4A
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MAY 30, 2018
O PINION
Guest Viewpoint
Aloha Sharon Jean and Ron Rice
By Cathy Simmons
For Sharon Jean
S
haron Jean and Ron Rice have
become two of my dearest friends.
I met Sharon back in 2011, when I was
searching for some way to give my time
to the community. I offered my service
to her at the Community Center kitchen
where she was serving food to the public
every Sunday. She took me under her
wing (so to speak) and told me about the
wonderful service she was providing to
the public; anyone who wanted a warm
meal. Anyone could come, not just the
needy or homeless.
I watched her as she mingled among
the tables saying hello to everyone there
and even giving many of them hugs. She
treated each one as though they had been
friends for a very long time. Her sincere
concern and friendship to everyone she
met is what I admire the most about her.
I continued to watch and learn from her.
With her loving compassion passing on to
many. I also noticed The Man behind the
scenes. Not only did he play wonderful
music on his guitar and sing for the event,
he was the man that jumped on any need
Sharon would have. He packed up the van
with all the necessities of the day, delivered
them there, unpacked them, helped setup
tables chairs. Then when the event was
over, he vacuumed, put tables away and
repacked everything up in the van.
This he did with a smile on his face,
well most of the time. Ron Rice is this
wonderful man who seemed to have
endless energy to get the job done,
whatever job was thrown his way by his
loving wife. They are quite a team. In
case some of you did not know, Ron is an
engineer and owns the company at the T
of Ninth Street and Woodson Place called
GEOMAX.
Sharon invited me to be on the Bohemia
Mining Days Board in 2012. I was so
excited because I loved the festival and I
knew her leadership would be wonderful
to work under. I have been on the board for
my seventh festival now and am presently
serving as president. She has guided me
along the way and I would never had been
able to do this without her mentoring.
In 2013, Sharon introduced me to my
wonderful husband whom has been a
huge blessing in my life. Bill and I have
spent many wonderful evenings at Sharon
and Ron’s; Ron and Bill play guitars and
Sharon and I visit.
I have been amazed at all the things she
and Ron have been involved in throughout
their lives. Sharon has been involved in
many different political events in her
life. She has created child care services/
centers. She has spent many years in the
area of domestic violence. I’ve even heard
many stories of how she just steps in and
gets involved with situations where she
sees the need. I love her stories. Not many
5-foot-tall women could make a 6-foot-
tall man cower down.
She is really 7-feet tall, but in a short
body.
I will miss our dinners. She’s an amazing
cook. She is able to gather items from six
different people and make a meal out of it.
It’s always something new. Things I would
probably never have tried otherwise.
Sharon is one of those people that
is known for getting it done. Not just
done, but done successfully. If Sharon is
involved in the project, you know it will
be a success. It has been said that she has
more charisma in her little pinky than the
five of us have all together.
As they depart Oregon and start their
new adventure in Hawaii, I am saddened
to see them go — but am so happy they are
able to spend their golden years in a place
they called home for many years; a place
where they have many friends and family
that will be there for them.
May God bless you and keep you safe
and happy my dear friends.
All are welcome to come say ‘Aloha’ to
our dear friends, Sharon Jean and Ron
Rice this Saturday, June 2, at 5 p.m. at
Coiner Park (Sharon Jean’s favorite spot).
Hawaiian theme if you want.
I’ve had the pleasure of call-
ing Sharon Jean my friend and
mentor since 2003. I inter-
viewed Sharon a dozen years
ago and learned many details of
her journey to The Grove.
She is full of great stories of
how she brought people togeth-
er to accomplish something im-
portant, which initially seemed
impossible. Her can-do attitude
served her well, both as an
Alaskan elected official and as
an effective community leader.
In every town she has lived,
Sharon spearheaded civic
projects that left the commu-
nity better off than when she
arrived. A few examples are:
creating a battered-women’s
shelter, a childcare center, af-
fordable housing, meal sites
and senior center program im-
provements.
Her contributions in Cot-
tage Grove are significant: she
helped keep a hospital in town,
established the Soup’s On Sun-
day supper project and the tiny
homes project. It’s no surprise
she was honored by the Cham-
ber of Commerce with the Dis-
tinguished Service and First
Citizen Awards.
Letters to the Editor Policy
The Sentinel welcomes letters to the editor as part of
a community discussion of issues on the local, state
and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed
letters must be signed. All letters need to include
full name, address and phone number; only name
and city will be printed. Letters should be limited
to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing
for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of
any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space
available and the volume of letters received.
Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative,
sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced
or without documentation will not be published.
Letters containing poetry or from outside The
Sentinel readership area will only be published at
the discretion of the editor.
Political/Election Letters:
Election-related letters must address pertinent or
timely issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure
any information about a candidate is accurate, fair
and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay;
and 3) explain the reasons to support candidates
based on personal experience and perspective rather
than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the
editor column to outline their views and platforms
or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political
advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the
newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher,
general manager and editor, reserves the right to
reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@cgsentinel.com or cmay@cgsentinel.com
HOW TO CALL YOUR REPS
LETTERS
Thankful for legacy of
Sharon Jean
The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg-
ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition their
Government for a redress of greivences.
But I believe the greatest leg-
acy Sharon leaves us is Bohe-
mia Mining Days. Next year
the festival celebrates its 60th
year. If not for her leadership,
persuasion and planning expe-
rience, it would’ve surely died
soon after its 40th anniversary.
For nearly a decade, under
her leadership, BMD enjoyed
financial stability and trans-
formed into a more profession-
ally structured organization.
In my eight years as a Lane
County Commissioner, my
South Lane County constitu-
ents often said how much they
respected Ron and his skills as
an engineer and surveyor.
Sharon and Ron are a com-
munity-minded power couple
we will surely miss around here!
My husband Ralph and I
wish them much happiness
with their kids and grandkids
in Hawaii as they begin this
newest chapter of their lives.
—Cindy Weeldreyer
Cottage Grove
BMD near and dear to
hearts of many
I would like to tell you a sto-
ry about the time that Bohemia
Mining Days almost died.
It was six or seven years ago,
as I recall. I was a relatively new
member of the city council, and
had been invited to sit on the
Bohemia Mining Days board of
directors.
BMD had been one of the
many reasons I’d fallen in love
with Cottage Grove, so I was
very happy to be involved.
Unfortunately, at that time,
BMD was having severe money
troubles. When that fact came
to light, there was a spate of res-
ignations and the organization
was left with a handful of board
members, $20,000 of debt, and
a little over $8 in the bank …
and around six months to put
on Cottage Grove’s biggest an-
nual festival.
As you can imagine, the death
of BMD seemed imminent.
So, I called Sharon Jean.
Sharon had been the festival
coordinator some years pre-
vious, and had left the organi-
zation in great financial shape.
I figured that if anyone could
overcome these seemingly in-
surmountable obstacles, it’d be
Sharon.
Spoiler alert: I was right.
Despite the insane amount
of work it took to bootstrap
the festival into existence from
nearly nothing, Sharon put in
long hours, reached out to her
network of contacts and lev-
eraged her exhaustive under-
standing of all aspects of the
festival. Because that was my
first year as president of the
BMD board, I sometimes get
credit for turning the festival
around; but that credit rightful-
ly belongs to Sharon Jean.
I am not exaggerating when
I say that she absolutely saved
the festival that year. If she
hadn’t stepped in, we wouldn’t
have had a BMD that year, and
there’s a very good chance we
wouldn’t have had another one
Ever.
While many people may
know Sharon Jean from her
tireless efforts on philanthropic
projects like Soup’s On and Cot-
tage Village, I know that BMD
is near and dear to the hearts of
a huge proportion of our com-
munity. So the next time you’re
listening to music, panning for
gold, or arresting villains in
Coiner Park during BMD, save
a thought for Sharon Jean, the
unstoppable heroine of Bohe-
mia Mining Days.
We wouldn’t have it without
her.
—Jake Boone
Cottage Grove City Councilor
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
Senator Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, OR 97440
Phone: (541)342-2447
E-Mail :
sen.floydprozanski@state.
or.us
Peter DeFazio (House of
Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, OR 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: (541) 465-6732
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
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
C ottage G rove
S entinel
(541) 942-3325
Administration
Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher
Gary Manly, General Manager ................................................. Ext. 207
gmanly@cgsentinel.com
Jakelen Eckstine, Marketing Specialist .................................... Ext. 213
jeckstine@cgsentinel.com
Jana Stelle, Marketing Specialist .............................................. Ext. 203
jsteele@cgsentinel.com
Editorial
Ned Hickson, Managing Editor........................................541-902-3520
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
Caitlyn May, Editor. ................................................................. Ext. 212
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Zach Silva, Sports Editor .......................................................... Ext. 204
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Customer Service
Mandi Jacobs, Office Manager ................................................ Ext. 200
Legals, Classifieds .......................................... Ext. 200
mjacobs@cgsentinel.com
Production
Ron Annis, Production Supervisor ............................................. Ext.215
graphics@cgsentinel.com
(USP 133880)
Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties:
Ten Weeks ...........................................................................................$9.50
One year ............................................................................................$37.65
e-Edition year ...................................................................................$35.00
Rates in all other areas of United States: Ten Weeks $11.70; one year, $46.35, e-Edition $43.00.
In foreign countries, postage extra.
No subscription for less than Ten Weeks. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice.
All subscritptions must be paid prior to beginning the subscription and are non-refundable.
Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424.
Local Mail Service:
If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the Wednesday of publication, please let us know.
Call 942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Advertising Ownership:
A ll advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of
the Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior
approval.
Copyright Notice: Entire contents ©2017 Cottage Grove Sentinel.