Harrington News

Cultural event of the season

Harrington and vicinity were blessed this Christmas season with a performance of "Festive Flute" with Alicia Mielke on flute, Greg Presley on piano, Louise Butler on cello and Bruce Bodden on flute at the Fair Play Arena & Concert Hall sponsored by Rolinco Farms. Two performances were held on December 27 at 7 p.m. and December 29 at 1:30 p.m. The first date showcased Bach's Sonata in G Minor and Andre Messager's J'aimais la vielle maison grise from Fortunio, Georges Bizet's La fleur que tu m'avais jetee from Carmen and Paul Taffanel's Fantaisie sur Der Freischutz. Following an intermission, Sonata in A Minor "Ghost" and Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano in G Minor were played.

For the Sunday performance, a guest stated that slightly more than 100 were in attendance. A standing ovation brought about an encore. A seven-foot Steinway grand piano was rented for the event this year, just as in the previous three years. Alicia has given concerts at the farm for the last seven years.

Bruce Bodden grew up in Seattle. He started playing the flute in fourth grade, began private study at age 11 with Dorothy Bjarnason, earned a bachelor's degree from Eastman School of Music and half a master's degree from Boston University. Since 1990 he has been principal flutist with the Spokane Symphony. He also teaches music privately and is working toward a degree in the physical therapist assistant program.

Louise Butler attended the Curtis Institute of Music and Eastman School of Music, studying with David Soyer, Ronald Leonard, Alan Harris and Dorothy Amarandos. She is currently a member of the Spokane Symphony and a freelance musician who also teaches cello, coaches for the Spokane Youth Symphony, helps with school programs and arranges music for cello ensemble.

Greg Presley received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his master's from Julliard. He has appeared as a soloist with the Spokane Symphony, the Washington-Idaho Symphony and the Yale Symphony. As a composer himself, he has written many works for dance and solo piano. He served as a member of the piano faculty in the music department of Eastern Washington University in the spring of 2001 and has been a member of the piano faculty at Gonzaga University since the Fall of 2001.

Alicia Mielke, the daughter of Ron and Linda (Gooley) Mielke, began first grade in 1996-97 at the Harrington School District with Taunya Sanford as her teacher. She moved through the grades with ease and was in the sixth-grade class of Grace Moeller, the seventh-grade class of Dave Nighswonger, the eighth-grade class of Taunya VanPevenage.

Following Mielke's sophomore year, she attended summer school at Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. Her final year at Harrington was her junior year of high school, completed in 2006, after which she went to Interlochen Arts Academy for graduation from high school. The next four years were spent at the University of Texas. She finished second at the state level of the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist competition in 2009 and also won the Florida Flute Association's Young Artist competition in 2010. Alicia received her her bachelor's degree in music, graduating summa cum laude from The University of Texas at Austin, having studied with Marianne Gedigian, master's degree in music from New England Conservatory, studying with Paula Robison. Mielke placed third at the Pappoitsakis Memorial Flute Competition in 2013 and was the recipient of the 2012 Boston Woodwind Society's Flute Merit Award. She has performed concertos with the Spokane Symphony and at the Texas Music Teachers Association summer concert. Mielke has given multiple recitals in her family's barn near Harrington, with donations benefitting the Harrington Food Bank. This year, nearly $2,000 was raised by the audience members numbering about 80 on Friday and 100 on Sunday.

Invitations and programs for the event were designed by Les LePere, a local artist and personal friend of Mielke; these seemed like additional Christmas presents to those so fortunate to possess them. Most of the details for this article came from these treasured gifts. Jo Gooley, grandmother of Alicia, baked barn cookies and Russian teacakes to be enjoyed during the intermission.

Director of the UFO Center

From New Year's Eve at 5 p.m. until 6 a.m. on New Year's Day, the National UFO Reporting Center, located in an abandoned 1960s-era missile site between Harrington and Davenport, was inundated with more than 200 reports via phone or email of clusters of fireballs, some consisting of just a few but most made up of a dozen or more which were predominantly red, yellow or orange in color. Of these reports, the center's director Peter Davenport stated from memory that they came from California, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Ohio, Minnesota, West Virginia, Florida, Montana, Michigan and Arizona, and other places that he couldn't recite from memory. In order to gain greater credibility, he has been suggesting that these observers also report the sightings to their local news stations and newspapers, a practice which is expected to create more thorough documentation. During 2012, these fireball sightings began to increase, and they continue to be a source of wonder and excitement.