Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Today kicks off a conversation series I will be doing in this column on Arts & Pride Month during the month of June. The columns in this ...
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In last month’s column, I wrote about the USS Olympia and its fascinating history and folklore. This column focuses on another ship ...
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By Ira Wesley Kitmacher
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5/29/26
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Aging is challenging. We shouldn't have to face it alone. To paraphrase a country song, "Let's fall to pieces together. Why should we all fall apart?" ...
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Typically, we think of rare bird visitors to Thurston County as avian mistakes — birds that have messed up their ...
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Timberline High School (THS) Theater Director Dr. Adam Jones recently told me about something coming that we should all be ...
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By Rachel Benton
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5/28/26
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The Olympia Symphony Orchestra (OSO) recently announced Geoff Yost as its new executive ...
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By Rachel Benton
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5/27/26
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About a year ago, I wrote a random status on Facebook saying that I hoped someone in Thurston County would put on a production of ...
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By Rachel Benton
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5/26/26
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Squirrels don’t just eat nuts; some of them are nuts. In my yard, there is one particular squirrel that is definitely ...
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Sitting in the audience for Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia (SOGO)’s spring concert, I was completely in awe of everything ...
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By Rachel Benton
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5/22/26
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In 1967, upcoming mushroom magnate Cameron Ostrom bought a small farm just past the edge of town on the corner of ...
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This year’s migration season brought some unusual avian visitors to Thurston County and elsewhere in Washington. I wonder if ...
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Stepping into the James Koval Center for the Performing Arts last week, I noticed a large painting in the lobby that has been hanging ...
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By Rachel Benton
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5/21/26
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Of all the shows I have been to in Thurston County, this was the one that had the most people dressed up in theme with the ...
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By Rachel Benton
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5/19/26
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Every spring, there are more tomato varieties for sale than the year before. You could spend the whole month of May researching ...
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Throughout the week, I found myself giving way to nostalgia for my days as a choir student. I loved performing in our annual ...
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By Rachel Benton
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5/15/26
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Thurston County’s Glacial Heritage Preserve is an 80-acre property purchased in 2005 and set aside for permanent protection of a ...
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The Olympia Family Theater (OFT) has so much to celebrate! This weekend will mark a historic opening of “The Hobbit” as the ...
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By Rachel Benton
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5/13/26
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I have seen multiple ballets performed at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts stage throughout the years with local and ...
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By Rachel Benton
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5/12/26
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I once had a neighbor who earned a Master Gardener title by attending a series of classes. She had never grown a single broccoli ...
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On Wednesday, May 6, a visit to a nearby native prairie confirmed what I had been told: the peak wildflower bloom this year is coming ...
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By George Walter
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5/7/26
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