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My name is Angelle Soans.  Beth Basile & I have had the pleasure of teaching art at Nehalem Elementary School over the past 2 years.  
Due to cuts in funding and increases in "academic/linear" requirements on teachers the arts were lost.  A group of dedicated & able volunteers reintroduced an art program with extraordinary results.  The children NEED the outlet for their creative expression, ideas & emotions...especially when things might be more stressful at home because of our struggling economy. We were able to hang a stunning 1,000 piece art show. The fifth graders, that will be moving on to a new educational environment next year, were able to help hang the show & see what goes  on behind the scenes to put a show together. There is a new appreciation for the thought & effort that goes into organizing a large scale exhibit and the impact that it can have on others.   It has been an honor to participate in the creative evolution & revelations within each & every student.

posted 2 years, 12 months ago
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I am so sorry I tuned in too late!

I was one of the lucky few artists in 2008 Junk to Funk show and it was an awesome experience. I had crocheted a dress out of cassette tapes that are rendered obsolete in our era of MP3s.

I am also a retailer and sell Stuff for a living (namely, yarn and chocolate). It is a very interesting discussion for me, because I do nothing but try to match the right person to the right Stuff to sell them all day long, and I can tell you - people just want to buy things because that's what makes them happy. They are at the beach (I am in Manzanita), they have already hiked and stared at the waves and had lunch. Now there's nothing left for entertainment but browsing the stores.

I'd like to think that mine does not sell any useless stuff. Actually in Manzanita nobody does. We don't have knickknack souvenir shops and are proud of it :)

So some things, in my opinion, are just necessities: books, yarn,  food, clothes. In that order exactly :) But I don't get why we need new cell phones when the old ones still work fine (I just got my first new phone in 6 years, and it's one of the "smart" ones and I LOVE it), or why every time it's back to school time, we're supposed to get the kid new backpack and lunchbox. Not everybody does, but some of my mom-friends do.

I guess my perspective comes from having grown up in USSR, and there shopping was more about "getting it" - you had to find where something you need was sold and pretty much did not have a choice of color or model and had to get it before it's gone. I love telling my friends that in first grade we all had the exact same kind of pen because that was the only kind that was sold. Period. So I had one pen, and when the ink would run out we'd get a refill (because why buy a whole new pen - you just need a refill). My son who is 6 has probably as many pens I had owned in my whole life now :) I may be compensating a bit.

I could go on and on. Fun topic.

Olga Tonjes

T-SPOT Yarn, Teas and Chocolates

Manzanita,OR

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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