Having Eddie Vedder’s well-loved canoe as a featured item at the 2025 April Showers Auction drew some new folks into the circle of The Lands Council’s friends.
Paul and Jody Knutzen are two of them.
Paul is founder of Knutzen Engineering, a civil engineering firm in the Tri-Cities. He learned about the unique opportunity to bid on a collectible of Pearl Jam’s frontman from his firm’s attorney, Bill Hughbanks, who is married to TLC administrative director Teresa.
There was a bit of a bidding war, against another guest at the same table no less, but Paul was not about to let the canoe slip away. His enthusiasm was remarkable, so we followed up to ask a few questions.
What drew you to TLC's auction this year?
Bill Hughbanks, who is representing us in a Benton County civil matter, mentioned his wife’s connection to TLC and the prospect of having the canoe, since he knew how much I liked Eddie Vedder & Pearl Jam. I would say what drew us was several things: The prospect of meeting our attorney (and his wife) in person (not Zoom); the opportunity for my wife and I to have a date night, never having done a charity/auction dinner out of the Tri-Cities area; the opportunity to purchase Ed’s canoe and whatever silent auction items interested us; and supporting a good cause.
Bill also told us at the last minute that Krist Novaselic (the bassist for Nirvana) was coming, too, although at that point we were already excited to be coming and would have come if Krist didn’t come.
One funny anecdote – we purchased one thing from the silent auction, a painting which my wife and I both loved a lot. Turns out it was painted by none other than Bill’s mother-in-law. Small world.
What inspired you to bid on the Eddie Vedder canoe?
Owning something that was personally connected to EV. Also, secretly hoping that Eddie would reach out and afford us the opportunity to meet him or his band at an upcoming show, but I’m not holding my breath.
Any specific ideas yet on how or where you might use it?
We were thinking of mounting it to a wall in our house so I can place all my various Eddie & Pearl Jam memorabilia within it. I doubt any other Pearl Jam fan has their collection in Eddie’s own personal canoe!
What did you enjoy about the auction?
It was so much fun! Having engaging conversation with the people at our table, enjoying a great meal, meeting our attorney and his wife and her mom, meeting Krist, meeting Bob Whittaker. Auctions themselves are also fun, so fast paced, and get you excited to participate.
What did you learn about The Lands Council?
Before the event I knew nothing of The Lands Council. Now I do and it’s opened my eyes to the fact that my business really should be sharing a similar mission to TLC. I am a civil engineering business owner and we do land and site development for clients in the Tri-Cities. We learned from those seated at our table about various overlapping issues in our industry (land banks, critical areas, green design certification).
Further, purchasing the canoe has introduced me to Bob Whittaker who has been going above and beyond showing thoughtfulness towards me, even sharing some text messages he had with Ed about me and the canoe which none of my friends can say Ed has thanked them in a text message! Bob’s connections are possibly putting me in position to work on a project that is being advocated by Pearl Jam, a skate park on land of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville.
the town of Inchelium
So, while I would say I enjoyed the event first and foremost, I feel that it’s opened my eyes to what TLC is and I support that mission. I’m very grateful that we were invited, we had a good time and would come again.
Bobby Whittaker, who formerly worked in the grunge music scene, invited Nirvana bassist Krist Novaselic (at right) to attend The Lands Council’s auction, which featured the canoe of another friend of Whittaker’s - Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.