SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 28
SECTION A
JUNE 12, 2015
$1.00
Turf fi eld project in end zone
By ERIC A. HOWALD
years,” said Danielle Bethell,
Of the Keizertimes
McNary Athletic Booster Club
The McNary High School president. “But the goal is for us
turf fi eld project got the green not to need that loan.”
light from the school district
Last-minute funding pushes
Monday, June 8.
also helped with some of the
The immediate future of re- cost.
placing the existing grass fi eld at
Bethell stressed that fund-
the high school
raising efforts
was in question
will continue
until that after- “Aug. 22 will
throughout
noon because be one of the
the summer in
fundraising the
hope of cover-
$500,000 cash biggest days
ing the entire
needed stalled
cost.
out with ap- for the school…”
“We
are
p rox i m a t e l y
working with
— Danielle Bethell the Big Toy
$130,000 still
needed.
project to get
“We ended up getting some some of our information out
support from a local donor during their build and we plan
who offered us a $100,000 to have student-athletes going
no interest loan for fi ve door-to-door this summer
reminding people of the need,”
she said.
Volunteers will likely be
needed in the coming weeks
to help spread gravel. Project
organizers are still looking for
$2,500 in diesel fuel donations
and donors interested in
helping lay the foundation for
a new scoreboard.
“We need to put in three
large I-beams so that, when the
time comes, we can put up a
new scoreboard, too,” said Bill
McNutt, the project manager.
Bethell urged those thinking
about even a small donation to
consider the big picture.
“This fi eld is going to be
here for 10 to 12 years, so if
someone has a student coming
through the school in the
next decade they will benefi t
Caillier
recognized
for efforts
PAGE A2
Submitted
Plans for a new turf fi eld were in doubt until Monday, when the
Salem-Keizer School District gave the go-ahead for the project.
from it. A $25 donation to our
gofundme (www.gofundme.
com/MCNARYTURF2015)
account will go a long way if
we can get several hundred
families to do that,” she said.
Bethell herself doesn’t have
any children attending McNary.
Her oldest attends Whiteaker
Middle School.
There was one caveat to
getting district offi cials to sign
off on the deal: Bethell had
to agree not to use any of the
$35,000 raised in the booster
club’s May dinner banquet.
Please see TURF, Page A9
Big Toy build underway at KRP
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Rob Miller, in charge of tools for the Big Toy project, hauls some equipment Tuesday evening at
the build site. Building began Wednesday and should conclude Sunday. For a story on feeding
volunteers, see page A5. Check out Keizertimes on Facebook and YouTube for photos and
videos throughout the building process.
Grads urged to be sweet
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Drawing on personal ex-
periences and events during
the past 12 months, McNary
High School language arts
teacher Dan Borresen urged
McNary’s graduating class to
act on generosity more than
self-interest.
“It’s your turn. It’s not
your turn chase your dreams,
it’s not your turn to succeed,
it’s not your turn to shine. It’s
your turn to give,” Borresen
said. “The difference between
the phase you are moving
from to the one you are go-
ing to is that, for the past 18
years, people have been giving
to you. Now, you’re going to
step out into that big world
and you’re going to give.”
Borresen delivered the
keynote address to McNary’s
graduating class Friday, June
5. He was preceded by stu-
dent speaker Khwater Hussein
whose speech about balancing
the freedom to do things vs.
actually doing them made for
an excellent pairing.
“Don’t try to squeeze
yourself into the box of what
you think adulthood is,” Hus-
sein said. “Don’t force rela-
tionships. Don’t give anyone a
reason to discipline you. Take
chances, never forget your
roots. Don’t act like someone
you’re not and don’t try to
fi nd yourself. Don’t put your-
self in a crate for no reason.”
There is a difference be-
tween acting on impulse and
making decisions to be regret-
ted later, and living a full and
exciting life, Hussein said.
“Right now, I want to be
12 and 22 at the same time.
I want life to be fi lled with
excitement and with the ex-
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
The big week is here for the
Big Toy.
Hordes of community
volunteers started showing
up at the play structure site
Wednesday morning, in the
fi lbert orchards at Keizer Rapids
Park.
A playground was part of the
KRP Master Plan approved in
2008. The idea for what became
the Big Toy was brought up at
a Keizer Parks and Recreation
Advisory Board meeting in late
2012, with a Community Build
Task Force
formed
shortly af-
ter.
After a
couple of
delays, including one while the
fi nal site had to become part
of the city through an Urban
Growth Boundary process, all
of the months of planning are
set to come to fruition.
Construction started at 8
a.m. Wednesday and goes until
9 p.m. through Saturday, plus
most of the day Sunday. A soft
opening of the play structure
is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday
evening.
On Tuesday evening, the
15 construction captains met
with the three consultants from
project consultant Leathers
and Associates. Doug Hanauer,
Dave Johnson and Aaron
Chandler each arrived in Keizer
on Tuesday at different times.
Hanauer emphasized the
need to effectively utilize
volunteers.
“Once you learn our idio-
syncrasies, it will be the same
thing over
and over
a g a i n ,”
he
said.
“ Yo u ’ l l
learn what
to do with fasteners, what to do
with corners. You learn all that
stuff, then if you show three
crews of three volunteers, it will
be faster than you doing it your-
self. Remember to delegate.”
Skilled volunteers – those
who can cut a line with a
Please see BIG TOY, Page A8
School
budget
approved
PAGES A5
MHS grad
going to
Kansas
PAGE A10
Neighbors want
Palma Ciea saved
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Just the thought of Palma
Ciea Park possibly being sold
has made some people un-
happy.
As a result, three people
came to the Keizer City
Council meeting June 1, ask-
ing for the park to not be sold.
The idea of the city sell-
ing the one-acre park at 900
Cummings Lane North by
the Willamette River had
been discussed recently at a
Keizer Parks and Recreation
Advisory Board meeting. The
idea was also brought up last
September when Parks Board
members hosted city council-
ors on their annual Parks Tour.
“This park won’t be good
to develop,” Parks Board
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
After making the big walk, Celt Tevita Ma'ake was wreathed and
wreathed and wreathed with treats and cash by family and friends.
traordinary,” she said. “The
older we get, the world is less
black-and-white and more
50-shades-of-who-knows-
what. Nothing will last forev-
er, but nothing will last forev-
er. It’s a double-edged sword.
Now, let’s go out and conquer
adulthood.”
Borresen drew upon re-
cent experiences with a friend
battling ALS (Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis), which dom-
inated the national conversa-
tion at the beginning of the
seniors’ year.
“A friend I sat with during
our graduation and I swore we
were not going to lose touch.
When we graduated we talked
about our dreams and we said
we’re going to stay connected.
We’re going to make it stick.
We saw each other less and
less and before we knew it
we hadn’t spoken for 20 years.
Last year, I found out he had
ALS and it is rapidly deterio-
rating his body,” he said.
Borresen fl ew to recon-
nect with the friend last year
and said he was nervous in the
moments leading up to the re-
union.
Please see GRADS, Page A9
member Clint Holland said at
the time, noting the distance
and hill to get to the river.
“Let’s think about selling it to
the neighbors.”
In April, Parks Board mem-
bers noted the lack of accessi-
bility to the river lowered the
value of the park.
“The park is question-
able in accessibility,” William
Criteser said. “It’s not on any
agenda to improve. It’s not ac-
cessible to the river. There are
so many negatives, we ought
to put it up to sell to adjacent
landowners.”
Parks Board chair David
Louden liked that idea.
“I’d say go to the highest
bidder,” Louden said.
Please see PALMA, Page A9
Digging a hole...
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
City Public Works crews have been putting in new water
lines in anticipation of a roundabout being installed next
year at Chemawa Road and Verda Lane.
Awards,
pics of MHS
graduates
PAGES A11-12