Monika Spykerman
The Columbian
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Recent articles by Monika:
Try This: Clark College Jazz Festival, Tet Festival, ‘Short Sound Stories’
Jazzy jams Clark College hosts the 59th Annual Clark College Jazz Festival today through Saturday with three days of big band jazz in the Gaiser Student Center, 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Admission is $5 per day. Clark College students and children younger than 12 with an adult are free. Sixty middle and high school jazz ensembles from Washington and Oregon will perform with trophies… → Read More
Citrus gives Bundt cake zing
I have a note tacked up next to my desk that says, “Go all in. The joy is the thing.” I suppose that’s a colloquial paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all you → Read More
Milk It: Brewing tea and herbs in milk is a global favorite
At dinner with friends last weekend, the conversation veered toward New Year’s resolutions. The hostess revealed that “drink more tea” was on her list for 2023. It’s such a lovely aspiration, far bett → Read More
Try This: Comedy and Science on Tap; Day of Service
Five things to do this week. → Read More
Reader shares memories, Finnish Coffee Bread recipe from ‘Grandma Hockinson’
Gerda J. Mattson knew how to bake. Born in 1900 in Kronoby, Finland, she later emigrated to the United States in 1906, catching sight of the Statue of Liberty rising out of the mists on Ellis Island. → Read More
Try This: Ne Plus Ultra Jass Orchestra, Poetry Moves, First Friday Open Music Night
Cut a rug The Ne Plus Ultra Jass Orchestra performs at 7 p.m. on the first Friday of each month at the Providence Academy Ballroom, 400 E. Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver, in conjunction with downtown Vancouver’s First Friday Art Walk. Tickets are $10 at historicmusic.org/upcoming-events. The ensemble recreates the sounds of jazz bands of the 1920s and ’30s. Sammuel Murry-Hawkins will lead the… → Read More
Biscuits that take the cake
Around Christmas, we usually take a trip to the coast because I have an unreasonable love for stormy skies, thundering waves and misty Northwest beaches. We could go anywhere, but when Christmas bells → Read More
Try This: Jam session, Pittock Mansion, Straight No Chaser
Strings and things Kennedy Violins, 17720 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., Suite 160, hosts a monthly jam session with musician and teacher Agyei Marshall from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the last Friday of each month. Anyone is welcome to bring a stringed instrument and join the jam session. Marshall will bring sheet music to share and participants can follow along. This is a free event and is open to the public,… → Read More
Try this: Festival Brass Band, Geeks Who Drink, Jantzen Beach Carousel
Classy brass Soak in the spirit of the season 6-8 p.m. today at Northwood Public House and Brewery, 1401 N.E. Rasmussen Blvd., with a live performance by The Festival Brass Band. Hear favorite Christmas melodies performed on trumpet, tuba, trombone, double French horn, flugelhorn and euphonium. There’s no cover charge and all ages are welcome, but reservations at the restaurant are highly… → Read More
Festive fried feta with cheer up your cheese-board game
By golly, I do love a cheese board. The holidays offer ample opportunities to amp up your cheese-board game, so to speak, and do something beyond the usual cheese ball (though I will happily help to demolish a cheese ball, especially if it’s coated in almonds). → Read More
Vancouver’s record-breaking skydiver: ‘This was an absolute dream for me’
In late November, 100 women dove out of five planes at 19,000 feet above Eloy, Ariz., hurtling head-first toward the ground at 180 mph. One of those skydivers was 44-year-old Vancouver resident Alethia Austin. She was among the 80 women who broke the world’s record for the largest-ever women’s vertical formation skydive. → Read More
Try This: Santa at the Marshall House; ‘Christmas Joy’; Hockinson tree lighting
Santa coming to town The Historic Trust presents “Santa at the Marshall House,” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 1301 Officers Row, Vancouver. Santa Claus will be at the beautifully decorated Marshall House to take photos and receive hand-delivered letters and wish lists. Guests can make crafts and listen to a story. All children will receive goodie bags. Reserve your spot at… → Read More
Angelic apple strudel gets inspiration from Mount Angel Abbey
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went to Mt. Angel, Ore. We visited the breathtaking Mount Angel Abbey, perched high on a hill with a heart-stopping view of Oregon’s pastoral beauty spread out belo → Read More
5 Vancouver, Portland light shows sure to produce ooohs and aaahs
The Vancouver-Portland area might be known for its long, dark winters, but if there’s one thing we Pacific Northwesterners know how to do, it’s cheer ourselves up with an array of spectacular holiday → Read More
Try This: Christmas events in full swing with theater, music in Clark County
Rainbow magic Metropolitan Performing Arts presents “Holiday Out” at 6403 E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday as well as Dec. 9, 10, 16 and 17. Family Day with discounted tickets is 2 p.m. Sunday. Dec. 10 is Pride Night. The final show on Dec. 17 includes a visit from Dapper Santa. A little one wishes upon a star for a Christmas miracle for their two dads and… → Read More
A plethora of holiday celebrations, tree lightings in Clark County
Nothing announces the start of the Christmas season like a community tree lighting. Everyone gathers outdoors, cheerfully tolerating the rain and cold, just to see their local tree come alight for the → Read More
Mom’s recipe, my way: Cornbread dressing
Thanksgiving may have passed, but stuffing season is not over. This sweet-and-savory side dish has been around since the Roman Empire, used by a chef named Apicius to stuff roasted rabbits, pigs, chic → Read More
Spread joy with table settings for holiday meal
They say you eat with your eyes first, although it would be hard to squeeze a turkey sandwich past my glasses. But seriously, it is true that appearance can affect taste and lovely surroundings can el → Read More
Try This: ‘Hunchback’; Christmas at the farm; ‘A Christmas Carol’
Cathedral capers Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Music Series returns to Kiggins Theatre, 1011 Main St., Vancouver, at 7 tonight. The performance features Lon Chaney in the 1923 film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” accompanied by live music as it would have been heard in the 1920s. The score is arranged by pianist Rodney Sauer and performed by Stephen Shepherd on violin, Dieter Ratzlaf on… → Read More
Try This: “Once Upon a Mattress,”“Our Joy with Music Crowned,” “The Shadow Box”
Creative inspiration Washougal-area artists are opening their studio doors for holiday shopping from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The Washougal Studio Artists Tour Holiday Market includes five stops and features 15 local artists. Art for sale includes mixed media, alcohol ink, fiber art and handwoven rugs, fused and enameled glass, collage art, jewelry, watercolor and pastel, metalwork… → Read More