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
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please contact the
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@ 541-942-3325
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