LONG BEACH, Wash. – Bob Milne, world-renowned ragtime and boogie-woogie pianist, makes a benefit appearance Thursday, Nov. 11 on the Long Beach Peninsula. The concert and following dessert reception will benefit the World Kite Museum and Hall of Fame, which is 77 percent of the way toward its goal of purchasing a two-story 10,400-square foot facility in Long Beach. The concert begins at 6:30 p.m. at Ilwaco’s Hilltop Auditorium and will be followed by a reception with Milne at the Kite Museum’s prospective new facility, 383 Sid Snyder Drive S.W. Tickets are $35 per person.

Milne’s talent, humor and highly energetic playing style has captivated audiences around the world. His concerts showcase the heart and soul of American music as well as the history and talent of all musicians and composers who, like himself, learned by listening and doing. Milne has recorded 10 collections of solo rags, blues and boogies, as well as folk/traditional tunes. He is author of “The Journeyman Piano Player,” a collection of humorous anecdotes taken from his early years as a working musician.

Milne’s piano experience began when he played French horn in the Baltimore Symphony and joined his fellow musicians to “ham it up” in a local saloon after practice. He didn’t carry a horn around, so he found himself at the piano. He developed a highly energetic piano style, adding early ragtime pieces, Scott Joplin rags and William “Blind” Bones pieces. “The audience definitely gets their money’s worth, listening to one man who sounds more like two or three pianists,” noted a recent review.

For the reception, the museum will have on display a rare collection of World War II kites. These include target kites that were used to train gunners on ships, a barrage kite, measuring 13 feet wide by 10 feet tall, that was flown from the coast of England and ships to keep small aircraft from being able to approach their target closely (for fear of getting tangled in the wire kite strings), and the Gibson Girl box kite, a signal kite for life boats that acted as an aerial in order to radio for help.

The reception will also feature a drawing for a three-day getaway package at The Nantucket Inn, a luxury oceanfront condo in Lincoln City, including dinner for two at Kyllo’s restaurant.

Tickets for the benefit concert and reception can be purchased at all banks on the Long Beach Peninsula and at the World Kite Museum in Long Beach. For information, call the museum at (360) 642-4020 or e-mail info@worldkitemuseum.com

Contributions will assist the Kite Museum in reaching its goal of raising nearly $200,000, the remainder of funds needed to purchase the new facility by 2005. The expanded space will provide ample room to share more of the museum’s extensive collection of more than 1,500 kites from all parts of the globe, including the largest collection of Japanese kites outside of Japan. The museum’s traveling display, “How the Kite Made the Airplane,” is circulated nationwide. The museum hosts extensive kite-making workshops, school programs and displays in locations including Portland Center Stage, SeaTac International Airport in Seattle, Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver, Wash., Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville and the Chinese Classical Gardens in Portland.