North Douglas Herald
Community Pages
Yoncalla
Flower Baskets, Flags and Clean-up
by Mary Ellen Lasswell
The Yoncalla Beautification Project met
on Thursday evening, May 23, at 6:00 at
the Yoncalla Community Center. We are
an organization that is dedicated to making
Yoncalla a more attractive community. We
invite anyone to join us who is interested in
any aspect of beautifying Yoncalla, or perhaps
fixing what is broken, or maybe cleaning up
our town, or helping us to raise money. We are
especially grateful to Bob and Lois Campbell
for a very generous donation to Yoncalla
Beautification. Watch for the American flags
flying on Flag Day, June 12th, and Teenth
Day, June 19 th , and, of course, on the Fourth
of July. Our mayor, Kat Wertz, is in charge
of our parade and if you would like to enter
a float or an entry, or receive any information
concerning the parade, the contact person is
Doris Bartlett at 541-315-0608.
One last word. Yoncalla nearly did
not have a Fourth of July parade because
the Yoncalla Chamber of Commerce, who
plans civic activities, has very few members.
They really need you to help further their
efforts in making our town a thriving, robust
community that enjoys active, worth-while
events. The Yoncalla Chamber of Commerce
meets on the second Thursday of each month
at 6:00 p.m. at the Yoncalla Community
Center. The contact person is Doris Bartlett
at 541-315-0608.
In the meantime,, enjoy the gorgeous
hanging flower bakets that are faithfully
watered every morning by Dorane Slocum,
and enjoy our American flags flying over our
town on holidays. We hope you appreciate the
work of Yoncalla Beautification as we hold
two city wide clean-up days on June 1 st and
June 29 th in preparation for the Fourth of July.
We wish you a safe and enjoyable summer.
Anna Drain Park Upgrade Follow-Up
Grant Funding, Donations & Costs
Story by Rusty Savage
Last month we brought you the plans and
developement details for the city of Drain’s ambitious
Anna Drain Park upgrade and additions. To bring our
readers up to date on the financial details of this
project, the Herald has the following costs, donations
and grant funding making the upgrade possible. The
city has not yet been awarded grant funding from
the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department but
remains very optimistic about the project.
The pre-planning for the Anna Drain Park
Upgrade project began in 2018, when the city
received a $32,000 grant from the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department to complete the City of
Drain Parks and Open Space Master Plan. The city
hired Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture
& Planning as a consultant and collaborated with
their consultant team to host a Parks Master Plan
Open House, at the Civic Center on October 29th,
2019. During this event, residents saw presentations
of the concept boards and gave detailed feedback.
The finalized version of the Parks Master Plan
identified the Anna Drain Park Upgrade project as
a high priority development project and estimated
the cost of it to be $1.665 million in 2019. The actual
estimated cost of the Anna Drain Park Upgrade
project is $1.245 million.
Staff began planning the park in September
2023, using all the surveying and pre-planning from
the Parks Master Plan to guide the design for the
current park project. During the planning process,
staff included as many amenities identified in the
Parks Master Plan as we could. One amenity staff
couldn’t include is an amphitheater. Though some
residents expressed interest in an amphitheater, it
became clear during planning that there is not quite
enough room on the property for this. The decision
to not move forward with this lowered the cost of the
Editorial
Continued from Page 2
candidates doing for you and your neighbors? What are
the issues that are important to you and who is advocating
those issues for you. See what positions are open and if
you want to support someone for that then advocate for
them. If you want to step up for a position, talk to your
supporters and file for election. Democracy - it’s an active
participation concept.
There are still a lot of stories and information
the Herald has to tell. Sometimes, like now, we have some
limitations in the space we have for each issue. Costs are
high, printing, mailing and distribution, and after 10 issues
being subsidized by the Publisher’s pocket book, I find
myself having to stay within the budget that our advertisers
provide and that means limiting pages - never the quality.
I strive to bring you a publication that is high quality, both
in content and appearance. To provide it to the readers
for free, I look to advertisers and donations to make it
possible. Please suport our advertisers and
if you can make a donation, it is sincerely
appreciated. Use the QR code or go to
our website and click the donate icon.
www.ndherald.com.
project, making it more feasible for the city.
If the city is awarded grant funding from Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department, the project will be
funded through grants, donations, and city funds. The
city applied for $996,415 in grant funding from the
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Staff will
be notified around November of this year if grant
funds are going to be awarded. Staff also applied for
$25,000 from The Ford Family Foundation and are
thrilled to announce that they’ve doubled our funding
request and awarded the city $50,000 for the Anna
Drain Park Upgrade project. This project would
not have been possible without a generous donation
of $30,658 from the Drain Church of Christ. This
donation was received before any project planning
began and the city is grateful for their commitment to
bettering the community. The city has also received
a handful of donations from private residents and
business owners, totaling $7,000. With all donations,
grant funding, and in-kind labor, staff estimate this
$1.245-million-dollar project will cost the city under
$100,000.
An update from Kaity Harwick, Community
Development Coordinator for the city of Drain, “I
just wanted to pass along a very exciting update about
the park grant. We’ve been invited to present our
project to the Advisory Committee for the Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) Local
Government Grant Program. This means OPRD has
completed their technical review of our application, it
has been deemed eligible, and it has been forwarded
to the Advisory Committee for further review. The
Advisory Committee evaluates and scores all large
grant applications to establish a priority ranking for
grant funding. We will be presenting the project in the
end of July, but we do not have a date set yet.”
Drain Golf Tourney
Continued from Front Page
Donations can be mailed to PO Box
5, Drain OR 97435 or arrangements can be
made for them to be picked. The Drain Open
Golf Tournament is a registered 501(c)3 non
profit and your donation is tax deductable.
June 2024
Page 5
ELKTON COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTER
Blooms & Butterflies Festival in Elkton
ELKTON, OREGON, May 24, 2024— Kick-off your
summer by welcoming the butterflies back to Elkton at
ECEC’s annual Blooms & Butterflies celebration on
Saturday, June 15, 2024. The event begins with a 5K
Butterfly Run/Walk along the panoramic Umpqua
River at 9 am, and continues throughout the day with
kids’ activities, live music and a wide range of artisan
vendors and information booths.
“Blooms & Butterflies is a great way for families to
celebrate the end of the school year and check out all
the fun, free activities ECEC has during the summer,”
said Executive Director Marjory Hamann. “It’s also the
beginning of our butterfly season, and people really get
into it by dressing like a butterfly when they come to the
event.”
Run registration opens at 8:00 am. Early Bird
registration for adults is $25 and includes a Butterfly
Run t-shirt. Kids ages 12 and under can run or walk
for free. Registration increases to $30 on May 31st, and
walk-in registrations are welcome. Jen Champion from
VISTA Wellness Center in Eugene will offer a drop-in
yoga session so runners and walkers can stretch and cool
down when they return to the festival.
Musician Katie Sontag will lead a family singalong
at 10:45, followed by a butterfly costume contest. The
music continues at 11:45 with KT and the Love Notes.
ECEC’s Butterfly Steward, Barbara Slott will give a
short talk at 1:15, and the popular local duo Decor’mm
takes the stage at 1:30.
Guests can explore local history at Fort Umpqua, a life-
size replica of the Hudson’s Bay
Company’s southernmost fur-trading outpost from
the mid-1800s, and observe native butterflies in the
ECEC Flight Room throughout the day. The Elkton
High School FFA will host a BBQ fundraiser at
lunchtime, and ECEC’s student-run cafe will be serving
deli sandwiches, espresso, smoothies, and homemade
baked goods all day. Youth ages 1-18 can get a free meal
between 11:30-1:30 during the event, and throughout
the summer.
15850 Highway 38 West ☼ PO Box 684 ☼ Elkton, OR
97436 ☼ 541-584-2692
☼ info@elktonbutterflies.com ☼ www.elktonbutterfl
ies.com ☼
Beaver Creek Unique
Continued from Front Page
the place in their spare time. It was a time
consuming “Hobby” that they enjoyed and
worked It was several years into working the
store part time and on weekends that Russ
found himself in a dilemma. A workaholic all
of his life, Russ found himself more engaged
and truly with purpose when he was puttering
around at the “Hobby”, than he was at work.
He was at a point where retirement was an
option and he realized he was ready to make
a leap of faith.
“All in or all out, that’s me,” says Russ,
“and that was it, here I am.”
Russ and Charlottes journey to their unique
establishment was quite circuitous. Russ was a
hometown boy from Drain, graduating Drain
High School in 1973. Starting in High School
he first worked at the old Keith Roberts Ford
dealership. His love of cars brought him to
purchase his cherished 67 Mustang in 1977. In
1980 he began working for the city of Cottage
Grove. His position with the city grew and
evolved over the years, finding him involved
with many of the civic projects that transpired
over his years there.
Russ and Charlotte met at the Drain skating
rink while still in school. Charlotte remembers,
“He thought I was cute so he knocked me down
while we were skating.“ Married in 1976,
they raised their 2 kids, Clint and Corrine.
Living on their property outside of Drain, the
Kaleese’s worked and built their property while
Charlottes Mom ran her store there in Drain. It
was 2019, after 39 years, when Russ oficially
retired and they started seriously managing
the store in their spare time and by 2021 they
opened full time.
Finding it a labor of love, it wasn’t long
before the prolific and eclectic collections and
displays began to set them apart from the run
of the mill antique and second hand stores you
normally run in to. Not to mention the friendly
and affable atmosphere Russ and Charlotte
bring to the arena of americana and collectable
treasures. A Pickers paradise. Along with their
excellent location it wasn’t long before they
began to attract a steady stream of excited
shoppers and collectors and touristy visitors.
June 14th, 15th and 16th is the 5 year
anniversary celebration for Beaver Creek
Unique, you dont want to miss it. Plenty of
parking and refreshments and a celebration
for the family. Find some coupons here in the
paper and come on down.