If you are in Rufus or Wasco, OR this spring or summer, and notice more people out in their vegetable gardens, it may be due to the successful launch of the free Seed to Supper class in Rufus this spring! This 6-class program aimed at beginning or low-income adult gardeners was held at the Rufus Community Center (City Hall) on Monday mornings March 20th through April 2023. 

Columbia High School hosted a Career Day for high school students from White Salmon and the surrounding area to further their knowledge of careers available to them in their region on April 26th, 2023.

Bargeway kicks off a week of entertainment tonight with the inventive chords of Chris Baron. There’s a lot going on in The Gorge this week, including The Little Shop of Horrors, Birds and Brews, Roller Skating, Book Signings, Movies, and tons of live music. Check it all out here.

The raffle to support students in The Dalles and Hood River is aiming to put someone in a new car while local communities pay it forward for sports and extra-curricular activities at high schools in TD and HR. Tickets are $10 for a chance to win a new ‘23 Toyota Corolla. The raffle has the potential to bring $150k.

Eric Leadbetter performs at Bargeway Pub tonight, April 19. The show starts at 6 p.m. His music is very unique and original, with ghostly echoes of the golden ages of rock. Eric is kicking off a huge week of entertainment as music, comedy art, and all forms of entertainment are spread far and wide this week in the Gorge.

Kindergarten pre-registration for North Wasco County School District will be held the first week of May. Children must be 5 years old by September 1, 2023, to enroll in kindergarten for the 2023-2024 school year. Parents and guardians with incoming kindergartners should contact their neighborhood school from May 1st through May 5th to get started.

Local Bilingual Family Liaison, Julie Zapien, successfully organized a community fun run and taco feed event centered around celebrating Cesar. E. Chavez and bolstering Latin(e) family engagement at Colonel Wright School in The Dalles, OR. last March.

A local group of citizens has launched a campaign in a bid to gain community support around building a new high school in The Dalles. The events this weekend and website launch, VoteYESTDHS.org is an initiative of the Political Action Committee, North Wasco Strong Community Schools, and aims to build advocacy and rally community support around the goal for a new high school initiative.

People often come in and they’re very anxious and we are able to set their fears to rest. We have an absolutely no shame, no judgment zone. It’s just about their health and public health and safety and we just want everybody to get care, said Hanlon Wilde. 

The Bargeway Pub welcomes "Martino" Gerschwitz on Wednesday, April 12. Martin has toured with such bands as "Eric Burdon and the Animals" and "Iron Butterfly". In addition to the music, there are talks on the Volcanic Origins of the Columbia River, Comedians, drum circles and a nice run in Cascade Locks ending at Gorges Beer Co. Want to know more?

Mosier Community School Board to hold a meeting about school security after a teacher receives a threat and the school is shuttered for two days.

A Community Cleanup and an Easter Egg Scramble had children and Volunteers on the move Saturday, April 8, as Columbia Gorge Toyota and Honda pulled off a double event giving children some glee and locals some pride after cleaning up parts of West Second and Sixth Streets in The Dalles.

The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is proud to host a free public program on Saturday, April 15, where scholars and community leaders will discuss the history of the Yasui Brothers’ Store in Hood River. The program will take place at 2 pm at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River and will be followed by a casual reception with light refreshments.

April Power brings musical flowers this week as the Bargeway Pub kicks it off with a show tonight, April 5 at 6 p.m. with Sarah Lodge & Dan Polidori playing an eclectic acoustic blend of top R&B, soul, pop and blues music. It’s just one of the dozens of offerings in music, literature, festivals, art, drum circles, plays, movies and more. Our Jim Drake’s been buzzin’ bringing a bouquet of options in this week’s gorge entertainment guide.

Students from three D21 Elementary Schools took to the kitchen yesterday, March 29th to compete for the coveted title of ‘Top Chef’. The Future Chefs Challenge, organized by Sodexo, the company that D21 contracts with to provide nutrition services has encouraged students to make healthy food choices and spark their interest in the culinary arts for the last decade.

The Encyclopedic Jim Drake has done it, yet, once again with so many options for music, entertainment, learning and growth that we kind of want to start tapping a high hat and kicking that bass drum. Check out all things fun and fantastic in this week’s edition of This Week in Gorge Entertainment.

Kim Hamberg with Gorge-Us-Greens offered tastings of microgreens at the Sunday Market in The Dalles at the 6th Street Station on March 26. These small clippings from cantaloupe, chard, and sunflowers were pretty tasty on a Sunday afternoon.

The Dalles is a town of about 16,000. It's impossible for me to know even 10% of the people living around me. How can I create a personal tribe within a population too big for my mind to track? 

Fort Dalles Museum’s seasonal opening is coming with some interesting new details as the local archive of all things The Dalles has several new exhibits including a curation of an opium pipe, needle and spoon found in a tunnel entrance south of The Dalles Mercantile.

The Dalles Cascade Singers and The-Almost-All-Irish-Almost-All-Brass-Band present the annual St. Patrick’s Day fundraiser at St. Peter’s Landmark. This annual event collects donations to benefit the historic St. Peter’s Landmark located at the corner of Lincoln and 3rd Streets. Official festivities commence Friday, March 17th, at 7:00 P.M.