Save the Date: Synchronized skating, roller derby highlight happenings

You know what your house is missing? A painting of your pet … done by you.

Fill that home decoration hole during this month’s Paint Your Pet Sundays at Vancouver Art Space, 8700 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive No. 206, Vancouver; $35.49, 13 and older. All you have to do is email a photo of your pet to Vancouver Art Space (vancouverartspace@gmail.com), and they will transfer the photo to a 12-by-12 or 11-by-14 canvas, which will be ready to paint when you come in. The event price includes transfer, canvas, paint and instruction, with 10 percent of the proceeds benefitting the Humane Society of Southwest Washington. Paint Your Pet Sundays will be from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Feb. 11, 18 and 25. 360-787-8772 or vancouverartspace.com.

Listen to your writer’s favorite writer. At the 10 a.m. Feb. 15 edition of Clark College’s Columbia Writer’s Series, Cheston Knapp, the managing editor of the Portland-based award-winning literary magazine Tin House, will discuss his work. Knapp will also read from his new collections of essays, “Up Up, Down Down,” which has received praise from author and New York Time’s contributor Leslie Jamison, GQ correspondent Wells Tower and Anthony Doerr, the author of “All the Light We Cannot See,” which won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The event lasts about an hour, and takes place at Clark College in the Penguin Union Building, 1933 Fort Vancouver Way Vancouver; free. 360-699-6398 or www.clark.edu.

This roller derby will really tie the whole weekend together, and it’s not just, like, our opinion, man. Storm City Roller Girls kicks off their 2018 season with a full-day Big LeBoutSki Tournament from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 17 at Exhibition Hall C in the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, 17402 N.E. Delfel Rd., Ridgefield; $25, plus $6 for parking (cash only parking). There will be games at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., with the last two bouts being a consolation match and a championship match, respectively. stormcityrollergirls.com.

Start making room … for more beer. Just as soon as you start recovering from the last brewfest, here comes another. Zwickelmania, a celebration of Oregon brewing, includes about 150 breweries, and will offer events such as meet-the-brewer, beer tastings, brewery tours and food and beer pairings. Portland participating breweries include: Laurelwood, Lompoc, Stormbreaker, Gigantic and many more. Portland area breweries take part from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 17, while breweries from the Gorge, the coast, the Willamette Valley, Eastern, Central and Southern Oregon participate at the same time Feb. 24. oregoncraftbeer.org/Zwickelmania.

It can be hard enough just getting in sync with friends and family. Yet, this group of skaters stays seamlessly coordinated while gliding around on ice. Almost 1,600 skaters representing 100 of the nation’s top synchronized skating teams will compete for a U.S. Championship title at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships, which runs three days, starting at 1 p.m. on Feb. 22, 23 and 24 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 300 N. Winning Way, Portland; $20 to $81. Winners grab a spot at the International Skating Union World Synchronized Championships in Sweden. www.ussynchrochampionships.com.

It’s rare to have a teacher this acclaimed, so don’t hesitate to take advantage of his knowledge. David Rejano, who has been the principal trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra since 2016, will spend an afternoon mentoring young musicians through a public master class and answering audience questions in a Q&A session from 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 22 at Beacock Music, 1420 S.E. 163rd Ave., Vancouver; free. This event includes a special appearance by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra brass section. 360-735-7278 or www.vancouversymphony.org.

Watch monster trucks rumble in a field of dirt, and do tricks and jumps. You’ll be on the edge of your seats during this adrenaline-charged installment of the Monster Jam Triple Threat Series. Four new trucks make their Portland debut from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Moda Center at the Rose Quarter, 1 N. Center Court St., Portland; $20 to $60. 800-745-3000 or www.monsterjam.com/en-US/events/portland-or-0.