COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL February 3, 2016
Cap gun prompts
school suspension
For all
abilities
T
he Cottage Grove Police
Department said a student
was removed from a Cottage
Grove High School classroom on
Friday after its School Resource
Offi cer received a report that a
male student had made threats
toward the school and the student
possessed a cap gun.
A staff member during the
school’s third period reportedly
notifi ed Offi cer Charlie Martin of
the situation, after which CGPD
said that Martin and Offi cer Tami
Miles responded to the student’s
DanceAbility teaches dance
to promote artistic
expression for all
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
I
f you’re like most of us, you often
fi ght the dilemma of having an ir-
resistible urge to dance and a hindering
lack of confi dence to do so. Those with
physical disabilities may also be afraid to
explore their dancing potential. But an in-
ternational company that has recently ar-
rived in Cottage Grove has presented an
opportunity to the people of this town to
do just that: learn to dance to the best of
their ability.
DanceAbility International is a com-
pany that teaches people, able or disabled,
to use improvisational dance to promote
artistic expression. It operates around the
world in the U.S., Canada, Latin America,
Asia and Europe, and since early January,
the company has opened classes in Cot-
tage Grove, presented by a professional
dancer from Eugene, Jana Meszaros.
Meszaros has a Bachelor’s of Arts in
Dance from the University of Oregon and
has taught movement, dance and theatre to
all ages in various studios around Oregon.
Her work has been presented in Califor-
nia, Eugene and Gold Beach.
During the class, Meszaros guides
participants through creative movement
games and activities that “build camara-
photo by Sam Wright
Jana Meszaros begins her class with warm-up activities in a circle, with
each participant presenting their own jive to go along with their name.
derie, physical awareness and expressive
capabilities.”
DanceAbility focuses on the inclusion
of all: experienced dancers without dis-
abilities are welcome along with those
with disabilities.
The classes are separated into two
groups every Monday. From 4 p.m. to 5
p.m. is the youth class, where non-dis-
abled siblings of participants with disabil-
ities are encouraged to join. From 5 p.m.
to 6 p.m., the adult class takes place. So
far, there have been no participants signed
up for the youth class, but Meszaros hopes
to put on a show in Cottage Grove to pro-
mote the class and get kids interested.
As for the adult class, attendance varies
between six to eight people.
“This type of teaching is less about do-
ing it right and more about expression
through movement,” Meszaros said. The
10-year dancing coach discussed the ben-
efi ts of teaching and attending a class such
as this.
“It’s very empowering for all of us,” she
said. “It’s a much freer environment that I
get to facilitate and they [the participants]
get to make their own choices.”
Meszaros runs a program called Breiten-
bush Contact Jam where dancers improve
their contact technique. There, she met
representatives of DanceAbility, whom
she “hit it off” with and who offered her a
position as a teacher for DanceAbility.
The class will have two sessions this
year (for adult and youth classes). The
fi rst session started Jan. 11 and will go
to March 14, where the class will hold an
open house on their last day to show fam-
ily and friends the activities done in class.
Session two will begin two weeks later on
March 28 and will go until June 6.
Bachelder pens fi rst novel
'The Wish and the Waterfall' is the fi rst in a multi-volume series
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
S
ometimes all it takes to
see a project through is
the proper encouragement.
Family, friends and co-
workers may recognize Cot-
tage Grove’s Ken Bachelder
from his years as an employee
at Weyerhaeuser or his bass
guitar stylings for longtime
local stalwart band Windy
3A
Ridge (now
known as
The Ridge.)
But Bachel-
der recently
found the
time to in-
dulge
in Ken
another of
Bachelder
his
pas-
sions and
realize a dream many years in
the making.
Bachelder, always a vora-
cious reader, has been a fan of
adventure and fantasy novels
for decades, and he said he’s
been working on his own con-
tribution to the fantasy genre
for 25 years. Writing classes
at Lane Community College
and through publisher Mc-
Graw/Hill helped him work
on the novel, though work and
Please see WATERFALL, Page 11A
Beds for
Freezing
Nights
location in a classroom and re-
moved him without incident.
Offi cers confi rmed the student
possessed a toy “cap gun”. Ac-
cording to staff at the high school,
the student is currently suspended
and will not return to school un-
less it is determined that he is no
longer a threat to the school, stu-
dents or staff.
Police said Offi cer Martin
will complete an investigation of
the incident, though no criminal
charges are anticipated as a re-
sult.
Police unable to
determine source of
shots/explosions
T
he Cottage Grove Police
Department said it was un-
able to determine the location or
cause of a series of shots or ex-
plosions heard throughout much
of Cottage Grove on Saturday
evening.
A volley of several rather
evenly spaced booms could be
heard ringing out through town at
about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, which
prompted several calls to police
dispatchers.
The department’s press log in-
dicated two calls from the Row
River Road area in town in re-
sponse to the shots and fi ve de-
scribing “possible shots fi red or
illegal fi reworks” from locations
including near the Cottage Grove
Goodwill, N. 16th and Ostrander,
the bike path near Safeway and
the North Eighth St. area. Interim
Police Chief Scott Shepherd said
CGPD used the calls to trace the
possible location of the sounds to
the area behind Safeway near Our
Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic
Church, though an “extensive
canvass of all areas mentioned”
turned up few results.
“We sent offi cers to the area
several times, but there was no
indication of what the sounds
were,” Shepherd said. “Such
loud, purposeful booms may not
be related to gunshots and might
be more the result of the purpose-
ful explosion of gases or some-
thing else.”
Downed tree cancels Head Start
O
ffi cials with Head Start
of Lane County said a
downed tree that fell on the agen-
cy’s headquarters at the former
Delight Valley School in Sagi-
naw prompted the cancellation of
classes on Monday.
High winds and rain report-
edly brought down the tree, Head
Start reported on Saturday. Class-
es were cancelled for students,
though staff reported to work as
usual on Monday. No injuries
were reported.
Head Start Operations Director
Charleen Strauch told the Eugene
Register-Guard that the tree dam-
aged the school’s roof and the
underside of a covered walkway,
adding that there was no observ-
able damage to classrooms there.
Head Start has operated from the
former Delight Valley School
since a budget shortfall prompted
the closure of the school by South
Lane School District in 2010.
69 Flights // 1,311 Steps // 788 ft. Vertical Elevation
Come Support your
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Thank you!
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Cottage Grove’s own overnight
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. . . to all our generous donors and
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provide a safe, warm place for people to
come indoors during the coldest nights of
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For more informa on or to volunteer, please check
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New volunteers are always welcome!
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Your Stairclimb Team will be working out at these locations
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