COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL December 16, 2015
3A
Recital supports
dance school after
recent break-in
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
A
trying week ended on
a triumphant note for
South Lane Ballet Academy.
On Saturday afternoon,
Academy Director Mandy
Conforth told a capacity
crowd at Cottage Grove High
School’s Cafetorium that the
school’s headquarters on Sixth
Ave. in downtown Cottage
Grove had been broken into
on Wednesday, Dec. 9. Con-
forth later said that $359 had
been stolen during the break-
in; she said volunteers helped
clean the broken glass from
the dancers’ costumes that was
scattered when the school’s
front window was broken.
About 100 dancers from
each of the Academy’s classes
participated in Saturday’s re-
cital, with two groups com-
posed not of regular dancers
but of interested youth con-
tacted through school visits.
Admission fees to the recital
supported the Academy’s op-
erations.
Conforth also told those in
attendance a little about South
Lane Ballet’s new home. The
school is expected to take up
residence upstairs in the Boots
and Sandals Square Dance
Barn after its renovations are
complete. Last week, Greg
Yoss of Big Picture Construc-
tion estimated a March, 2016
reopening for the barn, which
Conforth said will allow danc-
ers double the room they are
used to downtown.
Organizers
planning CG
Half Marathon
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
photo by Jon Stinnett
From left, South Lane Ballet Academy Advanced Tap students Megan
Schneider, Madeleine Sisson, Kenady Conforth, Natalee Brink and Cyra
Conforth perform in the "Toy Shoppers" skit during the Academy's re-
cital on Saturday, which raised funds to support the school's operations.
A packed house at the CGHS cafetorium attended the recital.
Hazen named interim Nursery director
T
he Cottage Grove Family Re-
lief Nursery Board of Direc-
tors, chaired by local resident Isaac
Hovet, announced last week that
founding board member Diane Ha-
zen, L.C.S.W., assumed the interim
role of the Nursery’s executive di-
rector effective Nov. 30.
Outgoing Director Cindy Vitelli
said on Monday that she’s not leav-
ing the organization but merely tran-
sitioning to a position that will have
her providing “direct service” to its
clients.
“I still love the Nursery, and I’ll
be here forever,” Vitelli said. She
assumed the directorship of the
Nursery following the departure of
16-year veteran Heather Murphy in
2014.
Meanwhile, Hazen will utilize
over 15 years of social work man-
agement, community leadership and
non-profi t organizational experience
to provide leadership to the staff of
the Family Relief Nursery and act
as liaison to the Board in order to
support a smooth transition during
the hiring process for a permanent
director.
“I believe this transition is an op-
portunity for the Nursery to experi-
ence renewal by updating the vision
and strategic direction,” Hazen said.
“Setting clear goals for the future
and identifying the skills needed by
a permanent Executive Director to
lead us toward those goals will be an
important step. I am excited to be a
part of this process.”
In its more than 20 years of exis-
tence, the Cottage Grove Family Re-
lief Nursery has served thousands of
children from hundreds of families.
The board is confi dent that Hazen’s
presence will be very helpful for
the Nursery to continue meeting the
needs of the South Lane County and
North Douglas county communities.
It also wished to thank Vitelli for her
work as Executive Director over the
last year.
Local show dog's offspring
already dominating as a puppy
'Annie', daughter of Vallhund champion 'Gus,'
recently took home best-in-show honors
T
he offspring of a famed Cottage Grove
show dog has already made her mark in
the show ring — at just 10 months of age.
In early 2012, the Sentinel relayed the news
of a historic win at the Westminster Kennel Club
Dog Show by Gus, a Swedish Vallhund owned by
Cottage Grove’s Charlene Sayles. Gus cleaned
up the competition among his peers, easily tak-
ing home best-in-breed honors among the Vall-
hunds, a breed long prized for its herding abili-
ties in Sweden but only recently recognized as a
distinct breed by the American Kennel Club.
Now retired, Gus fi nished 2015 as the number
two Swedish Vallhund in the U.S., but his daugh-
ter, Annie, more properly known as “Akutchi’s If
You Could See Me Now at Kanouse,” recently
made breed history as the fi rst Swedish Vallhund
ever in the country to win a best-in-show.
Sayles, who called the win a “huge deal in
the dog show world,” said that Marilyn Thell,
the fi rst woman to bring a Swedish Vallhund to
America in 1989, was on hand to see the win.
courtesy photo
Gus' daughter recently won best-in-show
as a 10-month old puppy.
E
arly on the morning of March 5, 2016,
groups of fi tness-minded locals and visitors
will board buses in downtown Cottage Grove that
will transport them to Dorena School. They’ll jour-
ney the 13-plus miles back to town on their own
two feet.
This spring will bring the fi rst-ever running of
the Cottage Grove Half Marathon, a 13.1-mile
jaunt that should function as an excellent early-
season race, especially for those training for the
Eugene Marathon in May, according to organizer
Mike Ripley of Oregon Trail Runs.
Ripley, who also organizes the Oregon Gran
Fondo, a road cycling race that draws about 400
participants to Cottage Grove in June, said the im-
petus for the Cottage Grove Half came about fi ve
years ago, when he was planning a full marathon
in Corvallis.
“I got the entire course approved, but it was ta-
bled,” Ripley said, which led him to realize that
Cottage Grove’s Row River Trail was an “amazing
resource” that didn’t feature a lot of the restrictions
he encountered in Corvallis. Perhaps the biggest
challenge to putting on the race involved busing its
participants out to Dorena, where they will gath-
er on a closed roadway before journeying onto a
traffi c-free bike trail, though fi nding “fl aggers” to
indicate changes and road crossings along the jour-
ney will also be challenging.
Buses will begin transporting runners/walkers to
Dorena at 8 a.m. for a 9 a.m. start, and Ripley said
the four-hour limit should give walkers plenty of
time to fi nish the course.
“Just walk it,” he advises those who would par-
ticipate but are unsure of their abilities. “With the
time limit, you could fi nish with an 18:32 pace per
mile.”
The race, which is sponsored by Banner Bank
and will benefi t the United Way in Lane County,
should provide “good exposure” for Cottage Grove
and the Row River Trail, Ripley said, and he’s cap-
ping participation at 1000 runners.
“It’s a unique little town,” he said of Cottage
Grove. “Because the half is so early in the season,
it should be a perfect situation.”
Registration for the half marathon opened on
Oct. 30, and there are separate prices for team and
individual competitors. More information on the
race can be found at cottagegrovehalf.com.
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