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