Vol. 78, No. 143
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Wednesday, May 11. 1977
Back home
on the farm
Book details county history
By KEVIN HARDEN
Of the Emerald
One February afternoon in 1903 Lane County
Sheriff W. W. Withers and a deputy went out to the farm
of Calvin Hale, outside Eugene, in search of suspected
horse or cattle thief Elliot Lyons.
Sheriff Withers left his horse and buggy with Hale,
owner of a stagecoach stop between Mapleton and
Eugene, and set out across the fields in search of
Lyons.
Late that evening, while everyone was asleep, Hale
awoke to the deputies' shouts for help Withers was shot
in the back by Lyons, and paralyzed from the waist
down. Moved to one of the bedrooms in the upstairs of
the Hale home, he died two days later.
Lyons made his way past guards and road blocks
to Creswell. While trying to hop a freight train, he was
captured and taken to jail in Eugene. After a speedy
trial, he was hanged in the jail yard.
Things have changed around the Hale farm since
1903. Stagecoaches don’t rumble past the front door
anymore and a town has sprung up near the farm.
Things may have changed, but thanks to the work of
five Eugene young people and the Lane County Youth
Employment Program, not all will be forgotten.
"Century Farms of Lane County,” a paperback book
written by five local youths, ages 14 to 20, and published
by the Lane County Summer Youth Employment Prog
ram is on sale at several area bookstores.
The book, written under the direction of coordinators
Histories never transcribed have been recovered by
students aged 14 to 20 in a book that tells of Lane
County homesteads through words of the pioneer’s de
scend ents still living on the land. "We ran across a
Emerald photo
whole different concept with these people whose values
go way back,” says Michael Shanahan, one of the
coordinators of the venture.
Bob Violetta and Michael Shanahan, captures in 130
pages the histories of 10 Lane County Farms that have
been in the same family for at least 100 years. Interviews
are frequently used throughout to emphasize the flavor
of speech and personalities of the farming families,
many of whom are descendants of Oregon pioneers.
According to Shanahan, 33, an unemployed
teacher, logger and mill worker, the book grew out of an
idea by Marshall Northington, director of the Lane
County Youth and Children’s Services Division.
(Continued on Page 14)
Images in music, art, mime
BSU festival opens Friday
“Putting Forth Excellence through Black Im
ages" is the theme of the Fifth annual Black Arts
Festival which begins Friday at 10 a.m.
The festival, sponsored by the Black Student
Union (BSU), will open with a slide presentation on
FESTAC 77, the world black arts festival held in
Lagos, Nigeria earlier this year. Lionel Riley, who
represented the BSU at the festival, will discuss his
experiences there at the slide show in the EMU Ball
room.
A black art exhibit will open for the day at 11
a.m. in the EMU. The exhibit will feature wood work,
New Guinean art as well as work done by members
of the local community.
An African braiding and make-up demonstra
tion will be held at 11:30 a.m. on the side terrace of
the EMU.
Dr. Quintard Taylor, a Ph.D. candidate in the
history of African peoples and a a former assistant
professor in the black studies program at Washing
ton State University, will present a slide-lecture enti
tled, “Black Communities in the Northwest: Portland
and Seattle” at 12:30 p.m. in Room 167 of the EMU.
The Cultural Forum is sponsoring Taylor s appear
ance in conjunction with the festival.
The BSU will present black poet Keith Jefferson
and black mime artist Hayward Coleman Friday af
ternoon. Jefferson, author of “The Hyena Reader"
and founder of the Student Society for the Preserva
tion of Afro-American Culture, will do several oral
interpretations of his works.
Coleman will present a mime lecture and de
monstration. He has done professional work in
France as well as the United States.
The festival's activities will be climaxed with a
Creole gumbo dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the
EMU Ballroom. After dinner entertainment will fea
ture a martial arts performance, gospel and popular
singing, an African dance troupe, music from a jazz
quartet, and a mime performance by Coleman as
the special feature of the evening. Ron Brown, a
local comedian, will be the master of ceremonies.
Tickets for the dinner are $2.50 for adults and $1.25
for children. Tickets may be purchased at the EMU
Main Desk, the Sun Shop and the House of Re
cords. For more information contact the BSU at
686-4379.
A ‘whale’ of events
set for today in EMU;
talks, films scheduled
Representatives from Greenpeace Oregon, the Oregon
Marine Science Center and the Cousteau Society are on
hand today for the Survival Center’s whale festival.
At 11 a.m. seafarer Dave Hibberd will discuss “Ceta
ceans at Play, or Hitchhiking Through the Universe Without Any
Thumbs.”
Cindy Baker of Greenpeace Oregon will give a talk at
noon. Greenpeace is well known for its activist role in
marine mammal issues. Two Greenpeace films also will be
shown.
At 1 p.m. Bill McDonald of the Cousteau Society will
talk on “Whales, Men and the Economy of Nature." He
also will present two Cousteau Society films, “Oasis in
Space" and “Wind on the Water."
Cumulo Nimbus, Meg Stormont and Kevin Barnes will
present special music and a song for the whales at 2:30
p.m.
At 3 p.m. Bruce Mate of the Oregon Marine Science
Center will speak on “Marine Mammals — Where to Now?”
He will discuss the history of whaling, the current whale
population and the effectiveness of international legisla
tion.
All events are free and in the EMU Ballroom. In addi
tion, art exhibits dealing with whales will be on display
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the rooms across from the Ball
room.
The festival runs through Thursday.