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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2019)
2B | WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL BUTTERFLY from B1 D thought. Hamann, who has a background in nonprof- it management and com- munity development, was thinking specifi cally about looking into nonprofi ts south of Cottage Grove. “Literally as I had that thought, I drove by that sign,” said Hamann, ref- erencing ECEC’s butterfl y sign. “And I said, ‘Like this place! Th at’s obviously a nonprofi t.” She continued to drive by and on the return trip, was again, drawn in. “On my way back I saw a sign for a native plant nursery and thought, oh, I should just check it out. I come around a bend in the road and it’s this place. So at that point it was like clearly, clearly I have to be here,” said Hamann. Aft er that, Hamann be- gan volunteering her time at ECEC. Th is random stranger stopping in be- came the answer to Beck- ley’s prayers. “Here comes this lady that wants to help, she asks me if she can help me weed. So she was there every Tuesday for a while and I kept saying, ‘You know, I’m to the age where I’m going to have to stop weeding and back off of this but who would want this job?’ And she said, ‘I would,’” recalls Beckley. “She has 20 years of experience in a nonprofi t and she was on the board of the nonprofi t organization for the whole state of Ore- gon. It was amazing.” And while Beckley was thrilled to have Hamann on board, the feeling was most certainly mutual. “What attracted me to ECEC was the amazing community support and the people that came to- gether to make this happen in a town of 200 people. It’s amazing,” said Hamann. With experience in this line of work and a love for Elkton, Hamann, who was named executive director in 2014, worked to continue to grow ECEC while focus- ing on the three pillars that are at the core of the orga- nization: community, youth employment and tourism. “I have heard so many people say that they found their community by com- ing to ECEC. Th ey joined the knitters or joined a book club or something like that. Th ey come to events,” said Hamann. In a small town, ECEC is oft en the place to be. For youth employment, ECEC hires around 15 Elk- ton High School students each year to work in the summer. Th e jobs vary and include everything from working at the café to serv- ing as a tour guide. Th is has been central to ECEC since its inception. “We’re isolated and those kids from 14-18 have no place to work. I really be- lieve in work. I have a big thing about work ethic,” said Beckley. “I tell them bring an empty skill basket and we’ll fi ll it up. Th ey can work here. It’s an education as well as meeting the pub- lic, that’s the biggest thing, probably.” Th e fi nal piece, tourism, has been steadily growing over the years in Elkton. ECEC is funded about equally via grants, dona- tions and earned income. But to grow as a tourism destination, for Hamann, this means people who visit stopping at not just ECEC but all around town. Grab- bing lunch, visiting a win- ery or planning a fi shing trip in the future. “In the past I would say we’re a community center that had a positive econom- ic ripple. What we’re trying to shift into is being a ru- ral economic development organization that happens to operate as a communi- ty center,” said Hamann. “I look at everything we do through that lens: how are we bringing more people to town, how are we en- couraging them to connect with the other businesses in town, how are we generat- ing opportunities to make money through what we do.” While Hamann began as an especially knowledge- able volunteer, that is now a role that is played by Bar- bara Slott. Slott, who has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Wildlife Biolo- gy from the University of Montana, was looking for a way to get involved in the community. Aft er moving a couple miles away from ECEC, she decided to see what it was all about. “I fi lled out a little card… fi guring I’ll be pulling weeds or watering plants, I didn’t know. And then Mar- jory, our executive director is very good at matching peoples interest, skills, background with what’s needed here,” said Slott. “She said ‘Oh, and what are your passions now?’ It’s still nature. And she said, ‘Well, one of the volunteer positions we would love to fi ll is the volunteer butter- fl y steward. And I was like, what’s that?” At ECEC the butterfl y steward is in charge of all things butterfl ies. Th is is everything from caring for the caterpillars to giving presentations to groups that come through. Slott was intrigued, said yes and promptly went about learn- ing all she could about this animal. She approached one of the high schoolers who was giving tours about the butterfl ies and had them tell her all she knew and from there she learned all she could online, read books and connected with butterfl y enthusiasts. Now in her fi ft h year as volunteer butterfl y steward, she is still learning but has a fi rm grasp on this exciting creature. At ECEC, Slott takes care of painted lady and monarch butterfl ies – natives to the area and on this particular day, there was just one butterfl y in the pavilion as they were be- tween generations. But as butterfl y popula- tions globally ebb and fl ow – with more ebbing then fl owing as of late – they have continued to be the draw at ECEC which has led to opportunities across the park. Th e butterfl ies, and ECEC, have provided Elkton with a lot to off er. ! ED R IT FE M F LI E O M TI there was just one problem. “No one stopped. No one stopped at all,” said Beckley. Refl ecting on her own trav- eling habits, Beckley was reminded of all the butter- fl y pavilions she had visit- ed. “Everywhere we went, we went to butterfl y pavil- ions. And I said, ‘You know what? If we had butterfl ies, people would stop.’” Needing to learn more about butterfl ies, Beckley hopped on a plane to New Jersey – “Or maybe it was Connecticut,” she says as she thinks of the memory – to learn more about this animal. She had found in- formation online about a guy who knew how to care for butterfl ies and went to learn from him. Aft er learning all she could, she wound up in Ashland to get milkweed – the lifeline of butterfl ies – in addition to butterfl y eggs that soon turned into hundreds of butterfl ies. “People started stopping in just to see what that was about. And in the mean- time, because there’s 30 acres and because this com- munity is innovative and they have passions of their own, they started putting their passions to work,” said Beckley. With Beckley comfort- able with bringing commu- nity members onto the land, the property began to fl our- ish. Th ere was someone in town who was a landscapist and he ended up donating 500 trees. Th en there was a group of passionate indi- viduals who created a repli- ca of Fort Umpqua – a trad- ing post built by Hudson’s Bay Company in the 1800s. Th ere was also interest in a library, a café and even some local art was donated as well. Th e answer to all these questions on whether or not it could be included was a resounding yes from Beck- ley. Th e community came to her with these skills and she wanted to share them with everyone else. “Because this community is innovative and they have passions of their own, they started putting their pas- sions to work,” said Beckley. Much like plants across the property, ECEC began to bloom. Th e ambitious ideas became staples at ECEC. Th is once sprawling 30-acres of sheep pasture now has a little of every- thing. Th ere is the butterfl y pavilion, native plant nurs- ery, Fort Umpqua, produce stand and the library. Th e seven climate zones of Ore- gon are represented, plants and produce are sold, tours are given to schools and weddings are hosted. What started with a sign getting people to give the area a second look has turned into an institution in the community. With a sprinkling of good luck, skill that transcends what is typically found in a town the size of Elkton and a lot of hard work, the group at ECEC has gone above and beyond. Did Beckley even think all this was possible? “Not in a million years,” she said. “Not in a million years.” riving to the coast with her dog, Marjo- ry Hamann was lost in SAVE $100 off new termite protection* SAVE $50 off initial pest service with annual contract* *Offer expires 06/30/2019. Offer available to residential customers who purchase a new pestfree365 plan on or after 02/15/2019 This offer does not apply to commercial pest plans. 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