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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 22, 2019)
WEDNESDAY EDITION | MAY 22, 2019 | $1.00 CGSENTINEL.COM 3 Est. 1889 S entinel C ottage G rove VOL. 131, NO. 21 S ERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF C OTTAGE G ROVE , D ORENA , D RAIN , E LKTON , L ORANE AND Y ONCALLA Your Local News Delivered Your Way: In Print. Online. On the Go! PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL BENEFITS | SURETY Stage becomes home to immigrants’ stories By Damien Sherwood Performers read from a script in the one-act play “We Are Neighbors” on Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church. Stories told during the play reflected some per- formers’ real experiences. dsherwood@cgsentinel.com (541) 942-0555 PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove WEATHER Partly cloudy with a high of 69 and a low tonight of 50. Full forecast on A5 THEATER Elena’s uncle was killed by a car- tel gang in Mexico. Fearing a similar fate, her par- ents made separate dangerous journeys to America, all while Ele- na was still in her mother’s womb. Because she had heard undocu- mented women could be deported from hospitals, Elena’s mother re- lied on the kindness of a neighbor to act as a wet nurse as she endured 18 hours of labor in a cabin before finally giving birth in Red Bluff, Calif. Though playing a character in a DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL play, performer Isabelle Her- nandez did not have to dig deep to empathize with the experience of her character Elena. “I’m a first-generation American citizen,” she said. Both her parents came from Mexico. Her mother fled the country with other family mem- bers and, while on her way to meet her brother at the border, he was murdered. She eventually gave birth in Los Angeles. “I relate to Elena’s story very much,” Hernandez said. “My fam- ily could not go back to see my grandmother before she died.” The play, “We Are Neighbors,” is a half-hour, one-act performance sharing real stories of immigrants in Lane County. It is a touring ver- sion of the longer “Now, I Am Your Neighbor,” a one-hour show put on in fall of 2017 by the Community Big Top comes to Th e Grove Local postal workers help ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ By Damien Sherwood By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Review “The King Is Dead!” A9 SPORTS — B Krokus claims state title. B1 • RECORDS Obituaries Police Logs State news A2 • LORANE NEWS A5 • CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices B7-B9 dsherwood@cgsentinel. com C ottage Grove welcomed the return of the Culpepper & Merriweather Great Com- bined Circus last week for two nights of entertainment. Situated on a southern plot of Bohemia Park, the company per- formed two 90-minute shows each night, displaying an array of animal and human talents. Over the course of about a dozen acts, classic circus sights wowed the crowd as jungle cats were tamed, fi re was juggled, acrobats soared and a trapeze artist swung high above the crowd in a production peppered with comedic interludes by the circus’ own Leo the Clown. “For a circus, we’re a younger business, but for a family-run busi- ness, we’re an old business,” said Leo Acton, clown and self-pro- claimed “world’s freest funny- man.” Cottage Grove is just one stop on the company’s 32-week tour this year. “We’re going to cover about 15,000 miles over the western United States and we’ll have been in 17 states by the time we’re done,” Acton said. Culpepper & Merriweather Cir- cus began in 1985 as a small show run by three men who alternated announcing, performing and sell- ing concessions. Gradually, ani- mals, staff and performers were added over the years. Now in its 33rd season, the cir- DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Trapeze artist Miss Simone performs a swinging stunt as she soars above the crowd on Friday night. Nearly a dozen acts accompanied the two-night production. cus employs a rich cast of human talent as well as two tigers, a lion, several dogs, ponies and a perfor- mance duo of a 1,800-pound draft horse and his pint-sized counter- part. “It’s a good combination of two- legged and four-legged stars,” said Acton. The circus boasts of being fea- tured on National Geographic’s “Explorer” TV series, “Entertain- ment Tonight,” and on the A&E special “Under the Big Top.” Though turnout for the show was high, some in the Cottage Grove community were less than thrilled about the prospect of using wild animals for entertainment as some protestors stood by the circus entrance with signs. “We believe they should not be kept in captivity and forced to en- tertain,” said protestor Kylee Mc- Mahan. “We believe their exploita- tion is not our entertainment.” See CIRCUS 11A FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /CGS ENTINEL CG Bridge project swings into second phase @CGS ENTINEL CGS ENTINEL . COM See STORIES 6A By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com 541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 With the first phase of the Swing- ing Bridge Project completed, city councilors voted on May 13 to move ahead with Phase 2 of recon- struction at a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) of $803,355. Previously, at a Jan. 14 city coun- cil meeting this year, councilors selected Hamilton Construction and Ausland Group to commence planning and reconstruction of the Swinging Bridge at a GMP of $688,457. The $114,898 net increase from the original GMP raised some eye- brows among city staff, though the change was allowed under terms stipulated by the contract. The contract allowed, before initiating Phase 2, the GMP to be revised as the bridge design pro- UPCOMING AT OPAL SUMMER CAMP SESSION 1 • July 22-26 SESSION 2 • July 29-August 9 513 E. MAIN ST. COTTAGE GROVE, OR 97424 Theater Camp for ages 5-18 5 41 . 6 2 3 . 0 51 3 VISIT US ONLINE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OPALCENTERCG.ORG gressed, enhancements were made by the city or materials increased in cost due to economic supply. “Any modification to the Con- tract Price for Phase 2 shall be developed during Phase 1 on an ‘open-book’ basis,” reads a line in the contract. Open-book contracts ensure competitive pricing by allowing See BRIDGE 7A Letter carriers around the country were check- ing mailboxes for more than just mail on May 11 – they were also hoping to grab a bit of food. Stamp Out Hunger, billed as the largest one- day food drive in the country, launched its 27th annual nationwide effort this year, led by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). “The idea is, clean out your pantry,” said food drive coordinator for lo- cal NALC Branch 916 Bruce Meier. “Anything you want to get rid of, put it in your mailbox.” The food drive re- stocks the shelves of area food banks, ensuring that local efforts have local impact. “The fact that it stays in your own community is really benefi cial,” Mei- er said. “All your food stays in Cottage Grove.” While national tallies are not due to come in until next month, NALC Branch 916 reported that Cottage Grove has brought in 3,157 pounds of donated food, substan- tially less than previous years. “It’s been as high as 6 or 7 thousand pounds,” said Meier. See HUNGER 7A EARLY DEADLINES Due to the upcoming Memorial Day Holiday deadlines for the May 29 edition are noon on May 23 for Classfied Ads, Dis- play Ads and Editorial submissions.
