Here’s our weekly round-up of events from March 5 – 11 on Mercer Island:

Run Consistently: Injury Risk Management for Runners
Monday, March 5, 6:30 pm
Movement Systems Physical Therapy, P.S., 8435 SE 68th St, Ste 100

Join Movement Systems Physical Therapy for a free community lecture by running performance coach and physical therapist Erik Bies, DPT, MS to learn how to recognize factors associated with a running injury, how to diversify your training with variation in effort level, environment, and skill, about the relevance of strength, joint mobility, flexibility, and endurance in running injuries, and how to balance tissue stress, training workload, and recovery. Appropriate for runners of all ages and levels.
Learn more >>

---

“Lunchtime Lessons” with Archana
Monday, March 5, 11:30 am – 1 pm
Caruccio’s, 2441 76th Ave SE, Suite 100

By popular demand, Archana is back! She will lead her audience through another interactive demo, weaving in interesting cultural stories. She will be creating a deeply comforting and grounding Northern Indian vegetarian lunch flavoured with Indian aromas and spices. Menu for this class will be posted soon. Your “Lunchtime Lesson” includes this informative demo and lunch.
Learn more >>

---

Winter Story Times at the Library
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE

Join the Mercer Island Children’s Librarian for stories, songs, rhymes, and fun in these 30-minute programs designed especially for you and your young child.

Tuesday March 6
Young Toddlers (12 – 24 months) – 10:30 – 11 am
Toddlers (2 – 3 years) – 11:30 am – Noon

Thursday March 8
Infants (0 – 12 months) – 10:30 – 11 am
Preschoolers (3 – 6 years) – 1 – 1:30 pm

---

Viva Cuba! The Backstory (free presentation)
Tuesday, March 6, 6:30 pm
Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th Street

In spring 2016 and again in 2017, as the U.S. policy towards Cuba thawed, Ray Pfortner and Nancy Wing were among the first wave of Americans to visit the island, leading 2 WTE visual artists’ cultural exchanges. The results can be seen in the Viva Cuba! exhibition at Mercer Gallery, from February 25 – April 13. The show chair, Ray Pfortner, will also present a slide show and talk on March 6.

Explore the realities of Cuba today in images at the Viva Cuba! exhibition, along with some of the backstories of making those images. Bring your questions about cameras, camera handling, and travel photography, too, and of course also about our third nearest neighbor only 90 miles off our shores. This event is free and no preregistration required.

---

Community Coffee Hour
Wednesday, March 7 & Friday, March 9, 9 – 10 am
Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th St

Join Mercer Island Parks & Recreation for Community Coffee Hour every Wednesday and Friday! This is a free program for kids, teens, adults, seniors, and families. Enjoy a hot cup of coffee in a fun and engaging atmosphere with people from the community.

For more information, call MICEC at 206-275-7909 or email at [email protected].

---

Storybook Corner
Wednesday, March 7, 10:30 – 11 am
Island Books, 3014 78th Ave SE

Bring your little ones in to enjoy popular picture books read by our staff or special guests.
Learn more >>

---

Kaleidoscope Play & Learn
Wednesday, March 7, 10:30 am – Noon
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE

Have fun singing songs, telling stories, reading books, creating art, and playing. Kaleidoscope Play & Learn is in English. Ages 5 years and younger with caregiver. Sponsored by the Friends of the Mercer Island Library.

---

Wine Wednesdays @ Caruccio’s
Wednesday, March 7, 5 – 9 pm
Caruccio’s, 2441 76th Ave SE, Suite 100

Purchase your wine by the glass from a rotating selection of wines. Each glass includes delicious appetizers served buffet-style. No need to purchase tickets for Wine Wednesday.
Learn more >>

---

The Pine and the Cherry: Japanese Americans in Washington
Wednesday, March 7, 7 – 8:30 pm
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE

Leading up to WWII, Japanese in Seattle and Eastern Washington thrived and prospered. Then came Executive Order 9066, forcing 120,000 Japanese and their American citizen offspring to concentration camps, without due process. When they returned, most had lost everything and could not find jobs.How did they face this injustice and rebuild their lives? How does a lively immigrant community face racist or religious hatred? Mayumi Tsutakawa, will reveal her family’s 100-year history against the backdrop of this dramatic American story. Sponsored by Humanities Washington and the Friends of the Mercer Island Library.

---

“Lunchtime Lessons” with The Karachi Kitchen
Thursday, March 8, and Friday, March 9, 11:30 – 1 pm
Caruccio’s, 2441 76th Ave SE, Suite 100

This lunchtime lesson demonstration class and lunch will be taught by Chef Kausar Ahmed from Pakistan. She will take her audience on a journey through her recently released cookbook “The Karachi Kitchen”. Chef Kausar is very loved at Caruccio’s, and she is excited to share her passion for her beautiful cuisine. Thursday’s lunch is Bun Kabab, and Friday’s lunch is Khao Suey.
Learn more >>

---

Tabletop Thursdays
Thursday, March 8, 4 – 7 pm
Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th Street

Drop by for an afternoon of board games, video games, playing pool or ping-pong, and hanging out. There’s a huge selection of games, and the staff is always up to taking on a new competitor. Games include: Codenames, Mission Red Planet, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Connect 4, Monopoly, and more. Free for ages 7 – 14.

For more information, call MICEC at 206-275-7909 or email at [email protected].

---

YTN presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
March 9 – April 1 | Fridays, 7 pm, Saturdays, 7pm, & Sundays, 2 pm
Parish Hall Theatre at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 4400 86th Ave SE

Youth Theatre Northwest presents their latest production, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming “ding” of the bell that signals a soul crushing loss.
Learn more >>

---

Classics on Film: Winter Series
Friday, March 9, 7:30 – 9:30 pm
Aljoya – Theater, 2430 76th Ave SE

This week’s film is Les demoiselles de Rochefort (The Young Girls of Rochefort) (1967). The Mercer Island Arts Council, with support from The Mercer Island Sister City Association, presents the Classics on Film Series. Screenings begin with an introduction by film historian Lance Rhoades and end with a Q&A session. Free and open to the public, with refreshments provided courtesy of Aljoya. All films are presented with English subtitles unless otherwise indicated.

---

Build a Puppet Stage Workshop
Saturday, March 10, 3 – 4:30 pm
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE

Presented by Cheryl Hadley, this event is for ages 5 and older (ages 5 to 9 must be accompanied by an adult). Bring your creativity skills to life and learn how to create a freestanding, folding puppet theater from a cardboard display board. You’ll design and embellish the stage and learn how to make your own sock puppet to star on stage! All materials provided. This program has been developed as a multigenerational event, with children working with accompanying adult. Please register as a team.

---

Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate Night
Sunday, March 11, 7:30 – 9:30 pm
Island Synagogue Kehilat Shevet Achim, 8685 SE 47th Street

Join Island Synagogue for a pre-Passover tasting of fine wines, cheeses and chocolate. This fundraiser features high quality Israeli wines that are not necessarily found on the shelves of our local markets, all kosher for Passover. The cheeses, supplied from The Cheese Guy Company and purchased through Affordable Kosher, are all Cholov Yisrael and kosher for Passover. Chocolates are also kosher for Passover and parve or Cholov Yisrael. There will be a wide selection of outstanding choices. Admission is $45 per person.
Learn more >>