"The sweet thing was, right from the beginning, whenever we got paid for playing, we always gave the money away," Gordon Koenig told theOrcasonian in 2015. "It's always been that way. We took the element of 'getting paid' out of the equation." A string band from Olga has kept that rule since the early 1980s, long before it had a Thanksgiving show. On Friday, Nov. 27 and Saturday, Nov. 28, the band will follow it again at Orcas Center, this time with some of the people who were there when it started.
A name from a potluck, a rule from the first gig
The band began without a name, playing the Olga potlucks. According to the 2015 theOrcasonian profile, in 1983 Gordon Koenig joined Lesley Liddle, Gail MacDonald, Tim Cardinale and Bob "Bubba" Olson. As Koenig told it, someone at a potluck one night asked, "Why don't you call yourself the Olga Symphony?" The name stuck.
The name has always been a joke. The music, as Anita Orne described it in that same profile, is string band and folk with some swing tunes. "It's a pretty eclectic mix, though eclectic is probably too specific," she said. This year's Orcas Center listing calls the band's instruments "distinctly non-symphonic."
The giving was serious from the start. The same 2015 story lists what the money has paid for over the years: individual islanders, the Public Library and children's charities. Orne said the band exists partly because "it's a way to give more than we could give as individuals." Koenig estimated the band had given away about $75,000 by then. One year, when they released a CD, the total topped $10,000. "Now it's quieted down, but we do bring in several thousand dollars," Koenig said at the time.
Those 2015 numbers are the most recent public tally, so the cumulative figure today is surely higher than the one in print.
How a giveaway turned into a Thanksgiving fixture
The holiday show grew out of somebody else's event. Here is how the published accounts line it up:
- 1983: Gordon Koenig joins the potluck band that a potluck guest later names the Olga Symphony.
- 1990s: Orcas Center runs "Holiday Magic" shows hosted by Ted Barbieri. Koenig and Orne later take over as emcees.
- 1998: The show is renamed "The Olga Symphony and Friends."
- 2015: theOrcasonian reports the 17th year of the Olga Symphony's holiday benefit for Orcas Center.
- 2019: The Islands' Sounder describes the Thanksgiving show as having run for more than 20 years.
- 2024: The show moves to the Orcas Grange.
- 2025: The band plays the Grange again, and its hosts there are among the recipients.
- 2026: The band returns to Orcas Center for its first reunion concert.
The rule held through every change on that list. In 2015 the benefit went to Orcas Center. In 2025 the money went, in Dave Zoeller's words for theOrcasonian, to "local needs—including our hosts at the Orcas Grange." This year the listing says proceeds will support Orcas Center and other island charities. When the venue changes, so does part of the list of recipients, because the band gives back to whoever has given it a stage.
Who's on stage this year
Orcas Center calls the 2026 show "the first ever Olga Symphony Reunion Concert." The current five are joined by three alumni:
- Current members: Melinda Milligan, Dave "Z" Zoeller, Gordon Koenig, JP Wittman and Anita Orne
- Returning alumni: Tim Cardinale, Lesley Liddle and Dave Parish
Put that list next to the 1983 one and two names match. Cardinale and Liddle were already in the potluck band when Koenig joined in 1983. That means three of the five players from the 1983 lineup will be on this year's stage.
The current lineup has held steady for a long time. The five members named in the 2015 profile are the same five named in this year's listing. In 2015 they all had day jobs. Wittman was an electrical contractor, Koenig a retired air tanker pilot and music teacher, Milligan a midwife, Zoeller a paramedic, and Orne a music teacher, videographer and sheet metal worker.
The listing promises "treasured old favorites plus fun new musical adventures" on guitar, bass, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, flute, concertina, ukulele, dobro and saw, "and a few special surprises." It ends with a line that sums up the band: "And they dress nice, too…" The 2025 announcement promised "an assortment of fine evening wear" and "jokes hopefully new," and it called the show "a tradition that pre-dates pumpkin spiced lattes."
Back on Center Stage after two winters at the Grange
The band played every Thanksgiving weekend in 2024 and 2025, both times at the Orcas Grange. This year the show returns to Center Stage at Orcas Center in Eastsound, where the holiday benefit spent most of its history.
Some of the band's habits travel with it. Paula Capitano handled cookies and underwriting in 2015. The 2024 announcement in theOrcasonian said "Paula will be there with her cookies, too," and promised CDs "for those who are really into traditional things." The 2015 profile also names Phil Burbo on lights, Betsy Wareham as artist wrangler, and Kevin Dickey on sound.
Ticketing is the one habit that may change with the venue. For the Grange shows, advance tickets were sold at Darvill's Bookstore for cash or check only. Advance sales closed at 5 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and a limited number of tickets went on sale at the door. This year's Orcas Center event page has its own ticket link and lists the price as "By Donation." Check that page for how 2026 reservations work before assuming the Darvill's routine still applies.
Planning Thanksgiving weekend around the show
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, Nov. 26 this year, so both shows land in the two nights after the holiday meal. One detail on the listing could cause confusion. The event page labels the dates "Sunday, Nov. 27 & 28," but the same page's description gives Nov. 27 and 28 at 7 p.m., and on the 2026 calendar those dates are Friday and Saturday.
- When: Friday, Nov. 27 and Saturday, Nov. 28, 7 p.m.
- Where: Center Stage, Orcas Center
- Admission: By donation, with all proceeds going to Orcas Center and other island charities
- Reunion lineup: Cardinale, Liddle and Parish join the current five
- Dress: In 2025 the band said festive wear was encouraged but not required
If your guests want to spend a daytime hour on Mount Constitution before the show, there's a timing question. The stone tower at the summit closed for restoration on Oct. 7. Washington State Parks' Oct. 6 press release said the work is expected to finish in mid-November, and the park's alert page listed Nov. 9 as the end date. The work covers wood refinishing, window glass repair, stair treads and rebar, and new mortar on one corner of the 1935–36 tower. The road, restrooms, visitor center and overlook stay open during construction. Both dates are estimates, so check the State Parks alerts before driving up with a car full of relatives. For more on the park's seasonal calendar, see our post on Moran State Park's two clocks.
The concert itself is easy to plan. Two nights, 7 p.m., pay what you choose, and every dollar stays on the island, as it has since the potluck days.
At True North Realty, we love that one of the island's longest-running holiday traditions is built on giving away everything it earns. If you're hosting family over Thanksgiving weekend and want ideas for showing them the Olga side of Orcas, our island-based brokers are happy to share what they know. Contact our Orcas Island specialists today.
