ARLINGTON — The Arlington-Stillaguamish Eagle Festival is returning for its ninth year Feb. 5-6, with arts and crafts shows, river trips and informational exhibits celebrating the local environment and its wildlife.
North Cascades River Expeditions will offer an 8-mile rafting trip Feb. 5. Meet at Haller Park at 10:30 a.m. and plan to be back by 2:30 p.m. Cost is $60 per person. For details, call 1-800-634-8433 or visit www.riverexpeditions.com.
Darrington’s Adventure Cascade will offer short float trips on the Stillaguamish River Feb. 6. Meet at Haller Park at 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. and plan to be back an hour and a half later. Cost is $30 per person or $150 for a private raft of up to six people. For details, call 360-393-6815 or visit www.adventurescascades.com.
The Country Carvers Chainsaw Carving Show will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 5-6 at Legion Park downtown. Twelve chainsaw carvers will carve eagles and other art. On Feb. 6 at 2:30 p.m., Nyal Thomas will carve an ice sculpture that will be auctioned at 3 p.m., along with an assortment of wood carvings.
The Arlington Arts Council invites locals to enter the Eagle Photography and Nature Art Contest, to be displayed at the Rock, Paper, Scissors Art Show Feb. 6. Entries must be delivered Feb. 5 from noon to 6 p.m. Also, a haiku contest is open to poets of all ages, and the deadline to enter is Jan. 31. To enter online, visit www.arlingtonwa.gov/haikucontest.
The Rock, Paper, Scissors Show will feature art in all media Feb. 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Magnolia Hall at 225 E. Third St. The Northwest Regional and Valley Spinners will present spun wool fiber and related crafts by textile artists, and the Marysville Rock and Gem Club will present a large display.
You can embark on an hour-long bird identification walk by meeting at Country Charm Park, at 604 E. Gilman, at 9 a.m. on Feb. 6. From 10 a.m. to noon, wildlife biologists will offer eagle-spotting tours of the Port Susan Bay Nature Conservancy, at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River. From Arlington, take SR 530 west through Silvana. Turn left on Norman Road and follow it to Boe Road. The nature conservancy is at the end of Boe Road.
The Arlington City Council Chambers will host an open house with the Sarvey Wildlife Center from noon to 4 p.m. Feb. 6, featuring birds of prey that have been rescued but are unable to be released back in the wild. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the chambers will also host nature exhibits.
The Arlington United Church at 101 E. Fourth St. will conduct hands-on arts and crafts projects for kids from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 6, along with a bake sale and soup lunch. That afternoon, the Olympic Theatre at 107 N. Olympic Ave. will be showing a half-hour nature documentary about beavers at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m., and serving as a forum for a discussion of climate change in the Stillaguamish watershed from 2-3 p.m.
After kids have navigated a salmon obstacle course in Legion Park and learned more about beavers and salmon from the Stillaguamish Tribe upstairs in the Arlington City Hall during the day, the Mirkwood and Shire Cafe at 117 Division St. will offer live music starting at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5-6. The shows are for all ages until 11 p.m. The cover charge is $5.
