Corral Creek kicks off spring season at George CoffeeHouse
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 months, 1 week AGO
Corral Creek, from Newberg, Oregon, will play at the George Community Hall March 21.
COURTESY PHOTO/RON TAYLOR
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | March 11, 2026 3:00 AM
GEORGE — The George CoffeeHouse concert season gets underway March 21 with a performance by Corral Creek at the George Community Hall.
“They’re a great bunch of people,” said Community Hall Director Debby Kooy. “They do wonderful classic bluegrass, plus some more contemporary bluegrass. The bandleader also does a fair amount of storytelling, which is interesting and fun to listen to.”
Corral Creek is based in Newberg, Oregon, in the wine country southwest of Portland. The name comes from a small stream that runs through bandleader Ron Taylor’s yard, he said. The band has played together for 21 years, Taylor said.
“We play wineries, assisted living facilities, community festivals and bluegrass festivals in Oregon and Washington,” Taylor said. “(We spent) a couple of weeks in Alaska a couple of years ago. They’re like a lot of areas; they like live music.”
The audience can expect to hear Northwest-themed songs about things like cars on blocks and opossum gravy; Taylor wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. The band is big on audience participation, with singalongs and dialogue, and often invites children up on stage.
“It’s always a family show,” Taylor said. “We like to see people who want to sing along. We want to see some kids if we can. And we’ll always include some Gospel songs as well, just to make it a fun evening for you.”
The concert will be at 5 p.m. The George CoffeeHouse concerts have been taking place earlier in the day because so many people prefer not to drive at night, Kooy said. Admission is $5 for adults and free for children 12 and younger. Refreshments will be served at halftime.
At every George CoffeeHouse concert there’s a hat pass to help pay the band’s expenses, Kooy said; that’s supplemented by a grant from the Columbia Basin Foundation.
“It keeps my husband and me from having to dig into our own pockets,” Kooy said.
Corral Creek is the first of three shows in the CoffeeHouse series this spring, according to the George Community Hall website. Carter Junction, with Clint and Sarah Carter, will play April 18 and 5 Mile Drive will be in town May 16.
“We just try to be entertaining and let people have a good time,” Taylor said.
Corral Creek
March 21
Doors open 4:30 p.m.
Show begins 5 p.m.
George Community Hall
403 W. Montmorency Blvd.
George
Admission $5, under 12 free
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”