Fire damages
abandoned home, page 9A
Blanchet
downs Lions,
page 1B
Daytripper skis,
page 6A
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2015
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 128 • NUMBER 27
Two dead in apparent murder/suicide Also
Police say Edda Sue Kimberling died from a
single gunshot wound; Kenneth Kimberling
died from a self-infl icted gunshot wound
T
he Lane County Sheriff’s
Offi ce has identifi ed the
two deceased subjects encoun-
tered at a home outside Cottage
Grove following an apparent
murder/suicide on Christmas
Eve.
On Monday afternoon, the
Sheriff’s Offi ce announced that
the Medical Examiner’s Offi ce
had conducted examinations of
65-year old Edda Sue Kimber-
ling and 70-year old Kenneth
Kimberling that day. It was de-
termined, LCSO said, that Edda
“Sue” Kimberling died from a
single gunshot wound and that
the manner of her death was a
homicide. Kenneth Kimberling
died from a self-infl icted gun-
shot wound.
First responders including per-
sonnel from the Sheriff’s Offi ce,
Cottage Grove Police and South
Lane County Fire and Rescue
responded to a call reporting a
deceased subject at 31310 Val-
ley View Lane, located just off
Highway 99 southwest of Cot-
tage Grove, Thursday afternoon
at 2:38 p.m. Upon arrival, police
say it was determined that there
were two deceased individuals
at the location, adding that an
initial investigation determined
their deaths to be the result of a
Cottage Grove-based
innovator who planned
and built machines for
area businesses moves on
after 25 years
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
n a blustery December after-
noon, the phone rings often at
Harris Machine and Design on 10th
Street in Cottage Grove.
Each call pulls Harry Harris from the
machine he’s working on or the face-
to-face conversation he’s been having,
and he bustles about the shop among its
hulking lathes and torches, drills, hoses
and wires to locate the source of the
ringing. Often, it’s a call from a friend
or relative, a call to coordinate plans
or wish him well on his next endeavor.
Sometimes, though, it’s a request for
more work, work Harris gently turns
down. He is, after all, heading to Idaho
as soon as the weather clears.
Dominating the shop fl oor is one of
the last products to come from the un-
assuming grey building that has served
as the Harris headquarters for 25 years
photo by Jon Stinnett
Harry Harris of Harris Machine and Design has built practical solutions
to myriad problems in his 10th Street shop over the years.
— a set of metal stairs for the exterior
of the nearby Boots and Sandals Square
Dance Barn, a building that’s undergo-
ing intense renovation. Harris and shop
veteran Denny Deatherage have been
busy designing and then building this
set of stairs for the past few months,
and when it’s complete, it will leave the
shop for its new home, to be followed
by all of the machinery that has helped
bring it and other projects to life since
1991.
“I asked the Lord to give me a nice
small business in a nice small town, and
he’s given everything I asked for,” says
Harris, who celebrated his 82nd birth-
day this month. “I just forgot to ask him
how to give it up.”
Soon, Harris will depart for Kooskia,
Idaho, toward the home of his son and
grandchildren and a new chapter in his
remarkable career. He’ll be taking his
tools with him, to educate a new gen-
eration of youngsters on the craft that
has served him so well over the years
— that of confronting a problem, de-
signing its solution and then bringing it
into the world with his own two hands.
“When a problem comes up, Harry
comes up with great solutions,”
Please see HARRIS, Page 9A
inside:
‘15
The year’s
Landslides
force closure
of Brice Ck.
trail system
By
Design
O
murder/suicide.
The Sheriff’s Offi ce said it
did not believe there were others
involved in the incident, nor was
there believed to be an ongoing
threat to the public.
Several websites list the Ken-
neth Kimberling that resides at
the Valley View Lane address as
a forestry consultant.
Landslides in a popular recreation area
southeast of Cottage Grove have led to
the closure of a section of the trail system
there, the U.S. Forest Service announced
last week.
In a press release dated Wednesday,
Dec. 23, Melissa Swain of the Cottage
Grove Ranger District stated that several
landslides along the Brice Creek trail sys-
tem 25 miles southeast of Cottage Grove
have resulted in dangerous trail condi-
tions there. In response, the trail system
has been closed due to concerns for public
safety from Lund Campground upriver to
the East Brice/Champion Creek trailhead.
The lower and upper Trestle Fall trails are
also closed due to these slides.
The Ranger District listed safer alterna-
tives that are located downriver from the
Lund Park Campground.
“As an alternate site to view waterfalls
with abundant fl ow, visitors are encour-
aged to explore downriver from Lund
Campground,” the release stated. “Near-
by trails to Parker Falls and Spirit Falls
remain open. The Fairview trail in Sharps
Creek is also a good alternative this time
of year.”
District employees plan to begin work
on the trail system in January, and updates
can be obtained by calling the District of-
fi ce at 541-767-5000.
TOP STO RIES
2015
A look back at the
stories that made
headlines, page 3A
By the numbers
Measuring the 2015
fi re season, page 8A
Deli and ice cream parlor expected to open in January
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
F
ather/son team Judd Van Gorder and
Michael Cummings said they told al-
most no one about their plan to open a deli-
catessen on Main Street in Cottage Grove.
But somehow, word got out anyway.
“It’s the worst-kept secret in town,” Cum-
mings said, though Van Gorder added that
everyone they’ve spoken to has been “really
excited” about their new venture.
By next month, Van Gorder and Cum-
mings hope to offi cially open the Carousel
Delicatessen and Ice Cream Parlor at 616
Main Street, the former site of the Fleur de
Lis French bakery, which closed in Septem-
ber of 2013.
They’ll attempt to offer food that’s “high-
er end, but not a higher price,” including
meats and cheeses and the aforementioned
ice cream, according to Cummings, who
recently left a job driving a truck at Lane
Forest Products to go into business with his
father.
“It won’t be a lot of items that are pressed
and processed,” he said, pointing out that
Eugene’s Red Wagon Creamery will sup-
ply the deli’s all-natural ice cream in its fi rst
foray in another city.
Van Gorder, who has operated Carousel
House Catering since 1999, said he’ll still
work on catering orders in the back of the
business, though they “might curtail” cater-
ing activities “a little” while they get their
new restaurant up and running.
“We’ll probably still cater for a few
smaller events, but our main focus will be
this,” he said.
The duo has been exploring the idea of
working together for some time, and the
toll his former job was taking on his health
helped convince Cummings to seek a new
path.
“We looked at a lot of different places in
Cottage Grove, and we decided that any-
thing that can draw people downtown is
what we’re after,” Van Gorder said. “Fleur
de Lis drew a lot of traffi c downtown, par-
ticularly in the mornings, and now there
isn’t any.”
Cummings said that he’s enjoyed cooking
with his dad for decades.
“Growing up, I’d say, ‘Is dinner ready
yet?’ and he would say, ‘If you get in here
and help me, it will be done much faster,’”
he said. Later, Cummings became immersed
in Cajun cooking, and the two have taught
Cajun cooking classes in Eugene.
“It was fun being able to teach him some-
thing, but we’ve always enjoyed cooking
together,” Cummings said. “Being able to
work with him in the kitchen is the most ex-
citing part of this for me.”
Soft openings should introduce the deli to
the public, and Cummings and Van Gorder
say their ribbon cutting may also serve as
the offi cial grand opening of the business.
They say the support they’ve gotten from
other downtown merchants has been ter-
rifi c.
“The other restaurants have been so sup-
portive; it’s been above and beyond anything
we could have hoped for,” Cummings said.
photo by Jon Stinnett
Judd Van Gorder and Michael Cummings plan to open
the Carousel Delicatessen and Ice Cream Parlor at 616
Main Street in January. They say news of their new ven-
ture has been greeted with excitement throughout the
community.
Principal Brokers
Rain Country Realty Inc.
Happy New Year from
All of Us to All of you!
.BZUIJTCFUIFCFTUZFBSFWFS
Teresa Abbott ..................221-1735
Frank Brazell....................953-2407
Lane Hillendahl ................942-6838
Brokers
Laurie Phillip....................430-0756
Valerie Nash ....................521-1618
Licensed in the
State of Oregon
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