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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2016)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL July 20, 2016 Relay, Tri, cars and chili highlight busy weekend Swift pilots enjoy return to Cottage Grove BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel T he drone of a four-plane formation over- head during Saturday’s Grand Miners Pa- rade alerted many that the Swifts were in town. This weekend brought the fi rst time in four years that the Northwest Swift Fly-in has taken place at Cottage Grove Airport, where the Or- egon Aviation Historical Society and local pilot Kent Koester welcomed pilots and their planes from throughout the region and beyond on Fri- day and Saturday. The event would not be the fi rst visit to Cot- tage Grove for Steve and Barbara Wilson, own- ers of a Swift 210, who made the journey here from Texas via Arizona. “We know a lot of the West Coast Swifters,” Steve Wilson said, “so this was a good chance for us to come out here and visit.” While conducting routine maintenance on his plane, Wilson explained that the Globe Swift was made from 1946-51 and that there were about 1500 planes made in total. Most Swifts were built to the same specifi cations, though an endless array of modifi cations (mostly for speed, fuel capacity and modern convenience) make each plane unique. Factory-made Swifts created only about 85 horsepower, whereas a modifi ed plane can crank out over 200. “I love the looks of the plane, the polished L photo by Jon Stinnett A vast array of Swift airplanes were on display Friday and Saturday. aluminum,” he said. “I have since I was a little kid. They looked like the early fi ghter planes.” The Wilsons’ journey from Phoenix took about seven hours and two stops for fuel, and although some Swift pilots traveled from afar for the Fly-in, Steve Wilson said that most fl y more locally with their airplanes. “We’re just caretakers of these planes,” said another pilot. “We try to keep them in good shape and then pass them on.” Former CG City Planner passes A former Cottage Grove City Planner succumbed to recent medical issues, an acquaintance has notifi ed the Sentinel. David Voss passed away June 26, 2016 due to complications from recent medical issues. Voss began working for the City of Cottage Grove in 1992 as a graduate student at the University of Oregon in urban and regional planning. He worked many hours researching the background information of the historic downtown buildings in order to help nominate the city’s Downtown Busi- ness District for listing on the National Historic Registry. Later, the District was granted o cial status as a National Historic District on Jan. 28, 1994. Voss also helped create Cottage Grove’s Historic Context Statement, which has been a valuable resource 3A for those look- ing for historic information regarding Cot- tage Grove. He served as City Planner for the city of Klam- ath Falls and as David Voss City Planner and helped land Code Compli- CG's downtown ance Offi cer for on the National the city of North Register of His- Bend until health toric places. issues caused him to retire recently. Friends say Voss will be remembered most for his untiring commitment to helping to preserve the historic integ- rity of this city’s buildings and his pro- fessional and friendly demeanor when dealing with others. By Saturday afternoon, Swift pilots were in- quiring about the feedback related to their pa- rade fl yover, which they said took a good deal of maneuvering in order to make several passes of the parade route. They said they look forward to traveling to Cottage Grove and are glad that the Village Green did not sell. Local 17-year old killed in Saturday rollover crash O ffi cials with the Lane County Sheriff’s Offi ce said Monday that a rollover crash at Garoutte Road and Shoreview Drive claimed the life of a 17-year old Cottage Grove resident Saturday morning. Public Information Offi cer Carrie Carver said the Sher- iff’s Offi ce was called to a report of a single-vehicle crash near the intersection just before 6 a.m. Saturday. Upon ar- rival, deputies discovered a 1992 Toyota Camry on its top in a ditch. Four of the fi ve passengers of the vehicle escaped injury, Carver said, though the 17-year old driver was ejected and passed away. Carver said the Sheriff’s Offi ce declined to identify the driver due to her status as a minor. Three of the other passengers in the vehicle were under 18 years of age as well, she said. The group was reportedly on its way to go fi shing, Carv- er said, and the driver reportedly over-corrected around a curve. Speed and alcohol are not being considered factors in the crash. ocals who fi nd themselves still reeling from a plethora of summer activities will get little chance to rest this week, as Cottage Grove braces for perhaps the busiest weekend on its 2016 calendar. For the past few years, the Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove Triathlon has brought hundreds of competitors to Cot- tage Grove Lake on a late-July Saturday that also fea- tures KNND’s Rock, Roll and Rumble car cruise and the Main Street Chili Cook-off. This year, a date change brings another key event to that same weekend. Sabina Johnson, coordinator of Cottage Grove’s Re- lay for Life, said that middle-school graduation ceremo- nies kept the event, which raises funds to fi ght cancer for the American Cancer Society, from being scheduled in its typical mid-June spot. Instead, Relay will take place this Friday and Saturday on the track at Lincoln Middle School. “We kept pushing it out and pushing it out, because there was something going on each weekend,” Johnson said. She added that organizers are “a little worried” about a packed schedule, though much of Relay will take place before the other events. “Most of the other stuff is on Saturday, and most of our Relay participants leave between 9 a.m. and noon Saturday morning,” Johnson said. Relay will open at noon on Friday and close at noon Saturday; its welcome ceremony and Survivor’s Walk is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday. Survivor bingo takes place from 3-5 p.m., the lighting of the Luminaria will take place at 10 p.m., and movies are scheduled at midnight. Meanwhile, at Cottage Grove Lake, triathlon com- petitors — there should be several hundred of them — will begin picking up their race packets at 6:30 a.m. Saturday in advance of an 8 a.m. start for competitors of the shorter Sprint course, which combines a 750-meter swim, 12-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run. Competitors in the longer Olympic course will hit the water at 8:25, and they’ll be swimming 1500 meters, cycling 24.8 miles and running 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles. Transi- tions between each event keep Lakeside Park at Cottage Grove Reservoir a blur of activity throughout the triath- lon, which took just over an hour to compete for last year’s male sprint course winner and not much over two hours for the Olympic champion in 2015. This Saturday will also feature the return of what or- ganizers say has been a winning pair. The Main Street Chili Cook-off is set to start downtown at 11 a.m., and guests can try a variety of chili entries until 3 p.m. Priz- es will be given for the best chili present, the people’s choice and most festive booth. Classic cars will line Main Street during the cook-off, and the car cruise will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. on a course that takes in a downtown loop and a cruise down River Road. Bond sentenced on charges stemming from July, 2015 crash The driver in a 2015 auto wreck that killed a 20-year old Cottage Grove woman received a jail sentence on charges relat- ed to the wreck last week. Kyle Allen Bond of Veneta has spent the past year behind bars since the July 13, 2015 crash that found his truck hit- ting a guardrail and fl ipping over and that claimed the life of Amber Cobiskey. Three people were ejected from the truck bed in the wreck. Bond faced 12 charges related to the incident and reportedly pleaded guilty to a charge of criminally negligent homicide. He will receive credit for the year he has spent in prison and serve the remainder of a two- year sentence. Lane County Circuit Court Judge Suzanne Chanti reported- ly told Bond that he has a greater responsibility to do good works now following the incident.