COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MAY 9, 2018
SPAGHETTI FEED HONORS
LEGACY OF NANCY AFFINITO
Cars lined Main Street this
past Thursday, wrapping around
the historic Burkholder Build-
ing as roughly 100 area resi-
dents gathered to enjoy plates of
homemade spaghetti prepared
by brothers Nic and Alex Inhat,
owners of Backstage Bakery
and the sons of the late Nancy
Affi nito. The community-style
supper was their way of honor-
ing their mother, as well as her
legacy. With the help of a hand-
ful of volunteers, the brothers
worked to provide a heartfelt
meal for the many guests who
had come to pay tribute to Af-
fi nito.
“For many of us, we can re-
call a person that left a deep and
lasting impression on our lives,”
said native Cottage Grove resi-
dent Jeremy Eckstine, who
explained how, in some cases,
that person is a mother, sister
or friend. “In others, it is some-
one we happen upon in a brief
interaction. They … showing us
kindness, wisdom and love —
an outpouring of genuine care.
With such people, their charac-
ter continues on well past their
physical time here on earth. For
each person in attendance, Nan-
cy was such a person.”
Affi nito's children, friends
and family decided the greatest
way to honor her spirit was by
gathering the community.
“Worries and cares were
put away while people were
Cottage Grove Retrospective
A look back at Sentinel stories from 30 and 60 years ago
Putting skills
into competition
May 11, 1988
Sentinel Staff reporting
P
hugged, laughed, and shared
memories,” said Eckstine. “It
was a tribute to one incredible
human being whose mere mem-
LORANE NEWS
Submitted by Lil Thompson
A great time was had by all attending the taco dinner and the
Fandango experience at Lorane Grange last Saturday. Check
the posters. If you missed the event, they will be performing at
Crow Grange, Crow High School and the theater at the old Cen-
tral School on Central Rd. and Fleck Rd. this month.
Lorane Grange will be working on the Lorane Grange Cem-
etery on Monday, May 14 , meeting at 10 a.m. Grangers, bring
your clippers and other tools for beautifying the cemetery.
On May 19, a Celebration of Life for Lloyd will be held at
Lorane Christian Church with a potluck following at Lorane
Grange. The Grange doors will be open at 11:30 a.m. to receive
food. Jeri asks that everyone wear western attire in memory of
Lloyd.
Mark your calendars, Crow Senior Recognition night is May
30 at 7 p.m. in the CHS gym.
6
-day
weather forecast
THURSDAY May 10
FRIDAY May 11
60° | 41°
63° | 43°
Mostly Cloudy
Party sunny
SATURDAY May 12
SUNDAY May 13
79° | 49°
88° | 51°
Sunny
Sunny
MONDAY May 14
TUESDAY May 15
83° | 48°
76° | 45°
Sunny
Partly sunny
ory reminds us of the power
and importance of showing the
world grace, compassion and a
warm smile.
“Nancy left us with an in-
credible legacy, the beauty
found in true community.”
Sentinel offering
free press release
writing workshop
Writing a press release, or public service announcement (PSA),
to submit to a newspaper or online media source requires certain
elements to improve the likelihood of it getting printed or posted.
During a free one-hour workshop led by Cottage Grove Sentinel
managing editor Ned Hickson and editor Caitlyn May, participants
will learn the proper formatting of press releases, including ele-
ments of Associated Press style that are utilized by media outlets
around the world.
The workshop will cover what to include in a press release as
well as what to leave out; effective PSA structure; standard photo
formatting used by media outlets; how to contact media outlets and
which formats are preferred by editors receiving submissions.
The workshop, sponsored by The Cottage Grove Sentinel, will be
held Wednesday, May 16, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Cottage Grove
Public Library, 700 E. Gibbs Ave.
“The workshop will be a great opportunity for publicists and in-
dividuals from local organizations of all kinds to get the basics on
effective press release writing in a fun and relaxed setting,” said
Hickson. “Newspaper editors see hundreds of press releases each
week, and many submissions make the same mistakes. We’re look-
ing forward to helping folks improve their press release writing,
which helps get the word out about their group or organization and
ultimately benefi ts everyone.”
Though the workshop is free, pre-registration is appreciated by
calling The Sentinel at 942-3325 or email nhickson@cgsentinel.
com.
For more information, contact Ned Hickson at 541-902-3520.
CGSENTINEL.COM
Transmissions Plus &
AUTOMOTIVE
SPECIALTIES
PRACTICING THE ART OF TRANSMISSION REPAIR SERVICE SINCE 1991
Manual & Automatic
Transmission Repair
Tune ups
30-60-90K Services
Brakes, belts, hoses and
cooling system services
Muffl ers & Custom Exhaust
All makes and models.
MAINTAINING YOUR VEHICLE AFFORDABLY
You have a benefits
budget. We have a
way to make it work.
Call today (541) 942-0555.
WE LIVE IN THE SAME TOWN WE WORK IN
“WE MAKE SHIFT HAPPEN!”
www.automotivespecialties.biz
PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove
DUSTIN TULLAR & RUSS OWENS
541-942-8022 • COTTAGE GROVE
eople often grouse about athletics being put
before academics at the high school level.
These people should be happy about what is
going on in forestry classes at the various schools.
At Cottage Grove High h School, athletics and
academics are mixed in forest skills competitions held
throughout the state.
The team competed in a skills contest las Saturday at
Pleasant Hill, the last competition before the state forest
skills contest this Friday and Saturday at Chemekta
Community College in Salem.
“The basic idea is to take what we’ve learned in the
classroom and apply it in competition,” explains Al
Kennedy, instructor of the forestry classes and advisor
to the timber skills squad. “It’s kind of like a test, but
not the written kind. And they aren’t graded on how
they do.”
Kennedy compares the forest skills competition for
loggers to cowboys competing in rodeos. They take
what they do in a normal work day and put it into
competition.
A forest skills competition consists of 12 to 15 events,
depending on the host school’s forestry curriculum,
according to Kennedy. These are divided into skill and
academic categories.
“Not all the events are physical,” says Kennedy. “We
want the kids to think in some of the events.”
Events in the skill category include log rolling, fire
hose laying, power saw bucking, double bucking, spur
climbing, choker setting and Jack and Jill bucking.
Academic events include plant and tool identification,
compass and map log scaling, timber cruising and first
aid.
The degree to which schools compete in the
competitions vary from school to school. Some schools,
like Scio and Baker, take the competition seriously.
Others, like Cottage Grove, compete hard but don’t
spend much time preparing for contests.
“We don’t specifically prepare for these competitions,”
Kennedy says. “We want to do well, but it’s up to the
kids how much time they put into preparation.”
The number of students who compete in the contests
varies from week to week, but one performer is there
week after week – senior Rod LaCoste.
LaCoste is the current state champion in spur
climbing. Spur climbing involves scaling 30 feet up a
special tree (or pole) with the help of spurs attached to
the climber’s boots and a rope-and-belt mechanism.
“Rod has really worked hard to reach the point he’s
at,” says Kennedy. “He puts a lot of time into it, and
he’s helped the other kids improve their climbing.”
The help with the other team members showed as
Cottage Grove took first and second in both the advance
and novice climbing events.
LaCoste has been climbing for three years, but
has gotten serious about the event the last two years.
Serious enough to win the state championship last year.
“When I first started climbing, I was intimidated,”
admits LaCoste. “But then you’re hooked by the
challenge of climbing up a tree 30 feet.”
The senior spends plenty of time practicing, either on
the well-word pole at Pleasant Hill, or in several trees
just off Blue Mountain School Road.
“Cottage Grove doesn’t have tis own climbing pole,
so I go out into the woods to get used to climbing
trees of different diameters,” LaCoste says. “Different
competitions have different climbing poles.”
LaCoste, who has scaled the 30 feet in 4.20 seconds,
would have turned professional, but he will be entering
the military after graduation.
Saturday’s competition was a small one, according to
LaCoste. Some competitions will have 15 or 20 teams
entered with 30 or 40 climbers.
The spur climbing and dryland log rolling are divided
into novice and advanced divisions.
The Pleasant Hill competition was a big success for
the Cottage Grove team. LaCoste won the spur climb,
placed second in the choker setting, fifth in double
bucking and sixth in the advanced log roll.
Dave Nofsinger was first in novice climbing, and
Scott Hyde was second in advanced climbing and sixth
in novice log roll.
Randy Stutszman finished fifth in double bucking
and Chris Ponce was second in novice climbing.
The team of LaCoste, Hyde, Nofsinger, Stutsman
Ponce and John Coe placed third in the hose lay event.
“These are fun competitions for both the team and
individual,” says Kennedy. “It’s like an extension of the
classroom where you get to put what you learned into
an actual situation.”
5A
