By Don Nelson
Is it possible to achieve event overload in the little old Methow Valley, population 5,000 or so when most of us are here?
By any standards, the Methow Valley community is incredibly active, involved, committed and generous. We come up with a lot of things to do and to attend, and we do them and attend them in impressive numbers.
Because of that, the opportunities can collide given the narrow range of scheduling possibilities, limited number of venues and overlapping interests.
But I’m not sure I’ve seen anything like April 26, 2014.
In putting together our weekly What’s Happening calendar (on page A6 this week), we try to include as many things as we have room for, with an emphasis on Methow Valley events. (Listings that don’t make it into the paper still show up in the calendar on our website, www.methowvalleynews.com.)
We assemble the entries chronologically by date and time (which is why some events on a certain date may appear while others that are later in the day may not). We try to push listings out at least a week beyond our publication date, depending on space available.
Which means you’re not going to get the full impact of April 26 in this week’s issue. So let me lay it out for you.
You can start the day learning the “gentle movement” of shibashi taichi/quigong in Twisp, then take a short walk to the Farmers Market. You can get involved in Earth Day recycling and garbage collection efforts in Twisp, Winthrop and Mazama. Saddle up for a ride with the Methow Valley Backcountry Horsemen, or learn about Asian cooking, celebrate Arbor Day, knit a hat, attend a students’ musical recital, take in opening night exhibit parties at Confluence Gallery and Winthrop Gallery — and still have time to check out the music at an intimate performance offered by the Spartan Art Project. Meanwhile, the Backcountry Horsemen will be hosting a campfire with music and a silent auction.
Can you get back to Winthrop in time to revisit the 1960s in a concert at the Barn? Or catch live music at one of the pubs? I’ve probably missed a couple, or there are things we haven’t heard about yet. And that doesn’t count all the stuff like biking, hiking and running that our lovely spring weather encourages.
It doesn’t have to be a spendy day (factoring out the cost of gasoline). Most of these events are free, or will accept donations.
Even if your Saturday is wide open, you will likely have to carefully plan what you want to attend and strategize your movements. Maybe someone will take on the challenge of attending all or most of them in one marathon day of event-hopping.
Of course, it’s not necessary to exhaust ourselves trying to be everywhere nearly simultaneously. Be grateful for choices, because unless you’re particularly picky, you can’t complain about having nothing to do that weekend.
As for looking farther ahead, be sure to grab and keep our annual Methow Valley Summer publication, which will be included in the April 23 edition of the News. Its calendar of local events, covering four pages, starts with May 1 and goes through Sept. 30. It doesn’t hurt to plan ahead, especially with so much to choose from.
