COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MARCH 29, 2017
Main St.
Coordinator
resigns
3A
UO students campaign for carousel
Allen Hall students to help raise $1 million
“Every small town tells a story of
simpler times; when communities were
cgsentinel.com
close, and happiness happened together.
Wouldn’t it be nice to go back? To Friday
nights spent under stadium lights, or warm Fourth of Julys spent gaz-
By Caitlyn May
Shauna Neigh will no longer
serve as the Main Street Program
Coordinator. This, according to
Neigh herself who said she was
stepping down from her position to focus on her family and
home life.
"It was a hard decision," she said." I love my downtown, I
love Cottage Grove. I will still volunteer."
Neigh joined the Main St. effort in December of 2014 af-
ter initially stepping down from a previous fulltime job to fo-
cus on her family. She has implemented and overseen several
programs, including the fl ower basket program that beautifi es
Main St. and beyond with fresh fl owers.
"I'm doing everything I can to get them the information that
they need to keep everything going," Neigh said. The fl ower
basket program is currently underway and will continue after
Neigh's exit from her Main St. position on April 5.
Decisions has to the future of the Main Street Program are
expected to be made in the coming weeks.
"The decision makers I think are meeting on Wednesday,"
Neigh said. "There are decisions to be made on whether it
changes or stays the same but those are out of my hands, I
don't have anything to do with that."
The Main St. Program was started nationally in 1980 and
according to the program's website, the local group has a board
of directors, a coordinator and four committees. The commit-
tees include design, promotion, economic restructuring and
organization. It's funded through EBID and the community
development corporation. The city of Cottage Grove provides
offi ce space and the local chamber of commerce supports the
group's efforts when possible.
According to the organization's website, "Our mission is to
create a unique, historic Main Street experience in a friend-
ly, safe and collaborative environment... The interstate system
and the creation of shopping malls had an adverse effect on
our downtowns. Travelers bypassed communities, and shop-
pers found it more convenient to head to the mall. Thanks
to the Main Street Program, downtowns across America are
springing back to life, and our community is one of them."
Decisions regarding the future structure and direction of the
Main St. Program will be made by its board after Neigh's de-
parture.
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
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ing at the sparkling sky. Traditions may fade, but they should never
be forgotten. The beauty of small town community deserves to be
revived,” so says the pitch given by University of Oregon students.
And their solution? Reignite the light of the carousel.
The group, headed by Tylynn Burns, is working with Friends of the
Cottage Grove Carousel to raise $1 million. “We
were amazed,” said Cindy Weeldreyer, a member
of the carousel friends. “The campaign they came
up with to appea to millenials blew us away."
The budget the group presented to the friends of
the carousel came in at just over $5,000.
"We said from the beginning, this was a million
dollar project," Weeldreyer said.
The presentation given to the carousel group fo-
cused on funding that would generate further fund-
ing. Before the group can proceed with plans for
the city, it must obtain licensed engineering draw-
ings and settle on property for the carousel's loca-
tion. To do that, it needs money.
That's where the Allen Hall students come in.
Dubbing their campaign, "Reignite the Light," the
students have formulated an outreach effort that
would appeal to several age groups but, more spe-
cifi cally, young adults.
The $5,331 price tag accounts for several fund-
raising ideas, as well as awareness and name recon-
gition tricks, including bus stop signs and installa-
tions along the highway.
Students called for the carousel group's presence
at local fairs and gatherings, utiliing booths that fall
in line with the campaign's theme of reigniting the
light. Country clubs and car shows topped the list
of events.
Carousel-themed playing cards and paint and
wine nights were also suggested along with a pro-
fessional website and e-packets to send out to in-
terested parties.
If the friends of the carousel were to institute
all of the promotional ideas, it would come with
the $5,331 price tag. However, the student group
also noted that prices, depending on the campaign,
could range between $3,531 and $5,331.
Once money started coming in from the fundrais-
ing efforts, it would go towards obtaining licensed
engineer drawings and a location for the antique
carousel, originally purchased by Cottage Grove
resident Judy Cash.
Efforts to bring the Carousel to Main St. in Cot-
tage Grove have spanned de-
cades. When Cash fi rst moved to
town, she pictured an antique car-
ousel as a tourist attraction and
when the opportunity and fund-
ing came to fruition, she traveled
out-of-state to bring the carousel
back to Cottage Grove.
But the attraction has been
stored in pieces for more than 20
years and needs to be restored.
Currently, Cottage Grove High
School students are working to
sand and repaint a portion of the
animals and will continue to do
so throughout the remainder of
the school year.
The Allen Hall students, how-
ever, are also due back in town
to shoot photos for a USA Today
backed contest to help move the
carousel project towards comple-
tion.
Drain library
set to close
on
April 1
Drain res-
idents
will
cmay@cgsentinel.com
no longer
be able to
check-out materials from their
local library come April 1.
The closure is part of an on-
going farewell to the Douglas
County Library system which
failed to garner enough votes
from residents to create a tax
district which would have kept
the services afl oat.
"I've tried to go to every city
to tell them what they can and
cannot do," said commissioner
Gary Leif at the March 10 meet-
ing of the library board.
Leif explained to the group
that it had the power to come up
with solutions for funding the li-
brary but those solutions would
have to be approved by the
board of county commissioners
before being implemented.
As it currently stands, 10 li-
braries in Douglas County will
close on April 1, prohibiting the
public from checking out ma-
terial. The remainder of the li-
braries, including the Roseburg
branch, will close on June 1.
Options for utilizing the li-
braries including transition-
ing to reading rooms but those
designtation have not yet been
made public.
By Caitlyn May