COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MAY 30, 2018
11A
Happy to be 'in a pickle'
Pickleball players took advantage of sunny weather
at Coiner Park last week, moving to outdoor play
from indoor play at Riverside Church. Soon, five
courts will be open to the community for play.
COURTESY PHOTOS
BMD
from A1
the organization has to build it.
Misty Burris of Oregon Insti-
tute for a Better Way was sitting
at her booth during last year’s
festival and had a thought.
“Last year we participated in
the BMD and I was so excited,
it was our first year of ever go-
ing and it was so neat," Burris
said. "But it needed something
for the kids. I told them I would
be interested in facilitating it
and encouraging the free-mind
marketplace.
SOUTH LANE COUNTY
FIRE & RESCUE
SAVE MONEY. SAVE LIVES.
Ground Ambulance
Memberships
$65 per year
Ground Ambulance &
Air Membership
$115 per year
Call 541-942-4493 for info.
FOR EMERGENCY DIAL 911
Serving South Lane County.
“I knew how to do the tie-dye
walls. I saw it when I was sitting
there last year and thought,
'What if I can create a zone in
that whole space? What if we
put the kids right in the center
of it but really, they’d be in a dif-
ferent space?'”
The plan emerged: the group
would shift its annual commu-
nity tie-dye event to focus on
creating a space for kids' zone.
While the group has tradi-
tionally tie-dyed in the past,
this year it is asking for resi-
dents to join in to tie-dye large
white sheets that will be incor-
porated into the infrastructure
that will separate kids’ zone
from the rest of the festival.
Participants can watch while
Burris and others tie-dye elab-
orate designs of turtles, buses
and people before joining in
to help dye sheets and pillow
cases.
Festival coordinator Cindy
Weeldreyer said the addition-
al of the kids’ zone was a wel-
comed change.
“We are delighted to have
Misty and her team planning
what will be the most elaborate
kids zone in BMD’s 59-year his-
tory,” Weeldreyer said. “We are
grateful to South Lane Mental
Health for sponsoring the dyes
and to all who have donated
sheets to us.”
According to Burris, the kids’
zone will “provide multiple
thresholds of experience to en-
tice the child mind of all ages
from birth to beyond.”
The first threshold begins
with a large checkered path
leading directly to an entrance
through two living trees. A fa-
cade wall that is 14 feet wide
and 8 feet tall, textured to re-
semble the bark of an ancient
tree stump including a burl base
with a 4-and-a-half-foot rabbit
hole entrance. The entrance is
We need your help
Volunteers needed to
help with our upcoming
Rummage Sale and Open
House.
Call Ellen Hogue
541-674-9228
fabricated from wire, plasters
and paints and is connected to a
6-foot-long tunnel in which the
checker path leads participants
inside — then curves up and
over the walls and ceiling of the
tunnel before ending near the
exit shrinking in view.
The next threshold of expe-
rience begins in the transition
from the tunnel into a 10-by-
20-foot structure with a 7-foot
ceiling constructed to “shrink”
down to a 4-and-a-half-foot
keyhole. Inside, the participant
sees the ceiling and walls nar-
rowing towards the keyhole
exit. Kids will experience a view
of upside-down and topsy turvy
turning super tiny as they slip
out the key hole.
The third threshold of expe-
rience takes place upon exiting
the key hole to look back and
see the facade wall of a quaint
cottage house.
The fourth threshold of visual
experience is the prismatic col-
ors of the tie dyes tapestry walls.
Kids’ zone is the third change
to be announced for this year’s
BMD.
Earlier this year, the BMD
board announced that, for the
first time, the festival would be
three days instead of four.
“BMD is all about tradition,”
said board president Cathy
Simmons. “Yet as we go for-
ward, circumstances force us to
make changes like this one with
an eye on our bottom line.”
Simmons previously not-
ed that it cost approximately
$50,000 to host BMD each year.
Last month, the board approved
its 2018 budget of $55,450.
“Sunday has always been a
more quiet day with lower at-
tendance,” Simmons continued.
“In our annual vendor survey,
because of lower sales, many
of them have asked us to drop
Sunday so they can tear down
early and move on to their next
event. Up until now we haven’t
because we rely on Sunday’s
carnival revenue to pay our op-
erational expenses.”
Rainier Amusements, the
third-party operator that con-
tracts with BMD to provide
the carnival, will begin tearing
down rides on Sunday instead
of Monday this year. According
to BMD, this will save the fes-
tival operational, security, san-
itary and entertainment costs.
“We’re up against the county
fair with all of these fluxes as a
big event grows,” Burris said.
“The fact that this is all turn-
ing to community … the grand
marshals will be the winning
football team, the push to do
this enormous kid zone, and
now the tie-dye events — they
really took a turn back to their
kiddos. Something cool is hap-
pening and it’s going to grow.”
Davis Shows N.W.
Carnival
Bohemia Park
May 31 – June 3, 2018
Get your Pre-sale Armband coupon today and Save.
$20.00 each or $25.00 at the Gate
*Good For One Armband per ticket on any One Day.
Rides – Games – Food
Get your pre-sale tickets at :
Scarpelli’s Short Stop
Grocery Outlet
Cottage Grove Sentinel
Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce