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TRI-CITY BOOK CLUBS
• 6 p.m. Aug. 15, Mid-Columbia Libraries, West Pasco branch, 7525 Wrigley Drive, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
• 1 p.m. Aug. 16, Mid-Columbia Libraries, Pasco branch, 1320 W. Hopkins St., Pasco, The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka. The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff is the Sept. 20 book. The group typically meets the third Wednesday of the month. Contact Susan Koenig at 509302-9878 or SMKoenig@ymail. com.
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• 5:30 p.m. Aug. 17, MidColumbia Libraries, Kennewick branch, 1620 S. Union St., Bring Your Own Book Book Club. Dying to talk about the book you’ve been reading? This is the book club for you. The club seeks readers of all genres. Come chat about books you have enjoyed lately.
• 6:30 p.m. Aug. 21, Richland Public Library, 955 Northgate Drive, The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander. Her Hidden Genius by Marie Benedict is the Sept. 18 book. The group typically meets the third Monday of the month. Contact: Sue Spencer, sue_ spencer_england@hotmail.com or 509-572-4295.
• 6 p.m. Aug. 22, Mid-Columbia
Libraries, Benton City branch, 810 Horne Drive, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
• 6:30 p.m. Aug. 22, MidColumbia Libraries, Kennewick branch, 1620 S. Union St., Read the Rainbow Book Club. Mid-Columbia Libraries and Richland Public Library host Read the Rainbow, an LGBTQIA+ and allies book club for adults, which rotates around library branches in the Tri-Cities area. Bring a coming-of-age story you are reading or have recently read and discuss with other readers. Leave with ideas for your next read. Sharing is optional and listening is welcomed.
• 1 p.m. Aug. 23 at Richland Community Center, 500 Amon Park Drive, Richland, The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. Horse by Geraldine Brooks is the Sept. 27 book. The Richland Seniors Association book club typically meets the fourth Wednesday of the month.
• 7 p.m. the first Friday of the month, Caterpillar Café at Adventures Underground, 227 Symons St., Richland. Contact Sarah at 509-946-9893 for upcoming titles.
To add your book club to this list, email details to info@tcjournal.biz.
FIRE SEASON, From page 10 lighting candles in the house. Don’t light the fireplace, even if it gets chilly at night.
• Cook as little as possible and use the oven sparingly. The lit burner on a gas stove feeds pollutants into the air.
• Don’t rely on paper face masks to keep you safe from wildfire smoke. The mask won’t keep dangerous particles out of your lungs.
• Consult with your doctor about other strategies to consider when wildfire smoke is thick. That’s particularly true if you have asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or serious heart issues.
• If you are planning a trip, check out conditions at your destination before leaving home.
If air quality is bad at your desti-
GRAPE FESTIVALS, From page 7 erected for entertainment and other festival events. It was called Festival Plaza. Many agricultural displays filled out the rear parking lot of Washington Hardware in downtown Kennewick. nation, put off the trip for another day. Remember that air quality can change in a twinkling. In Bremerton, where I live, the air was fine a day ago. Overnight brush fires in adjacent Mason Country turned the air smoky.
The festival that year featured aerial demonstrations from U.S. Army jet fighters and U.S. Forest Service firefighting planes. Air shows were at Vista Field and featured world champion aerial acrobat Tex Rankin.
A Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo was held at the Richland Wye. On the Saturday evening of the festival, a football team of all-stars from Yakima played the Fort Lewis Artillerymen team on the Kennewick High field, and noted band leader Jack Teagarden’s orchestra played for each evening’s dances.
Similar festivities followed in the Grape Festival of 1947. The association had met in the spring and found strong sentiment existed among business owners and others to follow with a second festival.
If you live in Washington, you have to accept periods of bad air. As I write this, smoke from the Tunnel Five fire on the Columbia River has left skies smoky over a dozen southern and western counties.
As with so many potential hazards, a little prevention can go a long way.
Gordon Williams is a volunteer with the American Red Cross’ Northwest Region Communications Team
It was to be held Sept. 18-20, and promoted with the theme, “Preview of the Columbia Basin.”
Like 1946, a “Smile Queen” was named and crowned as Queen of the Realm of Concordia. Three judges named the winner, with 80% of the score based on an entrant’s smile. Nancy Bennett, the daughter of Thorson H. Bennett and G. Beth Bennett, was that year’s winner. (Thorson Bennett served many years as principal of Kennewick High School.)
By 1948, grape festivals became memories and history.
This year’s Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo runs Aug. 22-26 in Kennewick.
Gale Metcalf of Kennewick is a lifelong Tri-Citian, retired Tri-City Herald employee and volunteer for the East Benton County History Museum. He writes the monthly history column.
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