1. Light the night
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is offering another season of Lantern Tours: An Evening at the Fort, from November through March. The next two dates are Nov. 23 and 30, both at 7 p.m. These popular ranger-led tours offer participants ages 10 and older an after-dark experience in the reconstructed stockade; Vancouver Barracks tours are also available. Guests should meet at 6:45 p.m. at the fort, 1001 E. Fifth St., Vancouver. Tour-takers — each carrying a candle lantern — will be guided through several fort buildings, where costumed volunteers will reenact historical vignettes that will transport onlookers back in time to the 1840s. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for kids ages 10 to 15; registration is required at www.nps.gov/fova/learn/news/lanterntours1920.htm or www.friendsfortvancouver.org
2. Right on track
The public is invited to a series of open houses in November hosted by the Columbia Gorge Model Railroad Club at the group’s club house at 2505 N. Vancouver Ave. in Portland (across from Legacy Hospital). Attendees of all ages will enjoy sharing the craftsmanship, history and nostalgia of model railroad-building, featuring the largest H0 (or 1:87 scale) railroad layouts in the Pacific Northwest. The club house will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on four remaining dates: Nov. 23, 24, 30 and Dec. 1. Admission is $8 for adults, $3 for kids ages 3 to 11, and free for kids younger than 3. Admission closes after 4 p.m., although guests arriving before that time are welcome to stay. For more details and information on how to join the club, visit www.columbiagorgemodelrailroadclub.com.
3. Jog and gobble
Don’t let the turkeys get you down on Thanksgiving Day — join the Ridgefield Turkey Trot 5K/10K Run/Walk at 9 a.m. on Nov. 28 at Union Ridge Elementary School, 330 N. Fifth Ave., Ridgefield. The registration fee, which ranges from $15 to $25 for kids and adults, goes to support the Ridgefield Public Schools Foundation and Ridgefield Family Resource Center. Race participants are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items; each item donated earns a raffle ticket for a drawing to win $100 in gift cards to local restaurants and winners will be announced at the post-race awards ceremony. Go to www.ridgefieldpsf.org/events to register online or to download a registration form containing event details. Race packets can be picked up from 4 to 6 p.m. Nov. 27 at Union Ridge Elementary.
4. Coopermania
Just can’t get enough D.B. Cooper, the infamous person who perpetrated the United States’ only unsolved skyjacking? Then you’ll be spoiled for choice this week, with two Cooper-centric events at the Kiggins Theatre, 1011 Main St., Vancouver. First, there’s CooperCon 2019, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 23, where experts discuss the 1971 incident when D.B. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 and parachuted from the plane midflight, never to be captured. The audience can join the discussion, ask questions and see D.B. Cooper artifacts. Tickets are $15 at DBCooperCon.com. Next, there’s “In Flight with D.B. Cooper,” at 7 p.m. Nov. 27, a staged radio drama with voice actors and Foley sound artists, digital effects, music and illuminating visual backdrops. Tickets are $10 at www.kigginstheatre.com/events/re-imagined-radio/.
