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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 2018)
Your hometown paper since 1937 Illinois Valley News Wednesday, December 12, 2018, 1 Section, Volume LXXXI No. 49 $1.00 Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley ‘Candyland’ delights Chateau transition hits a speed bump, Taylor’s saves the day Annita Savio IVN Contributing Writer (Photos by Laura Mancuso, for the Illinois Valley News) River Stars Performing Arts presented a holiday treat with “Candyland,” Sunday, Dec. 9 at Lorna Byrne Middle School. The above cast include Owen Dwyer (left), Na’amah Ocean, Rosemary Staab, Annie Hertler, Isadora Millay, Phoebe Hertler, Meaghan Vallot and Lindsey B. Jones. RiverStars delivers, again By Laura Mancuso IVN Editor Colorful, energetic, poetic and intelligent are just a few words that can describe the RiverStars Performing Arts show “Candyland” held Dec. 8 and 9 at Lorna Byrne Elementary School for a crowd. Thoughtful dancing vegetables reminded us about the importance of food grown from the earth and educated us about the overconsumption of sugar in our country by taking the audience on an interactive journey through Candyland. The lead plants were flawless in their dance, expressing valuable life lessons through the classical music of Queen. The ArtStars (mainly vegetables) were acted by Owen Dwyer, Annie Hertler, Na’amah Ocean, Isadora Millay, Meaghan Vallot, Phoebe Hertler, Rosemary Staab (EverStar), Maizi Giroux, Finn Franklin, Toby Giroux and Maya Houck. The ArtStars cast devotedly rehearsed 10-14 hours per week before the show. The audience was then captivated when King Candy stepped on the stage, played by arts educator Lindsey B. Jones on stilts in a rainbow of colors. She was such a crowd pleaser she got a standing ovation at the last curtain call. Additionally, you could feel the crowd smile when they saw theEverStar and TwinkleStar dancers creatively dressed like yummy candy characters, such as Pop Rocks, LifeSavers and Jawbreakers, and burst their way onto the stage. According to arts educator Gina Angelique, “Young RiverStars artists exceeded all expectations regarding their capacity for increasingly complex choreography. Their talent is growing as fast as their commitment and passion to the performing arts. The Illinois Valley must be bursting with holiday joy felt from the energy of our truly amazing youth.” Gratefully Angelique added, “Equally as wonderful is the towns turn-out…I heard one man say ... ‘I’ve been waiting for our town to catch the bug.’ What’s so powerful is our youth are providing real, valuable, quality live for our community!” Kudos to all the educators, parents and volunteers, for treating our community to such inspiring creativity, drama and talent. RiverStars Performing Arts partners with Three Valley Community Development Organization and dancefarm. The sponsors include Oregon Community Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, Collins Foundation, Community Learning Center Grant and the Four Way Foundation. Oregon gets a new playbook for responding to an earthquake Ben Botkin The Statesman Journal SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon has a new playbook for preparing and responding to a major earthquake that dictates what should be tackled over time versus a list of tasks to get done. The playbook provides a two-week blueprint for the state’s response and expectations for prioritizing Oregon’s recovery from what would be the deadliest natural disaster in the U.S. Oregon faces the threat of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that would hit the 700-mile Cascadia Subduction Zone, rippling from the coastal counties and impacting much of the state and neighboring Washington. Emergency planners estimate coastal areas would have as little as 15 minutes notice to escape an incoming tsunami, and as many as 25,000 people could die. About a million Oregonians could be impacted in other ways: needing shelter, food and medication while waiting for help. To prepare for the worst-case scenario, Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management has updated and revised its response plan, a 100-page document called the Cascadia Playbook. Times for responding and recovering are a key change from two previous editions. Emergency planners have laid out steps they would take after an earthquake based on intervals of time: the first hour, the first six hours, the first 12 hours and beyond. The shift to focus on time comes after the 2016 Cascadia Rising exercise, a four-day regional drill that offered a look at how prepared the Pacific Northwest is for an earthquake and tsunami. The newest version gives the state a clearer sense of how to prioritize tasks and track progress, said Andrew Phelps, director of the Office of Emergency Management. “That way, we aren’t wasting any of the available resources on things that weren’t absolutely critical,” Phelps said. In the first hour, the steps are basic: contact the governor, determine what staff are available and start notifying agencies. “The first hour, it’s all about finding your feet,” Phelps said. “That first hour it’s all about notifications.” Within six hours, the priorities include having the governor declare a state of emergency, assessing roads and bridges for damages and working to get emergency supplies, establishing communications with local government and sending information to the public. Unlike other disasters that are more self-contained - like a dam collapse - the state has to plan for a response with major infrastructure damage and some staff not able to work. As a result, tools like amateur radio networks would be used for communication instead of cell phones. SEE QUAKE ON A-10 See what’s crawling around in Christy’s head this week. Crawlies with Cri on A-12. The Oregon Caves Chateau is currently undergoing a long-contemplated renovation, and will reopen in either 2019 or 2021, depending upon the extent of the work. But in the meantime, after 18 years of managing the Oregon Caves Chateau concession under contract with the National Park Service, local nonprofit Illinois Valley Community Development Organization, also known as IVCanDo, has handed the baton to national facilities management behemoth, Aramark. The changeover was a necessity after the park service decided to combine management of the Chateau with management of Crater Lake facilities. Operation of those additional facilities is outside the mandate of IVCanDo. But there was a complication. When IVCanDo first took over management of the Chateau, the park service required that every new concessionaire purchase all equipment, furnishings, artwork and historical items from the previous one. But under new park service regulations, that requirement no longer exists. According to IVCanDo director Kenny Houck, Aramark and IVCanDo were not able to come to an agreement on a purchase price for a large number of valuable items, including the red stools and the counter in the 1930’s diner, the historic phone booth, the front counter, all the photographs, decorative items, artwork and memorabilia, as well as other items that numbered literally in the thousands: dishware, kitchen equipment, 60 or 70 chairs, 30 dining area tables, the walk-in cooler, freezers, the dishwasher, the stove, 24 rooms worth of beds and furnishings, and so on. Describing what must have been a promethean task, Houck said that everything was checked “like three times” to ensure a well-documented inventory for sale to Aramark. Ultimately, unable to reach agreement with Aramark, IVCanDo was left holding the bag for about $150,000 worth of investment they could not fully recoup. Luckily, Taylor’s Sausage stepped in and purchased all or most of the kitchen equipment and appliances. “Taylor’s got a great value on what they paid for,” said Houck, adding that Taylor’s was invaluable in helping to physically remove items from the building, which was part of the obligation of the departing concessionaire. There was also the matter of the 24 or 25 quilts on the Chateau beds that had originally been donated by the Valley Girls Quilt Show. Through an agreement with IVCanDo, those quilts were put up for sale, with the proceeds split 50-50 between the two organizations. IVCanDo had hoped it could recoup 50 cents on the dollar, but according to Houck, they were unable to reach that goal. Nevertheless, with the help of Taylor’s and the Valley Girls, IVCanDo did find itself with enough of a financial outcome to either donate or sell at a reduced price the remaining historical items to the Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau. The Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau is a non- profit organization that cooperates with the park service in the stewardship and improvement of the cultural and natural resources of the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve. “It took a lot of local creativity,” said Houck, “to have it come out the good outcome that it did. The new concessionaire was not willing or able to step into the role of a local partner yet; I hope that they will in the future.” Sue Densmore, executive director of the Friends, said her organization will be working closely with Aramark to complete the restoration of the historic elements in the Chateau - the re-creation of the balconies, the restoration of the Monterey Furniture collection, the lighting and implementing the historic furnishings plan. All of the items planned for eventual restoration at the Chateau are currently being stored in a secure place, a location Densmore declined to reveal. Densmore also made a point of saying that the commitment of the Friends is to the Oregon Caves and Chateau and they are ready to work with whoever is the concessionaire. One concern among locals is the loss of jobs at the Chateau during the one to two-year renovation. However, Aramark is offering job opportunities at Crater Lake National Park, and Oregon Caves employees are invited to apply. Jobs will be posted at craterlakehospitalityjobs.com by Jan. 18, 2019. Interviews will start Feb. 1, and offers will be sent out one week after the interview. Crater Lake offers on-site worker housing. Loss of the Chateau concession will have a small, but still significant effect on IVCanDo’s budget, although Houck would not hazard a guess as to the exact amount of the financial impact. “But,” he said, “That’s why the board and staff has been working over a year to develop other program activities. And some of that is being covered by the three-year grant of $270,000 from the Ford Family Foundation, primarily for implementation of the 2020 Strategic Plan and Program. “But,” he added, “everybody came away good, and the Chateau will be the better for it.”
