Youth group Listen Up is ready to perform for you
March 5, 2013
Early last February, a group of young girls formed the band Listen Up and became known in the community through their YouTube video “Pass the Bond,” meant to promote the Issaquah School District’s construction bond issue.
Since then, these girls have not stopped performing in the community. The group is made up of Caitlin Neill, 10, Luca Nardi, 11, Monti Fleck, 11, and Emily Rudolph, 13, who attend Issaquah Valley Elementary School and Issaquah Middle School.
As a group, Listen Up has performed all over Issaquah; at a luncheons for the Issaquah Schools Foundation and the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, at care homes, council meetings, and PTA meetings at different Issaquah schools.
By Liz Rudolph
The Listen Up quartet of (from left) Caitlin Neill, Luca Nardi, Emily Rudolph and Monti Fleck, stand together backstage at the Miss Washington pageant in October where they sang the National Anthem during opening ceremonies for the finals competition.
Grape Escape festival is a culinary celebration
February 26, 2013
The Rotary Club of Issaquah will celebrate local charities and cuisine at its seventh annual Grape Escape festival March 7. The event features food, wine and beer from nearby establishments.
The event started as a small wine tasting with about five area wineries featured. Not only has the number of vintners involved quadrupled, but restaurants now also provide appetizer-sized signature dishes. And everyone who participates in the festive event is supporting the Rotary Club’s many charitable undertakings.
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A full house of guests enjoy the wineries and local restaurants at Pickering Barn at the Rotary Club of Issaquah’s 2012 Grape Escape, which raised $20,000 for the club’s charitable community work.
“It’s a win-win for everybody,” said Jacalyn Holsted, the Rotary Club’s marketing director. “It’s a chance to have fun, promote local businesses and give back.”
Since 2007, Grape Escape has raised more than $65,000 for many causes, including Rotary First Harvest, Issaquah Food Bank and various student scholarship programs.
Renowned director starts new choirs in Issaquah
February 26, 2013
Choir director Dan Hegelund has performed in some lofty locales across the European continent. He’s sung at the presidential palace in Ukraine, performed in front of the Latvian government and appeared with his choir on national television in Sweden.
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Dan Hegelund performs in Clash of the Choirs, which was televised on national television in Sweden in 2010.
Last year, though, Hegelund and his family decided to leave Sweden and move to the United States. The family could have chosen to settle anywhere in the U.S., but the Hegelunds decided, without any doubt, that Issaquah would be the place for them.
“We believe we made a good choice, and we look forward to raising our children here and becoming part of the Issaquah community,” Hegelund said in an email.
ArtEAST seeks submissions for 150 Feet of Art Auction
February 26, 2013
ArtEAST’s annual 150 Feet of Art Auction returns April 19, featuring literally 150 12-by-12-inch individual, original pieces of art from all media.
ArtEAST seeks submissions from the community for the exhibit.
Submissions must meet the following guidelines:
- 12-by-12 wall-hung art in any media. Jewelry may be hung in frames supplied by the artist.
- Works should be gallery-ready to hang.
- Deadline for submission is 7 p.m. April 3
- The work should have a minimum gallery value of $175. The goal is to sell the pieces at the auction between $300 and $500 with a $450 buy-it-now option.
A little food love goes a long way
February 19, 2013
Valentine’s Day snuck up on me this year. It feels like yesterday I was planning Super Bowl food. And yet, last week I found myself scrambling to come up with something divinely delicious for the annual day of love.
Creating a special dinner for my family is my way of saying I love you. But alas, my dazzling Valentine dinner didn’t quite happen the way I’d planned. From work to school activities, homework and deadlines, it seemed a momentous task to bring everyone together on a Thursday evening for our Valentine feast.
The lovely celebration dinner was postponed. However, always looking for a good excuse to dine on the delicious, my darling family agreed to reconvene this weekend for our annual evening of food love.
Young philanthropists cook up Canvas and Cupcake Fundraiser
February 19, 2013
Chirag Vedullapalli and Amol Garg, like other 12- and 13-year-olds, love making art.
They also love helping others, and two have teamed up to host an afternoon of creative fun for children in the hopes of raising enough money to fulfill one child’s dream through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
“Both of us are passionate about art and we like giving to charity, so we came up with an idea to help charity and follow our passion at the same time,” said Amol.
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Costco CFO Richard Galanti (left) and CEO W. Craig Jelinek meet with Chirag Vedullapalli and Amol Garg to discuss the young boys’ organization Creative Children for Charity. One of their events is the Canvas and Cupcake Fundraiser, selling paintings (above right) for Make-a-Wish Foundation.
The seventh grade student at Pine Lake Middle School added that as he speaks both Hindi and English, art is his third language.
Liberty grad takes food truck to head of the class
February 12, 2013
Michael Kramer grew up in the kitchen. So, it’s no surprise to his closest family members and friends that his food truck Za’aTar is receiving rave reviews.
As a youngster, if he weren’t entwined in his grandmother’s legs while she was cooking comfort food worthy of any diner, he’d be underfoot while his dad whipped up a pretty mean homestyle Italian meal
What to know
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Now 22, the Liberty High School graduate said that in looking back, it was perhaps his mother who provided the most memorable life lessons to prepare him for what not to do while running a kitchen.
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Late-night customers line up for fresh Mediterranean food from the Liberty High School graduate Michael Kramer’s food truck Za’atar Dec. 13 when it set up shop at Second and Pike in downtown Seattle.
“One time when we went camping, she was trying to fry up some potatoes for breakfast when she asked, ‘Why is the oil bubbling up?’” Kramer recalled.
Red Corner seeks to carve out niche in crowded market
February 12, 2013
Red Corner, the newest Chinese restaurant in town, faces an uphill battle trying to wrangle its way into a small dining market already saturated with established Asian eateries.
With so many other Chinese restaurants with their own loyal clientele, it takes something special to pry them away to build up your own base of regulars. Red Corner might not pull it off.
ReviewIf you goRed Corner Chinese Restaurant
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Red Corner offers up Szechuan cuisine inside a hole-in-the-wall diner next to Gold’s Gym. While dining with a couple of friends, nothing we had was bad, but just nothing we ate was particularly memorable either.
Young actor readies for encore in ‘The Music Man’
February 5, 2013
Josh Feinsilber rehearses at The 5th Avenue Theatre as Winthrop Paroo in ‘The Music Man.’ By Jeff Carpenter/The 5th Avenue Theatre
River City, Iowa — a Main Street, U.S.A., hamlet created as the setting for Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man” — is almost home for performer Josh Feinsilber.
The fledgling actor and Pacific Cascade Middle School sixth-grader portrayed shy Winthrop Paroo in a July 2012 youth production at Village Theatre and is poised to return to stage in the role as The 5th Avenue Theatre rolls out “The Music Man” on Feb. 7.
Josh, 12, is eager to slip into the role again after a turn in Village Theatre’s “Fiddler on the Roof” — a record-setting smash for the Issaquah playhouse.
Issaquah community hosts Chinese New Year celebration
February 5, 2013
Experience a martial arts demonstration and a traditional lion dance, sample Asian cuisine and play games at the Year of the Snake Celebration from 3-5:30 p.m. Feb. 10.
The family-friendly event is presented by the Issaquah Highlands’ Asian community. The celebration at Grand Ridge Elementary School, 1739 N.E. Park Drive, is free and open to the public.
Other highlights on the schedule include Chinese folk dancing and a children’s parade.
Though the event is set on the Chinese New Year, organizers plan to include New Year and spring traditions from throughout Asia, including Korea, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines.
The inaugural celebration last year attracted more than 400 people from Issaquah, Sammamish and other Eastside communities.
