Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2018)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 39, NO. 29 SECTION A APRIL 20, 2018 By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes To call Jonathan Graf a puzzle-maker is something of an understatement. The mazes he constructs on paper dance gleefully on the line between hobby and artistic pur- suit. Some of his largest creations – like one titled The Red Door that has a working space of roughly 400 square inches – he's turned into prints. Oth- ers are etched into thick parchment paper that gives them the feel of relics. Smaller ones vary in size from 4-by-4- inch cards to large sketchbook pages. While size and the intrica- cies of his work have changed over the years, the reason Graf has stuck with forging mazes hasn't. “When I was about 10, I started making them in the classroom and getting in trou- ble, but it helped me focus in school. It helps me even now, especially when I am trying to focus. The only difference is now I know how to make it look like I'm taking notes,” he said. Graf is no ordinary maze- maker, but he started out the way most others do. The “easiest” way to make a maze is starting out with a large outline and adding smaller shapes with openings into the next smaller shape until the center of the largest object is fi lled. Then, most maze- makers map out the path they want the solver to take through the maze. At that point, the only task left is to close off all the other possible paths. “That doesn't work for me because it feels like I can see the solution right away and I think others will, too,” Graf said. “I know it's easy to cheat $1.00 Signing Day at McNary PAGE B1 Puzzle-maker aims to confound mazes. If you start at the exit, you'll fi nd your way to the entrance fairly quickly. I want my mazes to be just as diffi cult starting from the exit as it is if you start at the beginning.” Graf has an idea of the over- all maze he wants to create in his head before he begins, but everything is constructed in the moment, section by sec- tion, without plotting out the solution in advance. In his Red Door maze, which has a large, red rectangle in the center, solvers will know they are on the right path if they've touched all four in- ner and outer corners. How- ever, there's another wrench in the works, too. None of lines guiding the solver touch another or cross paths. That means there is no easy way to eliminate dead-end options because the whole thing looks like the folds of a two-dimen- sional brain. Inspiration for Red Door came from a combination of the cover to Carl Jung's The Red Book and listening to an audiobook version of Her- man Melville's Moby-Dick while he made the maze. The fi nal version took somewhere between 40 and 60 hours to complete. A prom alternative PAGE A3 Please see ESCAPE, Page A9 Rip City Keizer resident Bo Lane, a lifelong Portland Trail Blazers fan and graphic artist, combined his two passions to win the Blazers Fan Appreciation Poster Contest. See Page A4 for the full story. Poster by Bo Lane Help envision River Road’s future April 26 By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The Keizer Planning Department is asking everyone with an interest in shaping the future of River Road and Cherry Avenue to turn out for a public meeting and help guide the process Thursday, April 26. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Keizer Civic Center. “We're asking the community to come and tell us their vision for River Road and Cherry Avenue. The fi rst part of the meeting will be a presentation, but then we will have dedicated stations where people can go to talk about traf- fi c, safety, aesthetics and the types of develop- ment they would like to see,” said Nate Brown, Keizer community development director. City staff expect to update or replace the ex- isting plans for Keizer's main commercial areas at the end of the process. Depending on how residents want the areas develop, it might mean Please see RIVER RD, Page A9 KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Students at Classic Tap learn a new series of steps during a class Monday, April 16. Classic Tap expands to three studios By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The sign still says Classic Tap, but there is more hap- pening behind the doors than ever. The longtime Keizer dance studio recently moved to new digs at 5063 River Road N. in Schoolhouse Square. Its new home is less than 1,000 feet from the old Chemawa Road location, but three studio spaces are allowing owner Liz Goff to offer more classes and more classes simultaneously. “Even though we have a lot of space during the day, the main times for classes are be- tween 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.,” Goff said. “We have quality teach- ers and we wanted a quality space.” Goff took over the business from her mother, Jane Rad- datz, and uncle, Danny Wold, in 2014 and has been working ever since to expand the op- tions of available classes. “We still offer tap to all ages, but we have ballet, jazz and hip hop, also contempo- rary dance along with yoga and modern dance,” Goff said. Visit classictap.com for the full list of offerings, times and tuition costs. When Goff was looking for a new space, two things took priority: students safety in parking lots and easy access to other places in the com- munity. “We've got parents that drop their kids off and go get coffee. Most importantly we wanted good parking and safety for the kids. Darren Bloch (owner of Schoolhouse Square) was great to work with and he's a big advocate for the businesses here being Please see STUDIO, Page A6 Tuba maestros PAGE A12 Kiser to All-Stars PAGE B4
