Potluck frenzy and fish tags

Hello Friends of Fishtrap,

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. I drove home from my brother’s, across scabland, prairie, and pines darkened by the early demise of the sun. There was snow over Tollgate, and I was thankful for my studded tires. I was thankful, too, for the moon, lightly veiled behind silver fishscale clouds, guiding me home to Wallowa County and holiday season, a.k.a. “Potluck Frenzy.”

To survive Potluck Frenzy, you have to learn to pick, choose, and recycle. And if you’re anywhere near us physically, two events you ought to choose are Fishtrap’s annual Pretty Good (Recycled) Book Sale, on Saturday, December 5, here at Fishtrap’s Coffin House starting at 8 am, and Anne and Jim Shelly’s clay art sale, which starts at noon (and benefits Fishtrap) on Saturday, December 12. Followed, of course, by a community potluck at 4:30. See more of their lovely work and get directions at http://www.fireworksclayart.com/.

Silver fish scales. We fervently hope that fish – of several colors, described below – will be in your future. Even if you’re NOT anywhere near us physically, please join us in spirit on the following voyage, which we recently shared with those on our (physical) mailing list:

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A couple of years ago, author Jon Turk came to Fishtrap and read from his book, In the Wake of the Jomon, in which he argues that Kennewick Man’s ancestors may very well have sailed from Siberia to North America, at least in part just because they wanted to see what was around the corner. Exploring.

This past year and a half has been exploratory for Fishtrap, as well. We’re in waters known to be treacherous for any organization – that period of time when a long-time, totally devoted, and charismatic (yes, you are, Rich) founding director has let go the helm, and the crew – staff, board, volunteers, faculty, participants, funders – all feel the vessel yaw and pitch, and, sometimes, wallow. But lately there’s been less tangling of oars, and we’ve been glancing at each other with little smiles as we pull. We’re still making headway, visiting new ports, and we’ve picked up some exotic, exciting fruit along the way.

For the first time, we offered a Summer Fishtrap workshop called “Outpost,” located at Billy Meadows in the outback of Wallowa County, where, under the guidance of Kim Stafford, participants tented, wrote with pencil, pen, and paper (!), traded stories around a campfire, and engaged a bit more intensely with the natural environment. In conjunction with Outpost, Charles Goodrich served as our first Werner Writer-in-Residence, spending the rest of July mostly in solitude, chasing the Muse in the quiet at Billy Meadows and writing about the natural world in Wallowa County.

Pramila Jayapal and Laura Pritchett provided writing prompts to participants in our first “Writing on the River” event, a mix of writing and rafting on the Snake River in Hells Canyon, with just enough whitewater to make it fun.

For the second time, we offered a Summer Fishtrap workshop for children, taught by Kirsten Rian. We’re pleased to include their work in the 2009 Fishtrap Anthology (which will be available soon). In 2010, we’ll add a workshop for teens. Also for the second year, we’ve got several writers enrolled in a year-long workshop, this time with John Daniel, in memoir.

The Eastern Oregon Writers in Residence project, which was launched in 2007, is entering its fourth year. Fishtrap has worked with local arts and culture activists in Fossil, Condon, Chiloquin, and the many scattered communities of Harney County to bring Peter Sears, Jon Rombach, Ellie Belew, Cheryl Hatch, Geronimo Tagatac, Laura Gamache, Carlos Reyes, and Angela Allen into their schools. I’ve enjoyed sailing on high desert winds to visit those communities, and to welcome a new partner, High Desert Journal, to help move the program forward. The whole project has been one big learning experience.

Then there was Fishstock in The Dalles, where Marv and Rindy Ross, Craig Lesley, Steve Einhorn and Kate Power, Molly Gloss, and a host of other Fishtrap friends helped put on a great evening of words and music as a fundraiser for us. That was a new port of call for us, but we found the locals friendly, and plan to return.

Exploring. We’re doing it, and hope that you will join us. Try a week at the Imnaha Writers’ Retreat, where Patricia Keith just said, “That was the best, most productive week of scriptwriting I’ve ever had!” If you don’t live in Wallowa County, hop on the Fishtrap Bus and come out to Winter Fishtrap this February to join Ursula Le Guin, Molly Gloss, and Tony Vogt. If you do live in Wallowa County, dive into The Big Read (this year it will be To Kill A Mockingbird). If it’s been ten years since you came to Summer Fishtrap, mark it on your calendar: July 11-18, 2010.

Of course, we do want and need you to contribute. Donations from folks like you make up nearly 15% of our budget, and without your help, our oars will get tangled again. To make it a little more fun, we will be awarding to everyone who donates to Fishtrap a “fish tag” based on your annual giving level. (Don’t worry, we won’t clip your dorsal fin.) After much, and I mean much, spirited discussion, we have settled on the following annual donor levels.

Sockeye Salmon, $5000 and above
Steelhead, $2500-$4999
Chinook Salmon, $1000-$2499
Coho Salmon, $500-$999
Kokanee Salmon, $250-$499
Rainbow Trout, $100-$249
Dolly Varden, up to $99

If anadromous fish like salmon and steelhead can find their way to Wallowa County, so can you. Come explore with us.

Cordially yours,

Rick Bombaci
Executive Director