This June, acclaimed author and award-winning filmmaker Bill Carter will traverse the West Coast to promote the re-release of his memoir, Red Summer.

Published by independent publisher Schaffner Press, Red Summer is a compelling exploration of Carter’s experiences commercial salmon fishing in Bristol Bay over the course of four seasons.  Carter’s tour will begin June 7th with an appearance at Booksoup in West Hollywood, and will end on June 22nd with an appearance at the Mercy Corps Action Center in Portland, Oregon.

Watershed is thrilled to have organized the Northwest segment of his tour and we have provided more information about his diverse and interactive appearances below.

All appearances are open to the public and reservations are strongly recommended.

June 17th – Portland, Oregon
Celebration of creative writing and non-fiction with Orlo – www.orlo.org
8 – 10 pm
810 SE Belmont
Portland, OR
971-235-2734

This celebration of creative non-fiction will be the unofficial kick-off for the newest edition of The Bear Deluxe Magazine and will occur in the event space of the Zoomtopia Building – the new headquarters for both Orlo and the Wordstock Festival.

The evening will feature short readings from local Portland writer Moe Bowstern, and Bill Carter will recount his experiences as told in his memoir “Red Summer.” He will also share his experiences touring the site of the proposed Pebble Mine – a project that threatens to destroy one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world.  Shoren Brown from Trout Unlimited Alaska will be on hand to share information about their efforts to protect Bristol Bay.

After Bill’s presentation there will be an opportunity to mingle with writers and purchase “Red Summer.”

The event is open to the public and suggested donation is $10.

June 18th – Seattle, Washington
Fisherman’s Dinner with Ray’s Boathouse (www.rays.com)
5:30 – 9 pm
6049 Seaview Avenue NW
Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 789.3770
In 2010 Ray’s kicks off a year of farmer, fisher, rancher, cheesemaker, brewmaster and wine dinners featuring our many quality local purveyors to celebrate our 37-year commitment to sustainability and buying local.

Ray’s is preparing a special Red Summer Pre-Fixe Dinner that includes a copy of Carter’s critically acclaimed memoir.  Patrons who order this dish will then have the opportunity to meet with Bill Carter, who will be on hand to sign books and give first hand accounts of his experiences fishing in Bristol Bay.

For more information, prices and reservations please call: 206-789-7330.

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Bristol Bay Salmon Dinner with author Bill Carter 
June 18, 2010
Roasted Oxbow Farm Beets
anselmo farm green garlic, pete’s arugula, gothberg feta
Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon
black tea custard, maitakes, bing cherry
Boistfort Valley Strawberry Fraisier
crispy meringue, venture-schulze balsamic
$50.00 per guest, *includes an autographed copy of “Red Summer” 
(*price does not include beverages, tax or gratuity)

June 19th – Port Townsend, Washington
Sea-to-table Conversation hosted by the North Olympic Salmon Coalition (www.nosc.org)
5 – 7 pm
2333 San Juan Avenue
Port Townsend, WA 98368

The Green Sanctuary Committee of the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (QUUF) is collaborating with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition (NOSC) to host a “sea-to-table” conversation and an evening with award-winning filmmaker and author Bill Carter.

The evening will include presentations from local business leaders and fishing families and will be a fundraiser to help support the work of NOSC, whose mission is “to restore, enhance, and protect habitat of North Olympic Peninsula wild salmon stocks and to promote community volunteerism, understanding, cooperation and stewardship of these resources.”

Suggested donation is $10 and attendees will be treated to a screening of Carter’s new promotional demo film for Red Summer.

For more information about the event please contact Kai Wallin at the North Olympic Salmon Coalition, 360-379-8051

June 20th – Portland, Oregon
“Big Fish” Dinner
Hosted by Nostrana (www.nostrana.com)
1401 SE Morrison Portland, Oregon
503.234.2427

Nostrana – literally ‘ours’ in Italian – serves classic regional Italian cuisine built on refined yet rustic preparations, a passionate dedication to local farmers and producers, and the traditional method of cooking with fire.

Chef Cathy Whims was a 2009 James Beard “Best Chef Award” finalist and is a finalist again in 2010. Whims continues to be a long-standing advocate of the Slow Food Movement. In 2006, Nostrana was named Oregon’s Restaurant of the Year by The Oregonian.

With that in mind, Chef Cathy Whims will be hosting Bill Carter for a sustainable dinner on Father’s Day.  He will be available to meet guests and discuss his experiences fishing in Alaska’s Bristol Bay.

For more information, visit: www.nostrana.com.

June 21st – Astoria, Oregon
Filmmakers Dinner hosted by Clemente’s Restaurant (http://www.clementesrestaurant.com)
5 – 10 pm
1198 Commercial Street
Astoria, OR 97103
503.325.1067

Clemente’s Restaurant will be hosting Bill Carter for a $49 “Filmmakers Dinner” to celebrate his award winning film Miss Sarajevo, and to preview his newest promotional demo film for Red Summer.

Diners will enjoy a salmon-centric pre-fixe meal with four courses, and will watch and discuss both films.  Guests will have the opportunity to purchase both books on site and Bill Carter will be available to sign.  The event will celebrate the summer solstice, and will feature pourings from one of Oregon’s premier biodynamic wineries, Montinore Estate.

Hailing from a fourth generation Astoria salmon fishing family with Croatian roots, Lisa Clement brings a passion for health and sustainability to Clemente’s.  Her background in ancient medicine and food based cures combined with the passion for “slow foods” and beautiful presentation brings a contemporary flare to Clemente’s.

For more information, prices and reservations please call: 503-325-1067

June 22nd – Portland, Oregon
Screening of Miss Sarajevo at Mercy Corps Action Center (http://www.actioncenter.org/)
7– 9 pm
28 SW First Ave
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 896-5002

The only event of the tour to primarily feature Carter’s first memoir, Fools Rush In.

Mercy Corps will host a screening of Miss Sarajevo at their new Action Center, located in downtown Portland.  Bill Carter will be on hand to talk about his experiences making the film, and about his book Fools Rush In.

With 30 years of experience working in the world’s toughest places, Mercy Corps understands that a well-informed, mobilized constituency in the developed world is critical to realizing our mission of alleviating suffering, poverty and oppression. The solutions to the most complex global challenges require skilled and scaled advocacy to help the world’s poor. Targeted policy reform, including government aid spending and fairer trade agreements, as well as responsible corporate practices and consumer preferences, can save many lives. The Action Center and actioncenter.org are the cornerstone of Mercy Corps’ efforts to radically alter the way people think about the world, and their role within it.

*** ALL EVENTS sponsored in part by Trout Unlimited Alaska (TU-AK,) a sport fishing conservation group that is leading a diverse, grassroots campaign to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from Pebble. TU-AK will host a series of Bristol Bay salmon-tasting events, called Savor Bristol Bay, in Portland and Seattle in early July. Check out www.savebristolbay.org for details.

Yes, Portland has cemented its position as a swine-loving, cracklin’-crunching, squeal-munching city – some would rename it Porkland – with a fabulous showing at Cochon 555, Sunday evening at The Governor Hotel.

This is the second year that the traveling event – which is intended to raise awareness for heritage breed pigs and family-owned farms — has come to Portland. The other cities on the tour this year are Napa, New York, Boston, Stillwater, OK, (don’t hear much about Stillwater these days…), Atlanta, Des Moines, DC, Seattle, and San Francisco – with the winners of each city competing for king or queen of pork at the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen.

Chef Cathy Whims of Nostrana

The 555 conceit comes from “5 chefs, 5 pigs and 5 winemakers.” Our 5 chefs were Naomi Pomeroy/Beast, Gabriel Rucker/Le Pigeon, Andy Ricker/Pok Pok, Jason Barwikowski/Olympic Provisions, and our own Cathy Whims/Nostrana, who turned a Duroc pig into about 5 delicious dishes.

Event-goers washed down the fantastic pork creations (including an herb-laminated handkerchief pasta draped over the most adamantly luscious Bolognese you could ever imagine, from Cathy) with mighty fine drinks, including beer from Hood River’s awesome Double Mountain and wines from Bethel Heights, Soter, Elk Cove, Domaine Drouhin, and Domaine Serene.

Adding to the fascinating/crazy/cool/educational aspect of the event (yes, it was all those things) was a tour de force butchering of a whole Berkshire hog by SF butcher Ryan Farr. One minute, a pig was stretched out on the table, the proverbial nose to tail still connected, then about an hour later were enough tidy and tasty-looking cuts of meat to fill a butcher case for a month. Too bad the room wasn’t set up better so that more people could see and hear this craftsman at work.

Chef Adam Sappington of The Country Cat

And thank god we had another meat guru on the program after Ryan, namely butcher boy Adam Sappington from The Country Cat. He had roasted a whole pig, which he deftly dispatched into succulent portions, served with cheesey mashed potatoes. And biscuits. And BBQ sauce. Now, where’s my Double Mountain…

p.s. To get the full flavor and scope of the event, read up on the “incident” that ocurred later in the evening:

Lisa Neal, owner of Couer de Terre Vineyard in McMinnville, OR, gives her perspective on the 2010 Portland Indie Wine & Food Festival on her blog, Yamhill County Chic.  This is the fifth year Cour de Terre Vineyard has been invited to pour at Indie.  See Lisa’s blog post here.

A crowd of 150 people gathered in Pioneer Square yesterday to show their support of promoting travel to Portland for Travel Rally Day. Speakers shared their remarks and insights on how important the travel industry is to the region’s economy and how many jobs are created from visits to our beautiful state. Yesterday’s showing at the rally was a testament to how passionate the industry workers are, and the resulting media coverage shared that passion with local viewers.

The Watershed crew was there to not only show support for our clients, but to to help spread the word and ensure that media got the scoop. Check out KGW Ch.8 reporter Joe Smith’s news segment from the rally to learn how this industry affects thousands of Oregonian’s and drives billions of dollars to our economy. Watch here!

Joe Smith interviews Travel Portland President & CEO Jeff Miller

Let us know how your business is affected by tourism. Help us celebrate Travel Week and share your stories here.

The 6th annual Portland Indie Wine and Food Festival took place this weekend, and while we’ll be posting a complete recap in the days ahead, we caught event coordinator Katie Burnett schlepping buttons, wine, sponsor gifts, t-shirts and even a sink today and she wrapped up an incredibly successful two-part event.  Look for tasting notes and other details about these amazing wines to come in the next few weeks.

Yes, it’s true.  In addition to running Watershed, Lisa also runs the coolest wine event in town.  Lisa founded the festival in 2004 to celebrate Oregon’s incredible independent craft winemakers – many of these guys do not have tasting rooms and all make fewer than 2500 cases of wine per year.  The Indie Wine Festival is modeled after the Sundance Film Festival (it’s the only juried wine festival out there) and is set up like a farmer’s market (you can buy direct from the winemakers while you have your fill of bites from PDX’s top chefs).  This is one ticket you won’t regret buying, so if you haven’t already, get to it!  The festival is THIS Saturday at the Bison Building.  Buy tickets here.

Last Friday, The Oregonian’s Sara Perry caught up with Lisa to chat Indie wine.  Check it out here and see below.