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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2019)
10A • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • FEBRUARY 20, 2019 Poet from A1 “Writing is the friend that nev- er leaves you. A place to explore your loneliness, your thoughts, your aspirations. A place to honor your community” rected life.” Poetry found a home in Stafford’s life as he learned to explore this creative outlet. “Poetry is our native voice. It’s what we learn as children – to be playful and inventive and curious with language,” he said. “To be a poet is just to continue that process and not get constricted by so-called efficiency, which is excluding of the evocative dimensions of language.” While a lack of constric- tions makes for a literary playground of creativity, Staf- ford does have his own loose boundaries for that play- ground. “My definition of poetry is saying as much as you can in the shortest possible space,” he said. “And that doesn’t mean it has to be short, it just means it has to be compact and dense and rich.” Stafford would go on to get his Ph.D. in medieval liter- ature from the University of Oregon, and has found work as a printer, photographer, oral historian, editor and vis- iting writer at a host of col- leges and schools. His career as an educa- tor and author has delivered him as far as Scotland, Italy and Bhutan and has seen the production of a dozen books of poetry and prose. For his efforts, he has received cre- ative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Governor’s Arts Award, and the Steward Hol- brook Award from Literary Arts for his contributions to Oregon’s literary culture. He is also the founding di- rector of the Northwest Writ- ing Institute at Lewis & Clark College, a body of the college which offers a broad range of studies for both teachers and adult writers. “For seven years, at Lewis & Clark, I was the person who would teach anything to any- one anytime,” Stafford said. His classes spanned the topics of photography, oral history, folklore, journalism, linguis- tics, literature and composi- tion. To bring the studies into a collective orbit, the Northwest Writing Institute was founded. The goal was not just to pro- vide an eclectic mix of cours- es, but to establish a home and community for writers to be reflective in their writing ex- periences. “It’s a zone of exploration and place-based storytelling,” Stafford said. “It’s very induc- tive.” Since its inception, the in- stitute has launched numerous classes, workshops and pro- grams around the state which have offered writing oppor- tunities to fields as diverse as law, folk arts and ecology. “Miraculously, 35 years lat- er, I’m still doing it,” said Staf- ford. In 2018, Governor Kate Brown named Stafford Poet Laureate of Oregon, a two- year appointment. Stafford is Oregon’s ninth poet laureate since 1921, succeeding Eliza- beth Woody, the first Native American to be named the state’s poet laureate. Stafford cited a sentiment Woody had left with him: “‘The more I do poetry, the less it’s about what the poem is and the more it’s about who the poem serves,’” he recalled. In his poet laureate capacity, Stafford says he is “a servant of the people spreading words about words.” It’s in this spirit Stafford is meeting with young people in Cottage Grove to discuss the importance of lit- erary expression. He hopes to engender in students the idea that meaning and a role in one’s community can be cultivated through the reflective process of writing. “Writing is the friend that never leaves you,” he said. “A place to explore your lone- liness, your thoughts, your aspirations. A place to honor your community. I talk about writing a poem for someone – not so much about a subject as for a reader.” Though the meeting may entail some writing, Stafford is mostly interested in having a conversation with young po- tential writers. “I want to interview them about writing. When writing is easy, what makes it easy? When it’s hard what makes it hard?” He added, “And how could we share our tech- niques, approaches and atti- tudes so that writing could be an arrow in our quiver – a skill we could carry with con- fidence – and something that will help us negotiate the mys- teries of the world.” Stafford wants to encourage “a generation of thinkers and inventors with an active mind and heart in service to com- munity. And writing is one way to do that,” he said. Writing, too, can serve as a developmental accessory to other passions, Stafford noted. “I actually advocate writ- ing as a companion to some other obsession in one’s life,” he said. “Let’s face it, you’re not going to make money as a poet, but you can bring lyr- ics and speech to anything you choose to do. … You’re basically telling a story about yourself and to the extent the words are evocative and gen- erous and playful and engag- ing, you will succeed.” For a generation inundated by media, Stafford feels a sil- ver lining rests in its ability “to take charge of that and turn it around and say, ‘I’m going to make something. I’m not just going to be a receiver and a consumer. I’m going to be a creator.’” Creation, to Stafford, is a remedy to the often-destruc- tive tones delivered by unceas- ing streams of news and social media sites. “You need to talk back to all that darkness,” he said. “And you talk back by creating.” After visiting with students, Stafford will move on to Sta- cey’s Covered Bridge Restau- rant and from noon to 2 p.m. to “talk shop” with local writ- ers who are interested in dis- cussing the craft. Regarding his own meth- odology, Stafford credited his ability to create to a routine. “For me, it’s less a matter of inspiration and more a matter of process,” he said. “I carry a little notebook in my pock- et and throughout the day I overhear things, remember things or think of things and jot down notes and then every morning before it gets light, I have an appointment with myself and take out my note- book and pick something that caught my attention and find out what it wants to be.” To wrap up the day, Stafford will be at the Shepherd Room in the Community Center at 7 p.m to present some of his work, discuss writing and hold a Q & A. Carousel Board welcomes newest, youngest member T he Friends of the Cottage Grove Car- ousel Board recently welcomed its newest and youngest voting member of the governing board, Desti- ny Duerst, who is is a 2017 Cottage Grove High School graduate. In 2017, Duerst and her best friend, Ryani, orga- nized a spaghetti feed that raised more than $2,000 to purchase clothing for the homeless. Duerst said she is enthused about bringing a carou- sel to South Lane County and will work in fundrais- ing and communications to further the efforts of the restoration and final home for the carousel. COURTESY PHOTO Carousel board president Don Williams (right) and fellow board member Alice No- wicki (left) with newest and you gest board member Destiny Duerst. Worship Directory 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 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 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 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 First Presbyterian Church 3rd and Adams St 541-942-4479 Rev.: Karen Hill Worship: 10:00am Sunday School: 10:00am fpcgrove.com 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 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” 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 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) United Methodist Church 334 Washington • 541-942-3033 Pastor:Lura Kidner-Miesen Worship: 10:30am umcgrove.org Non-Denominational Church of Christ 1041 Pennoyer Ave 541-942-8928 Preacher: Tony Martin Sunday Bible Study:10:00am Sunday Worship:10:50am & 5:30pm www.pennoyeravecoc.com Old Time Gospel Fellowship 103 S. 5th St. • 541-942-4999 Pastor: Jim Edwards 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 John J. Boyle Holy Mass: Saturday Vigil – 5:30 PM Sunday – 10:30 PM For weekday and Holy Day of Obligation schedule see website OLPHCG.net Confession: 4 PM to 5 PM Saturdays or by appointment St. Philip Benizi, Creswell 552 Holbrook Lane Sunday 8:30 AM “VICTORY” Country Church 913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913 Pastor: Barbara Dockery Worship Service: 10:00am Message: “WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES” CRESWELL: Creswell Presbyterian Church 75 S 4th S • 541-895-3419 Rev. Seth Wheeler Adult Sunday School 9:15am Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am website www.creswellpres.org Worship With Us! St. Andrews Episcopal Church 1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050 Rev. Lawrence Crumb “Church with the fl ags.” Worship: Sunday 10:30am All Welcome Our Worship Directory is a weekly feature in the newspaper. If your congregation would like to be a part of this directory, contact us today! S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 116 N. 6th Street Cottage Grove, OR
