When Gower Talley flew to New York to compete against 49 other finalists for the chance to win an Ace Hardware store in Texas, he knew he was going to win. Not just hoped, but really believed in his power to control his future. And it turned out, he was right.
Talley, a 48-year-old Washougal resident, won Ace Hardware’s Dream Ace Contest a couple years ago. He’s since sold the store, but the principles he applied to winning the contest formed the foundation of his book, “5 Things I Learned on the Road to the Dream.”
The book first came out last December, and a second edition was released in October by the Christian self-publishing company Tate Publishing.
The updated edition is less autobiographical, more instructional, said Talley, who does business training and motivational speaking and is president of The Northwest Boardroom.
The five choices people can make to help themselves be successful, according to Talley, are happiness, ownership, development, certainty and projection.
“The people who succeed are the ones who choose to succeed. The ones who try to succeed hope for luck,” he said. “I hope that I can use this (book) to convey some of those key concepts in a world where it seems people desperately need that.”
For Vancouver pianist, practice makes perfect
When classical pianist Barbara Roberts of Vancouver played in Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra’s “Awesome Openings” concerts in October, nearly all of her 23 piano students attended.
“It was wonderful,” said Roberts, 56, who performed the solo in Beethoven’s G major Piano Concerto.
It’s easy to see why piano students would take an interest in Roberts’ career.
She has taught piano since she was in college, with a hiatus from 1987 to 1999 to raise her four children. Now, she also performs regularly and wears a wide variety of other hats. Roberts judges student contests, serves on the board of Portland Piano International, as well as on the board of the School for Piano Technology for the Blind and Visually Impaired (also known as the Piano Hospital) in Vancouver.
She was a finalist in the 1983 United States Information Agency Artistic Ambassador Piano Competition.
Roberts is already preparing for the Ten Grands concerts to be held this spring in Seattle and Portland. It will be her seventh year playing in the concert at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland. The concert, which typically sells out early, features 10 grand pianos and 10 concert pianists playing a variety of musical styles. The pianists play simultaneously, in various combinations and individually.
“I prepare a lot for it,” Roberts said. “Classical musicians tend to practice and prepare early.”
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