BY JORDAN RICH
• With basketball season starting at the
UO, it was a curious jolt to see the name
William Drozdiak as the author of a new
book, Fractured Continent: Europe’s Crises
and the Fate of the West, reviewed Nov. 12
in The New York Times. Drozdiak played
basketball at Oregon way back in the Stan
Love era. He graduated in 1971 with degrees
in political science and economics, went on
to play pro basketball in Europe, ultimately
becoming a famous journalist and scholar
now with the Brookings Institution. Let’s
bring Bill Drozdiak back to Eugene to talk
about his book and basketball.
• In reflecting on all the words spoken
and printed for Veterans’ Day, we heard no
mention of one of America’s most famous
veterans, President Dwight Eisenhower, and
his warning to beware of the military-
industrial complex. Next year let’s heed his
warning, focus less on war and more on
peace.
• The national media has been filled with
news of Donald Trump’s trip to Asia (and of
course his Tweet in which he says he wasn’t
calling Kim Jong-un “short and fat”). But
Trumpian distractions aside, Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown, together with Jerry Brown of
California and Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington
traveled to Bonn, Germany, for the COP23
global climate change talks. While the Trump
administration has retreated from the Paris
Agreement and Clean Power Plan, these
governors spoke on a panel focusing on how
these three states together with British
Columbia have a regional objective of phasing
out fossil fuels and moving toward a clean
energy economy in a partnership called
the Pacific Coast Collaborative. Let’s get a
little more media on that.
• A document Eugene Weekly got from the
University of Oregon on Tuesday, Nov. 14,
shows that Oregon Bach Festival artistic
director Matthew Halls was fired last summer
while under investigation for complaints of
sex and race discrimination Frankly, we’re
shocked at what it reveals. The allegations
against him hardly rise to Harvey Weinstein
territory.
A festival participant, the report says, felt
Halls didn’t treat women musicians with the
same respect as men. “She said that Mr. Halls
does not pay the same attention to female
musicians in rehearsal that he does to male
musicians,” it said. The report, from the Office
of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity,
does not make any accusation of sexual
impropriety.
In a non-denial denial, UO spokesman
Tobin Klinger emailed, “You’re assuming a
causal relationship that is speculation” in
connecting Hall’s firing to the complaint. He
did not, though, offer any other explanation,
and the report details a planned threat to fire
Halls over the matter and his ultimate
termination.
See next week’s issue of EW, which comes
out on Wednesday, Nov. 22, for a full account
of what’s up at the festival.
VINTAGE SEWING
MACHINES COME TO
VALLEY RIVER INN NOV. 18
PHOTO: STAGECOACH ROAD SEWING MACHINES
HEAVY METAL KEEPS US IN STITCHES
Stagecoach Road Vintage Sewing Machines
brings its school bus and machines to town
M
odern sewing machines are usually made
from plastic and end up in the landfill. But
old-school vintage machines are made from
metal, and, like the clothing they stitch, they
are designed to be repaired. Stagecoach Road
Vintage Sewing Machines brings its collection of restored
sewing machines dating from the 1900s to 1970s for dis-
play and for sale Saturday, Nov. 18, in Eugene.
The owner and lead technician, Mike Kraemer, has
been restoring these machines for more than 20 years.
“We do this out of a great love for these beautiful preci-
sion machines. It’s a pleasure to work on something so
beautiful and so perfectly made,” Kraemer says.
He says current machines are a monotonous stream of
cheap plastic, which makes the older machines desirable
for both their beauty and practical use. “We live in a cul-
ture of toss and replace,” Kraemer says. “We don’t feel
that way. We’ve been rescuing the unloved heavy-metal
sewing machines that were destined for the dump and
bringing them back to their best.”
TR Kelly is another technician at the company. Kelly
taught Kraemer the basics of sewing-machine repair in
1995, when Kraemer was working as an electronic cash
register technician in Eugene. Kelly says they are the only
people offering this service on the West Coast, and people
travel many hours to get their sewing machines restored.
“Nobody is making the basic metal sewing machine in
this country,” she says.
Kelly echoes Kraemer’s thoughts on current sewing
machines. “You can go to Bi-Mart and buy a machine for
$200 and hope it lasts five or six years, but the older ones
are meant to be worked on and last a lifetime,” she says.
“If you would compare this to anything, it’s like clas-
sic cars, but there’s a little more practicality to it because
most of the people who buy these things, they want to use
them,” Kelly says. Their machines are not only restored
aesthetically, Kelly says, but the inside is completely
cleaned out and brought up close to the standard of when
they were brand new.
Stagecoach Road Vintage Sewing Machines works out
of a 1947 Diamond T school bus, which used to be a mo-
bile dental clinic before Mike Kraemer purchased it. The
bus is parked on their property in Swisshome, where all of
the committed employees of the company live, meaning
it’s not just a job but a lifestyle.
The event they are setting up at the Valley River Inn is
their biggest endeavor yet. Kelly says it’s not very practi-
cal to ship out heavy vintage machines because they can
weigh up to a few hundred pounds, including their cabi-
nets, so having them all in one place and ready to take
home will be ideal. She expects there to be about 50 sew-
ing machines for sale as well as bonus attachments and
accessories to go with them.
The prices will range from a couple hundred dollars
up to a $1,000, Kelly says. She adds that they hope to sell
some machines, but she encourages anyone to stop by and
admire the machines for their artistic value or to talk sew-
ing with the crew.
Check out the vintage sewing machines from 10 am to 5 pm Saturday, Nov. 18,
at the Valley River Inn in Eugene. FREE.
eugeneweekly.com • November 16, 2017
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