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