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wine people
Ashley Trout
“I fell in love with the job before I fell in love with wine.�
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table of contents
NOVeMBER 2011 Table 8 Chef’s Manila Bay Café – The little Dayton eatery where food is love. new in w2 18 What’s Blue Palm Frozen Yogurt, Real Deals on Home Décor
and Mama Mia’s “Pasta on the Go.”
Walla People 22 Walla Before he was a winemaker, Dean Derby was an NFL star, but
in those days, even stars were humble.
Walla People 28 Walla Arborist Andy Asmus has his head in the clouds and his arms
around our trees.
at Large 32 Art With the holidays fast approaching, Margaret Jamison looks at
the lore and lure of gingerbread houses.
36 Music Seattle Opera Students visit Walla Walla Community College for a bravura performance.
38 Soundworthy For such a young man, Texas troubadour Quincy Harper has lived a pretty hard life — and it’s all in his songs.
Digs 40 New Debbie and Chris Shaffer’s home on Pranger Road is an inge-
nious blend of styles — starting with its unique exterior.
46 can’t-miss events 47
Where iN walla wallA?
Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 5
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E ditor ’ s C omments Fall is here in earnest and the Valley is gearing up for the holidays with parties, parades and celebrations of every stripe. Lifestyles has been gearing up too, featuring more stories about food, wine and the people who make Walla Walla the interesting place that it is. Harvest is behind us and we’re in the mood for enjoying the fruits —especially of the grape variety — of our local growers’ labor. To celebrate, Lifestyles is introducing a new series on the men and women who produce Walla Walla’s wine. “Wine People” is written by Sarah Kokernot, a newcomer to Walla Walla — and to wine. We think her refreshing take on the topic will inspire all our readers — whether they are long-time aficionados or neophytes. Though signs of Christmas appear before Halloween these days, I figure November is the best time to, reluctantly, start planning for the holidays. Margaret Jamison’s piece on the lore and lure of gingerbread houses will help get you in the mood. When the weather gets cooler and crisper, some of us begin to think about football. Not me, of course, but writer Andrew Holt, certainly. His story on former National Football League great Dean Derby recalls the good old days of the gridiron, when players tried not to get hurt, played as a team, and were paid next to nothing. Derby, who went on to found Spring Valley Vineyard, remembers those days fondly.
Hamilton / by Robin Lifestyles managing editor
Diane Reed wears out some serious shoe leather in her quest to find the latest retail trends in her monthly column, “What’s New in W2.” This month, she tips us off to a great new frozen yogurt shop, a store that offers tasteful home décor for less, and an Italian bistro. For foodies, writer Addison Magness offers a conversation with the chefs at the Manila Bay Café in Dayton. The tiny café serves up heat and spice in perfect measure — just what the doctor ordered for a chilly fall day. Karlene Ponti leads us through Chris and Debbie Shaffer’s cleverly designed home for “New Digs,” our column which features houses built after 1950. Camouflaged as a farm, but with a surprising sophistication, the rooms throughout the Shaffer’s home are both airy and substantive. We’ve added a section on entertainment, and our new music writer, Janna Dotolo, interviews Quincy Harper, a young musician whose self-revelatory songs offer an uncompromising passion and purpose. And our arts correspondent Margaret Jamison fills us in on the Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program at Walla Walla Community College, where music lovers will now be able to attend live opera performances by up and coming opera stars. Bravo and brava! Lastly, we welcome Steve Lenz, our new art director and designer, to the fold. Steve is a graphic artist and professional photographer. We’re lucky to have him!
November 2011 Pub l i s h e r
Rob C. Blethen E di tor
Rick Doyle A dv e rt i si ng Di r ec tor
Jay Brodt M a nagi ng e di tor
Robin Hamilton Pr o d uc t i o n m a n a g e r
Vera Hammill de sign er
Steve Lenz C o n t r i bu t i n g w r i t e r s
Janna Dotolo, Robin Hamilton, Andrew Holt, Margaret Jamison, Sarah Kokernot, Addison Magness, Karlene Ponti, Diane Reed Photogr a ph er s
Margaret Jamison, Colby Kuschatka, Greg Lehman, Kim Miner soci a l medi a a nd w ebsit e
Jennifer Henry p r o d uc t i o n s t a f f
Ralph Hendrix, Chris Lee, Steve Lenz, Sherry Burrows Sa l e s Sta f f
Masood Gorashi, Jeff Sasser, Donna Schenk, Colleen Streeter, Mike Waltman Copy E di tor
Chetna Chopra Fa s h ion / Be au t y E di tor
Elliot LaPlante E di tor i a l A ssis ta n t
Karlene Ponti A dm i n is t r at i v e A s sis ta n t
Kandi Suckow Cover: Photo by Greg Lehman F o r e d i t o r i a l i n f o rm a t i o n
Rick Doyle rickdoyle@wwub.com Robin Hamilton robinhamilton@wwub.com F o r a d v e r t i s i n g i n f o rm a t i o n
Jay Brodt jaybrodt@wwub.com
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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 7
Food
by Addison Magness / photos by Kim Miner
Manila Bay Café Justin Jaech and Roger Tumbocon, owners Traditionally one of the most popular seats in a restaurant, the Chef’s Table offers the diner an opportunity to talk to the chef one-on-one — to discover his or her favorite local hangouts, predilections and food philosophies — while enjoying a specially prepared dish.
Near Right: Chef Justin sautees the chicken for his signature dish. Middle: Fresh salad that comes with every dish. Far Right: Roger always focuses on beautiful presentation. 8 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
In 2005, Justin Jaech and Roger Tumbocon opened Manila Bay Café in the back of a shop in Dayton. Justin, having just retired from the U.S. Navy, had moved to Dayton to find a quiet place to raise ducks and chickens with Roger Tumbocon. Nearly six years later, the little café has overcome the recession and is thriving in a tiny space in downtown Dayton. An initial glance at the menu is quite overwhelming. Asian dishes dominate, but there’s a definite emphasis on international cuisine. Justin and Roger only cook for the small number of people they can accommodate. The food is fresh, de-
licious and all made-to-order. If they run out of food, their doors close for the day, so reservations are highly recommended. The duo uses local and organic ingredients whenever possible. Their motto? Love people, cook them tasty food.
LIFESTYLES: Looking at the menu, I can see that you’ve got you’ve got an array of cultures represented. I can’t help but wonder where your influences come from. What is your original cooking background?
JUSTIN: We do a lot of shopping at Andy’s
JUSTIN: Well, Roger is the main chef.
and go to the Tri-Cities every other weekend.
ROGER: No, no, we’re partners.
LIFESTYLES: So, what was your vision
JUSTIN: I was in the Navy for a long time,
with this restaurant? To get people oriented with all types of food?
But, then, somebody found out about our background and that we could cook, and said, “Why don’t you open a café?” Which was not at all in our plans because we have no idea how to run a business! But we know how to cook, and we know how to entertain. And so, the owner of the village shop, Candie Jones, encouraged us to start a café. We started in the back of the village shop, but we never had the intention of doing this or opening a café.
ROGER: Well … no.
LIFESTYLES: Well, clearly it’s worked out.
JUSTIN: It used to be more Asian. Then we
With so many cuisines represented on the menu, how do you manage to keep quality up?
went all around the world cooking food wherever we went. Plus, I was the main cook at home.
LIFESTYLES: So, you traveled all over and picked it up from everywhere?
JUSTIN: Yeah, that and from both grandmothers.
LIFESTYLES: And what about you, Roger? ROGER: My father was a chef back home in the Philippines, and so that’s how I learned. And, of course, growing up in a third world country then, everything was organic. I don’t know why everything is organic now, but
that’s all we did then. We couldn’t afford pesticide. So, everything is fresh from the garden. That’s something we try to strive for here, the freshest that you can get.
went to this “world eclectic” theme, and now we do things like pizza, so there is something for anyone who walks in. Dayton is too small to have a specific cuisine. Roger: So, we cook international food to cater to everybody.
LIFESTYLES: How did you get started? ROGER: Justin retired as a commander in the Navy. So, we wanted to move to a small town just to raise ducks and chickens.
JUSTIN: Actually, all we have in the back is a home kitchen stove — it’s a really small kitchen. We don’t have a lot of tables, and we get overwhelmed quickly.
ROGER: Another way we manage quality is that we have a lot of “Closed” signs or “Reservations Only” because we only cook for the few people that we can handle. We’re not doing this just for the money; we are doing it for the fun. Continued on pg. 10 > Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 9
Food
<continued from pg. 9
JUSTIN: We usually just do groups of 20 or so with advanced reservations, and limit them to three items or so.
Sueno hecho en realidad “A dream made into reality”
ROGER: Some people are surprised that they need a reservation in Dayton, and that’s so we can accommodate them, and we cook everything as ordered.
JUSTIN: We don’t keep anything warm. There’s nothing we can just dish out.
ROGER: When you order salad, I start Complementary Wine Tasting with this Ad We invite you to sample our hand crafted Spanish wines, enjoy our patio, and sit by our fire pit.
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cutting the vegetables. We don’t waste food. We don’t have anything pre-made. We only cook small amounts at a time, and if we run out, we close the doors. cosmopolitan mentality — a passion for food and cooking.
ROGER: That’s right! JUSTIN: It’s very Japanese, also. I was stationed in Japan, and there are restaurants that are only open for half an hour a day or something.
LIFESTYLES: Why is Dayton chicken formaggi your signature dish?
JUSTIN: Because it was totally invented here. There is a very wide range of ingredients in it, and it’s my recipe. It’s very rich, but also flavorful.
NORTHSTAR WINERY
Addison Magness is a senior student at Whitman College, just getting her feet wet in journalism. Follow her blog at http://addyswwsummer.blogspot.com.
Northstar Winery is dedicated to the production of ultra-premium Merlot, considered among the world’s best. Since our inaugural 1994 vintage, the Northstar winemaking team has sought to capture the pure fruit essence of the Merlot grape, and endow it with a balance of power and finesse that is rarely achieved by any grape variety. Tasting Room Hours Monday - Saturday, 10 am - 4pm Sunday 11am - 4pm Other times and private appointments available 866-486-7828
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Item #164 ©2007 Northstar Winery, Walla Walla, WA 99362
The cozy dining room provides a sense of home for Manila Bay patrons.
RECIPE
DAYTON CHICKEN FORMAGGI Serves 4
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons wheat flour 2 tablespoons yellow instant masa de maiz flour 2 tablespoons baking powder 2 tablespoons refined sugar 2 tablespoons panko 4 teaspoons dried dill 4 teaspoons dried tarragon leaves 4 teaspoons dried rosemary 4 teaspoons fine-ground white pepper 2 sliced chicken breasts 4 tablespoons rendered pork fat
4 teaspoons butter 1 thinly sliced yellow onion 1 sliced summer squash 1 cup broccoli florets 1 sliced red bell pepper Chinese rice wine Heavy cream Cooked egg noodles Capers Smoked cheddar
TASTING ROOM 18 North Second Avenue Walla Walla, WA 99362 Hours: Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Monday 10am to 4pm Sunday 11am to 4pm
Method:
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Mix the wheat flour, masa flour, baking powder, sugar and panko together with the dried herbs and white pepper. Dredge the sliced chicken in the mixture to coat it. In a large, non-stick frying pan, heat the pork fat and butter on high heat. Lay the coated chicken and vegetables a single layer deep and cook until browned. Turn each one over and cook until browned on both sides. Deglaze the pan with some rice wine, being careful not to fully cover the chicken so its crisp coating will not become soggy. Immediately heat the cream, pouring it between the chicken and the vegetables. Again, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t submerge the chicken. Turn the heat off or very low to a simmer so the cream starts to thicken. If you have not sliced your chicken too thick, it should be cooked by now, but your first time through, you might want to double-check with a meat thermometer.
WINeRy ANd VINeyARd 1663 Corkrum Rd.
Serve over egg noodles, garnished with capers and some thinly sliced smoked cheddar.
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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 11
Wine People
Ashley Trout
by Sarah
Kokernot / photos by Greg Lehman
I grew up in the “Bourbon Country” of Kentucky, so I always pictured “wine people” as French. If they were not French, they probably wanted to be French. The women carried small dogs; the men wore polo shirts and boat shoes. The wine people of my imagination knew how to sail but didn’t know how to defrost hamburger meat in the microwave. They would take one look at my Kentucky Ale and do their best to not to wrinkle their noses. I met my first real-life winemaker at a casual backyard wine tasting a few weeks ago who proved my assumptions shamefully inaccurate. Ashley Trout neither wore a polo shirt nor carried a Shih Tzu. She carried her six-month-old daughter in an elaborate cloth sling, rocking back and forth to lull her to sleep as the party buzzed away. Her strawberry-blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she had the glow of someone who spends a lot of time in fresh air. Around her neck was a gold necklace of a pre-Columbian figurine, given to her by her husband’s Costa Rican side of the family. I had been in Walla Walla for three weeks and was dying to ask someone the question: Why wine? I mean, it’s tasty and mildly euphoric, but really, how did all this winemaking stuff happen? Why wine and not something else? 12 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
“It could be carrots,” says Trout. “It could be anything.” The love of winemakers, I would soon learn, has as much to do with the alchemy of wine as it does with the wine itself. Ashley Trout did not set out to be a winemaker. She first came to Walla Walla as a Whitman student and soon started working at Reininger Winery. She was initially drawn to wine because it seemed like something unique to the region, and making it was a job she would have never been able to do back in her hometown of Washington, D.C. This was 1999, when the wine business was just budding, and sweet onions were the crop that put Walla Walla on the map. “I fell in love with the job before I fell in love with wine,” says Trout. The physical work of wine-
making places a demand on the senses which immediately appealed to her. “There’s a kind of intelligence required in winemaking which we no longer think of as intelligence.” This sort of intelligence requires attention to all the senses — taste, smell and touch are put to use in a way that normally isn’t applied in a nine-to-five office job. For instance, to make a rosé, the winemaker must be on the lookout for the right color of must, the pulp that undergoes fermentation. When the must turns a pinkish color, it’s the signal to move on to the next process. Taste and smell are involved, not just in the final result, but during the crush season. Trout and other winemakers make rounds at vineyards to test the quality of grapes, mostly by sampling them. Rather than coming with a preconceived set of expectations, the winemakers let the grapes dictate the qualities of the wine. Trout asks, “What’s this grape going to give me?” The answer is partly determined by taste. One essential aspect of choosing the grapes is sampling the seed, which is responsible for producing the wine’s tannins. If the grape isn’t ready, the seed will leave an acidic taste in your mouth like an under-ripe banana. When a grape is harvested later in the year, the seed will have a flavor resembling bitter almond. The grapes Trout chooses will then be processed into Tero Estates and Flying Trout wines. Her namesake label focuses on torrontés and malbecs — wines popularly produced in Argentina, Trout’s seasonal home since 2005. Trout began her yearly migration to Argentina when she was injured in a severe climbing accident while traveling in Japan. The fall left her with a broken jaw, knee, hand and femur. The physical pain was difficult. The dullness of sedentary life was worse. She was in a wheelchair for three weeksand missed the Washington harvest for the first time since she was 18. Trout describes missing the harvest as “a void.” She realized how important winemaking was to her, and, as soon as she recovered, she set her sights on Mendoza, Argentina, to work the February crush. This year she’ll be taking her daughter, Alice, to Argentina for the first time. They’ll stay with their friend Norma, an art teacher who has a Continued on pg. 14 >
A Washington, D.C., native, Trout came to the area as a Whitman student and began working harvest at Reininger Winery. With one notable exception — a climbing accident that left her in a wheelchair — she’s worked harvest ever since. Top: With the Windrow Vineyards below, Ashley Trout enjoys a glass of Flying Trout wine on the roof of the main winery building. Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 13
Wine People
<continued from pg. 13
“beautiful house and makes marmalade all day.” Norma is the aunt of friend who first invited Ashley to stay with her so that she could practice English. “We spoke English for maybe two days,” Trout laughs. It’s been Spanish since then. Trout was tempted to travel to Argentina while she was eight months pregnant, but Norma talked her out of it. Alice, who turned six months old in September, will also be accompanying her mother to work during the Washington crush. Like all working mothers, Trout wonders how she’ll manage her job with tending to the needs of a small child. “It’ll be curious to see,” she says. “It won’t be pretty or fun … but I love my job, and I love Alice.” Trout’s love of winemaking began with the job, but it wasn’t long before she also fell in love with wine. The life of a winemaker is a seasonal one, with months of frenetic work followed by months of fatigue and hibernation. Late one night at the Reininger Winery, during the exhausting end of harvest, Trout sat out on the porch with her co-workers, worn-out but
content. She tried a Reininger cabernet franc, and that’s when the magic happened. “It was beautiful,” says Trout. “It completely validated the exhaustion I was feeling.” The cabernet franc is the lighter “granddaddy” of cabernet sauvignon. This particular incarnation had traces of spice, leather and old cherry. “Like drinking velvet,” says Trout. The alchemy of winemaking had paid off. She says, “You could taste how well-integrated nature had become.” At the backyard wine tasting, my husband ran off to get a Diet Coke and some cookies. I listened to a friend remark on an elusive grassy finish to a chardonnay. People nodded in agreement. I stuck my nose in my glass (everyone else had their nose in their glass) and I wondered, “Grassy finish?” A while later the party began to wane, and we gathered underneath a giant maple lit by a blue paper lantern. I was feeling a little sleepy when someone offered me a glass of red wine. And that’s when I found it, resonating warmly in my mouth. I could feel it in the space under my tongue, something like the forest floor, rich
“I fell in love with the job before I fell in love with wine.”
14 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
and muddy. People don’t just make up this stuff about wine – it’s really there. “What is this one called?” I asked around. It was Flying Trout’s Cutthroat Blend. Sarah Kokernot is a freelance writer and Walla Walla newcomer.
“There’s a kind of intelligence required in winemaking which we no longer think of as intelligence,” Trout says, that includes using one’s sense of smell, taste and touch.
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Amavi Cellars 3796 Peppers Bridge Road (509) 525-3541 www.amavicellars.com 2. Basel Cellars Estate Winery 2901 Old Milton Hwy. (509) 522-0200 www.baselcellars.com 3. Bergevin Lane Vineyards 1215 W. Poplar St. (509) 526-4300 bergevinlane.com 4. Bunchgrass Winery 151 Bunchgrass Lane (509) 540-8963 www.bunchgrasswinery.com 5. Castillo de Feliciana 85728 Telephone Pole Road Milton-Freewater (541) 558-3656 www.castillodefeliciana.com 6. Don Carlo Vineyard 6 W. Rose St. (509) 540-5784 www.doncarlovineyard.com 7. Dunham Cellars 150 E. Boeing Ave. (509) 529-4685 www.dunhamcellars.com 8. Five Star Cellars 840 C St. (509) 527-8400 www.fivestarcellars.com 9. Forgeron Cellars 33 W. Birch St. (509) 522-9463 www.forgeroncellars.com 10. Foundry Vineyards 13th Ave. and Abadie St. (509) 529-0736 www.wallawallafoundry.com/ vineyards 11. Fort Walla Walla Cellars 127 E. Main St. (509) 520-1095 www.fortwallawallacellars.com
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12. Glencorrie 8052 Old Highway 12 (509) 525-2585 www.glencorrie.com 13. Grantwood Winery 2428 Heritage Road (509) 301-0719 (509) 301-9546 14. Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ecole No 41 Winery 41 Lowden School Road and U.S. Hwy. 12 (509) 525-0940 www.lecole.com 15. Long Shadows 1604 Frenchtown Road (Formerly Ireland Road) (509) 526-0905 www.longshadows.com By invitation only. Requests accepted on a limited basis. Please call to inquire.
16. Lowden Hills Winery 1401 W. Pine St. (509) 527-1040 www.lowdenhillswinery.com 17. Northstar Winery 1736 J.B. George Road (509) 524-4883 www.northstarmerlot.com 18. Pepper Bridge Winery 1704 J.B. George Road (509) 525-6502 www.pepperbridge.com 19. Robison Ranch Cellars 2839 Robison Ranch Road (509) 301-3480 robisonranchcellars.com 20. Sapolil Cellars 15 E. Main St. (509) 520-5258 www.sapolilcellars.com 21. Seven Hills Winery 212 N. Third Ave. (509) 529-7198 www.sevenhillswinery.com 22. Sinclair Estate Vineyards 109 E. Main., Ste 100 (509) 876-4300 www.sinclairestatevineyards.com
9 24
23. Spring Valley Vineyard 18 N. Second Ave. (509) 525-1506 www.springvalleyvineyard.com 24. SuLei Cellars 355 S. Second Ave. (503) 529-0840 www. suleicellars.com 25. SYZYGY 405 E. Boeing Ave. (509) 522-0484 www.syzygywines.com 26. Three Rivers Winery 5641 Old Highway 12 (509) 526-9463 info@ThreeRiversWinery.com 27. Tertulia Cellars 1564 Whiteley Road (509) 525-5700 www.tertuliacellars.com 28. Trust Cellars 202 A St. (509) 529-4511 www.trustcellars.com
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29. Va Piano Vineyards 1793 J.B. George Road (509) 529-0900 www.vapianovineyards.com 30. Walla Walla Vintners Vineyard Lane off Mill Creek Road (509) 525-4724 www.wallawallavintners.com 31. Walla Walla Wineworks 31 E. Main St. (509) 522-1261 www.wallawallawineworks.com 32. Woodward Canyon Winery 11920 W. Hwy. 12, Lowden (509) 525-4129 www.woodwardcanyon.com 33. JLC Winery 425 B. St. (509) 301-5148 34. Saviah Cellars 1979 J.B. George Rd. 35. Le Chateau 175 E. Aeronca Ave. 36. Reininger Winery 5858 Old Highway 12 509-522-1994
Whiteley Rd.
18 Larson
To M
J.B. George Rd.
27
Braden Rd.
Pranger Rd.
1
Peppers Bridge Rd.
Old Milton Hwy.
2
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6
WASHINGTON OREGON
37. Plumb Cellar 9 S. First Ave. (509) 876-4488 www.plumbcellars.com 38. Mansion Creek Cellars 9 S. First Ave. (253) 370-6107 www.mansioncreekcellars.com 39. Watermill Winery 235 E. Broadway, Milton-Freewater (541) 938-5575 www.drinkcider.com 40. blue mountain cider 235 E. Broadway, Milton-Freewater (541) 938-5575 watermillwinery.com 41. Walla faces 216 E. Main St. 877-301-1181, ext. 2 www.wallafaces.com
Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 17
Places
by Diane Reed
/ photos by Diane Reed
What’s New in
2 W
There’s always something new happening in Walla Walla if you know where to look
Yo, This Stuff Is Good! If you’ve been wondering about that big, blue palm tree on Plaza Way, it’s time to pull in for a taste of sublime and sensible frozen yogurt.
Blue Palm Frozen Yogurt 1417 Plaza Way, Walla Walla 509-876-2389 Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Hours vary seasonally www.bluepalmyo.com Follow them on Facebook
18 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
Owners Paula Elsom and Heather Threadgill, who met at Walla Walla University, were big fans of frozen-yogurt shops in California and Hawaii. They decided that Walla Walla needed one, too, and Blue Palm Frozen Yogurt was their answer to that need. Although the shop has the put-together look of a franchise, the style and panache are Paula and Heather’s own creation. To get the finest product, they selected YoCream yogurt, made in Portland from all-natural ingredients and featuring live yogurt cultures. It tastes yummy, and it’s good for you! Blue Palm Frozen Yogurt allows you to fashion your own yogurt creations. First, pick from their ever-changing selection of flavors (10 every day, and you can sample any flavor). Daily temptations may include “Cable Car” chocolate, Alpine vanilla, peanut butter, original tart, very strawberry, cake batter, cookies and cream, Greek-style with honey, and cappuccino. Seasonal offerings include huckleberry, pumpkin pie and eggnog. Paula and Heather also offer nonfat, nondairy and no-addedsugar versions with flavors such as “mango tango,” raspberry and blueberry. You can even swirl two flavors together. Then embellish your creation with
any of their 50 dry and fresh toppings, including hand-prepared, in-season fresh fruit. Toppings include a wide variety of familiar candies, as well as exotics like green tea mochi and bursting boba. Top with sauces like hot fudge, peanut butter and caramel. Blue Palm also offers homemade granola, which makes a wonderful late breakfast topped with yogurt and fresh fruit. So, go crazy with your creation! And, since you pay by the ounce, you can have as little or as much as you want. Then, kick back and enjoy the whimsical island feel of the shop and its seasonal patio, designed to be a gathering place where you’ll feel like you’re on vacation on a tropical island — you’ll definitely want to linger for a while. Take advantage of their free Wi-Fi, catch some sports or the weather on TV, and enjoy a cup of coffee or their free fruit-infused water. The shop is available for special events, including birthday parties. They’re also planning special events for seniors and other groups and clubs, so stay in touch. Paula and Heather are dedicated to giving back to the community by supporting local causes. So, enjoy your creation and think about all the good it’s doing! Continued on pg. 20 >
527 E. MAIN WALLA WALLA, WA 99362
(509) 876 - 4446 M-F 9:30 am till 6:00 pm Sat 10:00 am till 4:00 pm
photo by Ashley Mullen Photography
Left: Co-owners of Blue Palm Frozen Yogurt Heather Threadgill and Paula Elsom.
…Holiday Projects start now… see Delores, Dan, and Keiri for Sale Items and design expertise.
Bottom Left: Raspberry-pomegranate with fresh fruit at Blue Palm Frozen Yogurt. Right: Blue Palm Frozen Yogurt’s whimsical palm tree.
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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 19
<continued from pg. 19
Let’s Make a Deal! An unassuming strip mall tucked behind a car wash on East Isaacs is home to an unexpected treasure trove of decorator delights. Real Deals on Home Décor, which is only open two days a week, provides a selection of wall art, clocks, mirrors, accent furniture and accessories sure to please your budget and your style.
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Ginny Perry and her daughter Kyla Nunes and mirrors. Accessories, candles (including LED joined forces several years ago to open Real Deals candles), decorative signs and flowing organza on Pine Street. They recently relocated to larger are among their offerings. Their furniture ranges quarters on East Isaacs that provides them with from elegantly formal to shabby chic and includes an economical and spacious showroom and 3,000 large and accent pieces. square feet of wareEven though their house space for their everyday prices are fast-moving inventory. reasonable, Ginny (One of Kyla’s newest and Kyla hold discount skills is driving the open houses four to forklift in the warefive times a year, and house.) Shipments members of their “fan are received every club” get e-mails and week, and new items postcards with special are added to the store offers. You can also folevery day. low them on Facebook Real Deals is a franat Real Deals Home chise, which gives GinDécor — Walla Walla ny and Kyla access to a to keep up with new wide variety of invendevelopments. tory at favorable prices. For Ginny, the best But they’ve personalthing about Real Deals ized the store to fit the is the chance to work tastes of their loyal with her daughter, and customers, who come Kyla has also enjoyed from as far away as La decorating her own Grande and Pendleton. Ginny Perry and Kyla Nunes of Real Deals on Home Décor house on a budget. Her (Note to West Siders — you won’t find a Real Deals advice to novice or nervous decorators is to find store anywhere near Seattle.) One corner of their a piece that you love — an “inspiration piece” — showroom is devoted to wine-country accessories, and develop your decor from that piece. Sounds another features rustic, cabin-inspired pieces, like good advice, and Real Deals on Home Décor and there are seasonal displays. Among their best is a good place to start! sellers are their moderately priced lamps, clocks
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Places
Mama Mia! That’s Some Spicy Meatball! If you’re looking for homemade goodness, pop in to Mama Mia’s Pasta “On the Go,” tucked in next to the Tiki Teriyaki Grille, just off Rose Street across from the Blue Mountain Mall. (Tiki Teriyaki Grille is owned and operated by Patti Cordeiro and her sister Melissa Locati.) Mama Mia’s is Patti’s newest venture, inspired by the recipes of her extended family — the Palermos and Locatis. She’s made it a family affair with her son Spencer and nephew Shawn Harris on the staff, under manager Tacy Smiley-Benzel. Stepping into Mama’s is like stepping into Mia’s homemade meatless meatballs are so tasty, an intimate Italian bistro, with stools crafted you won’t believe they’re meatless, and all their from wine barrels at the pasta bar and old sauces — except the meat sauce — are vegetarfamily photos on the walls, not to mention ian. Top your meal off with hot breadsticks and the original sausage-making one of their fresh salads including equipment. As you watch Mama’s salad and Caesar salad, the sauces and pasta being all featuring homemade dressprepared, let your mind ings. Or try one of their tasty wander into the tile mural sandwiches, like Guido’s meatof the Amalfi coast behind ball or Pa’s Italian sausage. How the stove. Patti wants you about a flatbread pizza? to feel like “you’re sitting Look for mouth-watering in your auntie’s or mama’s daily specials like baked lasakitchen.” And you will. gna (every Friday), pepperoni Mama Mia’s offers a vapizza boats and baked spaghetti. riety of fresh-made pasta Manager Tacy Smiley-Benzel preDishes are available to eat in or for — fettuccine, linguini, pap- pares sauces at Mama Mia’s Pasta takeout. You can also take home pardelle, penne, radiatori and pastas incorporat- their wide selection of freshly made pasta or ing vegetables. The sauces — including meat specialty raviolis. sauce, Alfredo, marinara and vodka — are all Mama’s offers family-style takeout so you can made from scratch. put together your choice of pasta, sauces and Complement your dish with delicious sides to serve at home. They can also prepare meatballs or homemade Italian sausage made from the Locati Mama Mia’s Pasta “On the Go” family recipe. Vegetarians, Mama
a fabulous meal for large parties (something to keep in mind over the holidays), and delivery is available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Sounds like a good excuse for an office party! Mama Mia’s is a great place to enjoy a taste of Italy or take it home with you. As Mama would say, Buon Appetito! Diane Reed is a freelance writer, photographer and observer of life. If you know about something new in W², e-mail her at ladybook@earthlink.net. Between columns and when the spirit moves her, she blogs at www.ponderingsbydianereed.blogspot.com
My Grandmother’s Garden
203 Wildwood St. (off Rose), Walla Walla 509-529-4828 Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Follow them on Facebook
Now open for the Fall Season Handmade Italian Foods Meatballs, biscotti, pan forte, pastries & more. Gift Shop & Greenhouse Linens, candles, home & garden decor – plus handmade holiday wreathes and container plants. Mama Mia’s meatballs and meat sauce, house salad.
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Open Tuesday-Saturday 10-6, Sunday 12-4 2946 S. Third, Walla Walla • 509-529-0405 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 21
22 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
People
Dean Derby
When the NFL Was Rough and Humble by Andrew Holt / photos by Greg Lehman In a time when many professional athletes’ salaries and behavior often seem absurd, former NFL star Dean Derby serves as a reminder of a simpler time in American professional sports. Prior to this professional football have their own agents, their own season, the National Football League rooms on the road, and many have experienced its longest work stoptheir own entourages that shuttle page in league history as the Players them everywhere. Derby had his Association and the owners quibbled teammates. over how to divvy up the league’s anHe recalls that after his first nual revenue of $8 billion. The reveprofessional game, the unbreakable nue over which they fought comes not bond with his teammates immedionly from ticket sales and television ately became apparent. Derby had rights, but also NFL merchandise. been asked to play running back (not This is all very different from the his normal position) and had never late 1950s and early ’60s when Walla “been hit so hard in my damn life,” he Walla’s own Dean Derby starred for says. Bruised and exhausted, he had the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minlimped back to his boarding room to nesota Vikings. “The owners were collapse. Minutes later, there was a just struggling to survive, then,” he knock on the door. “Get up, Derby, says. The idea of $8 billion floating we’re going out for beers!” one of his around to stuff in their coffers was teammates yelled. “I told him that I unthinkable. The All-Pro defensive was too tired and bruised to go out, back signed a lot of autographs for that I just wanted to sleep. But he’d adoring youngsters after games, but have none of it. He said, ‘You’re a part there were no $100 Dean Derby jerof this football team, and we stick toseys hanging in sports shops at malls gether, so get your clothes on because or in stadiums back in his day, and you’re coming with us.’” his first contract was for $8,000 (nonDerby says that Pittsburgh playguaranteed), with a $500 signing boers would go bowling together every nus. And no semblance of a players Monday night. They always had beers union existed. together after the games, especially Yes, it was a very different world the Steelers defensive players, and when the University of Washington always had each others’ back. Derby, Husky star entered the NFL in 1957, who in 1959 led the league in internothing like the super corporate ceptions, attributes the loss of camaFar Left: At Spring Valley Vineyard, Dean Derby holds a favorite photo from raderie in today’s NFL to free agency. atmosphere of today’s game. his playing days with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Above: Derby played running “I never had any idea it (the NFL) back on two Wa-Hi State Championship teams before heading to UW. In his era, players could not move would be like this,” Derby says with around from team to team like they a shrug. “It was great, and we (the players) And although he never signed a guaranteed can today. “If you were pretty good, you were thought it would be around and become suc- long-term contract for multi-millions, he is very going to be with the Steelers a long time, and cessful … but nothing like this.” As Derby sits content with his days in the NFL. “Football has you built friendships with these guys. Today, in his living room, musing about the obscene been wonderful to me,” he says. “It gave me the guys may only be on a team for a year, and then escalation of professional football salaries, there most wonderful experiences — like the cama- they’re gone.” is no resentfulness in his voice. He sees it as raderie.” That feeling of camaraderie does not The current players’ enormous earning power capitalism at work — the American way. exist in today’s game, he says. Today’s players has changed the nature of the game in other Continued on pg. 24 > Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 23
People
<continued from pg. 23
24 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
ways, says Derby. He believes long-term guaranteed contracts have led to more injuries. In his day, if a player was seriously injured in midseason, he was given money for a train ticket home and never saw the balance of his contract. So, players didn’t take unnecessary risks. Although they played hard and racked up their fair share of injuries, they didn’t have the same sense of security as the present-day player does. Today’s professional athlete knows he’ll receive his healthy salary even if he suffers a season- or career-ending injury. There are also more injuries today, Derby asserts, because limited roles allow players to go at “full speed.” They are fresh for the 15 or 20 plays for which they are on the field. In the ’50s and ’60s, not only did many players start on both offense and defense, but there were very few substitutions. “You had to pace yourself, and you got tired. You didn’t recklessly throw your body into someone. You just tried to get them down.” Current NFL rosters carry 57 players. In Derby’s day, there were only about 30. You couldn’t afford to get injured. When the NFL management and the Players Association signed their new Collective Bargaining Agreement this past summer, it contained a
clause that prohibited two practices in one day in pre-season training camp – a staple of Derby’s summer days preparing for the season. Today’s players say they don’t need the grueling “twoa-days” because they are already in top shape from their off-season workouts. Some train all year long. This was not the case when Derby played, for then players had to carry off-season jobs to pay the rent. Training camp was used to get into shape. Derby worked as a salesman for a trucking company in the off-season, and with a burgeoning family, he didn’t have time to work out. “We needed two months of training camp.” And training camp was a whole different story back then. Players roomed together in small college dorm rooms with no air conditioning in the dead of summer. There was a strict curfew, and the only form of entertainment was a cold beer at the lone bar in town. Now, players have two weeks of camp in rooms that are tooled with HD televisions, Internet and air conditioning. Camp is only two weeks long, and a variety of entertainment is housed within the mega training complex itself. Was the game better then? Has it been poisoned by ungodly sums of money? Derby isn’t
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inclined to make that judgment. But it has brought a change in the player, he believes. All the celebrating that occurs on the field today never entered a player’s mind in his era. A great example was the Cleveland Browns’ running back, Jim Brown, considered by many to be the greatest player ever. “He was phenomenal,” says Derby, who entered the league the same year as Brown. “But he never said a word. He never said anything negative, and he never said anything positive. If he ran over you for twenty yards, he didn’t say anything, and if you caught him for a loss, he never said anything. He was tight-lipped.” Derby pauses. “The most important thing,” he says, “is that you knew that you played well and that your teammates respected you. Even when we lost, if the defense played well, we’d say, ‘Hey, let’s go out. We deserve at least a beer.’” Andrew Holt is a freelance writer. He can be reached at bruindrew86@gmail.com
Far Left: Derby led the league in interceptions earning him a trip to the Pro Bowl in 1959.
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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 27
28 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
People
Andy Asmus
Man Hugs Tree Hamilton / photos by Colby Kuschatka
Andy Asmus can pinpoint the exact moment when he fell in love with trees. He was eight years old and visiting his grandfather, who had a garden with a glorious Gravenstein apple tree with apples as big grapefruit. One day, Asmus’ grandfather handed him a hatchet. He told his grandson to climb up in the tree and chop off a bunch of branches. Like any respectable youngster, Andy loved to climb trees and this was his favorite. “The fact that my grandfather trusted me enough to do this big job made a huge impact on me,” Asmus says. No matter that after working for a while, Asmus’ hand got tired and he dropped the hatchet, which bounced off a limb and hit his cousin in the leg (the flat side, and she wasn’t wounded). From that moment on, Andy was hooked. With his wife, Emily, Andy started Welcome Table Farm, which provides food for dozens of local families through its community-supportedagriculture program. They also sell their produce and flowers at Walla Walla Farmers Market. Looking for a way to support the farm during its early years, Asmus began doing some landscaping and trimming trees. Then came Walla Walla’s epic windstorm in 2008. “I had rented a chipper two days before the storm and ended up keeping it for three weeks,” he says. The storm was a wake-up call for many of Walla Walla’s homeowners: Trees are wonderful and add property value, but they need regular maintenance. Suddenly, Asmus was in high demand. What many of his storm-struck clients discovered was a bonus. Asmus is a highly educated arborist who uses advanced tree-climbing techniques to trim and maintain residential trees.
Asmus went to school to study horticulture and graduated with a degree in organic farming and orchard systems, which paved the way for his future careers as an organic farmer and arborist. These days, Asmus works with Kirk Huffey as second-in-command. Huffey began working on the farm when Asmus asked if Huffey would like to tag along on a “tree doctor” call. Now as smitten with tree-climbing as his boss, Huffey will be taking his arborist exam this December. “Most people call for an assessment of their trees,” Asmus says. “We see trees with disease, pest conditions, those that interfere with utilities, and those that are just thick and overgrown. We work to both reduce hazards and improve overall health and balance.” Rather than using a bucket truck, Asmus climbs the tree, using soft-soled boots. He relies on a sturdy sit harness, ropes and ascenders to get into the upper branches. Many of the trees he works in are 100 feet tall. “Most of the work is in the upper canopy,” he says. “With bucket trucks, you’re limited in gaining access to that part of the tree.” Among the things he carries are a Japanese handsaw, a 14-foot pole saw and a chainsaw, when necessary. “Nine out of 10 accidents involve a chainsaw,” Asmus says. “It’s more weight around your hips, so I use them only when they make sense.” Mostly he uses the pole saw. It’s hard, physical work, but Asmus and Huffey love this vertical world. Like Asmus, Huffey has taken to climbing trees with a fervor only rock climbers would understand. There’s something about being way off the ground that sharpens your senses and gives you perspective.
Left: This 100-year-old, 100-foot-tall sycamore is one of Asmus’ favorite trees in town. He does regular maintenance high in the canopy to keep the tree healthy and its owners out of harm’s way.
Continued on pg. 30 >
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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 29
People
<continued from pg. 29
Tree Tips for Homeowners November is a great time to take care of treetrimming and other tree maintenance. Arborist Andy Asmus offers the following information for homeowners: well-maintained trees increase Topping trees is illegal within the 1 Mature, 5 city property values, reduce summertime easements, and for good reason. It cooling bills and reduce water run-off. When planting new trees, consider 2 the height and breadth of the trees at maturity. Make sure the tree is placed where it will not interfere with power and phone lines, other trees or landscape features. Also, make sure that it is far enough away from your house to prevent excess root pressure against the foundation. Misapplication of herbicide and 3 lawn fertilizer (i.e., "weed and feed") can cause tree damage and death, particularly among younger trees. Be aware when applying these chemicals yourself, and/or ask your yard crew to avoid the root zone of your trees. The most common cause of decline in 4 mature trees is construction damage (including installation of lawn irrigation). Damage or removal of structural roots reduces a tree's ability to take up water and nutrients, and increases the risk of blow-down in high winds. This damage can be minimized with some brief planning and communication with contractors at the beginning of construction projects.
is very difficult to convince a tree to be smaller than it wishes to be. Topping leads to rapid and weak re-growth, introduction of rot in the main trunk of the tree, and an eventual increase in hazardous conditions. Maintenance pruning should be per6 formed every three to five years on mature trees (when a tree is kept in good shape, the costs of continued upkeep are minimal). Thinning in the upper canopy can reduce the movement of the tree in high winds by a third or more, reducing the risk of breakage and blow-down by a similar degree â&#x20AC;&#x201D; something to really consider given our winter weather. When shopping for a tree service, choose 7 contractors who are certified arborists. They have been endorsed by the International Society of Arboriculture as those who have up-to-date knowledge and the relevant experience within the field of tree care. Andy Asmus can be reached at www.wallawallatreecare.com. Top Photo: The sycamore is slowly swallowing this basketball hoop, an interesting case of natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dominion over man. Middle Photo: For safety reasons, Asmus has to take his wedding ring off when he works. For sentimental reasons, he has a band tattooed on his ring finger. Bottom Photo: Dad (Asmus is about to be a father for the second time) loves his work.
30 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
The arborist’s tools of the trade resemble those of a rock climber’s — and have to be just as bomb-proof.
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Art at Large
by Margaret Jamison
Looking Good Enough to Eat: Gingerbread Houses Have Ancient Foundations The winter holidays bring an attendant load of miscellany – Christmas cards, gift lists, coat drives and New Year’s resolutions. Add to that plenty of angst and lots of arts and crafts, from Hanukkah dreidels and Kwanzaa fabrics to Styrofoam snowmen and handmade tree ornaments. One particularly charming form of this seasonal kitsch is the gingerbread house. This fragrant folk art developed in Germany on the heels of the 1812 publication of “Hansel and Gretel” by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, who, of course, did not invent the story, but simply preserved an old folk tale. Clearly, people had been fantasizing about nibbling away on shingles and windowpanes for generations. Eighty years later, Engelbert Humperdinck produced his famous opera of the story, which was an instant success. Inspired by the opera 32 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
sets, people began to create their own fanciful Hexenhäuser, or witches’ houses, out of ginger lebkuchen dough, white icing and festive candies. And since the opera had premiered on December 23, it became a Christmas tradition, forever linking the gingerbread house to this particular holiday season. But why was gingerbread used in the folk tale to begin with? Because it has a tantalizing aroma? Because it’s a reasonable color for a house? Because it is delicious? I think there’s a much more practical answer. The kind of gingerbread
people had been baking for centuries was hard stuff — and probably not so delicious. It was pressed into wooden molds and baked into cakes that were used to aid indigestion, the way we use ginger tea or ginger ale for stomach upsets. It would have been a perfectly believable building material for a fairy-tale house, closely resembling what modern bakers call “structural” gingerbread, an unleavened cousin to the cookie dough. Structural gingerbread pieces are on display during the month of December at the Marcus Whitman Hotel, created by architects, pastry
chefs and other interested people as a fundraiser to benefit the Blue Mountain Community Foundation. If you’ve ever attempted your own construction, you will doubly appreciate the skill and planning that goes into these elaborate scenes. People were not always permitted to make their own gingerbread. As early as the 16th century, guilds were established to regulate its production and sale. To be considered for membership, bakers had to create a masterpiece displaying their skills and own their own ovens; they often employed carpenters, sculptors, painters and goldsmiths to build molds and decorate the finished products. Only at Christmas and Easter were ordinary people allowed to bake their own gingerbread. Once people began to eat gingerbread for its flavor and not for its medicinal properties, a demand grew for shaped cookies. Queen Elizabeth I essentially invented the gingerbread man by presenting visiting dignitaries with ginger cookies in their own likenesses. Hearts and bells, decorated and hung on ribbons, were favorites at fairs and as gifts; they are still immensely popular at Christmas and Easter markets throughout Germany and Eastern Europe. These lebkuchen are virtually indestructible and remind me of the springerle brought to us every Christmas by a great-aunt. Another form of molded Northern cookie, these were an annual childhood disappointment. They looked so pretty, but eating them was like trying to eat bricks. We called them “Esther’s cement cookies” and learned to dread their arrival. Now that we have the right to bake our own gingerbread — and the glorious spices to flavor it with (brought by returning crusaders in the 12th century) — we must figure out how to put the materials together to make a Hexenhaus. Underbaked dough can cause your walls to bow and collapse; overbaked material can crack. One of the ironic keys to a successful gingerbread house is the use of structural gingerbread rather than regular ginger-cookie dough. This guarantees rigid walls, but is not particularly edible (which seems to defeat the whole purpose of the original endeavor). Continued on pg. 34 >
Left: Gingerbread creations by professional pastry chefs show impressive construction skills and expert planning. Photo courtesy of Downtown Walla Walla Foundation. Right: Traditional lebkuchen mold from Nuremburg, Germany, which is one of the gingerbread capitals of the world. Photo by Margaret Jamison. Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 33
Art at Large
<continued from pg. 33
Then thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the icing, which is used as the glue to hold the structure together, as well as for decorative details. Royal icing (the traditional icing for fruitcakes, the preferred wedding cake among English royals) and a pastry bag are the recommended materials â&#x20AC;&#x201D; great for experienced pastry chefs but not so easy for novice engineers. Holding up walls while squeezing a bag full of sticky, stiff paste requires coordination and strength. There is also much drying time necessary between steps or the whole thing can slide into a pile. This is not a project to be slapped together in an afternoon with small, impatient children hanging about. They are likely to eat up your bowls of decorating candies before you can get the roof on. For those small people, God gave us graham crackers and squirtable frosting. There are also kits available for would-be builders; some have even done the baking for you. These may lack the stamp of originality, but they allow busy people to participate in this age-old folk art just the same. The Pioneer Park bandstand, crafted by professionals, even had edible railings. Photo courtesy of Downtown Walla Walla Foundation.
Margaret Jamison is an artist, writer and teacher living in Walla Walla. Contact her at art.jamison@gmail.com.
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Music
by Margaret Jamison
Seattle Opera Young Artists Program Thanks to three enterprising music professors and the Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program, Walla Walla Community College is now able to host live opera performances. The college’s involvement with opera began in the spring of 2009 when Julie Jones, vocal music director at WWCC, and Kristin Vining, who teaches music at WWCC, Whitman and Walla Walla University, took a group of community college students to see the Seattle Opera’s production of Mozart’s comic masterpiece, “The Marriage of Figaro.” The students were so enthralled that Jones and Vining enlisted a third music professional, Christine Janis, who teaches at WWU and directs both the Walla Walla Choral Society and St. Silouan’s church choir, to help them bring opera to Walla Walla. Together, the three women raised enough funds to contract with the Seattle Opera for one of their Young Artists Program performances that fall. Promoted only through their students, and with a Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Marquee cover story, tickets for the one-night-only performance of another great Mozart comic piece, “Cosí fan Tutte,” sold out within two hours. Walla Walla was definitely ready for opera. 36 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
The Young Artists Program is essentially boot camp for emerging opera singers, according to Aren Der Hacopian, the program’s director. Founded in 1998, it has been the springboard for many singing careers. More than 640 applicants vie for between three and five spots annually. The winners come to Seattle for 21 weeks of intensive vocal, stage, acting and language coaching. They present concerts and recitals, play smaller parts in mainstage Seattle Opera productions, and cap the experience by performing a full opera on their own, which they present at six different venues in Washington and British Columbia. The purpose of the program is twofold: to bring opera to communities that otherwise do not have access to this experience, and to develop in the next generation of opera singers a level of confidence that will lead to successful professional lives. (An added bonus is the opportunity to watch future stars develop.) They must be polished and packaged into a product
that sells well in an unforgiving business, during a formative and difficult time of life. A typical opera audition lasts from four to 10 minutes — there is no other interview process — and from the first moment they appear before the judges they must prove that they are right for the job. The Young Artists Program, with its demanding schedule and rigorous standards, is the best training these young artists could have to enter this harsh, real world. Vocal students at Walla Walla Community College now have a rich catalogue of opera experiences in which to participate. Jones and Vining continue to take groups to the Seattle Opera each spring, they host the Young Artists Program performance in the fall, and during the winter, community college students produce their own original opera. The first two of these, “Cendrillon” and “Cartes Postales,” were written by Vining, who is currently at work on her third, for this winter’s production. She also wrote “Alice: An Opera in Two Acts” for the new
summer opera camp for kids, which had its debut at Walla Walla High School in August. Students are enthusiastic. Last fall Janis hosted a master class at WWU, where they could sing for the YAP music director and receive feedback; the YAP artists themselves attended to demonstrate their interest and support. Students were impressed to learn that last year’s pianist (the YAP performances are accompanied only by piano, not a full orchestra) was a young man from Hermiston, now making a musical career for himself. Because the Young Artists production is a compact road show, there are no elaborate sets or costumes. A few black cubes serve as the only props, and the singers perform in their street clothes. Jones says that fancy costumes can distance the artists from the audience, and this minimalist approach makes the production very present to students. The singers also remain after the performance for a Q-and-A session, making a real connection with the college community. At last spring’s Seattle Opera production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” students were thrilled to see that one of the soloists had twice been to Walla Walla with the Young Artists Program. After a trip backstage to meet the conductor, the college contingent exited the Opera House at the same time as this performer, who thrilled them further by exclaiming, “Why, there are my Walla Walla people!” She still knew their names. The partnership will continue with the November production of Massenet’s “Werther,” the first serious opera to be staged here. With generous sponsors and more sellout performances, it will be just the first of many.
Far Left: Young Artist Eric Anstine working with coach-accompanist Sean Kelly. © Alan Alabastro photo Near Left: Amanda Opuszynski and Andrew Stenson during a staging rehearsal for the Young Artists 2010 Fall Tour. © Bill Mohn photo Above: David Krohn, Amanda Opuszynski, and Eric Anstine, performing in the 2010 Young Artists production of “Viva la Mamma.” (David and Amanda return for the 2011/12 season) © Bill Mohn photo
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Margaret Jamison is an artist, writer and teacher living in Walla Walla. Contact her at art.jamison@gmail.com.
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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 37
Soundworthy
Quincy Harper
Walla Walla’s Texan Troubadour by Janna
Dotolo / Photos by Jeff Randall
Singer-songwriter and self-professed wayfarer Quincy Harper is a long way from his native Fredericksburg, Texas. But no matter the setting or venue, Harper’s booming, growling voice, achingly poignant and intimate acoustic ballads, and masterful guitar-playing manage to find refuge in the heart every audience member. His broad musical and emotional range seems to leave listeners transfixed and hanging onto his every word. They celebrate and toast to his rousing, upbeat tunes; they slip into unblinking, faraway musings listening to the nostalgic narratives of his past. As far as Walla Walla is concerned, Mr. Harper is home, and Texas can’t have him back. Harper was born and bred into a life of music, his family being what folks back Down South might call a musical dynasty. His grandfather, James Victor “Vic” Harper, played fiddle and various other instruments with such legendary Texan musicians and bands as the Light Crust Doughboys. But Harper’s earliest memories of playing music onstage are from when his family 38 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
briefly ran the Cherry Springs Dance Hall. His father, Boyd Harper, who is also an accomplished singer, songwriter and bandleader, would bring his little, Wrangler-jeans-and-cowboy-hat-wearing son onstage to accompany him with a blue, miniature toy guitar, much to the delight of their adoring audience. Around the age of 13, Harper’s father gave
him the tools he needed to become the accomplished guitarist he is today. “My dad taught me four chords and told me to learn them in every rhythm. He said, ‘Learn ’em every way you can play ’em, and then I’ll teach you more.’ So that’s what I did.” But it was a much less wholesome set of circumstances that gave Harper the ability to write,
name, Harper has seen his fair share of trouble, heartache and pain. His late teens and early 20s saw “dozens” of failed suicide attempts, each thwarted by intervening friends, family members or powers unseen. But little did he know his body was already self-destructing. Harper suffered three lung collapses in four years and had to undergo chest surgery. It only makes sense, then, that his songs — with their straightforward, mournful meditations on life, death and love — are sung with the world-weariness and heartfelt angst of someone lifetimes older. These same songs that are at once so emotionally wrenching, intimate and contemplative, but with such simple lyrics as “It’s the past that’s put me where I am today, and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” manage to hint at all the experiences and close calls he’s packed into his mere 30 years. He now approaches the microphone with a brashness that comes not only from experiences off the stage, but from so much time spent in front of an audience. And with cigarettes, whiskey and each passing year, the voice that was once more redolent of alternative blues artists like Eric Bibb or John Mellencamp is now inching toward the distinctive,
gravelly roar of Tom Waits. Harper credits his journey from the South to the Pacific Northwest to Sarah Isely who, after meeting the singer at one of his performances in Texas, helped him book shows and found him a place to live in Walla Walla. He’s only been in this region a few short months, but in that time he’s thoroughly endeared himself to its people, been given their support and encouragement — which he is incredibly grateful for — and made family members instead of friends. Janna Dotolo is a freelance writer and livemusic aficionado who lives in College Place. She can be reached at janna1187@yahoo.com
If you go Quincy Harper performs midnight to 2 a.m., Nov. 11 at Public House 124, 124 E. Main St., Walla Walla.
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compose and record his own music. He says, “I got into some trouble when I was 16 and was put on house arrest, and I started playing like crazy then. We had a recording studio in our garage, so I started recording all kinds of stuff. The house arrest was probably the only reason I really got into music, because I got to sit there every single day, drinking whiskey, smoking cigarettes and just playing music.” By the time Harper turned 18, a time when other kids his age were going to school or working in fast-food joints, he was getting paid to play music in bars. He describes it as a time spent “lying about my age, getting away with murder and drinking like a madman.” In 2004, he recorded his debut album, “Hole in the Wall,” with renowned bassist Spencer Starnes’ Bee Creek Studio. Following the CD’s release, Harper played gigs with members from his studio band for a short while before going back to his solo act. Doing anything else was never even an option, according to Harper. He says, “I don’t do anything else. I’m not good at anything else.” With more than 18 years of musical experience under his belt and countless performances in locations across the country to his
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40 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
New Digs
by Karlene Ponti
/ photos by Greg Lehman
Nestled into the Countryside Chris and Debbie Shaffer at 3640 Pranger Road have a newly built home that looks as though it’s existed for years, blending with the surrounding agricultural area. An interior designer for 25 years and owner of DGS Interiors, with a background in engineering, Debbie served as general contractor for the project. “I love the real design and engineering aspect of it,” she says. The Shaffers worked with architect Jon Sayler from Sand Point, Idaho, who had collaborated with Debbie on several other projects. Completed in 2008, the new home looks as if it’s lasted generations in the countryside. The house fulfills several purposes; it was a great creative project, and it’s home. “It also serves as my showroom. I can show products and design,” Debbie says. The home achieves the look that the Shaffers had desired, using architectural features that suggest a farmhouse. “We wanted the hip roof structure to resemble what may have been an old schoolhouse that had existed on the property for years. The exterior was designed to look as if several buildings had been assembled together.” Chris and Debbie felt it was important that the home integrate into the land. In the midst of 11 acres of agriculture, they felt the obliga-
tion to have a structure compatible with the surrounding landscape. The varying cupola designs on each building reinforce the agricultural atmosphere. The agricultural influence is very important to Chris and Debbie; Chris is a fifth-generation wheat farmer and still farms the family homestead in addition to other properties. The backyard is surrounded by privacy fences made from weathered-looking steel panels. “My husband built the steel fences,” Debbie says. “They were in the shop during the winter and knocked all those panels out.” The landscaping was designed by Don and Cyndi Thompson with input from Debbie, who also enjoys gardening. The design of the surroundings and the home relies on clean lines and use of space to achieve the desired look and practical functionality. At 3,000 square feet, the house is about 1,200 square feet smaller than their former home on Bellevue Street. So, although it doesn’t seem apparent, the Shaffers have actually downsized. The house is all on one level, with a large open area in the center containing kitchen, great
room and living room. Then, on either side of the open concept area are hallways leading to the master- and guest-bedroom suites. The south side includes a “powder room” and a room that will be converted into a library and office. The home looks larger than it is because the cathedral ceiling with exposed beams in the center adds more spaciousness to the great room. “We had decided, ‘No stairs; we want it all on one level,’” Debbie says. Again, they were being practical and thinking ahead about staying in the home as the years go by. “It’s a fun house, it’s comfortable and it’s easy,” Debbie says. “It’s a great house to entertain. We’ve had 30 to 40 people here for Christmas Eve, and it flowed really well.” The Shaffers enjoy cooking, and the kitchen is part of the large center area of the home. There are no upper kitchen cabinets to block out light and isolate the room. The kitchen does have plenty of lower cabinets and a walk-in pantry for storage. Debbie’s favorite area is the open concept room in the center of the home, with separations Continued on pg. 42 >
Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 41
New Digs
<continued from pg. 41
Chris and Debbie Shafferâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home looks as if several structures were assembled together.
The patio offers plenty of room for guests to socialize and enjoy dinner.
The hip roof structure and cupolas resemble what may have been an old schoolhouse on the property.
42 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
The Shaffers enjoy comfortable outdoor living in the warm seasons.
The open-concept room is the center of the home.
and room definitions achieved through furniture placement. To one side is a more intimate living area, with casual furniture and wood-burning fireplace. It’s part of the center section of the home, but, like the kitchen, it is defined in its own way. The couple have all the creature comforts at hand, with music and television right by the fireplace. They chose the wood-burning fireplace rather than gas because they wanted the sounds and smells of a real wood fire. The floors are old-growth eastern white pine in wide planks procured from Carlisle Wide Plank Floors. Chris and his friend Dave Pellicer installed the wide-plank flooring and had Home Hardwood do the staining and five finish-coats of tung oil. Debbie designed a special area for the piano that used to belong to her mom and dad, with floor-to-ceiling windows in a defined, yet open, space. Above the white piano is a hand-tooled -and-hammered iron chandelier that matches The bedrooms are spacious and relaxing.
those in the living room area. This chandelier is more formal, accented with clear and amber Swarovski crystals. The crystals catch the light, giving the area more warm-color highlights. This type of attention to detail gives the whole house the look and feel Debbie wanted. She chose the softness of honed Carrara marble kitchen counters, not highly polished. “It’s meant to look old,” Debbie says. The bathrooms are finished with marble, the powder room and fireplace are finished in tumbled quartz. The wine room is adjacent the great room, close to the kitchen, perfect for entertaining. Everything necessary is designed to be within reach, exactly where you’d expect it to be. The Shaffers did much of the work themselves and stayed true to their practical natures by maintaining a budget. They knew what to attempt and the projects not to do. “We didn’t do the tile in the kitchen, we hired out for that,” Debbie says. The décor is in harmony with the
rustic theme, it’s also sentimental and family oriented. They have quite a few oil paintings done by Chris’s grandmother throughout the house. Although no remodeling is planned, and she loves the house, Debbie said she could change the whole thing and do it all again. If they were to do it over, she’d have the large window in the great room extend clear to the ground. “I love change,” she says. “Change is what keeps you creative. When you get stuck and you don’t change, then you’re no longer creating.” She loves to come home, settle in and relax. “Home is everything to me,” she says. “It’s comfortable and makes it a pleasure to enjoy and embrace friends.” Karlene Ponti is the special publications writer for the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. She writes about homes and gardens, and compiles the calendar for Walla Walla Lifestyles. She can be reached at karleneponti@wwub.com. Continued on pg. 44 >
Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 43
New Digs
<continued from pg. 43
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november Nov. 1
Walla Walla Symphony concert “Autumn Fanfare” features work by Saint-Saens, Edward Gregson and William Berry. Cordiner Hall, Whitman College. Details: 509-529-8020.
Through Dec. 12
“Curiously Aligned: Contemporary Drawing Practices,” featuring Kris Hargis, Angela Katona-Batchelor, Scott Kolbo, MaLinda Poulsen and Charles TimmBallard. Sheehan Gallery, Whitman College. Details: 509-527-5249.
Through Dec. 17
The exhibit “Contemporary Metal Sculpture and Photographic Imagery of Rural Columbia County” with featured artist Nathan Riley, is hosted by the Palus Museum, Dayton. Details: 509-382-4820.
Through Jan. 31
The Whitman Visiting Writers Reading series continues with Terrance Hayes, Professor of Creative Writing at Carnegie Mellon University and author of several books of poetry. Details: www.whitman.edu
Nov. 5-6, 11-13
An exhibit honoring our veterans continues on dis- The Walla Walla University drama department presplay at the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute. Details: ents a performance of “The 39 Steps” by John Buchan. Details: 509-527-2641. 1-800-654-9453.
Nov. 3
The First Thursday concert at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will feature a jazz performance by David Glenn and Pete Crawford, trombonists. 12:15 p.m., 323 Catherine Street. Details: 509-529-1083. Dayton celebrates with its annual Chamber Awards Banquet. 6 p.m., Seneca Activity Center. Details: 509-382-4825.
Nov. 10-12, 17-19
Walla Walla Hgh School Drama Department presents “Radium Girls”, by D.W. Gregory, directed by Brian Senter. Based on true events, “Radium Girls” centers around a group of young women who Nov. 4 painted watch dials for the war effort in the 1920s. Fall Jazz Ensemble Concert. 7:30 p.m., Chism ReThey fell ill from radium exposure and eventually cital Hall, Whitman College. Details: 509-527-5232. took on US Radium in the courts. This is the story of The 30th annual Walla Walla Wine Auction ben- the women, their lawsuit and the outcome. Wa-Hi efit for Planned Parenthood. 6 p.m., Marcus Performing Arts Auditorium. Details: 509-526-8613. Whitman Hotel & Conference Center. Details: Nov. 11, Veterans Day 800-904-7721, ext. 8016. In Milton-Freewater, at 11 a.m., the annual parade Nov. 4-6 honors our veterans. At 6 a.m., there’s a breakfast The annual Fall Release Weekend gets you in for veterans at the American Legion, a chili feed at to sample new wines at area wineries. Details: noon at the Elks Lodge, and, at 2 p.m., a ceremony 509-526-3117. honors veterans who have passed away. Details: 541-938-7634/ 509-301-6050.
Nov. 9
Fall Wind Ensemble Concert, conducted by Peter Crawford. 7:30 p.m., Chism Recital Hall, Whitman College Hall of Music.
Annual parade, 11 a.m., Nov. 11, Downtown Walla Walla. Details: 509-529-8755. Whitman College’s “Fridays at Four” features a performance by Katherine Lee, violinist. Chism Recital Hall. Details: 509-527-5232.
Nov. 11-12
G e t re a d y fo r t h e s e a s o n w i t h t h e a n Nov. 9-13 nual Mar y Stewart Christmas Craft Show. A performance of “The Altruists.” 8 p.m., 9 a . m . to 4 p . m ., C o m m u n i t y B u i l d i n g , Harper Joy Theatre, Whitman College. Details: 109 N.E. Fifth St., Milton-Freewater. Details: 509-527-5180. 541-938-6401.
Regular Events WW Each month, the Blue Mountain Artists Guild in Dayton sets up a new exhibit at the Dayton Public Library. Details: 509-382-1964. WW Most Monday and Saturday nights, there’s live music at Vintage Cellars, 10 N. Second Ave. Details: 509-529-9340. WW Plateau Restaurant at Wildhorse Resort & Casino hosts wine tasting the first Wednesday of each month. Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton. Details: 800-654-9453 or 541-966-1610. WW Wednesdays at 5 p.m., you can record your own music at the Walla Walla Recording Club at Sapolil Cellars, 15 E. Main St. Details: 509-520-5258. WW There’s music every Wednesday at Walla Walla Wine Works. 7-9 p.m. Details: 509-522-1261. WW On Wednesday, 8 p.m., there’s an open mic at Laht Neppur Ale House, 53 S. Spokane St. Details: 509-529-2337. WW Wednesdays, enjoy karaoke, 8 p.m., at the Wildfire Sports Bar, Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton. Details: 800-654-9453. WW Thursdays, 7-10 p.m., at Walla Faces Tasting Salon: first Thursday of the month, enjoy Salsa Night. The second and fourth Thursdays, there’s an open mic, the third Thursday, records are played during the Spin and Pour. Walla Faces, 216 E. Main St. Details: 877-301-1181. 46 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles
WW On Thursdays, you can taste wine at Walla Walla’s Harvest Foods. 3:30-6:30 p.m., 905 S. Second Ave. Details: 509-525-7900. WW Every Thursday, the Charles Smith Winery, 35 S. Spokane St., hosts the Blues and Barbecue with live music and West of the Blues BBQ. Details: 509-526-5230. WW Thursdays, 5 -11 p.m., dinner by in-house Bistro 15, with entertainment, at Sapolil Cellars, 15 E. Main St. Details: 509-520-5258. WW Thursdays, 8 p.m., the Wildfire Sports Bar hosts the Comedy Jam. Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton. Details: 800-654-9453. WW There’s an open mic every Thursday, 7-10 p.m., and, occasionally, live music on the weekends, at Walla Walla Village Winery, 107 S. Third Ave. Details: 509-525-9463. WW Thursday means karaoke, 8 p.m., at the CrossRoads Steakhouse, 207 W. Main St. On weekends, there’s often live music. Details: 509-522-1200. WW Thursday is Trivia Game Night at the Red Monkey Downtown Lounge, 25 W. Alder St. Details: 509-522-3865. WW Thursdays and Saturdays, 9-midnight, there’s live music at the Anchor Bar, 128 E. Main St., Waitsburg. Details: 509-337-3008. WW Fridays, 5-7 p.m., Sapolil Cellars features pianist Carolyn Mildenberger. 15 E. Main St. Details: 509-520-5258. WW Fridays, 6:30-9 p.m., Bob Lewis plays piano at the Oasis at Stateline, 85698 Highway 339, Milton-Freewater. Details: 541-938-4776.
WW The first Friday of each month, there’s free admission at Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, Pendleton. Details: 541-966-9748. WW On Fridays, there’s music at the Dayton Wine Works, 507 E. Main St. Details: 509-382-1200. WW From May-December, the first Friday ArtWalk Walla Walla gets you into area galleries. 5-8 p.m. Details: artwalkwallawalla.com. WW The second Friday each month, Skye Books & Brew, Dayton, hosts the acoustic jam. Details: 509-382-4677. WW Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., live music at Walla Faces, 216 E. Main St. Details: 877-301-1181. WW Friday and Saturday, live music at the Backstage Bistro. Details: 509-526-0690. WW Friday and Saturday, 9 p.m., live music at the Wildfire Sports Bar, Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton. Details: 800-654-9453. WW Live music every Saturday , 8 p.m., Laht Neppur Ale House, 53 S. Spokane St. Details: 509-529-2337. WW Sunday afternoons, Walla Faces hosts the Sunday Jazz Cafe. 3 p.m. Details: 877-301-1181. WW Sundays, 4-7 p.m., enjoy ragtime piano by Uriel, the Oasis at Stateline, 85698 Highway 339, Milton-Freewater. Details: 541-938-4776.
Where in Walla Walla? Nov. 12 Walla Walla General Hospital Gala fundraiser. Details: 509-527-8303. Whitman Orchestra Fall Concert directed by Jeremy Mims. 7:30 p.m., Chism Recital Hall, Whitman College Hall of Music. Details: 509-527-5232. A USO Show will raise money to provide care packages for area troops deployed overseas. Details: 541-938-7634/ 509-301-6050.
Nov. 17 The Walla Walla Symphony presents its annual Family Foodraiser Concert. Bring a nonperishable food donation, and you get in free. Cordiner Hall, Whitman College. Details: 509-529-8020.
Nov. 18-19 One-of-a-kind handcrafted items at the Of Hearts ’N’ Hands Annual Marketplace at the old schoolhouse at 66 Valley Chapel Road. 7-9 p.m., Nov. 18; 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Nov. 19. Details: 541-861-9064. ‘Tis the season for the annual Christmas Trio Craft Sale. Crafts include everything from quilts, jewelry and pottery to food. Santa will be available off and on, both days. Walla Walla County Fairgrounds. Details: 509-525-7918.
Nov. 18-19, 25-27, Dec. 2-3 Little Theatre of Walla Walla presents “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller. The performance, set in 1946, explores family dynamics and corporate greed. 8 p.m., Friday, Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday. Details: 509-529-3683.
Clue On your way to the corn maze, you may note this historical marker, which describes the Second Walla Walla Valley Treaty Council and the skirmish that followed. Name the road.
Contest rules
If you have the answer, e-mail it to rickdoyle@wwub.com, or send it to: Where in Walla Walla?, 112 S. First Ave., P.O. Box 1358, Walla Walla, WA 99362. Nov. 19 Annual Walla Walla Symphony Gala. Marcus Whitman Hotel. The names of 10 people with correct Details: 509-529-8020. answers will be randomly selected, and they will receive this great-looking mug Nov. 25-26 as proof of their local knowledge Get the holidays started with Dayton’s Christmas Kickoff. and good taste. Local artists, music and the Friday-night, traditional winter fireworks celebrate the season. Nov. 26-27, Historic Dayton. Details: 509-382-4825.
Nov. 25-27 The Walla Walla Community College Theater Arts department presents “Almost, Maine.” 7 p.m., Nov. 25-26; 2 p.m., Nov. 27; China Pavilion. Details: 509-527-4575.
Nov. 26 Beautiful gifts get you into the holiday mood at the Christmas Gift Boutique Craft Show. Juried crafters present their wares in this craft show that has more than a 40-year history. 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Walla Walla Community College Center for Enology and Viticulture. Details: 509-529-8210.
Nov. 30 Start the holidays in front of the Christmas tree. 5:30 p.m., Christmas-Tree Lighting in College Place at the fire station. Details: 509-529-1200. The annual Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce banquet. 6-9 p.m., Marcus Whitman Hotel & Conference Center. Details: 509-525-0850.
Last month’s clue This sign marks the site of the eponymous local music festival. Woodstick is now defunct, unfortunately, but it did have 12 good years. Name the location of the festival and just for the heck of it, name the man who started it.
Answer Way up Mill Creek Road (nearly to Camp Kiwanis). Mike Hammond founded the Woodstick Festival.
Last month’s winners James Ahia Ron Hiatt Carmen Davila Patty Keyes Andrew Steffy
Randy Chamberlain Kris Brown MaryAnn Piver Mark Stevens Katie Fitzgerald
Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 47
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