Hoffman Center Blog

Stop by the Hoffman Center on Saturday, February 13 between 11am and 2pm, and have fun making a creative one-of-a-kind card for your Valentine. 

Lisa Fenton, local artist and experienced art teacher, will be on hand to inspire and assist participants in making fun, creative, and one-of-a-kind cards for their Valentine. Art supplies are free and include all sorts of materials: from fabric samples and lace to glitter, pastels and paints. There will even be a ‘writing table’ to help attendees to put their thoughts into words.

All ages are welcome and families are encouraged to attend together. The PlayShop will be held at the Hoffman Center at 594 Laneda Avenue in Manzanita.

Please join the Hoffman Center and Hoffman Center volunteers in supporting our Neahkahnie High School Speech Team. This hard-working creative team is a consistent contest winner, despite having to work outside classroom hours, after school and on weekends, with minimal budget. In order to keep performing, the team needs to raise money for materials, scripts, subscriptions, camp fees, and hotel costs when they travel to compete.

They have heart and deserve our support. So, here’s the plan:

The Center will host a fundraising public-awareness event to demonstrate the talents of the “Speechies” at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, 2010. Donations will be requested, with a suggested minimum of $10 per person. Refreshments will be served.

The format, agreed to by Speech Coach Holly Lorincz and the students, is as follows:

∙ Impromptu speech (audience selects the topic)

∙ Dramatic Interpretation speech

∙ Duo Interpretation speech

To top off the evening, a Public Forum Debate will have two team members square off with Nehalem Mayor Shirley Kalkhoven and Wheeler Mayor Walt Trandum on a current international topic. The audience will judge the “winner” of the debate.

The real “winners” will be public awareness and support for the Speechies as they move into college, regional and, hopefully, state competitions.

Please join us for an intellectually stimulating evening, and support our local youth. The success of this event rests with you. Spread the word. January 22, 6:30 p.m. at the Hoffman Center, 594 Laneda Ave., Manzanita.

Cast members from “Cassie the Crab and Rosita the Island Girl” pose for a photo on stage at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.

Students from the Hoffman Center Summer Drama and Performing Arts Camp topped off their three-week experience by putting on three performances of “Cassie the Crab and Rosita the Island Girl” to appreciative audiences. Center board member Annie Narañjo-Rivera led the camp and directed the play.

Throughout the camp, the kids, ages 4 to 26, learned acting techniques, auditioned for roles and rehearsed their parts.

“Cassie” tells the story of the birth of the Caribbean Islands, with mystical sea creatures, fantastic adventures, and Caribbean and Latin music.

It might have been cloudy outside, but things were very bright in the Hoffman Center during the week of August 3rd.

Local artist Nicole Poole teamed with Skye Archer, home on vacation from art school in Chicago, to teach a combined Painting Exploration and Art of the Book camp. At the same time, Lynn Thomas, local music teacher, led an Art and Music Exploration class.

The week ended with a Saturday evening show and concert by the combined students. Art works were displayed all over the walls, and the music student played three works they had rehearsed.

Their parents and friends showed a lot of pride in the kids’ accomplishments.