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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 23, 2018)
$1.00 PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL BENEFITS | SURETY C ottage G rove S entinel Est. 1889 Serving the com munities of Cottage Grove, Creswell, Lora ne, Dorena, Drain, Yoncalla a nd Elkton WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 (541) 942-0555 PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove SPORTS Woods takes home two titles for CGHS track team. B1 FACEBOOK.COM/CGSENTINEL • TWITTER.COM/CGSENTINEL For a complete six- day forecast please see page A5. WED 74º/53º CGSENTINEL.COM SAVED BY THE VOTE Mildred Whipple Library to re-open thanks to grassroots eff ort Drain residents approve a new tax district, funding the library previously closed as part of a county-wide funding shutdown more than a year ago. By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com T he Friends of the Mildred Whipple Library were togeth- er when they heard the news. Th e ballot measure they had worked on for months with the intention of re-opening the library that had been closed for over a year had passed. By a lot. “It’s nice to win but it’s even nicer that we have that support behind us, that overwhelming, ‘Yes, we want the li- brary back.’,” said Valerie Johns, a mem- ber of the group, its designated spokes- person and as of May 15, a member of the newly formed library district board. Th e May 15 vote asked Drain resi- dents to institute a special tax district levying 44 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value to re-open the library shuttered in June of 2016. Th e measure passed with 76 percent of the 609 bal- lots cast. In the winter of 2016, the Douglas County Commission voted to shut down the county’s library system citing insuffi cient funds to continue operating the facilities. When county residents voted down a ballot measure in 2017 that would have provided the fund- ing needed to save the library system, buildings from Reedsport to Yoncalla began closing in and by June 1, Doug- las County did not have a library within its borders. While some facilities, like the library in Yoncalla, opted to re-open on a lim- ited basis with the help of volunteers, Friends of the Mildred Whipple Library in Drain did not have the resources to follow suit. Instead, the group opted to build a grassroots eff ort and consulted with the city and an attorney on how to get a new ballot measure to voters. Measure 10-162 proposed the same 44 cents per $1,000 of assessed value as the failed initiative voted down in 2016. However, not everyone said no the fi rst time. Polling results showed that Drain residents voted in favor of the 44 cent tax in 2016 and so, the library group of- fered a measure under the same terms with a new jurisdiction. Th e newly formed special tax district follows the same borders as the school district in Drain. “Th is community supported us all the way through fi nancially and with volunteers and then getting that vote, we’re ready to get that library open,” Johns said. But, it’s not quite that simple. While Drain residents voted to im- pose a new tax, those funds won’t be readily available until aft er the vote is certifi ed and the tax offi cially institut- ed. UPDATING HISTORY: Titanic coat gets upgrade See Library A11 Williams, Buch advance to general election By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com A copy of a newspaper clipping describing Marion Woolcott's rescue from the Titanic. PHOTOS BY CAITLYN MAY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL HISTORY— The empty case that will display the "Titanic coat" again in the winter of 2019. COMMUNITY history. “Th e kids come in and they get a big thrill out of it. Th ey say, ‘Th at’s Rose’s coat! Th at’s Rose’s coat! Th ey think it’s from the movie ‘Titanic’,” said Tara with the intention of preserving Cottage Grove’s heritage. It’s what made Woolcott’s voyage on the doomed ship unique; she wasn’t destined for California or an extended stay in New York like majority of “When her sons went to war, the the passengers. she cut pieces from the coat She was headed for a small town and wrapped bibles in them." in the Willa- mette Valley to —Cathy Bellavitta join her future Ar- Museum volunteer husband thur where they would eventual- Sue Hughart, who volunteers at ly buy an orchard, have children the Cottage Grove Museum, a and be buried. But not before Roman Catholic church estab- fi nding a bit of local celebri- lished in 1897 before communi- ty and subsequently, handing ty members banded together to down history. purchase the building in 1961 In the middle of the Cottage SPORTS Lion Pride New basketball coach Lion pride Pageant raises nearly $15,000. PAGE A6 Cottage Grove High School names new girls coach following r esignation. PAGE B1 INDEX M arion Woolcott had been in bed for 10 minutes when she heard a crash. “I put on my dressing gown and thick coat…I was met on deck by a gentleman to whom I had oft en talked and he said an iceberg had struck us but there was no danger,” she wrote in a letter, one of a handful she wrote to her parents before being re- united with the man who would become her husband when the survivors of the Titanic landed in New York in 1912. More than 100 years later, visitors from as far away as Ire- land make their way down the narrow neighborhood streets of Cottage Grove dotted with his- torical homes on either side and a church that has come to house COFFEE WITH THE EDITOR Have a news tips? Want to talk about community events? Have a question? Stop by Backstage Bakery. The THIS THURSDAY from noon to 1 p.m. Grove Museum there’s an emp- ty glass case that usually houses the coat Irish tourists and mov- ie-watching children come to see. It’s the coat Woolcott wrote of in letters home as she made the journey from the sinking Titanic to New York. It’s the coat she had in her possession when she landed on dry land again and the coat she passed on to her sons and eventually, the Cottage Grove Museum. “When her sons went to war, she cut pieces from the coat and wrapped bibles in them,” said Cathy Bellavitta, a volun- teer with the museum. All three sons made it home but the bi- bles have never been found and in 1967, Woolcott’s oldest son, John, donated the coat to the museum. “His wife was actually on the museum board,” Bellavitta said. Th e coat is currently on loan to the National Geographic Museum in Washington D.C. aft er having fi nished a stint at the Ronald Regan Museum. It’s due back in Cottage Grove in January of next year. In exchange for allowing the coat to be displayed, the mu- seum will receive a new dress form and case to house the coat when it returns home. It’s also been awarded a $5,000 match- Calendar ...................................... B11 Channel Guide ............................... B5 Classifieds ...................................... B7 Obituaries ...................................... A2 Opinion ......................................... A4 Sports ............................................ B1 ing grant and professional guid- ance on how to display the coat that has been a part of the draw to the museum for decades. “I would say that at least 10 to 15 percent of the people who come through are coming through looking for the coat,” Hughart said. Th e attraction is credited to Woolcott’s story of survival, the popularity of the Oscar-win- ning fi lm but also, the improba- bility of the coat’s existance. “It’s a coat. She gave it to her kids and they slept on it and camped with it and drug it around, it’s amazing that it sur- vived,” Hughart said. Bellavitta added historic tex- tiles, in particular, due to their nature are rare and textiles from the Titanic, even more so; something the museum dis- covered when the coat was ap- praised. Th e museum has since had a substantial upgrade in security. When the coat returns, it will be to a new display and, hopefully, an increased inter- est. “Th ousands of people went through the exhibit at the Rea- gan museum,” Becky Venice, president of the museum board said. “And this coat has just been quietly exhibited for 30 years.” Early results on May 15 showed current East Lane com- missioner Gary Williams lead- ing the race for the seat he was appointed to on the Lane Coun- ty Commission as he was ahead of Heather Buch by less than one percent just aft er 9 p.m. Williams, who was appoint- ed in 2016 aft er Commissioner Faye Stewart resigned to take a position with the city of Cottage Grove, earned 31.07 percent of the vote. Buch got 30.69 percent. By 10:30 p.m. they were tied: 31.03 percent percent to 31.03 percent. Tuesday morning, Buch had pulled ahead, 31.27 to Williams' 30.73. Because the race for the com- mission seat is non-partisan, only candidates who earn more than 50 percent of the vote se- cure the seat in a primary elec- tion. If no candidate garners more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two earners are placed on the general election ballot. “Last night, voters decided that they are ready for a new perspective and experienced leadership on the Lane County Board of Commissioners. I look forward to talking to even more voters over the coming months to learn about the issues that they care about,” Buch said in a press release May 16. If elected, Heather would be the fi rst woman to serve on the Lane County Board of Commis- sioners since Cindy Weeldryer was elected to this seat in 1998. Buch is the Special Projects Di- rector for the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County, where she works primarily in the de- velopment of aff ordable hous- ing. She is also a small business See Elections A11 cgnews@cgsentinel.com (541) 942-3325 ph • (541) 942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove _______________ VOLUME 130 • NUMBER 43 Rain Country Realty Inc. RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Licensed in the State of Oregon RainCountryRealty.com • raincountryrealty@gmail.com 1320 Hwy 99 • 541-942-7246