, but the cultural impact didn’t stop there, and neither did the music. Band members splintered off to join other acts, go to college or start up their own bands, some of which have gained notoriety in their own right.

Krist Novoselic, Founding bass player for Nirvana, took up farming. Alright, so that’s not all he did. But after starting up and playing with a few bands in the late nineties and early 2000s, Novoselic turned his attention to even dirtier matters than grunge - politics. Forming JAMPAC (Joint Artists and Musicians Political Action Committee) with other Washington state artists, Novoselic went after legislation such as the “Erotic Music Law” which was later re-named the “Matters Harmful to Minors bill”. They also tackled the 1985 Teen Dance Ordinance that limited minor’s access to live shows. In his first book, Of Grunge and Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy, published in 2004, Novoselic tackled the underlying political issues that were driving far-reaching legislation in true Footloose fashion.

Fighting tyrannical censoring isn’t the only thing that Novoselic has in common with Ren McCormick, he knows a thing or two about small farm towns - the grunge music legend now serves as the Worthy Master of Grays River Grange No. 124, near Novoselic's home in Deep River, a tiny town in the heart of Wahkiakum County, the county with the second lowest population in Washington State (Garfield is the lowest, and our own Ferry County comes in fourth after Columbia).

It was at the grange that Novoselic met fellow “grangers” Jillian Raye, Erik Friend and Ray Prestegard, and they formed the band Giants In The Trees after one jam session. Raye says that she got a phone call from her musical partner Friend an hour before the jam session.

“He said, you better get down here!” and she went. The rest became history. While they all have farming obligations and have embraced the rural lifestyle (drummer Friend lives completely off grid), they are dedicating more energy to the band. “We’re putting our all into now, the four of us,” says Raye, putting some other musical pursuits on hold.

Novoselic, Nirvana era

According to their Facebook description, Novoselic and his latest musical inception play music that “... inspired by the environment and culture of the Lower Columbia River,” and while it might be a step or two away from his grunge roots, the foursome says that they “have created a sound that could best be described as Pop / Rock. The band is not offended by terms like schmaltz.” the description of their music continues: “On the other hand, there are heavy groove numbers, screaming slide guitar and accordion. There is even an anthem—so raise your arms with the phone flashlights.”

Raye and Friend also play together in a band called the Skamokawa Swamp Opera, Prestegard hails from a blues background and of course, Novoselic brings his grunge roots to the table. Giants In The Trees formed right after the first jam and composed their first song that day. They play what could be called a pop-rock mix with a little banjo and accordion thrown in. Much of the Giants’ music is influenced by the rural lifestyle they live and the northwest.

“The beauty and environment definitely play into our music,” says Raye. “We’ve got a little country, a little pop and little slow-grooving, haunting type stuff.” On their tour of northwestern venues, urban and rural alike, the band will pay a visit to Republic Brewing on Saturday, July 22nd for a ticketed concert. Raye says this is the farthest they have traveled for a show so far. Tickets are $14 in advance and available at republicbrew.com or $18 at the door with a $21 seated option. For more information check out Republic Brewing on Facebook.

How to not be cougar bait

By Liv Stecker

MEOW.

So we’ve been watching this reality show on the History Channel called Alone. It’s sort of like survivor, but colder and more… northwestern. These ten guys get dropped off by themselves at super remote locations around Vancouver Island in British Columbia where the wildlife population outweighs the number of humans - by a longshot. The premise of the show is that these guys fancy themselves survivalists, so the one who lasts the longest out in this “temperate rainforest” (read - soggy and barely above freezing wasteland) gets to take home $500K. That’s a lot of beers in dollar money.

Within the first six days, five of these self-proclaimed “survivalists” had tapped out, and most of those were due to close encounters of the carnivorous kind. One guy was sure that he was being “stalked” by bears when the game cams caught a pair of black bears sniffing out his tent one night. He spooked them off but left the next day, sure they just ran home to plan up their feast menu. The next guy heard wolves howling on a ridge near his campsite and decided they were DEFINITELY headed his way, so he bailed. We got talking about wildlife behavior and how much you do, or do not know, about how these wild beasts act, typically, would definitely determine the fear factor. Also, the dark, and also, being alone, but still, knowledge is power.

Maybe it was bingeing the series that inspired it, or maybe not, but we decided to go camping at my friends’ beach this weekend. The beach is located off of a heavily wooded area right along the Columbia River just after it flows out of Canada with all of those wonderful Canadian gifts in it. You know, things like raw sewage, heavy metals and the occasional corpse. Don’t worry Canada, we’re not mad - I mean look at Hanford, how can we point fingers?

Anyway, camping on this beach seemed like an especially good idea since my friends’ neighbors had just sent her a picture of not one, or even two, but THREE nearly full grown mountain lions hanging out in a tree just above the river near the beach. Cougars. Young, hungry, curious, probably still in pre-frontal lobe stages of decision making, cougars. Giant kitties with vice-like jaws, razors for claws and fangs for days. LET’S GO STAY THERE! We thought. I think secretly, we both wanted to pretend we were on Alone, except we weren’t Alone, and we took a camp trailer to sleep in as well as guns.

We had a wonderful time on the beach and nary a sign of cat, kitten or otherwise. Maybe we were secretly disappointed. As we drifted off to sleep in our safe little box of protection and screens, we patted ourselves on the back for SURVIVING.

This is where I want to talk about cougar safety. This does not involve always having a wingman to make sure you don’t leave the bar with a woman who is twice his age minus seven (I think that’s the cougar formula?). No, the cougar safety I refer to is how to behave in the wild when a 200 pound cat is breathing down your neck. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, these are the steps that should be taken during a cougar encounter:

1. Stop, stand tall and don't run. Pick up small children. Don't run. A cougar's instinct is to chase.
2. Do not approach the animal, especially if it is near a kill or with kittens.
3. Try to appear larger than the cougar. Never take your eyes off the animal or turn your back. Do not crouch down or try to hide.
4. If the animal displays aggressive behavior, shout, wave your arms and throw rocks. The idea is to convince the cougar that you are not prey, but a potential danger.
5. If the cougar attacks, fight back aggressively and try to stay on your feet. Cougars have been driven away by people who have fought back.

This is a great and helpful list. I would improve it thusly:

1. Stop, stand tall and don't run. Pick up small children. Hurl children at cougar and move carefully to a vehicle. Drive fast.
2. Do not approach the animal, especially if it is near a kill or with kittens, unless they are VERY cute and you want to Instagram them.
3. Try to appear larger than the cougar. Never take your eyes off the animal or turn your back. Use your best Angry Eyes on the cougar.  Do not crouch down or try to hide. This would be useless anyway since if you are out in the woods you are definitely wearing some version of neon Patagonia outdoorswear.
4. If the animal displays aggressive behavior, shout, wave your arms and throw rocks. If this is what attracted the cougar in the first place, stop doing it.
5. If the cougar attacks, fight back aggressively and try to stay on your feet.  Cougars have been driven away by people who have fought back and Very Angry Mothers.

Being an expert on speculative wildlife encounters, I feel like there is a lot of useful information in both of these lists. But back to my story.

We had just drifted off into an oblivious slumber when I heard the cat. I woke Everyone Else up with a whisper-yell of “DID YOU HEAR THAT?” which I am sure the cat did. It turns out that the cat I heard was my friend’s housecat named Bob. Bobcat had no business running around the beach yowling like a wild animal at all hours. Now that we were awake we discussed protocol in case Bob had actually been a cougar. That discussion went like this:

“Where is the shotgun?”

“Under the bed.” pause. Possibly drifting back to sleep. “Wait, did you want to know where the cartridges are too?”

Pause. Possibly wondering if I should be strangled. “Yes.”

“Also under the bed. Should we load the gun?”

“No, let’s wait until you are half-eaten.”

“OK. I have my knife.” Pause. Sleeping?

“That’s great.” definite sarcasm.

We went back to sleep. Later I decided that the most efficient thing would have been to just throw the box of shotgun shells at the cat while screaming at each other  in confusion. Fairly certain that would do the trick but if not, check out http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/cougars.html for more information on this.

For more from Liv Stecker, go to livstecker.com

Meyers Falls Cemetery: preserving history and providing solace

By Liv Stecker

 January 31st, 1916, the Meyers Falls Cemetery was incorporated in what is now Kettle Falls, Washington. At the time, the scenic town high above the Columbia River was called Meyers Falls, founded by Louther Meyers and his family in 1869. In 1898 the cemetery was founded as a place to lay members of the Meyers family to rest. The railroad moved into town in 1890, bringing with it the industry and prosperity that Meyers and other settlers in the area had been working toward for decades. More people migrated into the area, and in the early 1940s as work was completed on the Grand Coulee Dam, residents of the soon-to-be submerged town of Kettle Falls relocated up the hill and absorbed the small town of Meyers Falls right into their industrial boom.

But the Meyers Falls Cemetery retained it’s name and descendants of the Meyers family that settled there donated the land to the association, which is now a non-profit organization, managed primarily by volunteers and operating on a shoestring, donation based budget to keep the history of Meyers Falls alive - or at least safely buried. More than 1500 graves make up the historic graveyard, including many graves that were relocated to the site from other cemeteries that were submerged when the Grand Coulee Dam was constructed. While the board and volunteers have worked hard to restore and maintain records, due to time, the names of some interred graves are unknown.

 The all-volunteer board is made up entirely of family members of plot holders that are interred in the historic cemetery. Recently, the board voted to approve urn burial and there is a section plotted out in the cemetery for that purpose. Located at West 7th Avenue and Ivy Street In Kettle Falls, the cemetery provides a resting place for generations of local residents that have passed on, as well as the occasional visitor.

 Last year, an attorney from California contacted the President of the Board, Rosie Carr, on behalf of a Mr. Charles Pence of California, a veteran of the Vietnam War, who had no living family. He had traveled through this area years ago, and liked it so much that he wanted Meyers Falls Cemetery to be his final resting place. In the spring of 2016 his ashes were delivered to Kettle Falls and the board and the VFW were present to honor him and pay respects when he was laid to rest.

Eileen Kaiser began decorating the historical site for Memorial Day many years ago. Several years ago she was joined by local high school students and other volunteers to expedite the process that had taken weeks in the past. Melinda Langrehr, a teacher from Kettle Falls High School, has been coordinating the service with students for eight years. Eileen says she believes vandalism in the cemetery is down because of the growing local awareness of the significance of the place.

Eileen has a special interest in honoring Memorial Day at the cemetery: her brother, Robert Brown, was the first United States Military Service Member killed in action in Vietnam to be buried there. John Sparks was also killed in action and laid to rest in the graveyard, making little Kettle Falls, Washington one of the highest loss-per-capita towns in the United States during the Vietnam War.  

 This year when the volunteers gathered to decorate the cemetery, the board provided refreshments as they worked.  Howard Kaiser was on hand as always with his four-wheeler to move the boxes and clean up branches and rubbish on clean-up day.  The members of Kettle Falls Veterans of Foreign Wars were there to make sure that every known veteran, as well as  parents of veterans, had a flag on their grave. Local resident and board member Linda Cancel says the cemetery holds a very personal connection for her. Her sister, who died as a child is buried in the cemetery. Recently, she joined other volunteers and high school students to place flags and flowers on the graves for Memorial Day.

 “When I was about eight, I would take my friends to the cemetery to 'visit' my sister.” Cancel says, “Yesterday, I walked with a small group toward my family's area with the pink tree.  I thanked them and spoke of how this was personal to me.  One of the girls reacted because she remembered from last year the stone with the bird and angel.” Cancel goes on to talk about the impact that the historic cemetery has had on many of the visiting students.

 “One boy opened up and showed me where his infant brother was buried.  His buddy told me that his parents lost a baby before he was born, and that his mother doesn't talk about it.  I told him that even though he was not yet born, he still lives with parents who mourn...and that I was sorry. One of the other adults said that a student was honored to place a flag on the grave of a Navy Seal. My heart fills when I see how much beauty, comfort, and solace that people find in this special place.” Cancel says.

 Meyers Falls Cemetery is funded largely by donations and grants. If you are interested in supporting the historic preservation going on at the landmark, contact the Association at (509) 738-6768. You can also find more information on the Facebook page of the Meyers Falls Cemetery Association.

Message in a bottle: communication beyond borders

 By Liv Stecker

 The banks of rivers are often the keepers of secrets and mysteries that wash down from upstream civilizations and plant themselves in the gravel and mud somewhere along the way.  From human bones to ancient tools, riverbanks and shorelines are some of the best places to find unexpected treasures. Steve Buchholz stumbled across something he never expected on the banks of the Kettle River earlier this spring as the flood waters began to recede. It was a bottle, sealed from the turbulent waters of the spring-runoff engorged flow of the tributary river. Steve found it near Kamloops Islands, just before the Kettle River spills into the Mighty Columbia and becomes absorbed in Lake Roosevelt. Inside the bottle was a rolled up piece of paper.

Steve and his wife Michelle carefully opened the bottle and unrolled the paper, now yellowed with exposure to sunlight refracted through the glass of the bottle. The note, scratched in crayon between word-search puzzles torn out of a subscription magazine, was from nearly six years ago, and entirely different country.

 "Hi my name is Jeremy Peter - I am 8 years old - I live in Lake Country , BC - we are camping at the Little Dipper Hideaway Campground.”  it reads. Steve and Michelle turned to social media to track down the sender of the message, and after more than 100 shares on Facebook, someone in Kelowna, British Columbia, tagged Anita Peter, Jeremy’s mom.

“Steve went walking on the Kettle River beach and found this bottle, brought it home unopened. When we opened it, on the backside of a crossword puzzle page was a msg. So Please share this maybe we will find Jeremy Peter, 8 at the time, who lives or lived in Lake Country BC and let him know we found his msg. (expiration date of the paper was 2011 so we know it’s approximately that old ),” the Facebook post read. Michelle was able to make the post public so that it could be shared more widely and a friend posted it to a buy, sell and trade page in Kelowna. After they made contact with Anita, Michelle updated the post:

“UPDATE: We found Jeremy! His mom contacted me and left a comment, will close this tomorrow. We would like to thank each and everyone of you for sharing and helping us find little Jeremy , Very short journey but exciting nonetheless,3 Yay!!”

On May 11, Anita commented on the Buchholz’ post:

“That's hilarious. That is Jeremy Peter's bottle, my son. We have a yearly site at the Little Dipper and decided to send a message in a bottle one afternoon. Very cool!” Michelle sent Anita a message and got the full story behind the bottle.  Anita told the Buchholz’ that Jeremy had indeed dropped that bottle and a few more in 2008 when they were camping in their usual summer spot at the Little Dipper Hideaway. She voiced disappointment at first that the bottle had been rediscovered still in the Kettle River, until she realized that the Buchholz found the bottle at the very southern end of the Kettle, nearly 100 winding river miles south of the campground, and in the U.S.!

After tracking down the Peter family, Michelle was amused to discover that Anita is good friends with one of her cousins.

“It’s such a small world, really,” Michelle laughs. She says lucky things like this happen to her husband a lot. “Steve is always finding stuff and having lucky things happen to him. He’s just that kind of guy!” but according to Steve, a message in a bottle was the last thing he expected to find as the flood waters receded from the banks he likes to wander. Steve and Michelle plan to return the bottle and note to Jeremy so he can keep it as a souvenir, a reminder that long journeys and international borders can take you to new places, with a little time.