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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 2015)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL September 9, 2015 3A photo by Sam Wright Idyllic late-summer weather greeted tour guests Satur- day for the Oregon Covered Bridge Festival. About 60 people toured the area's bridges by bus, including the Stewart Bridge at left, which was built in 1930 and restored in 1996. Tours highlight Covered Bridge Festival BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel T he Cottage Grove Covered Bridge Festival took place this weekend, featuring a tour around Cottage Grove and surrounding areas to see the his- toric covered bridges. The festival has been going on locally since 2007, ac- cording to organizer Judd Van Gorder, who spearheads the event along with his wife, Sharon. The Festival is hosted by the Chamber of Commerce. This year the tours saw an attendance of about 60 people, raising enough money to keep the festival afl oat ac- cording to Van Gorder. “We’re trying to see if we can get a grant in order to hire a few part-time executive directors,” Van Gorder said. “That way we [the festival] can start making some more money.” The money made from the festival would then go to the upkeep of some of the historic bridges in the area. For instance, on a few bridges, plaques were placed on the bridges in order to provide historical information and keep vandals from damaging the wood. The bridges themselves are deeply embedded in the history of Oregon. With such easy access to high qual- ity timber, builders mostly used wood to build the bridges, forcing them to build a cover over the bridge in order to stop the wood from rotting in the damp northwestern climate. The oldest of these bridges on the tour is the Mosby Creek Bridge. It was constructed in 1920 and restored 70 years later. It’s the oldest bridge in Lane County and is still open to traffi c, a rarity amongst a lot of these bridges. The Chambers Railroad Bridge, which sits just north of Cottage Grove High School, is just fi ve years younger than the Mosby Creek Bridge and was built to bring a railroad line across the Coast Fork of the Willamette. It is the only remaining covered railroad bridge West of the Mississippi River. The Chambers Bridge was completely re- stored in 2011 and is open to pedestrian and bicycle traffi c. Although most of the bridges are closed to traffi c, they defi nitely don’t go unused. Tour guide Sharon Van Gorder explained that bridges such as the Dorena Bridge are often used for functions such as weddings, commu- nity dinners and even meetings for mo- torcycle clubs. At one point early in the 20th centu- ry, Oregon had an estimated number of 450 covered bridges, but over the years that number has rapidly decreased. Lane County possesses the most cov- ered bridges this side of the Mississippi with 20. Cottage Grove holds the most out of any town in Lane County, mak- ing the festival truly historic and iconic for the area. Rotarians aid children's dental clinic At its Sept. 3 meeting, the Rotary Club of Cottage Grove assembled pouches of dental products and instructions for the Smiles Program for the South Lane School District elementary students. Rotarians will be giving away these pack- ets at the Health Screening Day in September. The Rotary Club of Cottage Grove raises $3000 every year to support this program. Pictured are Sharon Scarpelli, Darrel Williams, Dave Kelp and George Devine. photo by Nadine Kelley South Lane TV adds four new channels S outh Lane Television and Luken Communications announce a multi-network affi liation agreement between SLTV and Luken Commu- nications, LLC. Beginning Sept. 1, SLTV began broadcasting four new Luken networks: The Family Channel, Heartland, Rev’n and PBJ. Viewers will fi nd the new channels on SLTV’s over-the-air system on channels 44.4, 44.5, 44.6 and 44.7, respectively. “The SLTV board is excited and proud to bring Luken’s programming to our community,” said Lloyd Wil- liams, President of South Lane Tele- vision. The Family Channel aims to offer a safe, wholesome space for television viewing, and is dedicated to great edu- cational, entertaining and some faith- based programming, with a fresh look and new shows like The Balancing Act, Real Green, Designing Spaces, The Hollywood News Report and Emmy-winning The Folklorist. Heartland debuted in 2013 with programming comprised of syndicat- ed and fi rst-run shows along with digi- tally restored content pulled from the vaults of Music Row, creating a coun- try music and lifestyle experience. Rev’n is a network geared towards the performance enthusiast. Rev’n is dedicated to all things revving includ- ing cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, ATVs, snowmobiles, events, auctions and more. “The addition of these channels brings our channel count to over 30, and Newsmax, a news and feature channel, will be coming very soon,” said Williams. SLTV is a self-support- ed non-profi t organization managed by its board of directors. SLTV pays the costs of expansion and general operation of their system by leasing ground and tower space to cell phone operators and various smaller com- munication entities that utilize South Lane Television’s infrastructure on Hansen Butte a mile southeast of Cot- tage Grove. Williams notes that “this fi nancial arrangement allows SLTV to bring free television to the Cottage Grove area.” Coverage from Cottage Grove ex- tends north beyond Creswell to Gos- hen and the south hills of Eugene and east to areas of Pleasant Hill and Springfi eld. CGPD: Traffi c ticket increase doesn't signal a policy change BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel A n increase in traffi c ticketing by Cottage Grove Police Of- fi cers in the last week or so has not gone unnoticed by local drivers, but the incoming interim police chief said the increase is not due to a change in policy or approach as the department transitions to new leadership. Drivers who say they were ticketed or observed others receiving tickets for traffi c violations such as not hav- ing two license plates on their vehicles or seat belt infractions sounded off on social media beginning last week. Many joined the conversation on local Facebook groups in support of police action to target speeders and other violators, while others noted other lo- cal problem offenders that the police should be targeting. But Scott Shepherd, who took over as interim police chief this week fol- lowing the retirement of Chief Mike Grover, said that the tickets don’t nec- essarily mean such infractions will be treated differently on his watch. “Police work is often very call driven,” Shepherd said. “We get calls based on incidents that happen, and we respond to them. But between those times of high call volume, we need to take advantage of the opportunity to target these types of violations.” The blotter for the Cottage Grove Police Department certainly show- cased an increase in traffi c stops last week, with many earning tickets for speeding, failure to obey traffi c control devices, failure to display a front li- cense plate and failure to provide proof of insurance. Most were attributed to just a few offi cers, which Shepherd said may be due to a shift change and the offi cers’ attempts to address a dif- ferent type of issue on their new shift. Additionally, tickets were handed out in earnest beginning in the middle of the week, prior to Chief Grover's de- parture. REMEMBERING 9.11. Today we remember the tragic events of 9/11, a day that forever changed the landscape of our nation. We solemnly remember those who passed, and we salute the firefighters, police officers and everyday heroes whose brave and selfless actions saved so many lives. We will never forget. Rogers & Son Hedge Carter’s Continous Gutter Service 1324 E. Main St Cottage Grove 541-942-0500 Cottage Grove 541-942-3630 Fort Rock Construction Dave’s Pump and Construction Cottage Grove 541-767-1611 76082 London Rd. Cottage Grove 541-942-9635 Starfi re Lumber Company Taylor’s Radiator’s New & Used 2795 Mosby Creek Rd Cottage Grove 541-942-0168 78869 Thornton Ln. Cottage Grove 541-729-5586 Romero’s Flooring Cottage Grove 541-914-4195 South Lane County Fire and Rescue Proudly Serving South Lane County 233 Harrison Ave Cottage Grove 541-942-4493 Cottage Grove Police Depatment 400 E. Main Street Cottage Grove 541-942-9145 Cottage Grove Sentinel 116 N. 6th Street Cottage Grove 541-942-3325
