COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL July 6, 2016
New BMD Coordinator
no stranger to festival
Cindy Weeldreyer calls fi nding enough
volunteers BMD's biggest obstacle
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
C
indy Weeldreyer recalls
the exact moment she fell
in love with the Bohemia Min-
ing Days festival and the com-
munity that hosts it each year.
Back in July of 1980, a big-
city girl from New Orleans
visited Cottage Grove with her
brand-new boyfriend, Ralph
Weeldreyer. During a ride on
the Ferris wheel, it all clicked
into place.
“This was when BMD was
held out by the fi re station
where Hayden Homes is now,”
she said. “We were at the top of
the Ferris wheel looking north,
and I was just taken in by this
little festival in a small rural
town. I fell in love, but I had
no idea at the time that this is
where I would spend the rest of
my life.”
The Weeldreyers would mar-
ry in 1982; the next year, they
settled in Cottage Grove, and
Cindy began working with lo-
cal youth ministry and, by ex-
tension, BMD’s Grand Miner’s
Parade, in 1985. Following her
stint as a Lane County Commis-
sioner, Weeldreyer began volun-
teering regularly for then Fes-
tival Coordinator Sharon Jean
in 2001; in 2012 she joined the
BMD board of directors.
After last year’s festival,
which again featured a turnover
in BMD leadership following
the departure of Nancy Glines,
Weeldreyer threw her hat (per-
haps literally; headwear is one
of her trademarks) into the ring
to serve as the new festival co-
ordinator.
“I told everybody that I was
tired of having directors leave,
that even if they could only pay
me $1, I would do this,” she
said.
Now, Weeldreyer said she will
work to return the stability the
festival enjoyed during Jean’s
decade-plus at the helm.
“If BMD was a bus, Sha-
ron was the driver for all those
years,” Weeldreyer said. “I sat
behind her, watching her make
the stops. Now, I’m in the driv-
er’s seat and taking on all of the
administrative duties on top of
everything else. It’s a challenge
that I am rising to.”
With regard to attendance in
2015, Weeldreyer said BMD is
coming off “another wonder-
ful year,” and the plan for this
Bohemia
Mining
Days
countdown:
Especially looking for indi-
viduals and couples to staff
Coiner Park info/welcome
booths Thursday-Sunday,
Treasure Hunt Checkpoints
Friday-Sunday and help
with Bohemia City set-up
(Tuesday-Thursday) and tear
down (Sunday/Monday)
The 57th Annual Bohemia
Mining Days festival is two
weekends away. We have an-
other jam-packed four days
planned. Here are ways to
get involved now to ensure
another successful event:
BMD Carnival Discount All-
day Ride Bracelets
Available at CG & Creswell
Bi-Mart and The Book-
mine for $22 each through
Thursday, July 14 at 2 p.m.
Help support festival opera-
tions and save $5 off regular
price. Save even more on
Thursday’s “BOGO Buddy
Day” Buy one discount
ticket, present it at the carni-
val ticket booth and receive
a second all-day bracelet for
free. (Buy early with limited
number of advanced tickets
available)
photo by Jon Stinnett
BMD needs volunteers,
parade entries and a few
more vendors. Applications
available in three ways:
Pick up at Community
Center/Library & City Hall,
KNND and Sentinel offi ces
Download from www.bohe-
miaminingdays.org (under
Join-In Menu).
Call Cindy at the BMD
Offi ce 541-942-5064 and
request one
(For convenience, completed
applications may be dropped
off at KNND (thru mail slot
in bottom of front door if
locked)
Cindy Weeldreyer has been involved with Bohemia Min-
ing Days since the 1980s and has been volunteering
with the festival for over a decade.
year’s festival, which runs July
14-17 and pays homage to elec-
tricity with the theme “All that
Glitters is not Gold,” is to in-
clude more cultural offerings.
The southwest corner of Coiner
Park is now dedicated to such
offerings including the popular
Heritage Stage, which will host
living history exhibits includ-
ing blacksmith and fur trapping
demonstrations.
The festival is “a little under”
where organizers may like it,
budget-wise, according to Weel-
dreyer, though she said BMD is
“on good footing” in spite of a
shoestring budget and recent fi -
nancial woes. The biggest chal-
lenge, she said, always concerns
fi nding enough volunteers to
run an event largely dependent
upon their help.
“We’d like to fi nd enough
people to put it on so that our
fi ve board members aren’t crazy
busy and can enjoy the festival,”
she said.
Volunteer opportunities are
spelled out on the festival’s
website, bohemiaminingdays.
org. There, those interested can
print out an application that
can be mailed back or turned
into the offi ce of KNND 1400
AM. A volunteer orientation is
scheduled for Wednesday, July
6 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Cot-
tage Grove Community Center,
though Weeldreyer said that
volunteers are still welcome af-
ter the orientation is held.
WANTED: Slabtown vs.
Lemati 2015 Feud Winners
Last year’s Feud paperwork
is MIA and there are three
kids to honor in the Satur-
day morning parade. Please
call the BMD Offi ce with
the names and contact info
for the Slabtown and Le-
mati Mayors and the Lemati
Sheriff.
Volunteer Orientation Meet-
ing - Wednesday, July 6
from 6-7:30 p.m.
Shepherd Room, CG Com-
munity Center
Council worksession
talks fl ood fi ght
Music showcase brings
jams to Bohemia Park
Effects of federal lawsuit still unclear
J
oey Santavicca, General Manager of 432 Produc-
tions, described the fi rst annual People's Pick Music
Showcase, held Friday and Saturday at Bohemia Park,
as a successful grassroots production. The event aimed
to offer a new model for funding music performances lo-
cally, Santavicca said, and it benefi ted the Cottage Grove
Music Association.
Santavicca said cooperation from the City, Cottage
Grove Police and Bohemia Park offi cials was exemplary
throughout the weekend.
Tommy Makinson of the CGMA said the group hopes to
use the "resources available" locally, such as the Bohemia
Park amphitheater, as a stable source of funding for mu-
sic education programs and local arts education in local.
The CGMA plans to host three events in partnership with
432 Productions next year with that goal in mind.
3A
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Cottage Grove.
The Planning Department
presented details of its pro-
posed code changes to the City
Council during a worksession
on Monday, June 27, a work-
session that also dealt with a
controversial biological opinion
following a lawsuit involving
the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Association (FEMA)
and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s
Fisheries division.
O
ffi cials with the City of
Cottage Grove’s Plan-
ning Department say the chang-
es they have proposed for city
codes that deal with develop-
ment in the fl oodplain do not go
far enough to address changes
in the way fl oodplain develop-
ment is managed nationally.
They add that it’s too early to
tell how those changes might
play out at the federal level and
how those changes may affect
photo by Jon Stinnett
Elena Leona of Elena Leona Project belts a tune during the
band's Saturday afternoon set.
Please see FLOOD, Page 11A
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BOHEMIA MINING DAYS
W/ T-SHIRT
5k JULY 15 Th 9 PM $ 20/ $ 30
•
•
FRIDAY
•
TWILIGHT RUN
after 7/11 $25/$37
A twilight run or walk through lovely Cottage Grove.
Our guided fitness workouts and classes help you get stronger,
improve balance, and increase flexibility, all in just 30 minutes.
START & FINISH WASHINGTON & 6TH, COTTAGE GROVE, OR.
Close to awesome places for food and drinks!
REGISTRATION INCLUDES DRINK TICKET FOR BREWSTATION AND GLOW STICK FUN!
Join today for $ 10 *
Live y your most incredible life with Curves.
Liv
1133 1133
Main
Street
Main Street
Cottage Grove, OR
Cottage
Grove, OR
541-942-9580
541-942-9580
GOLD DASH
500 M
•
SAT, JULY 16 TH
Start on 14th & Main
•
•
FREE!
9:30 AM
•
PRIZES!
REGISTER AND MO R E IN FO RMATIO N
*Monthly membership fees required and vary by location. Offer valid towards
12-month recurring billing membership only. Valid at participating locations only.
No cash value. Offer expires 12.31.16.
© 2016 CURVES INTERNATIONAL, INC. ( 1603_T2 )
RUNCGRUN.COM