Go for Jan. 15: Service Day, Symphony

1. Giving back

Spend Martin Luther King Jr. Day giving back to the community through service projects and activities. Washington State University Vancouver will host workshops open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 18. Diana Pei Wu, executive director of Portland Jobs with Justice, will deliver the lunchtime keynote about her work with social justice issues at 11:30 a.m. at the Firstenburg Student Commons on campus, 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave., Vancouver. Donations of hygiene items and nonperishable food items will be collected. 360-546-9182 or http://events.vancouver.wsu.edu/martin-luther-king-jr-day-service-0

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Vancouver invites community members to help create quilts for the local chapter of Project Linus, an organization that gives blankets to children in trauma. No quilting skills are required, and the event is open to all ages from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 18 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Vancouver, 4505 E. 18th St., Vancouver. Donations welcomed to cover materials costs. 360-833-0925 or www.uucvan.org

Volunteers of all ages can join Columbia Springs for a volunteer work party with restoration activities and projects at the natural area from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 18 at Columbia Springs, 12208 S.E. Evergreen Highway, Vancouver; free. 360-882-0936 or www.columbiasprings.org

The city of Vancouver is looking for volunteers for cleanup events from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 18 at the Old City Cemetery, East Mill Plain and Grand boulevards; a beach cleanup at the Water Resource Education Center, 4600 S.E. Columbia Way; an ivy pull at Blandford Canyon, North Blandford Drive and MacArthur Boulevard; and a work party at Father Blanchet Park, Birmingham Way and Louisiana Drive. Wear work clothes and closed-toe shoes; tools will be provided. Open to all ages, volunteers younger than 18 must bring a signed consent form. 360-487-8325 or www.cityofvancouver.us/cmo/page/martin-luther-king-jr-national-day-service-2016

2. Symphonic concerto

The 70-member Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Salvador Brotons, will perform with Dimitri Zhgenti, a pianist born in the Republic of Georgia and now a resident of Vancouver. The concert will feature Franz Liszt’s “Prometheus,” “Piano Concerto No. 1” by Sergei Prokofiev, and B?la Bart?k’s “Concerto for Orchestra.” The symphonic concerts begin at 3 p.m. Jan. 16 and 7 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Skyview High School Concert Hall, 1300 N.W. 139th St., Vancouver. Tickets are $37 to $50, $32 for seniors and $10 for students. 360-735-7278 or www.vancouversymphony.org

3. Life and love songs

Vocalist Beth Larson will sing familiar favorites from the Great American Songbook, along with Robert Schumann’s song “Frauenliebe and Leben (A Woman’s Love and Life).” Larson will be accompanied by pianist Tim Nickel, bassist Laurent Nickel and percussionist Nick Sauma from 7 to 9 p.m. Jan. 16 at St. Luke’s-San Lucas Episcopal Church, 426 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Vancouver. Appetizers and beverages available, with a silent auction as well. Tickets are $10. 360-696-0181 or www.stlukesvancouver.com

4. Trouble in New Mouse City

Oregon Children’s Theatre brings the best-selling children’s book series to the stage with “Geronimo Stilton: Mouse in Space.” Reluctant hero Geronimo Stilton, a talking mouse and newspaper journalist, must save New Mouse City from a group of villains by taking a top-secret mission to space with the help of sister Thea, cousin Trap and young nephew Benjamin. The production runs Jan. 16 through Feb. 14, with performances at 2 and 5 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, and 11 a.m. Jan 17 and Jan. 24 at the Newmark Theatre, 1111 S.W. Broadway, Portland. Tickets are $18 to $32 and $14 to $28 for children. 503-228-9571 or www.octc.org/onstage/geronimo

5. In the shadow of ships

Celebrate the anniversary of the Kaiser Shipyards with an interpretive Lantern Tour through the Vancouver Barracks, led by park rangers under lantern light. The tour shines a focus on the site’s military history and how it shaped the park. The tour will begin at 7 p.m. Jan. 16 from the gate at the reconstructed fort, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, 1001 E. Fifth St., Vancouver. Tickets are $10, and $7 for ages 10 to 15, with reservations recommend. 360-816-6244 or www.nps.gov/fova/planyourvisit/lantern-tour.htm