I see Meryl Streep is on her way to yet another Oscar nomination

for the painfully bad film, “Strings of My Heart.” In the film Meryl emotes

her way through the trials and tribulations of a white woman trying to save

poor black children by teaching them the joy of music. A real tear jerker. I

am still waiting for the film in which the noble black woman teaches the

poor white children the value of music in their lives. But I digress …

Meryl’s latest aside, I agree that music and the performing arts are

invaluable to us all. Music and theater improve my life. It is where

emotions can be expressed without consequence. Face facts, emotions are

like flatulence, you have to release them or they can upset the whole system.

If I get angry at the phone company and take it out by yelling at

my ever lovin’ husband, I can spread the anger like butter on hot toast. This

produces an angry family, at each other’s throats, but it does not help me

with the phone company.

But I can vent my frustration in the context of a performance. I can

cheer when Mel, Sly or Arnold gets revenge on a faceless bureaucrat. I leave

the theater feeling like I have been released from the burden of anger. I

can face the phone company calmly and in a focused manner. For children,

the need for emotional release and expression is critical.

Children, and especially teens, are just learning how to cope with

the emotional storm inside them. They cannot ignore it and hope it goes

away. They need a release and music, dance, and acting are great tools. The

exploration of feelings and mimicking of reactions is an ideal device for

teens to learn appropriate expression for raging emotions.

But maybe I am out of step with everyone. If we agree that the arts

are important, why have we, as a community, let the kids down. We have

not made an effort to support them in their quest. We have allowed the only

performing arts facility in the whole Lower Valley to go unfinished

for years. We have shown by our inaction that we don’t think the arts are

important to our kids or our neighborhoods.

I guess we don’t care that the curtain is homemade and doesn’t work.

I guess we don’t care that the electrical system is inadequate at best. I

guess we don’t care that half the stage is being taken up for storage. Gee,

do they really need lights?

Or maybe we do care. The Duvall Foundation for the Arts and the

Duvall Arts Commission have been holding sold-out performances on the stage

for two years running. Dance, music and drama classes in the schools and in

the Valley are bursting at the seams. I know of a ballroom dance class

that is packed with woman and men! We must want the performing arts in

our lives.

It is time to stop dawdling and cough up a little cash. We can vote

yes on the Performing Arts Center Completion Bond. For less than

the cost of a case of Bud or a box of wine, we can finish this facility properly.

We are talking seven cents per “thou” here; that works out to $14 per

year for two years and we are done. (This assumption is based on the owner of

a home valued at $200,000.)

By providing the students the proper tools for the job, and

providing our community with an essential facility, we are setting the stage

(pun intended) for success. Who knows, maybe down the road we will be

crying with our own Meryl Streep or cheering our own Mel Gibson.

Or maybe we will just be enjoying the Seattle Symphony on a rainy

Sunday afternoon without having to go downtown. Stranger things have happened.

Kate Russell lives between Carnation and Duvall. You can reach

her at Katemo1@msn.com.