6A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL July 26, 2017
Drain looking to build a dog park
The people and dogs of Drain are hoping that a dog park becomes a reality.
Residents hoping to make hope a reality with dog park
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Residents of Drain, both furry and not, may
have a new place to play.
What began as rumblings on social media soon
grew into action after several members of the
community commented on the possibility of a dog
park within city limits.
Resident Travis Jones opened the conversation
on a community page for Drain and now he’s at-
tempting to bring it before the city for consider-
ation.
“We came up with the idea for the dog park
from just having walked around town with our
dogs and seeing the vast open area in the park,”
Jones said. “We have the type of dogs that can’t
really be trusted off leash and there really isn’t a
secure area in town or nearby that allows us to
have them run free.”
It was Jones and his wife Jennifer’s quest to
fi nd an open, safe area for their three dogs Odin,
Arkyn and Sydney that led Jones to post to the
Yoncalla
Elementary
Prepares for
Earthquake
Work is underway at Yoncalla
Elementary School to ensure
that the building is more stable
in the event of an earthquake. A
$1.5 million seismic retrofi t be-
gan on the school in early July.
The Ausland Group out of
Medford received the bid to do
the work on the building in col-
laboration with ZCS Engineer-
ing whose main offi ce is located
in Klamath Falls.
The $1.5 million grant is the
fi rst in a round of three large
monetary awards received by
the Yoncalla School District
from the Oregon Seismic Re-
habilitation Grant Program. The
other two grants, a $1.5 million
retrofi t for the main building at
the high school and a $1.35 mil-
lion upgrade for the high school
gym, will begin work in June of
2018.
The work at Yoncalla Ele-
mentary School will focus on
stabilizing the building which
includes work on the walls, win-
dows, ceiling and roof. Because
of the work needed to secure the
roof, the seismic grant will pay
for a new roof, siding and im-
provements in classrooms.
Superintendent Brian Berry
stated, “Thanks to the forward
thinking of our school board,
we were able to invest a little
money in terms of getting our
buildings evaluated and getting
the information needed by the
State of Oregon to qualify for
the grants.
As a result, we are being re-
warded with a net profi t of ap-
proximately $4.35 million to
help improve the safety of our
students and staff.” In addition
to the roof being replaced, the
windows will be upgraded to
double-pane along with some
new lighting fi xtures. Even with
the late start, the expectation is
to have the school up and run-
ning before classes begin this
fall.
community board. The reaction, he said was over-
whelming and largely in favor of the idea.
However, that’s currently all it is: an idea. Ac-
cording to Drain City Administrator Steve Dahl,
the project hasn’t even begun to hover off the
ground. It currently has not been considered by
the city council and no city funds are associated
with the project.
Jones said he would be presenting his idea to
the city council in the coming weeks.
“Some of the challenges that would exist in
bringing a dog park would be fi nding a location in
Drain that people would use,” Dahl said. He went
on to note that the design of the park would also
be something to consider as well as whether or not
the park would be free range or provide amenities
for its furry guests.
“If the city uses public property and pays for it
then the city would own it but if we had someone
come forward with property and the city helped
then the city would not own it, it would be man-
aged by whoever was running the dog park,” Dahl
said.
Chocolate
Continued A1
being made
that’s organic
and clean. A
driving factor
for being or-
ganic is Caven’s son’s various food allergies.
Caven said he wishes to create an environment
similar to that of a coffee shop or tea house.
“That’s probably the biggest drive. Space to
make things that kids like my own can enjoy
without risk from the additional ingredients,”
Caven said.
His business has become a family affair: His
wife Sarah wraps the chocolate and designed the
logo and packaging. After having an abundance
of chocolate laying around the house, it was her
idea to start selling it.
“This wasn’t her hobby, this wasn’t her baby,
but she’s been a good sport about picking up a
lot of the slack, Caven said.
The name Sanity Chocolate and the character
on the business's logo comes from a stick fi gure
fi rst drawn with chalk on the sidewalk by his son
at age three. Sanity is depicted running around
with his hair on fi re. Caven and his wife thought
it would be a good fi t for the business and helped
inspire the shop's slogan “Sanity Chocolate: For
when you’ve lost yours.”
Caven’s son, now age seven, is excited to be a
part of the family business. But his son has said
some of his father’s chocolate is too good to sell,
claiming that it’s a secret family recipe.
South Lane Mental Health fundraiser
The works of area artists will fi nd a unique
setting on Friday, July 28 for Warehouse Walk,
a gallery exhibit and musical celebration that
supports adolescent mental health services in
southern Lane County. Typically the home of
much of its community’s farm and feed sup-
plies, the warehouse at Coast Fork Feed Store
will be transformed to showcase the works of
many clients and staff members of South Lane
Mental Health, a non-profi t that provides men-
tal health services to over 1500 adults and chil-
dren in the Cottage Grove area. Many of these
artworks will also be available for purchase,
and funds raised will help provide mental
health support for area young people that might
otherwise have diffi culty accessing such vital
services.
“The services we’re able to provide for youth
in schools really help the family,” said Valeria
Clarke, SLMH Assistant Director. “They make
it easier for young people to access these ser-
vices by placing them in a place where kids al-
Quality Local Care…
or fewer inpatient beds and an annual average
length of stay no more than 96 hours for acute
care. These institutions also offer emergency
care and are located at least 35 miles away from
any other hospital.
To develop this list, the Becker's Health-
care editorial team examined the rankings and
awards from organizations such as iVantage
Health Analytics, Healthgrades, the National
Rural Health Association, Truven Health An-
alytics, Women's Choice Award and Leapfrog
Group. The team also considered the hospital's
community impact and reputation for innova-
tion.
Did You Know?
ready spend much of their day. We try to iden-
tify and bring down barriers to accessing these
services wherever we can.”
Outside the warehouse, guests at the Brew-
station will be treated to the “folk-fueled fun-
grass” tunes of Eugene-based Gumbo Groove,
followed by the indie rock of Cottage Grove’s
own Flies with Honey in a patio setting that
will allow all to enjoy the bright summer sun-
shine. Warehouse Walk will take place as part
of Cottage Grove’s Downtown Art Walk, which
draws community members and visitors for ex-
hibitions, music and snacks the last Friday of
each summer month. The Brewstation will also
donate $1 toward every pint purchased to South
Lane Mental Health during Warehouse Walk.
Warehouse Walk is a free event, and those
under age 21 are welcome at the Brewstation
until 8:30 p.m. More information about South
Lane Mental Health can be found at www.slmh.
org.
South Lane Physical Therapy LLC
Peace Health Wins Award
Last week, PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Com-
munity Medical Center announced its recogni-
tion by Becker's Hospital Review as one of the
2017 62 Critical Access Hospitals to Know.
“Here in Cottage Grove, our Mission guides
us to serve our local community with safe,
compassionate care,” said Tim Herrmann, chief
administrative offi cer of Cottage Grove Com-
munity Medical Center. “It’s a testament to
the dedicated work of our caregivers and the
outstanding support of our community that we
have once again been recognized nationally for
the quality of care we provide.”
There are over 1,300 critical access hospitals
in the United States. The critical access hospi-
tals featured on this list have a reputation for
superior service and care. All hospitals have 25
“He’s really excited to get to be a part of the
family chocolate business,” Caven said. “Today
while we were marking up the fl oor he told me
that he was going to be ready to take over the
family business when my back was too sore to
lift the bags anymore.”
Caven’s co-workers at the fi re station are sur-
prised he has the time to run a chocolate busi-
ness, but he isn’t the only fi refi ghter in the area
to own a business.
“Firefi ghters have a long history of having
side jobs. It’s not uncommon. In our organiza-
tion, we have a chocolate maker, a coffee roaster
and a brewer,” Caven said.
Caven has collaborated with the brewer who
owns Old 99 Brewing Co. in Roseburg to cre-
ate a chocolate coconut milk stout. He has also
worked with the coffee roaster at Playhouse
Coffee Roasting in Eugene on such creations as
the cracked coffee and latte chocolate bars.
“That’s probably the fun part about it, you can
experiment with left overs and different prod-
ucts. And generally, your experiment is pretty
tasty, you can almost never go wrong,” Caven
said.
Cottage Grove residents can experience
Caven’s chocolate for yourselves when Sanity
Chocolate, located at 1280 E Main St., opens
this August.
“We are excited to share chocolate with Cot-
tage Grove,” Caven said.
Visit our Facebook page for
helpful health tips! At 150
W. STU HOGG
PT, OCS, COMT
“likes” we are giving away a
$50 gift card.
75 Gateway Blvd, Cottage Grove
Phone: 541.942.6482
MARIE WILLIAMSON
P.T.A.
Fax: 541.942.6483
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