Harrington news

On April 3, the Harrington Opera House Society met for a contractual discussion followed by its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. in the Art Room. Present were Billie and Gordon Herron, Ed and Bunny Haugan, Sheryl and Mark Stedman, Carol, Linda Wagner, Cade Clarke, Marge Womach, Cherie MacClellan and Peter Davenport. The Society is refining its contracts for use of the auditorium under varying conditions. Further work will be needed before voting on its contents. It was announced that in spite of the small group that attend meetings, there are now a total of 49 members having paid dues.

The Building Committee chair noted that the water lines in the building are being identified and tagged to streamline the process of draining lines for the winter seasons. The Society has received a Farm Credit grant of $500. Spectrum submitted a broadband bid to HOHS for a three-year contract to be used in the application for an upcoming grant. Events are scheduled for April 7 and 29, and a piano recital for May 6. On May 20, a quilt show and sale will be held in the rummage room of the opera house auditorium as part of this year's Cruzin' Harrington. A recital of the students of Heather Safe performing on the grand piano in the auditorium of the Opera House will be held May 21. Following the recital, refreshments will be served in the Art Room, where Connie King's art students will have their accomplishments available for viewing. The Society was pleased with the turnout for the pagent and has received positive feedback regarding the event.

The Harrington Chamber of Commerce held its first evening meeting at 6 p.m. on April 5 at city hall with Tim Tipton, Allen Barth, Paula Pike, Lexie Hottell, Michelle Quigley, Bunny Haugan, Mark Stedman, Jill Plaskon, Billie Herron, Jay Gossett, Marge Womach, Karen Robertson and Dillon Haas present. The Chamber received a $5,000 donation to be used at the Chamber's discretion. Allen Barth was nominated to fill the vacancy for vice president. A unanimous vote put him in the office.

Discussion continued on Cruzin' Harrington, showing a need for the community to come together under one spelling of the event, which was determined to be "Cruzin' Harrington." The event is slated to take in the car show, yard sales, two rummage sales (by the PTA and the Society), food and craft vendors, golf, beer garden, quilt show and Viking sewing machine demo at the opera house. An FFA plant sale, open swimming pool and ice cream social at the Studebaker garage with band music are planned. There will also be a prime rib dinner at the Golf and Country Club. Details for the beer garden are firming up for fencing, permit and insurance. Clean-up day with the students will be divided again with the younger ones (K-6) being in the city park and the older ones in the business district. Supplies are being arranged. Discussion was held on attempting to have residents clean up their portion of the town as well. It was also suggested that adults volunteer to come along after the students and finish any elements that were inadvertently missed or left unfinished due to time constraints. Members were asked to be aware of yards in town during the next month and to be prepared to make "Yard of the Month" recommendations.

The vacant lot on 3rd and Willis was again discussed, and it was decided to have a survey taken at the Cruzin' Harrington event. A facelift for the Chamber website was mentioned, as conclusions from a prior meeting of Haas, Robertson, Tipton and Hottell were presented. Based on those conclusions, Robertson was able to propose her fee to make the needed changes. As presented to the Chamber, the facelift will make the site easier to maintain and the Chamber was well pleased with the potential costs. The entire group was in favor of continuing with Robertson as webmaster. Before the meeting was adjourned Billie Herron announced that she would be on KPBX public radio at 10 a.m. Thursday to highlight the Russian music coming to the Opera House on Friday evening.

The Harrington Chamber of Commerce received a letter from a family that makes the trek from their home in Boise, Idaho to their summer cabin at Loon Lake. The letter stated in part that they choose to stop at "the lovely city park in Harrington. It is a great place to stretch our legs, change drivers, have a snack or use the clean welcoming public restrooms... We LOVE this park. Thank you for maintaining such a welcoming refuge for tired travelers."

On April 7 at 7 p.m., approximately 45 individuals assembled at the Harrington Opera House for a spectacular musical event: Russian masterpieces for cello and piano, with Kevin Hekmatpanah on cello and Darin Manica on piano.

Hekmatpanah, a native of Chicago, is currently a member of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, having previously presented hundreds of solo and chamber performances throughout the country, including concerts at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center, the Society of the Cincinnati Artist Series in Washington D.C., the Sitka Music Festival, the Lower Makefield Performing Arts Society in Pennsylvania, the Camerata Musica Concert Series in Salem, Oregon and the Kirkland Performance Center in Seattle. Additional recitals, concerto engagements and performances have taken him around the world to such places as Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia; Stockholm, Sweden; Bulgaria; Brazil and Norway.

Darin Manica, a native of Colorado, "holds performance degrees from UMKC and the University of Colorado and taught on the faculty at Colorado State University. He has been the featured guest artist with the Middle Tennessee Symphony, Gonzaga University Orchestra and the Loveland Chamber Orchestra playing the works of Prokofiev, Bach, Saint-Saens, Finzi and Liszt. A devoted chamber musician and accompanist, Darin regularly works with chamber ensembles and singers, as well as coaching young musicians. An enthusiast for diverse musical styles, Manica regularly incorporates classical, jazz, musical theater and world music into his performances."

Hekmatpanah and Manica performed the Sonata in D Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 40, by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975); Suite Italienne for Cello and Piano by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). During a short intermission, the audience, including several well behaved youngsters, enjoyed meeting and mingling with the performers. The final numbers were from the Sonata in C Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 119, by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). Prior to each set, Hekmatpanah shared an overview of the composers and their very different styles. He addressed the unique qualities of the sets and spoke about the history of the period in which the music was created. He also commented on the great acoustics of the Opera House. A standing ovation was not successful at eliciting another set from the Russian Masters, but they took that opportunity to thank the Opera House for being able to play on the new grand piano. Darin Manica's parents were in the audience and several Society members enjoyed visiting with them following the event. Those who attended felt honored to have had such a profound musical performance brought to Harrington to be enjoyed for a donation. When one considers the skill, talent and experience that these two men brought to our stage, the audience was indeed fortunate to hear them without having to travel far from home.