COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020 | 11A
Carousel from A1
in which his leadership
came under question led to
his decision to distance him-
self from the project.
“Th e board does not
need me anymore … and
I wouldn’t walk away if I
didn’t feel [the project] was
secure,” he said. “Th e proj-
ect is dear to my heart, but
it will carry on without me.”
Since Williams’ depar-
ture, vice president Alice
Nowicki has assumed the
presidency role.
“We are so sad to see Don
leave us because he is so
good at promotions and the
networking that he does,”
Nowicki said. “Everybody
was quite saddened by that.
… It was with great regret
that we accepted his resig-
nation.”
Echoing Williams’ senti-
ment, Nowicki said she was
confi dent the project will
move forward as planned.
“We are right now recon-
structing the board, making
some changes, doing some
goal-setting and we’re start-
ing again with new energy,”
she said.
Board member and proj-
ect engineer Russ McGuire,
who has spent the past three
years restoring the carou-
sel, expressed confi dence
that work could continue
smoothly.
“We’re going to contin-
ue right on as we were be-
fore,” he said. “Th ere’ll be
no changes except that we
have a new president at the
moment. … We will miss
Don and we will keep him
informed on what we’re do-
ing so that he can stay in the
loop, but we’re going to con-
tinue right along with the
programs that he started.”
Th e board also received
a resignation letter from
board member Linda Sex-
ton, who had been on the
board for four years and aid-
ed the nonprofi t with land
acquisition research.
Sexton said her account-
ing degree and 20 years of
managing inventory for
her family business were
strengths she hoped to off er
the board, however she was
met with resistance in her
attempts to increase trans-
parency and accuracy.
In her letter of resig-
nation, Sexton cited the
board’s inadequate treasurer
reports, lack of merchandise
inventory maintenance and
lack of board support for
Sexton’s fundraisers as rea-
sons for quitting.
Sexton expressed concern
that previous fi nancial re-
ports were simply checking
account balances and lacked
necessary details. She also
noted that an accurate ac-
counting between donated
money spent purchasing
items and inventory items
on hand was lacking. Rais-
ing these points to board
offi cers, she said, were not
fruitful.
Nowicki agreed that there
is room for improvement
in some of the nonprofi t’s
operations, but contended
that the board’s handling
of fi nances has not been as
haphazard as alleged.
“Th ose things she brought
up in her resignation letter
have been and are continu-
ing to be addressed. Th ey’re
valid points and it’s some-
thing that, as a board grows,
is a learning curve,” said No-
wicki, however stating, “Th e
records have been kept very,
very carefully and they’re
there. [Th e board] is always
open to whoever wants to
talk to us about it.”
Nowicki also stressed that
transparency was a feature
of the board’s operations.
“We are transparent and
we are on top of our fi -
nances and we’re very care-
ful with our donation and
sponsorship monies,” she
said. “If anyone has inqui-
ries or questions, I have an
open-door policy and they
can contact me by phone or
email.”
Future of the Carousel
Despite
disagreements
among those involved, there
is a consensus that the car-
ousel project will survive the
shift .
“Th e general feeling is that
we are moving forward and
we are going to continue on
with the project to the end
like we signed on for,” said
Nowicki. “Every board has
hiccups and things that need
to be changed and hopefully
this will be the only one that
we have.
“When you work on a
project like this, you really
all become one big, rowdy
family and disagreements
happen.”
Williams also encour-
aged the community to help
maintain the momentum
behind the project.
“Th e point I really want
to drive home is continued
support of the carousel by
the citizens,” he said. “It
needs support of the com-
munity.”
In the meantime, the
board is soliciting applica-
tions from the community
to fi ll board positions and
recruit volunteers to help
with various operations.
“As we grow, we have
more need for volunteers
to help us with fundraising
and independent projects,”
said Nowicki. “Restoration
is almost done, but we have
other things that are going
to come up as we are waiting
for land acquisition.”
Th e nonprofi t ultimately
hopes to establish the car-
ousel on a plot of land with
structures which will protect
the carousel and provide
space for other operations
that will make the project
self-sustaining.
More short-term, howev-
er, the board is working with
King Estate Winery and the
City of Cottage Grove to be
granted a variance, which
will allow the carousel to
deviate from the zoning re-
quirements of its industrial
location and operate the car-
ousel in the warehouse.
A solid timeline has yet to
be established.
“I would suspect with-
in the next couple months
we’ll get city approval for
that,” said McGuire. “And if
we can operate the carousel
for the public for two years,
then we will be owners.”
Under an agreement with
the Cash family, the current
owners of the carousel, two
years of operation must be
completed before a transfer
of ownership to the Friends
of the Cottage Grove Carou-
sel takes place.
“Th e project will get done.
I’m sure it will,” said Sexton
refl ecting on the situation.
“I’m proud of what I accom-
plished there and I’m still
looking forward to seeing
my grandkids on it.”
Looking forward, Nowic-
ki was optimistic the project
will meet its goals.
“Th e most important
thing is that we’re not going
anywhere and we’re con-
tinuing on,” said Nowicki.
“And we’ve got some great
opportunities that are com-
ing up that, as they develop,
we’ll be making announce-
ments about.”
For inquiries, Nowicki
said she can be reached at
541-942-6148 or by email at
alice.nowicki@yahoo.com.
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