The Friends of the White Salmon Valley Community Library invite the community to the 42nd annual Holiday Wassail Open House to be held at the library on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 2 to 5 p.m.
Join library staff any time throughout the afternoon or plan to stay for the entire gala affair. Enjoy a variety of music by area musicians, Holiday songs, artisan demonstrations, Holiday quilt exhibit as well as a wide range of hands-on children’s crafts and activities. The Friends of the Library will be offering a delicious array of sweet and savory refreshments along with their traditional hot Wassail punch to help launch your holiday season.
Enjoy music during the afternoon. The musical lineup for this year’s Wassail will be as follows:
• 2 p.m. – Donna Reuter, champion fiddler accompanied by Diane Allen on piano
• 3 p.m. – Columbia High School Music Department Combo
• 4 p.m. – Holiday favorites with Bob Schwarz on piano
Artisan’s will be sharing its wares, including hand-crafted jewelry and figurines, a newly released holiday children’s picture book, wood working, and felted items and will have their works available for purchase for your holiday decorating and gift-giving.
Local author Jack Stembridge will be signing and selling his new children’s picture book , “The Best Christmas Yet,” and will be displaying and selling his one-of-a-kind woodworking pieces created from wood sourced from the 100-year-old Condit Dam. The result of the wood having been submerged for so long is a unique rich dark black to red color with underlying green highlights. It has to be seen to be appreciated. Stembridge creates table tops, cheese boards, coat racks (with rebar also sourced from the Condit Dam), and is happy to work with you to design and create custom items.
Cassandra Arnold, who is a legally blind local artist, creates jewelry and décor inspired by the metaphysical properties of crystals and herbs. Applying crystal therapy concepts in her work, Arnold uses hemp and natural crystal beads and stones in her jewelry pieces. She enjoys working with clay and natural materials that she has collected herself including driftwood, river tumbled stones and pinecones. Over the past year Arnold has been exploring polymer clay creating whimsical and fantastical figurines in addition to her jewelry.
Local artist Marsha Frost Holliston creates colorful coin purses, sachets, children’s bracelets and more, designed with beads and felt pieces hand sew (some with vintage thread) to purchased hand-dyed non-woven wool. The most recent addition to her inventory is a line of “Tooth Fairy Pouches,” a must-have for any youngster. Holliston, who says that her main goal in creating art is to relax, has been hand sewing since the ‘70s starting with crewel stitching. In the ‘80s, she assisted making banners for church and creating individual First Communion banners as presents for children. “I can go into my creative mode where my only thought is looking in all the boxes and drawers and on all the shelves for the perfect embellishment for decoration.”
Area children are invited to enjoy the library’s ever-popular selection of hands-on activities in the Children’s Area throughout the afternoon, including an assortment of fun holiday crafts.
Holiday Quilts designed and created by The Columbia River Quilters’ Guild will be featured during Wassail in the library’s Sprint/Baker Gallery and throughout the month of December. The exhibit is available for viewing during regular library hours.
Wassail is being held in conjunction with White Salmon Valley PTO Santa’s Breakfast that will run from 7:30 a.m. to noon at Henkle Middle School and the downtown “I’m Dreaming of a White Salmon” holiday celebration with tree-lighting at the Riverview Bank at 5 p.m.
For further information call the library at 509-493-1132.
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