06/26/09 10 Days Out

Friday, June 26

* Portland's Dry County Crooks wear the tough-guy, blue-collar greaser look well, but these guys also wear their hearts on their tattooed sleeves, singing with a rockabilly-meets-Social Distortion style about the genuine pains of lovin' and losin'.

The Dry County Crooks play tonight at the Yakima Sports Center along with mellow Americana band Westerly. (These guys are more of a Jayhawks-meets-Tom Petty outfit).

The show starts about 9 p.m. Cover is $5.

Saturday, June 27

* Kestrel Vintners will host a few of its namesake feathered friends during the annual Kestrel Festival at the Lower Valley winery, 2890 Lee Road in Prosser.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Marsha Flamm of the Raptor House Rehabilitation Center in Selah will be available to talk about kestrels and other birds of prey. And from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., she'll present falcon diving demonstrations. Visitors of all ages are invited to see these birds.

Also, a barbecue lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $10 and proceeds benefit the Raptor House. Then at 6 p.m., there's a five-course Winemaker Dinner. Cost is $60 and reservations are required.

For more information or to RSVP for the dinner, call Kestrel Vintners at 509-786-2675 or visit www.kestrelwines.com.

* Local writer-director Michael Weiss is debuting his three new film shorts with a screening at 7 p.m. Saturday at 2907 Canterbury Lane (it's a private home).

The films are "Bleu," "Love Lilly" and "Encounter," and they run about an hour all together. Dealing with abuse, romance and a look back at love, the shorts star Mimi Applebaum (book fans will recognize her from Inklings Bookshop) and Shawn Hill, front man for local rock band Pity Dog, which will play after the screening.

Admission is free.

Sunday, June 28

* Family, friends and fellow green thumbs will celebrate the life of local gardening figure Barney Smith from 1-3 p.m. Sunday at the Yakima Area Arboretum. Smith, who died in March, would have turned 93 this weekend.

Smith was a longtime seed salesman who wrote a gardening column for the Yakima Herald-Republic for more than 33 years. His column ended in 1998.

Sunday's memorial event will be casual, with live jazz music, pictures and informal storytelling. Attendees are welcome to bring flowers or vegetables from their gardens for a display during the celebration. Memorial donations can be made to the Yakima Area Arboretum in support of gardening education.

Monday, June 29

* Author Steve Turner will visit Yakima on Monday to promote his novel "Amber Waves and Undertow: Peril, Hope, Sweat, and Downright Nonchalance in Dry Wheat Country."

Published this year by the University of Oklahoma Press, "Amber Waves" centers on Eastern Washington's Adams County, where Turner worked as a young harvest hand. He currently lives in Santa Cruz, Calif.

In the book, Turner -- a seasoned journalist who's written feature articles for the Boston Globe, New York Times, Washington Post and San Jose Mercury News -- interweaves family narratives, historical episodes and his own experiences to illuminate the transformation of rural America from the 19th to the 21st century.

Turner will have a book signing at 7 p.m. Monday at Inklings Bookshop, 5629 Summitview Ave. in the Chalet Place shopping center.