8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MAY 30, 2018
Lions, Rotarians and carousel horses ... oh my!
The two service
organizations have
a joint meeting
decades apart, this
time for a new cause
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
I
n 1990, the University of
Oregon was playing the
University of Colorado at
Autzen Stadium when a player
sustained a spine injury that
landed him at Sacred Heart
Medical Center for weeks.
A year later, his father
Ed Rhinehart walked into a
Springfield Rotary.
“Ed mentioned that his son
was recuperating and walking
with crutches,” said Don
Williams, a longtime Rotarian
in Cottage Grove. “They were
thinking about a speaking
tour to communicate the long
struggle of rehabilitation after
the spinal injury.”
Williams, a member of the
local rotary meeting, offered the
venue — in conjunction with
the local Lions’ club — as a test
site for the speaking tour.
“I went out on a limb at that
time because the club's had
never met in a joint meeting
before,” Williams said.
On Thursday, May 24, nearly
30 years later, they did it again.
While the clubs have met
jointly once or twice a year
around
special
occasions
and holidays, the meeting
on Thursday was to tour the
carousel project at the WOE
fairgrounds. The project, which
has been on-and-off for the last
two decades, has been making
steady progress under its latest
rebirth and is hoping to garner
community interest to continue
raising funds to bring the
attraction to Main Street.
The carousel was brought to
Cottage Grove by Judy Cash
who, upon moving to the city,
ventured down Main Street
and imagined a carousel in the
PHOTO BY CINDY WEELDREYER
CAROUSEL—Russ McGuire (left) shows Rotarians and Lions
pieces of the carousel during a joint meeting held May 24.
middle of it. After inheriting
money from a family friend,
Cash traveled across the
country to purchase the vintage
carousel and bring it home to
Cottage Grove.
Cash passed away in 2016,
but just prior to her passing
she told The Sentinel it was still
her wish to see the carousel on
Main Street, adding, “Where
else can you take your family
now where you can leave your
worries at the doorstep and just
be in a happy place? It’s a happy
place.”
Cash left the carousel to the
Friends of the Cottage Grove
Carousel, who were tasked
with raising funds and drawing
enough interest to make Cash’s
dream a reality.
Williams heads the board and
invited the Lions club to join
his Rotary club for a tour of the
carousel last Wednesday.
“There were many positive
comments. Several had heard
of the project and commented
they had no idea, until they saw
the carousel being refurbished,
the magnitude of the project,”
Williams said.
The Friends of the Cottage
Grove Carousel have been
working actively to raise
awareness of the carousel over
the last year with booths at
local festivals and by hosting
fundraisers, like a no-show
banquet that asked people to
donate to the cause without
having to add another event to
the busy banquet season.
The carousel is currently
being stored at the WOE
fairgrounds while it undergoes
restoration. The advanced
art class at Cottage Grove
High School has assisted in
sanding and repainting the
animals while local businesses
have donated to refurbish the
floorboards and other aspects
of the attraction. The group
also recently acquired a musical
element for the carousel — a
self playing piano.
For more information or to
donate, contact the Friends of
the Cottage Grove Carousel by
visiting www.cgcarousel.com.
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