Head out to the Country Fa’* for fun
By Rebecca Newell
Oregon Daily Emerald
“It’s about the human high, the
real human experience. And it’s
human experience with an art
form,” owner of Chez Ray’s
restaurant in downtown Eugene
Ray Sewell said, describing the
Oregon Country Fair, which cele
brates its 31st anniversary this
year.
Themed “The Fair of the Drag
on,” the event kicks off this year
on July 7 in Veneta, 13 miles west
of Eugene. Boasting over 300
booths with homemade arts,
crafts and incredible food, as well
as acoustic entertainment, main
stage and vaudeville acts, the
three-day affair is an experience
that is relived anew each year.
Many of the previous vendors
are returning, and new additions
include Eugene’s Ring of Fire
restaurant. Along with the return
ing features is the Friday Night
Feast, which has been a Country
Fair tradition since 1972. A mix
ture of food, fun and entertain
ment, the event is organized by
Sewell, a registered French chef.
Sewell, who toured with the
Grateful Dead as a chef, is no
stranger to the combination of
good food and good music.
Emerald archive
The Oregon Country Fair means wild costumes, such as the ones above and the perennial favorite, Silver Man (below).
“We try to nourish with equal
portions of spirit and humor,”
said Sewell, who said he expects
to serve more than 500 people at
the feast. “It’s my job to nourish
the people that come out here. We
want to provide the public with
this experience.”
This year’s theme for the Friday
Night Feast is based on a mystical
legend of a king, and only by suf
ficient sacrifice of food and chant
ing will the great king “appear.”
Tickets for the event are $12, and
Emerald archive
can be purchased at Chez Ray’s,
44 W. 10th Ave.
Gates for the rest of the fair
open each day at 11 a.m. and
close each night at 7 p.m.
“We’re really
previous fairs, there will be im
provisational performances along
the many paths winding through
the fair area. No radios or elec
tronic instruments are allowed
on-site, as all mu
e in y n d b i z, l ii g
vaudeville this
year,” OCF ad
ministrative as
sistant Norma
Sax said, refer
ring to the on
stage entertain
ment, which is a
major part of the
Country Fair.
Performances
are continual
during the fair
hours at five lo
cations, the
Main Stage,
Shady Grove,
Blue Moon,
Vaudeville and
Country Fair facts
Tickets are on sale at all Fastixx
outlets in Oregon and Washington
(1-800-992-8499) with a $1 service
charge; Fred Meyer and the Uni
versity Ticket Office. The price of
tickets bought in advance is $10
Friday, $15 Saturday and $10 Sun
day. Tickets purchased on the days
of the events will be $12 Friday,
$17 Saturday and $12 Sunday.
Tickets are necessary to enter the
fair site or to ride the free LTD bus
from Eugene, and will not be avail
able at the fair. Parking on-site is
$5, and there is no camping, ex
cept for the fair crew.
sic is live and
natural.
Keeping with
the theme, a new
addition of the
fair will be a 100
foot diameter
earthen
labyrinth, based
on a medieval de
sign inlaid in the
floor of the
Chartes Cathe
dral. The
labyrinth is de
signed as an area
of meditation.
Another im
portant, but less
well-known facet
Hoarse Hhorale stages.
Performances include the Sug
ar Beets, a psychedelic bluegrass
band based in Eugene, playing
the Main Stage on Friday at 5:30
p.m. Saturday, Deep Banana
Blackout, a high-energy funk jam
band based out of Hartford,
Conn., will be playing on the
Main Stage at 3 p.m.
Mare Wakefield, another Eu
gene performer, will be showcas
ing her acoustic folk-rock sound
Friday at 6 p.m. on the Shady
Grove stage.
“It’s a pretty magical place,”
she said, referring to her perform
ance in 1998 at Shady Grove. The
Fair is “a good place to perform,
because people are very support
ive and appreciative of the mu
sic.”
“Music is my passion. The
hard part is making a living,” she
said.
Wakefield will also be perform
ing at the Friday Night Feast, and
at 4 p.m. on Saturday with her
band at the Blue Moon Stage.
A full schedule of the per
formers can be found at the OCF’s
Web site, www.oregoncountry
fair.com. And in the tradition of
of the fair is the Jill Heiman Vi
sion fund. Started in 1996 by the
Fair Elders, the fund recognizes
the efforts of Jill Heiman, the fair’s
first attorney, who has been in
strumental in protecting the
rights of the fair and its location.
Donations collected during the
event are matched by the Fair up
to a total of $10,000 and are
awarded to deserving applicants.
This year’s chosen category was
“environmental protection and
recovery,” and was awarded to
three non-profit organizations.
Recipients of the awards this
year include the Northwest Trails
Archive and Restoration Project
of the League of Wilderness De
fenders, and the Northwest Coali
tion for Alternatives to Pesticides.
Donations are accepted at drop
boxes throughout the Fair.
Once again, the Oregon Coun
try Fair remains with tradition in
providing an assortment of mu
sic, sights, people and experi
ence.
“It’s really tribal, you interact
with all kinds of people,” Wake
field said. “It’s a different kind of
reality.”
Mental health advocates protest ‘Me, Myself & Irene’
LOS ANGELES — A coalition
of mental health advocacy
groups sees nothing funny about
Jim Carrey’s new movie, “Me,
Myself & Irene,” and wants some
changes in its advertising.
Carrey plays a Rhode Island
police officer who has two per
sonalities, one of them violent.
That appears to be a negative
portrayal of the mentally ill, says
the head of the National Mental
Health Association, which repre
sents about 350 organizations na
tionwide.
The movie’s distributor, Twen
tieth Century Fox, declined to
comment.
Carrey’s character is incorrect
ly identified as having schizo
phrenia instead of multiple per
sonality disorder, said Michael
Faenza, the coalition’s president
and CEO. Most sufferers are non
violent and many can control
their symptoms through medica
tion, according to the associa
tion.
"Having a famous, gifted
movie star make fun and portray
schizophrenia in ways that are
inaccurate, funny, and then
spooky is a big step backward,”
Faenza said Friday.
The association wants Fox to re
move the line “From Gentle to
Mental” and the word “schizo”
from advertising before the movie’s
June 23 release. It also wants pub
lic service announcements telling
moviegoers where they can get
help for mental illness.
“I hope they find creative
ways to give back to the commu
nity that helps people with men
tal illness, instead of making fun
of them,” Faenza said.
The Associated Press
o.d.e. on the world wide web: www.dailyemerald.com
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Performiig Arts
■ Thursday ■
AFI, Choke, Berzerk
Ihtnk Rock
$7 advance, $7 door, 8:30 pm
■ Friday ■
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•Uyhistic ioik-Jiizz/lSiliconiss
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■ Saturday ■
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Acoustic lolk/llliws
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■ Sunday ■
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■ Wednesday June 28 ■
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Removal,
Shortround
think Rock
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lively, The Lounge
Derbies
Skit
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Groovie Ghoulies,
Grade,
Double-O-Seven
Skct-lhink
$7 door, 9:00 pm
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