Washington Voices

The 10th annual Ludlow Kramer Memorial Concert, performed by music director Eckart Preu and the Spokane Symphony, will be held at Pavillion Park in Liberty Lake today at 6 p.m. The Labor Day weekend concert will include a program of patriotic and movie tunes, along with old favorites. The concert will feature the theme from “Jaws;” a selection from Stravinsky’s “The Firebirdand;” Rossini’s “Overture to Orpheus” and the “Underworld;” Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture;” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

The Barton School is celebrating World Literacy Day and the beginning of its 42nd school year with an open house on Wednesday. The school teaches English to foreign language speakers and had between 43 and 48 students last year. “It’s free. The teachers are all volunteers, the staff is volunteer, the secretaries volunteer,” said the school’s director Mildred Scheel. “We do one-on-one tutoring for adults. It started out as a school for American born foreign language speakers – but now it’s mostly foreign born students that we see.”

The devastating 7.0 earthquake that shook Haiti on Jan. 12 took the lives of thousands and left millions homeless. What most saw through the eyes of the media, North Side resident and counselor Rick Kienholz experienced first hand during two trips this year to the region helping survivors cope. “I was deeply touched by their amazing stories,” Kienholz, 62, said. He is executive director and founder of Northwest Family Advocates, a counseling ministry to youth and families at risk. “The resiliency and strength I saw, along with the deep abiding faith they had, was impressive.”

The 2010 tropical storm and hurricane season is picking up speed. Since the season began on June 1, there have been six named storms in the Atlantic and Caribbean waters. The latest one is Fiona, which is forming in the Atlantic Ocean.

Today Pig Out in the Park - Thursday-Monday. 31st annual food and music festival with food booths and beverage gardens. Entertainment includes: Thursday: Steven King, 6 Foot Swing, Too Slim & the Taildraggers; Friday: Joel Smith & Hands of Plenty, Coco Montoya Band; Saturday: Jr. Cadillac, LeRoy Bell, Pat Travers Band, Rick Derringer Band; Sunday: Rail, Exploding Fifis, Hot Club Spokane, Sha Na Na; Monday: Leon Atkinson, Prairie Flyer. See full line up of music at www.spokanepigout.com 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Riverfront Park. Free admission. (509) 921-5579. Continues through Monday.

I love this time of year. All of you are out there playing in the dirt, or trying to, and end up e-mailing lots of great questions that everyone is interested in. The first question has to do with when is a good time to cut back watering on tomatoes. With the wacky summer we’ve been having, that is a little complicated.

CHENEY – The third annual Eastern Washington University community food drive raised more than $13,000 and five tons of food for the Cheney Food Bank, Second Harvest of Spokane and Cheney Outreach. Teams from various university departments competed for prizes based on how many pounds of food they collected. Businesses and members of the community also took part in the food drive.

RIVERFRONT PARK – Early registration is now available for the Spokane AIDS Walk, Sept. 11 at Riverfront Park. The walk, themed “Cover Your Head!,” will begin at 10:30 a.m. and includes hat contests for the most original hat and most creative hat, and prizes for individuals and teams raising the most money. Registration is also available the day of the walk and will begin at 9:30 a.m.

NORTHWEST – Transition’s EduCare will have a back-to-school open house on Sept. 16 at the Transitional Living Center, 3128 N. Hemlock St. The open house will be from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. A short program will begin at 5:45 p.m.

RIVERFRONT PARK – Early registration is now available for the Spokane AIDS Walk, Sept. 11 at Riverfront Park. The walk, themed “Cover Your Head!,” will begin at 10:30 a.m. and includes hat contests for the most original hat and most creative hat, and prizes for individuals and teams raising the most money. Registration is also available the day of the walk and will begin at 9:30 a.m.

RIVERFRONT PARK – Early registration is now available for the Spokane AIDS Walk, Sept. 11 at Riverfront Park. The walk, themed “Cover Your Head!,” will begin at 10:30 a.m. and includes hat contests for the most original hat and most creative hat, and prizes for individuals and teams raising the most money. Registration is also available the day of the walk and will begin at 9:30 a.m.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department and the city of Spokane Valley have reached an agreement with the Spokane Business and Industrial Park regarding the upgrade of fire sprinkler systems installed in buildings in the park on Sullivan Road. The issue has been a matter of debate for several years, since a Spokane Valley code enforcement officer told the park owners that the sprinklers must be upgraded to meet the International Building Code, which is required by state law.

Hillyard has a plan, and it’s a detailed one. For the last four years the neighborhood has been in a community development and strategic planning process that involved anyone who wanted to participate. Thousands of testimonials from neighbors, business owners and visitors have been collected at Hillyard events, entered into spreadsheets, analyzed and organized, and finally narrowed down to a report with 10 focus areas.

The 2011 Lewis and Clark High School Senior All-Nighter annual garage sale will be held Sept. 10-11. To donate items and for more information, call Holly Elmer at (509) 951-1556.