Arts & Entertainment Community

Harbor Happenings | Museum presents the songs and history of Woody Guthrie

Posted on July 23rd, 2024 By: Charlee Glock-Jackson

The music and the legacy of Woody Guthrie come alive at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25, at Harbor History Museum as historian Joel Underwood presents “That Ribbon of Highway” – a program that’s part concert, part theatrical drama and part lecture.

In 1941, as an employee of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Guthrie toured the Columbia River and the BPA’s Grand Coulee Dam project. He composed 26 songs about the project in 30 days.

At Thursday’s museum program, audience members can sing along to legendary Guthrie songs like “Roll on Columbia,” “Pastures of Plenty” and “This Land is Your Land,” and learn the sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, stories behind the songs. Admission is $5 for museum members or $10 for non-members. For reservations, email [email protected].

Silent reading party

Bring whatever you’re reading and join others to read in “companionable silence” from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 26 at Skansie Park. Socializing follows. Sponsored by Invitation Book Shop.

At the library

The non-fiction book club meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 24, at the Gig Harbor Library to discuss “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder” by David Grann. Book club meetings are free and open to all. The library is at 4424 Point Fosdick Drive.

Learn about the life of a salmon and what it’s like to migrate through a challenging course, in “Salmon: The Ultimate Champion” at 11 a.m. Thursday. Free, no registration required.

Families get together for outdoor story time on the Civic Center green, 3510 Grandview St., from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Wednesdays. In addition to stories, there are also art activities, singing and fingerplays. Geared to ages 6 and younger. Free; no registration required.

Expand your culinary horizons and reduce your garden work by including perennials in your garden. Learn more at a free “Edible Perennials for Pacific Northwest Gardens” workshop from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, July 28, at the library. No registration required.

Live music

The outdoor concert season is in full swing.

Beatles tribute band Good Day Sunshine takes the stage at 6 p.m. Tuesday for Summer Sounds at Skansie Park. In keeping with the “Fab Four” theme, seventh-grader Bianca Henderson will sing her rendition of “Yesterday” during the break. Bianca was one of the contestants in this year’s Kiwanis Club “Gig Harbor’s Got Talent” contest. Bring a blanket or a low-back chair. Harbor WildWatch will have a touch tank set up on Jerisich Pier during the show.

My Guilty Pleasure provides the music for this week’s Summer Concerts at Sehmel Homestead Park, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 24. Free admission; bring a low-back chair and a non-perishable food item for the Kiwanis Club’s food bank collection.

On Fox Island, Ante Up plays an eclectic mix of classic rock, country, blues, funk and reggae at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Chapel on Echo Bay. Get tickets here.

Lakin Music provides the tunes at the Waterfront Farmers Market in Skansie Park from 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday, July 25. Across town, Wounded Mic plays at the Uptown Pavilion at 6 p.m.Thursday. Free; all ages welcome.

Friday at Kimball Coffeeshop,

Billy Stoops and The Dirt Angels bring their “Red Hot and Twangy, Roots Rocking Mayhem” to the Kimball Coffeeshop stage on Friday, July 26. Doors open at 6 p.m. Music starts at 7 p.m. Free; all ages are welcome.

Hook Me Up plays in the loft at the Olalla Winery at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Get tickets here.

Hook Me Up plays Olalla Winery on July 26

At the movies

The Gig Harbor Film Festival’s July Movie of the Month is “Thelma,” playing at 6:30 p.m. July 29 at the Galaxy Theatres in Uptown.

The Galaxy’s SummerFest movie series continues with “Sonic the Hedgehog” showing at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Starting Friday through July 30, the SummerFest movie is “An American Tail.” Showtimes are 10:45 a.m. on July 26; 10 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. on July 27 and 28; 10:45 and 4:15 p.m. on July 29, 30 and Aug. 1 and 10:45 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. on July 31. SummerFest movies are just $2.

Wednesday’s Flashback Cinema movie at the Galaxy is “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” playing at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. On Sunday the Flashback movie is “Dirty Dancing,” the romantic crowd-pleaser set at a summer resort in 1963. Showtimes are 12:15 and 6:10 p.m. Flashback movies are just $5.

For opera lovers, the Met’s Summer Encore film on Wednesday, July 24 is Puccini’s “La Boheme” playing at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The production includes soprano Sonya Yoncheva and tenor Michael Fabiano in Franco Zeffirelli’s picturesque production of Puccini’s timeless love story. Marco Armiliato conducts. The Met Summer Encore next week (July 31) will be Rossini’s take on the classic Cinderella story, “La Cenerentola.”

The “Toy Story” series plays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, July 25, as Ocean5’s Movie on the Lanes. Ocean5 is located at 5268 Point Fosdick Drive near Fred Meyer.

Civic engagement

The Gig Harbor City Council meets for a study session at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Civic Center on Grandview Street. Agenda items include updated financial policies, aquifer levels at city wells, a potential signage donation from Rotary and appointees to the arts commission and the Design Review Board. The meeting can also be accessed via Zoom.