10A
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
March 18, 2015
Concerning
Creswell
CRESWELL BRIEFS
News and notes from our neighbor to the north
Whitehall receives life sentence for double-murder
Eugene man convicted of
killing two men at
Creswell-area farm
last summer
T
he Eugene man charged with the
murder of two men on a Creswell-
area farm where the
man once worked
pleaded guilty to the
crimes Thursday in a
Lane County court-
room, the Eugene
Register-Guard re-
ported.
Eugene Whitehall
also pled guilty to
charges of fi rst-degree burglary, fi rst-de-
gree arson, unlawful use of a vehicle and
methamphetamine possession in response
to the July, 2014 slayings. Whitehall’s
guilty plea led to a sentence of life im-
prisonment and may have spared him the
death penalty.
Whitehall, then 42 years old and de-
scribed as a transient by the Lane County
Sheriff’s Offi ce, was charged with mur-
dering Dennis Michael Kelley, 65, and
Rob McFarland, 69, whose remains were
found in the burned wreckage of a farm
on Bryant Road outside Creswell. It was
eventually discovered that Whitehall had
torched the home after killing the two
victims, whom he had reportedly become
acquainted with after working on the pig
farm there. Whitehall reportedly told in-
vestigators that he had gone to the farm
to steal guns and jewelry, though he en-
countered the two men while burglarizing
the home and killed them both; McFarland
was strangled, while Kelley sustained a
wound that could have been caused by a
weapon wielded by Whitehall.
Deputy District Attorney Erik Has-
selman praised the actions of investiga-
tors that had to piece together evidence
in a burned-out crime scene. About 50
volunteers with the County’s Search and
Rescue department — a division of the
Sheriff’s Offi ce — were called on to help
sift through the debris after the fi re. Sgt.
Carrie Carver with the Sheriff’s Offi ce had
earlier shared such a sentiment.
“To have gathered so much evidence in
so short a time is nothing short of phenom-
enal,” Carver said. “A lot of really hard
work was put in by a lot of people.”
Saturday's Chamber banquet to feature
award announcements
BY JOEL HIGDON
President, Creswell Chamber of Commerce
T
he 46th Annual Creswell
Chamber of Commerce
Community Celebration and
Awards Banquet will be held
Friday, March 20 at the Emer-
ald Valley Golf and Resort event
center, and this year brings a an
exciting change in that the win-
ners of the Citizen of the Year,
Junior Citizen of the Year and
Business of the Year awards
will not be announced ahead of
time.
Instead, all fi nalists will be
honored and recognized for
their achievement during the
celebratory banquet, and the
winners will be announced at
the event. We received a re-
cord number of nominations
this year, and each fi nalist re-
ceived several nods. We hope
to convey that community rec-
ognition of excellence for each
fi nalist by highlighting each
one during the banquet. In ad-
dition, the Chamber will be
recognizing some citizens from
our community who have ex-
emplifi ed community service
and outreach. The theme this
year can be summarized by
this statement: “The Creswell
Chamber of Commerce’s com-
mitment to Creswell is 50 years
strong! Our annual banquet is
a celebration of the Creswell
community and that commit-
ment.”
The Creswell Chamber of
Commerce’s Community Cel-
ebration and Awards Banquet
is our showcase event for Cre-
swell’s citizens, organizations
and businesses, and our goal
for the event is to showcase
our wonderful community and
shine a spotlight of recognition
on the achievements of Cre-
swell’s citizens, organizations
and businesses.
The following are the fi nal-
ists and awardees for this year’s
Chamber Awards:
Business of the Year: Cre-
swell Coffee Company, The
Bean, Hopper Farmlands Mar-
ket, Creswell Bakery, Siuslaw
Bank, Ryan Hoffstot Insurance,
Emerald Valley Armory.
Rose
Barker
Lifetime
Achievement: Martha McReyn-
olds Sr. (Awardee)
Citizen of the Year: Dave
Stram, Kiwanis Club of Cre-
swell, Jeremy Tolman, Linda
Warner and Rick Zettervall .
Jr. Citizen of the Year: Madi-
son Parsons, Hailee Mason,
Hunter Patrick.
Educator of the Year: Anna
Baltrusch (Awardee)
Over-40 Club
announces new
offerings
The Creswell Over-40 Social
Club announces that, beginning
Tuesday, March 17, it will open
the doors of the Creswell Com-
munity Center for Tuesday af-
ternoon activities beginning at 1
p.m. Organizers say the expan-
sion in hours come in response
to the overwhelming requests to
offer more educational speakers
and social activities and to expand
current offerings. The Creswell
Community Center is located at
99 South First Street in Creswell,
just a block south of City Hall.
Bill Kent will be offering Tai
Chi every week, rotating from
Thursday morning at 11:00 a.m.
one week to Tuesday afternoon at
1:30 p.m. the next week.
Joanne Walker will be offering
a crochet class on Tuesday after-
noons from 1 to 2 p.m. Walker
has been crocheting for over 57
years and loves to give her hand-
made lap robes and baby blankets
to hospitals and nursing homes.
This class will interest not only
the beginner but also the experi-
enced crocheter who would like
to learn some new techniques.
The fi rst couple of classes will,
however, be geared toward be-
ginners, and the fi rst project will
be a dishcloth. Interested partici-
pants are asked to bring a skein
of cotton yarn and a size H hook
to class. Both are available at the
Creswell Bi-Mart as of this writ-
ing.
Creswell Health
and Rehab wins
award
Prestige Care Inc., a leader in
senior living and skilled nurs-
ing and rehabilitation care, an-
nounces that Creswell Health
and Rehabilitation Center in Cre-
swell has been honored as a top
participant in the Patient Safety
Reporting Program from the Or-
egon Patient Safety Commission
(OPSC). Prestige Care says the
center exceeded the program’s
goals and exhibits a dedication to
continuously improving patient
safety, making a lasting impact
in Oregon’s health care commu-
nity and being an active member
of the state-wide safety-reporting
structure.
This distinction ranks Creswell
Health and Rehabilitation Center
among the top 15 percent of the
more than 100 participants in the
program.
Each year, the OPSC reviews
patient-safety reporting data and
identifi es leaders in the Oregon
medical community. The report-
ing program recognizes the prog-
ress that health care professionals
and organizations have made in
patient safety, and draws atten-
tion to the remaining challenges.
“We are very proud of the team
at Creswell for their exemplary
work in promoting safety and
transparency,” said Melanie Mat-
thews, Vice President of Opera-
tions for Prestige Care. “Across
our organization, our highest pri-
ority is to ensure the safety and
well-being of our patients and
residents. This center represents
a leading example of putting that
philosophy into action.”
Providers receive recognition
by consistently reporting events
when they occur, and in a way
that effectively communicates
how improvements can be made
for the future. This reporting sys-
tem allows Oregon’s health care
providers to easily share informa-
tion and ultimately improve pa-
tient safety.
All of these pets are looking for their forever home...
To fi nd our more about adopting these
pets contact the
Greenhill Humane Society, SPCA
at 541-689-1503
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541-942-8522
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OLD MILL FARM
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STORE
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LITTLE CAESAR’S
PIZZA
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COTTAGE GROVE VET
CLINIC
541-942-9181