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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2017)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MARCH 22, 2017 3A Local VFW post in need of funds for ADA updates It’s a small build- ing, VFW Post 3473. cmay@cgsentinel.com Set back from the road down a narrow, grav- el driveway made more from use of heavy tires than with intention, it’s easy to mistake the large wooden doors set against the sharp blue exteri- or as the entrance. But those that know, bypass the walkway, the ramp and the wooden doors and round to the back of the building where hospital- ity waits. “This particular building has been here since 1976,” said Dennis Twite. He’s been a member of the post for six years and currently serves as its commander. Every Friday the post puts on a dinner. It offers rides to doctor appointments for no cost and tries to lend a helping hand to the community of Cottage Grove. But after seeing members struggle with a simple task inside its own four walls, VFW Post 3473 could use a hand itself. “It was a member’s wife who comes here a lot and she pointed it out to us how diffi cult it was to get a wheelchair through the doorway and then to the stall,” said Ken Hunt, junior vice commander for the post. The door is just off the kitchen which leads to a twisting hallway. The stall is designated for handicapped visitors and sits in the women’s bathroom at the end of that twisting hallway. To access it, a female guest must contend with an over-sized water heater that stands opposite the stall door and serves as the fi nal obstacle in a sort of comedy of errors surrounding the normally By Caitlyn May mundane task of using the restroom. “It just makes it really hard to use the restroom and it’s not ADA compliant,” Twite said of the current situation. The post and its auxiliary have applied for grants to fi x both the men and women’s facili- ties and bringing them into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The two grants would total $2,000. “It’s probably not enough to get the project done but it’s enough to get us started,” Hunt said. Except the auxiliary has already heard back and the news wasn’t good: they had been denied the $1,000 grant request. That leaves the post’s re- quest of $1,000 if it’s awarded. “If we run into plumbing, than $2,000 is go- ing to be light and since the auxiliary heard back, $1,000 won’t be enough. It will get us started,” Twite said. The post raises money throughout the year through a variety of activities including a spot at the local rest stop, selling coffee. However, not everything the post has in its coffers is up for grabs. “Our biggest fund is the relief fund and that’s used to help veterans,” Hunt said. “We can’t use that for anything else. If the money is desig- nated for something, we have to use it for that. We can’t use it for anything else.” For now, the group is holding its breath waiting to see if the approval comes through and Twite says the post is open to help from the community. “If there are people that want to donate than we are open to that,” he said. Karate Continued from A1 Photo Credit: Erin Lauraine.Dylan Dorchak, 11, proudly shows off his 2nd place medals in forms, weapons and combat weapons sparring. Students from ATA cmay@cgsentinel.com Martial Arts Studio in Cottage Grove, under the in- struction of owner Erin Laura- ine, brought home more than a dozen medals. The northwest regional com- petiton was held in Eugene on March 11. Several kids excelled includ- ing 11-year-old Dylan Dorchak. "Dylan has juvenile rheuma- toid arthritis and had tested the night prior for his fi rst degree black belt at a regional Black Belt testing with over 50 partic- ipants," Lauraine said. Connor LeCompte, 13, took home his fi rst, fi rst place medal. "Connor has autism and this was his fi rst tournament," Lau- raine said. For more pictures from the competition, turn to The Senti- nel's Snapshots page. By Caitlyn May The handicap-accessible bathroom stalls at VFW Post 3473 in Cottage Grove are in need of an update. After being denied half of the grant money it applied for, the post is open to community donations to bring the restrooms into compliance with federal code. Tobacco age upped to 21 The days of 18-year- olds in Lane County pur- chasing cigarettes legally just went up in smoke af- ter the Lane County Commission voted to raise the minimum smoking age to 21. The board of commissioners voted 3-2 on Tues- day, March 14 to increase the age county-wide which includes Eugene, Springfi eld and Cottage Grove. Beginning April 13, those under the age of 21 will no longer be able to purchase cigarettes, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco or any other tobac- co product. While the commission had been considering a grandfathered clause that would have addressed current smokers between the ages of 18 and 21, no exception was granted to that particular group. By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com Individuals under the age of 21 who currently work in a licensed store that sells tobacco prod- ucts as its main commodity have been smoking as part of their job, will be able to continue to do so. The law mirrors a similiar bill making its way through the legislature calling for an increase in the legal age to 21 from 18. The efforts are part of a broader nationwide campaign to alter the legal smoking age after de- cades of research support claims of serious health issues being tied to smoking. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2015, 15 out of every 100 adults in the U.S. over the age of 18 smoked cigarettes. 13 percent of that, were people between the ages of 18 and 24. However, that number has continued to de- crease over the last 10 years with the CDC report- ing a 20.9 percent drop between 2005 and 20015. Cottage Theatre presents 2017 The Musical Comedy Whodunit Cottage Grove Area Habitat for Humanity says Thank You to Cottage Grove Board of Realtors for a recent of grant of $5,000! Thank you to the HOME Foundation and all in our community who support building affordable housing through Habitat for Humanity! We are grateful for your generosity. Come help build! Construction Volunteers Needed! Contact CGA Habitat for Humanity info@habitatcg.org 541.767.0358 Thank you for helping Habitat help others! April 7 – 30 Book by Rupert Holmes Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb Original Book and Concept by Peter Stone Additional Lyrics by John Kander and Rupert Holmes Directed by Janet Rust Sponsored by: Music Direction by Chris Holt Matthew A. Parsons Tickets available online, by phone, or at the door one hour before performance Thursday−Saturday 8:00 pm; Sunday 2:30 pm. $25 Adult, $15 Youth (age 6−18) 541-942-8001 • 700 Village Drive • Cottage Grove www.cottagetheatre.org