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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2019)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • JANUARY 2, 2019 • from A6 Latham cause of death for at least one student who drowned. In 1872, the little big school became known as Latham after a nearby railroad stop took on the name as well. The name came from Milton S. Latham who served as California’s sixth governor (he was governor for five days before resigning) and also had stints in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Changes kept coming for the school in the coming decades as the location of the school shifted a mile south in 1896 and resid- ed on land that now houses Weyerhaeuser. While Latham was the first school, by the late 1800s it was just one of a number of schools. In 1880 the first school was built in Cottage Grove city limits and in total, 22 different schools opened in Cottage Grove and the surrounding area before 1900. The only other school from that time that remains open is London which opened in 1872. Latham made its final location move in 1941 to the place that it sits today. Less than 10 years after the move, Cal Davis became principal and synonymous with the school. Davis, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 88, had a similar origin story as the school he would one day work at for 33 years. While Latham was a one-room cabin during the early years, Davis was born in a cabin in Idaho. And while history books reference Latham students in the 19th century riding horses to school, Da- vis was riding a horse to school in Idaho in the 20th century. “He was a country boy,” said Davis’ daughter Marcia Trujillo in a recent interview with The Sentinel. “[At Latham] he was around people he enjoyed. They were country people and he felt he was one of them.” With a master’s degree from the University of Oregon, Davis began at Latham teaching eighth grade, driving the bus and serving as custodian for the school. In 1959, he became principal of the school that was, until 1963. still a first grade through eighth grade school. In this role Davis helped further the traditions, ideas and ideals that has helped cement the school’s identity as a small-school with a rich community. He started Latham field days, an annual track event that brings together schools and still hap- pens in the district. He put an emphasis on ani- mals at school and helped with lessons that would train rats to complete mazes and shoot a ball at a hoop for a game of rat-sized basketball. He built a sound system in the gym to hold a phonograph. He set up an individualized math curriculum for each student. He designed school-themed icons – pencil, desk, etc. – and hung them up outside the school so people on I-5 would see the school. He wrote songs about the school. He set up a punching bag in the school’s basement for kids to blow off steam. He had a patriotism lesson that resulted in a group of kids designing a flag made of jelly beans, sending it to the White House and getting a response from Ronald Reagan. “He never asked other people to do what he would not be willing to do. So if he came up with these ideas, he led them and worked at them,” said Trujillo. “And the teachers, they went along with it. I think sometimes it might have been overload but they went along with it.” Davis was once offered the position of prin- cipal at Bohemia but declined preferring to stay working with small schools. In addition to being principal at Latham, he also served as principal for London for 10 years. Through all the work, for Davis it always came back to the students. “I was partial to the smaller school. I think kids have a better chance to be better known,” Davis told The Register-Guard in an interview after his retirement. “It gives us an ability to de- velop in kids a feeling of self-worth make them feel they’re kind of important people.” “I think he respected and admired children and remembered what it was like [to be a kid],” said Trujillo. “When you get older you think, ‘Oh my gosh, I could be 10 again.’ But when you’re 10, life’s a challenge.” While Davis was doing all he could at Latham, Worship Directory First Baptist Church 301 S. 6th st • 541-942-8242 Interim Pastor: Reed Webster Sunday School 9:30am Worship Service 11:00am Youth Wednesday 6:30pm cgfi rstbaptist.com DRAIN: HOPE U.M.C. 131 W “A” St. Drain, OR 541-315-1617 Pastor: Lura Kidner-Miesen Fellowship & Song: 11:30am Potluck Lunch: 12:00pm Worship: 12:30pm First Presbyterian Church 3rd and Adams St 541-942-4479 Rev.: Karen Hill Worship: 10:00am Sunday School: 10:00am fpcgrove.com COTTAGE GROVE: 6th & Gibbs Church of Christ 195 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3822 10:00am Christian Education: Pre-K through 5th www.6thandgibbs.com Calvary Baptist Church 77873 S 6th St • 541-942-4290 Pastor: Riley Hendricks Sunday School: 9:45am Worship: 11:00am The Journey: Sunday 5:00pm Praying Thru Life: Wednesday 6:00pm Calvary Chapel Cottage Grove 1447 Hwy 99 (Village Plaza) 541-942-6842 Pastor: Jeff Smith Two Services on Sun: 9am & 10:45am Youth Group Bible Study Child Care 10:45am Service Only www.cgcalvary.org Church of Christ 420 Monroe St • 541-942-8565 Sunday Service: 10:30am Cottage Grove Bible Church 1200 East Quincy Avenue 541-942-4771 Pastor:Bob Singer Worship 11am Sunday School:9:45am AWANA age 3-8th Grade, Wednesdays Sept-May, 6:30pm www.cgbible.org Cottage Grove Faith Center 33761 Row River Rd. 541-942-4851 Lead Pastor: Kevin Pruett www.cg4.tv Full Childrenʼs Ministry available Services: 9:00am & 10:45am Delight Valley Church of Christ 33087 Saginaw Rd. East 541-942-7711 • Pastor: Bob Friend Two Services: 9am - Classic in the Chapel 10:30am - Contemporary in the Auditorium Hope Fellowship United Pentecostal Church 100 S. Gateway Blvd. 541-942-2061 Pastor: Dave Bragg Worship: 11:00am Sunday Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday www.hopefellowshipupc.com “FINDING HOPE IN YOUR LIFE” Living Faith Assembly 467 S. 10th St. • 541-942-2612 Worship Services Sundays: 9a & 11a Youth Worship Sundays: 11a (all ages welcome) Mondays: 5:30p (6th-12th grades) St. Andrews Episcopal Church 1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050 Rev. Lawrence Crumb “Church with the fl ags.” Worship: Sunday 10:30am All Welcome Seventh-day Adventist Church 820 South 10th Street 541-942-5213 Pastor: Kevin Miller Bible Study: Saturday, 9:15 am Worship Service: Saturday, 10:40 Mid-week Service: Wednesday, 1:00 Trinity Lutheran Church 6th & Quincy • 541-942-2373 Pastor: James L. Markus Sunday School & Adult Education 9:15am Sunday Worship 10:30 am Comm. Kitchen Free Meal Tue & Thur 5:00pm TLC Groups tlccg.com United Methodist Church 334 Washington • 541-942-3033 Pastor:Lura Kidner-Miesen Worship: 10:30am umcgrove.org “VICTORY” Country Church 913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913 Pastor: Barbara Dockery Worship Service: 10:00am Message: “WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES” Non-Denominational Church of Christ 1041 Pennoyer Ave 541-942-8928 Preacher: Tony Martin Sunday Bible Study:10:00am CRESWELL: Sunday Worship:10:50am & 5:30pm Creswell Presbyterian Church www.pennoyeravecoc.com 75 S 4th S • 541-895-3419 Rev. Seth Wheeler Old Time Gospel Fellowship Adult Sunday School 9:15am 103 S. 5th St. • 541-942-4999 Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am Pastor: Jim Edwards website www.creswellpres.org Sunday Service: 10:00am Join in Traditional Christian Worship Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Philip Benizi Catholic Churches 1025 N. 19th St. 541-942-3420 Father: Joseph Hung Nguyen Holy Mass: Tue-Thu: 8:30am; Sat:5:30pm Sun: 10:30am Confession: After daily mass, Sat. 4-5pm or by appointment St. Philip Benizi, Creswell 552 Holbrock Lane 541-895-8686, Sunday: 8:30am PHOTO C/O HOLLI TURPIN A Latham second-grade class from 1928. he worried about the future of his school, other area schools and the district as a whole being able to stay open. Five area schools closed throughout the 60s and school budgets continued to be a challenge after Davis’ retirement. “There were budget problems from the time I started,” said Kathy Sabin who served as Latham’s office manager for 30 years after Davis, and of- fice manager of 25 years Joyce Owens, retired. “It seemed that if it wasn’t every year it was ev- ery few years there were budget issues… As far as closing Latham...probably the last 10 years they’ve been talking about it.” Sabin, who sent three daughters through Latham took over for Owens and got a first- hand look at the school. In her three decades at Latham, she worked with 10 different principals and saw budget cuts play out in real time. Sabin saw drastic cuts in the hours for the librarian, nurse, counselor and custodian. The only per- son in the office, she picked up slack as best she could but felt the stress permeate throughout the building. “I love that feeling of a small school but as re- sources keep getting cut further and further, you could almost feel a little bit of a difference just because of the stress level on everybody,” she said. Facing the realities of limited resources, the school has been trying to preserve not only the crumbling school building that sees the kitchen flood each year but also the ideal of the Latham community. This community has been formed over generations as students and parents alike have come to the school that is now an alterna- tive to the larger area schools while still being close to town. That is how it was for Sabin who saw one of her daughters flourish in this smaller setting and that’s how it is for current parent Danielle Na- pier. Napier has two students currently enrolled at Latham and after moving to the district from Springfield, she has seen her kids flourish at this school. The class sizes at Latham are about the same as other schools around the district but it is the small school size that is valued. “I’ve seen such a dramatic difference between the two different school settings,” said Napier. “Just the bigger school requires way too much for something that big to function. You lose that personal, individualized attention.” When Sabin worked at Latham, the school en- rolled as many as 151 students in a single year and was regularly above 120. With the combina- tion of a recent string of behavior problems – not unlike those at the district, state and even nation- al level but have a heightened effect in a small setting – and the constant threat of being shut down for the last decade, Latham’s enrollment numbers have dropped and are currently at 86 students. Which leads back to the hard reality of the board’s decision. No decision has officially been made but the numbers tell a bleak story for the future of the school. To keep the school going an estimated $775,000 would have to come out of the deferred maintenance budget for this school to cover ev- erything from windows to a new boiler to elec- trical upgrades. “I’m really sorry for what Latham has gone through. The people there are going through or may still be going through,” said Gary Mort at a Dec. 12 board meeting about the fate of the school. Add- ing, “I’m actually just sorry. Even if we come in in January and miraculously some an- gel donated $2 million to us Next jams: oan. 8, oan. 22 and said, ‘Only for Latham,’ Free Admission. Refreshments Available. 2915 Row River Rd. cottageevents.com that would be amazing, but you still would have gone through all of this and suffer- to our ing and horribleness which is just not okay.” Resident Employee Soon a decision will be of the of the made. The school from 1853 Month Month will either remain open for Lora Lee Ronda at least five more years or the Jensen Gundersen district will have to make a new decision on what to do with the land the school cur- rently occupies. The school that has survived the longest For the month of January, 2019 looks to be the latest addition to the list of schools that have come and gone. The little big school, the oldest of them all. Congratulations! 1425 Daugherty Ave. • Cottage Grove • 541-942-0054 Worship With Us! Heraej=bbkn`]^haHqtqnu Our Worship Directory is a weekly feature in the newspaper. If your congregation would like to be a part of this directory, please contact the Cottage Grove Sentinel @ 541-942-3325 7A Assisted Living and Memory Care Apartments Our beautiful community is designed for those who need assistance or have memory impairments. You can be assured that you or your loved one will receive the best in care along with compassionate personal attention from our well trained staff. Call or stop by for more information and a personal tour! We are available 7 days a week! 1500 Village Dr., Cottage Grove, OR 97424 T 541-767-0080 www.MiddlefieldOaks.com