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C ottage G rove
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Serving the com munities of Cottage Grove, Creswell, Lora ne, Dorena, Drain, Yoncalla a nd Elkton
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018
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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
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