COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MARCH 14, 2018
5A
Cottage Grove Retrospective
A look back at Sentinel stories from 30 and 60 years ago
Meat cutting school could be slaughtered
A quar-
By Pete Malliris
ter-century
Sentinel Staff Writer 1988
ago, when
Frank and
Joann Shirk opened what stands today as
one of the nation’s most unique businesses,
the Cottage Grove couple pioneered an in-
dustry – educating people to become meat
cutters.
Over the years, the owners of Oregon
Meat Cutting School have rather quietly
gone about their job of training meat cutters
to work in stores and shops throughout the
nation
The blood, sweat and tears the Shirks put
into the school paid off both fi nancially and
in the gratitude of its graduates.
Some lead times have fallen on the Shirks
recently. And now, like a rare species fi ght-
ing extinction, the school fi nds itself in
a battle with time and fi nance to keep its
doors open.
More than just the survival of a small
business is at stake. The Oregon Meat Cut-
ting School is the only one of its kind in the
nation and perhaps the world.
The area’s economy, the desire to keep
student tuition reasonable and low meat
prices have caught up with the Shirks. The
school has two locations, one in downtown
POLICE BLOTTER
Cottage Grove and the other and the other
in Eugene on 30th Avenue. The Shirks sold
their Springfi eld outlet fi ve years ago. They
had a store in the Bit Y shopping center be-
fore the center’s owner went bankrupt.
Meat sold through the school subsidized
tuition in the past. Low prices have cut into
the profi tability of those sales, Frank Shirk
explained.
Student body size has not been affected
by the hard times. Shirk said the school
hands 50 to 60 students per year. That num-
ber has remained constant.
Tuition currently is $200 per month,
about half what Shirk has been told it needs
to be. Until about a year ago, tuition was
$100 per month for a six-month course.
The Shirks have borrowed to their limit
at banks and are seeking help wherever they
can fi nd it.
District 44 Rep. Peg Jolin joined the
Shirks four months ago in their search. Both
she and the Shirks agree that the school is
running out of time.
“We need some money to stay alive,”
Shirk told the Legislative Joint Committee
on Trade and Economy Friday in Eugene.
The committee was the latest stop in a
long trail of visits the Shirks have left in
search of a solution.
Conversations with the state department
of Vocational Education, the Department of
Economic Development and a host of other
groups and individuals have brought some
sympathy but no funding yet.
Attempts to reach Gov. Neil Goldschmidt
have been stymied by a seemingly endless
sea of red tape. Jolin expressed frustration
that the governor’s offi ce hasn’t gotten in-
volved. She said his infl uence could make a
big difference.
Shirk said the ideal situation would be
to have Lane Community College, or some
similar institution, buy the business and
allow him and his wife to run the school.
Shirk estimated the cost of the business
about $350,000 to #400,00.
LCC President Richard Turner said his
school can’t possibly afford to buy the busi-
ness. He said there would be some diffi cul-
ties in taking over the meat cutting school
even if a state grant bought it for LCC.
Turner added that LCC would like to help
and will continue to listen to any sugges-
tions.
This story first appeared in the
March 16, 1988 edition of
The Sentinel
National Beat
News from the state and around
the nation
Around the state
•
January Neatherlin was sentenced to 21 years in pris-
on last week after being found guilty of leaving seven
children at her unlicensed day care—drugged—so she
could go tanning.
•
20-year-old Airion Grace fi led suit against Fred Meyer
and BiMart after he was barred from buying ammuni-
tion. The retailers have joined a larger movement to
limit purchases of fi rearms and ammunition in their
stores by individuals under the age of 21 after the dead-
ly shooting in Parkland, Florida. The shooter, Nikolas
Cruz, 19, legally purchased the AR-15 he used to kill
17 people.
•
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nat-
ural Resources Conservation Service, Oregon is set to
have a below-average stream-fl ow this summer due to
a limited snowpack.
•
SafeOregon, a safety tip line for students to report bul-
lying or threats against a school, has reported an in-
crease in reports since the Feb.1 4 school shooting in
Parkland, Florida. The tip line reported receiving 224
tips between Feb. 15 and March 5.
•
At least 17 people have fi led to run for governor in Ore-
gon. A primary election will be held in May with ballots
due May 15.
Cottage Grove Police Department 24-Hour Anonymous Tip Line: 767-0504
Around the nation
March 5
March 7
A man on Hwy. 99 reported that his son
found a small quantity of both heroin and
meth.
Multiple callers reported that an intoxicated
woman was hitting vehicles with a baseball
bat in the Walmart parking lot.
March 6
Two male subjects broke into Banner Bank
and were the same suspects that had shoplift-
ed from Grocery Outlet. The two 15-year-old
male subjects were confi rmed runaways from
Springfi eld and were transported into custody.
Workers at a gas station on Main St. report-
ed two men in their car drinking from open
containers while they purchased gas. Offi cers
contacted the subjects in possession of open
container and had them pour out the contents
on the side of the road.
A woman reported that she let a female ac-
quaintance stay at her house temporarily and
when the woman who owned the property
returned, she found that the acquaintance had
broke a window to gain entry. The acquain-
tance had been asked to leave but would not
go.
6
-day
A burglar alarm went off at Riverside
Church when parishioners had entered the
wrong code on the keypad.
March 8
A backpack at the police station was found
containing one hand saw and a bundle of rope
during an investigation.
A man with a car lock pick was seen trying
to make entry into a vehicle on Pacifi c Hwy.
The man did not appear to make it into the ve-
hicle and the individ-
ual who saw him then
honked their car horn
at him. The man then
longboarded away
from the area.
A security offi cer at the Cottage Grove
hospital reported that while he was doing his
round his backpack was taken from the lobby.
A man on Kalapuya Way reported seeing a
“shady looking” door-to-door salesperson in
the area offering carpet cleaning.
A neighborhood problem on Daugherty
Ave. was reported when an individual request-
ed contact from an offi cer due to an ongoing
problem with juveniles purposely interfering
with their walkie-talkie frequency.
March 9
A syringe was found on the running trail
across from Cottage Grove High School.
March 10
An individual reported an intoxicated and
possibly high friend heading towards Dowens
Lane. An hour after the call, a man called say-
ing his niece was overdosing on alcohol and
unknown other substances with other juve-
niles at the same location.
weather forecast
THURSDAY March 15
FRIDAY March 16
48° | 34°
50° | 36°
Mostly Cloudy
Showers
SATURDAY March 17
SUNDAY March 18
50° | 35°
55° | 35°
Showers
Showers
MONDAY March 19
TUESDAY March 20
56° | 36°
56° | 37°
Sunny
Showers
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•
Two people have been killed in the last 10 days by
bombs left at their homes in Austin, Texas. On Mon-
day, a 17-year-old boy was killed after encountering an
unexpected package at his home. A second explosion
occurred hours later, critically injuring a 75-year-old
woman. Local authorities reported that the packages
were not delivered by the U.S. Post Offi ce and they
have not ruled out the possibility of the attacks being
classifi ed as hate crimes. The fi rst two victims were Af-
rican-American.
•
Bill Dix, Iowa Senate majority leader, resigned after
video of him kissing a lobbyist leaked online. The mar-
ried father of three said he made the decision to step
down in the best interest of his family.
•
Five people were killed on March 11 after a helicopter
crashed into the East River in New York City. The pilot
survived the crash and reportedly told law enforcement
that a piece of luggage may have h it the emergency fuel
shut-off button.
•
The Associated Press has reported that 78 percent of the
requests made under the Freedom of Information Act
were censored or denied over the last 10 years.
•
The woman alleging, she had an affair with President
Donald Trump is willing to return the $130,000 she
received from Trump’s personal lawyer. Stephanie
Clifford also known as Stormi Daniels reportedly an-
nounced through her lawyer that she would be willing
to return the money in exchange for the freedom to
speak openly about the alleged affair.
State
Representatives
Oregon state representation
Senator Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, OR 97440
Phone: (541)342-2447
E-Mail : sen.fl oydprozanski@state.or.us
Rep. Cedric Hayden, Republican
District 7 State Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 986-1407
Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/ hayden
E-Mail : rep.cedrichayden@state.or.us
Oregon federal representation
Peter DeFazio (House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, OR 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/contact/email-peter
Phone: (541) 465-6732
Ron Wyden (Senator)
405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020
Eugene, OR, 97401
Email: visit wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
Jeff Merkley (Senator)
Email: visit merkley.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 465-6750
