This week’s top picks cover a good portion of our region, so maybe you can’t make them all. If none of these pique your interest (doubtful), then check the calendar for more cool stuff going on over the next week.
Oct. 5
COTTONWOOD — Photographs of Nez Perce Indians is the topic of the first speaker in the 18th annual Fall Historical Lecture Series that begins Oct. 5 at the Monastery of St. Gertrude here.
All free lectures highlighting the history of this region begin at 7 p.m. in the Johanna Room at Spirit Center this month. Light refreshments will be provided and a question-and-answer session with the presenters follows each lecture.
Richard Storch will talk about “Photography of the Nez Perce and Plateau Indians” at the first lecture tonight.
Storch has spent countless hours over the past 25 years researching and documenting the little-known work of regional photographers who photographed the Nez Perce and Plateau Indians, according to a news release. His presentation will include an overview of the Plateau Region, a brief history of photography from 1839-1920, a brief photographic history of the American West, and the pioneers’ arrival to Nez Perce country. Storch was raised in Spokane and graduated from Washington State University in 1968.
Subsequent lectures include:
Oct. 12 — “Merchants, Mule Packers, a Rugged Path to Success: The Mullan Road 1860-1883” by Alex McGregor
Oct. 19 — “7,003 Days” by Jim and Holly Akenson
Oct. 26 — Open house tour and presentation of the new exhibit that features a replica of Sister Mary Alfreda Elsensohn’s attic museum.
The monastery is at 465 Keuterville Road.
Oct. 5
MOSCOW — A book launch and reading by Moscow author Joy Passanante will begin at 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at BookPeople of Moscow.
Passanante will read from her novel “Through a Long Absence: Words from My Father’s Wars,” a saga of a wartime medical unit and long-distance love. She is the former associate director of creative writing at the University of Idaho in Moscow.
Passanante’s work has appeared in various literary journals including the Georgia Review, the Gettysburg Review, and Shenandoah. Her collection of stories, “The Art of Absence” and her novel, “My Mother’s Lovers” were finalists for several national awards.
Books will be available for sale and signing. BookPeople is 521 S. Main St.
Oct. 6
CLARKSTON — Clarkston artist Catherine Temple, who paints images of wildlife and dogs, is the featured artist this month at Valley Art Center here. A reception is 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 6 at the center, 842 Sixth St.
The show is free, and refreshments and light appetizers will be served.
Temple, in an artist’s statement, writes, “My camera and sketchbook journal are never far from my reach. I use both to gather the detailed information I need to create the realism in my paintings. Using acrylic or other water-based mediums I strive to capture the personality and essence of the individual bird or animal.”
The show will continue through Oct. 31. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Oct. 7
LEWISTON — A gala fundraiser to benefit Twin River Special Olympics Washington will feature dinner and dancing to live music Oct. 7 at the Red Lion Hotel’s Seaport Ballroom here.
Doors will open at 5 p.m. with a no-host bar followed by a taco bar dinner beginning at 6 p.m. Live music by the Lost Boyz and Co. starts at 7 p.m.
Also on tap for the evening are a silent auction, door prizes and 50/50 drawing.
Advance tickets are $15 for singles and $25 for couples while cost at the door is $20 for singles and $30 for couples. Payments of cash or check only will be accepted.
Tickets are available at Potlatch No. 1 Federal Credit Union branches in Lewiston and Clarkston.
The Red Lion is at 621 21st St.
Oct. 7
The 22nd annual Oktoberfest, is noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 7 at Pioneer Park, 203 Fifth St., Lewiston.
On the menu are German bratwurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad, applesauce, and dessert (served from noon-3 p.m.) and more than 20 home-brewed micros. The event also features live German music by Auf Gehts, a beer stein display, unusual bottle opener contest and authentic German costume contest.
Cost is $15, which buys six 5-ounce sample brews and a commemorative glass. Tickets are available at Smokes & Suds in Lewiston and Riverport Brewery in Clarkston.
Oct. 7-8
RIGGINS — The 2017 Salmon River Art Guild Fall Regional Art Show and Sale opens Oct. 7 at the Riggins Community Center.
The art guild will also feature a silent auction during this annual show.
The show hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (MDT) Oct. 7 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (MDT) Oct. 8.
The event judge is Sharon Herther of Donnelly. She has donated and sold art around the Northwest, and her work is in the Blackwell Gallery in Coeur d’Alene.
The center is at 121 S. Lodge St.
Oct. 11
MOSCOW — Anita Hill, a lawyer who became an icon of women’s rights in the 1990s, will give the annual Sherman J. Bellwood Lecture at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 11 at the University of Idaho here.
Hill’s free lecture, “It’s Now on Us: Reporting on the Status of Women and Girls,” will be in the Bruce M. Pitman Center’s International Ballroom. A reception will follow.
Hill was thrust into the public spotlight in 1991 when she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearing for Judge Clarence Thomas, then a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. She has since written two books, her 1995 biography “Speaking Truth to Power” and her 2011 “Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race and Finding Home.” She now is a professor of social policy, women’s studies and law at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.
