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About North Douglas herald. (Drain Or) 2023-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2023)
December 2023 City Desk Drain vs ODOT A raucous and lively night indeed. That was November 15th at the Civic Center in Drain. Dan Latham, a head honsho, over at ODOT, brought a couple of buddies and a spokesman to talk about a stop sign that ODOT wants to remove. In fact they did remove it for a few hours but after a town outcry they put it back and started this process of trying to appease the townsfolk while still trying to remove the stop sign. The meeting was supposed to be a Q&A to explain why ODOT wants it and why its good for the town. The ODOT speaker said that they themselves let the ball drop because they hadn’t had properly given public input previously and they were bending over backwards, now, to accomplish that. Well that didn’t go as planned. The Civic Center had well over 50 residents in attendance and they all gave a resounding “NO” to the idea of removing the sign. One of the biggest reactions was when the ODOT spokesman tried to explain why “Driver Expectation” was the driving force in the effort. Drain residents definitely bristled at the idea; that because the eastbound drivers are coming from a weekend at the coast, they are tired and ODOT can’t seem to slow them down coming into town, so that they can stop. They said that Continued on Page 6 Ray’s Food Place in Drain’s Stuff the Truck - Food Drive Stuff the Truck is an annual program that Ray’s Food Place started many years ago. Ray’s stores collect bags of groceries and work with local food banks to distribute the food. Stuff the Truck program started on the first of November and the last date to donate is Christmas Day. The goal for the 2023 Stuff the Truck food drive is 10,000 bags of groceries to fill a 53’ semi- truck trailer. All of which will be distributed to families in need this holiday season, through over 140 local food banks.. Store customers in Drain can pick a bag and scan a counter coupon to donate the bag which costs $25 but is an average of $40 worth of groceries.. Ray’s has 38 stores and all are working to Stuff the Truck. Inside each food bag are several items like tomato sauce, tomato, canned tomatoes, crackers, cereal, gravy mixes, mac and cheese, tuna fish, just some of the staples that people use ordinarily every day. In the past few years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they didn’t have as many donations. The Stuff the Truck program ends on Christmas Day. Stuff the Truck is running until Dec. 25 at all participating Ray’s Food Place locations. Displays are set up in each store with donation bags. Each bag costs $25 in-store and will be given to local families in need with the help of local food banks. Ray’s Food Place also allows people to donate full, half, and 1/4 bags online. Prices vary from $6.25 to $25 depending on the option you choose. You can also donate through their website, www.gorays.com. Page 5 Government Know your local Representatives! Drain Mayor: Erin Sparhawk Council Position #1: Grant Vaughan Council Position #2: Kevin VanPelt Council Position #3: Katie Decker Council Position #4: Aaron Lymath City Administrator: Jeni Stevens City Council Meeting:12/11/23 6pm Yoncalla Mayor: Kathleen Wertz Councilors: Dan Wagoner Gene Vroman Harold Gilpin Bryce Wertz City Administrator: Jennifer Bragg Council Meeting: 12/11/23, 6pm Elkton Mayor: Daniel Burke Council President: Joan Smith Council Members: Kim Moore Dan Shepherd Sandra Galli Public Works Supervisor: Gary Trout Council Meeting:12/14,/23, 8:30am Oakland Drain Christmas Tree Continued from Front Page Mayor: Bette Keehley Counselor: Jan Wier Counselor: Kent Rochester Counselor: Sky Ironplow Counselor: Betty Tamm Council Meeting: 12/12/23 7pm Reedsport The City Christmas Tree has been a Drain tradition going back many years. There was a time when the City Christmas Tree was planted right in the middle of the intersection of West “C” Ave and 2nd St, across from where the old City Hall was. It’s been behind the Civic Center in years past, but for the last number of years it’s been on the corner by West “B” and North 1st St. Over many years the trees have been donated by Bob Whipple, Bear Creek Timber, BLM, Rod Bender and more. The City crew generally brought the tree in each year. In recent years the trees have come from Donald Wooley and the David Cooper Sr family, delivered by Wooley or Dave Cooper Jr. and this year donated by Dorothy Cooper and delivered by Dave Cooper Jr. and Tony Forbes driving the truck. Reedsport from Library News Lower Umpqua Library District Lower Umpqua Library District offers a wide variety of materials in an ever- expanding collection. In addition to print books, eBooks, eAudiobooks, audiobooks, and magazines, we have over 3,000 DVDs available for checkout. Our Classics and Pacific Northwest collections of nearly 600 and 1,300 titles, respectively, are among the newer sections that we have been adding. We also have an electronics collection that presently includes mobile Wi-Fi hotspots and solar chargers. The hotspots are very popular so there is a long wait list. Our library recently started offering an interlibrary loan service, so our patrons can now borrow titles from over 10,000 library systems worldwide, but we charge a $5.00 fee per item to cover postage. For patrons who would like to avoid getting wet, we now have umbrellas available for checkout. In the coming months, we anticipate making additional item types available for borrowing, including laptop computers, Blu-ray drives, different style mice, keyboards, Wi-Fi repeaters, video games, and software. These materials cannot be borrowed yet, but they can be checked out starting sometime next year. Alex Kuestner, Director/District Manager Lower Umpqua Library District 395 Winchester Ave Reedsport, OR 97467 (541) 271-3500 www.luld.org Come enjoy the Christmas Spirit of Yoncalla. Thanks to Ivy Bonnie Pyles, president of the Drain Chamber of Commerce, for the story and photos. Bonnie traipsed around the brush until the right tree was located. She stayed to see it cut and loaded and trucked on down, seen here with her brother Dave Cooper Jr as they brought the tree into Drain. The tree will be set up on the main drag by the south Rays parking lot and decorated by donors and City crew. The Drain Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring an extravaganza of Christmas events, starting with the Tree Lighting on December 2nd. The Yoncalla Beautification Project in cooperation with the Yoncalla local businesses is work- ing to present a Christmas theme in Yoncalla. The Christmas theme consists mainly of green and red lights on the businesses. At the time of this writing the local businesses participating in the project are: Jeremy McDaniel Auto Repair; Eagle Valley Supply (Hardware and Auto Parts); City Hall; Main Street Espresso; United States Post Office; Yoncalla Food Center; Cutting Edge Real Estate; KD Performance Transmission; (Formally) Yoncalla Feed Store; The Yoncalla Library; Yoncalla High School; Yoncalla Elemen- tary School; Yoncalla Deli; Why Not Tavern; Yoncalla Fire Station; Yoncalla Community Center; All Hands Interpreting Services; and the Church of Christ. These local businesses and es- tablishments have a lot to offer the people of our Small Commu- nity. Shopping close to home saves time, money, and gas. Please sup- port these local business. Mayor : Linda McCollum Council Position #1: Rob Wright Council Position #2: DeeDee Murphy Council Position #3: Chuck Miller Council Position #4: Allen Teitzel Council Position #5: Rich Patten Council Position #6: Debby Turner Council Meeting: 12/04/23 7:15pm Cottage Grove Mayor: Candace Solesbee Councilor Ward 1: Chalice Savage Councilor Ward 2: Jon Stinnett Councilor Ward 3: Dana Merryday Councilor Ward 4: Greg Ervin Councilor: Mike Fleck Councilor: Alex Dreher Council Meeting;: 12/11/23 - 7:00pm County State & Federal Douglas County Commisioners: Tom Kress(Chair) Tim Freeman Chris Boice Jennifer Miller Lane County Commissioners: Dist 1: Ray Ceniga Dist 2: David Lovall Dist 3: Laurie Trieger Dist 4: Pat Farr Dist 5: Heather Buch Oregon House Representative: District 02: Virgle Osborne Oregon State Senator: District 1: David Brock Smith U.S. Senate Oregon: Jeff Merkley Ron Wyden U.S House of Representatives: District 4: Val Hoyle Secretary of State: LaVonne Griffin-Valade Attorney General: Ellen Rosenblum Governor: Tina Kotek Vice-President: Kamala Harris President: Joe Biden It is important to know your repre- sentation in your State, Districts and Municipalities. REMEMBER it is vital to your freedoms to vote.If you would like to have your own towns municipal officers listed please send title & names only to citydesk@ndherald.com
