03/26/09 Lower Valley briefs

Granger Lions to host spaghetti feed

GRANGER -- The Lions Club will hold a spaghetti dinner April 4 to raise money for a 2-year-old girl with a variety of developmental problems.

Alia Damian has polymicrogyria, a brain condition that limits motor skills and can cause mental retardation and speech problems. She also has hearing loss and cannot sit up, stand or roll over.

Her mother, Nicole Huffman, is trying to raise money to see a specialist in June in California. The spaghetti feed will be 3:30-7 p.m. April 4 at the Granger Lions Club on East A Street.

Cost is $5.50 per person and $20 per family of five.

For more information, call Huffman at 509-831-1941.

Book signings Saturday in Prosser

PROSSER -- The Benton County Historical Museum will hold a book signing by several local authors Saturday.

The event will run from
1-3 p.m. at the museum, at City Park on Paterson Road. All the authors have ties in the Prosser area and many are current residents.

Most, if not all, are self-published.

Here's a list of authors participating and their books:

* Jaymi Trimble, "Roslyn."

* Barbara Skinner, "The Sandpile."

* Helen Willard, "Roza," "The Way It Was on Rattlesnake" and others.

* Dan Miller, "Living, Laughing and Loving."

* Fred Beierle, "Man, Dinosaurs and History" and "Giant Man Tracks."

* Millard Stanberry, "Things I Remember and Before."

* Cora Mason, "Conversations: Early Prosser Revisited."

* Joannne Dorsey Otness and Jenna Shedd MacPherson, co-authors of "Chasing Galahad" and "Passion Flowers."

For more information, call the museum at 509-786-3842.

Historic downtown meeting Sunday

PROSSER -- What would you like to see in the Princess Theatre?

That's what new managers of the historic downtown venue will ask at a meeting Sunday afternoon.

Operation and ownership of the Princess has passed through several hands since it was restored from its vacant shell two years ago.

It is now owned by Mercer Canyons Inc., a local family farming enterprise. The corporation has contracted the Valley Theater Co., a nonprofit acting troupe, to manage the theater at 1226 Meade Ave.

At 2 p.m., Rick James and Kathy Aubrey, co-executive directors of the Princess, will hold a forum to gather ideas from area residents, as well as share a few of their own.

Tours and refreshments will be offered.

For more information, call Rick James at 509-521-3925.

Small business loan workshop Tuesday

SUNNYSIDE -- A free class to help small businesses obtain loans will be held Tuesday.

The class will discuss finding loans of $5,000 to $35,000 to help people start or improve small businesses. It will be held in both Spanish and English at Sunnyside Worksource, 1925 Morgan Road.

The English portion will be 5-6 p.m. followed by Spanish at 6-7 p.m.

It's hosted by Rural Community Development Resource, a nonprofit agency that offers loans and technical assistance.

For more information, or to register, call the agency at 509-453-5133.