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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2020)
Cottage Grove Sentinel Community & Lifestyle B1 • THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 CONTACT SPORTS REPORTER NICK SNYDER AT 942-3325 OR NSNYDER@CGSENTINEL.COM Middlefield reopens after five-week closure By Nick Snyder nsnyder@cgsentinel.com Governor announces limited opening of recreational areas Governor Kate Brown an- nounced Tuesday the limited opening of some state parks, out- door recreation facilities and areas across Oregon for day use eff ective May 5, with camping opportunities becoming available as federal, state, local and private providers are able to prepare their facilities for vis- itors. Ski resorts will also be able to resume activities under a new executive order that will be forth- coming. “Enjoying Oregon’s beauty and bounty is one of our state’s time-honored traditions,” said Brown. “As we begin to slowly open up recreation sites, state parks and ski areas opportunities, it is critical we ensure the health and safety of staff , volunteers, and the public. And that begins with each of us taking personal responsibility to be good stewards of our parks, and each other.” Under the Governor’s “Stay Home, Save Lives” executive order, not all outdoor recreation areas were closed. However, as concerns about public health and safety due to crowding and lack of physical distancing grew, Brown support- ed the decisions of local, state and federal jurisdictions to close sites to protect the health and safety of their communities. Oregon’s outdoor recreation pro- viders and the Oregon Health Au- thority (OHA) have partnered to create recommendations for safe- ly and gradually off ering limited outdoor recreation opportunities. Th is approach means not all day- use and camping areas will open at once. Reopening outdoor recreation areas will be a phased approach as it becomes safe for some commu- nities and recreational providers to do so. It will also mean a change in the way Oregonians visit some fa- miliar sites. Columbia River Gorge parks and recreation areas, as well as coast- al areas that are not yet ready to welcome visitors back, will remain closed for now, while the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department coordinates with local jurisdictions and partners in Washington to de- termine the appropriate timing for reopening. Th e Oregon Parks and Recre- ation Department (OPRD) has al- ready announced a small number of inland state parks that will off er limited services beginning May 6: • Tryon Creek in Portland • Willamette Mission north of Keizer • Mongold boat ramp at Detroit Lake • State Capitol State Park in Sa- lem • Th e Cove Palisades boat ramp at Lake Billy Chinook near Culver • Prineville Reservoir boat ramp near Prineville • Joseph Stewart boat ramp on Lost Creek Lake near Shady Cove • Pilot Butte to pedestrians (no vehicles) in Bend Limited day-use will slowly re- turn to other state parks starting the week of May 11 based on the readiness of the community around the park to welcome visitors, and how prepared the park is with staff , supplies and equipment. State parks will open and close with lit- tle advance notice; updates will be See PARKS 2B PHOTO BY NICK SNYDER/CG SENTINEL Middlefield Golf Course reopened last Friday and local golf- ers took advantage of the sunny weather on Monday as the parking lot — both for cars and carts — was packed with visitors eager to get back to hitting the links. It may be a long and wind- ing road back to normal, but as of last week at least one local institution is one step closer to getting there. Middlefield Golf Course, owned and operated by the City of Cottage Grove since 2006, reopened last Friday, May 1 giving golfers a chance to get back to the outdoors just in time for warmer, sun- nier weather. The course had been closed since March 23 when Gover- nor Kate Brown issued Exec- utive Order 20-12 which des- ignated essential businesses that were allowed to remain open — hospitals, gas sta- tions, grocery stores, etc. — while closing a wide variety of other outfits such as gyms, dine-in restaurants and bars, hair salons, movie theaters and golf courses. After over five weeks of closure, the reopening is a welcome sign for a nation and local community that has seen the normal course of day-to-day life upended in the face of a global viral pan- See GOLF 2B PHOTO C/O SKYE HEFNER A collection of handsewn face masks made from donated materials by Skye Hefner, Athena Intros and a host of other local volunteers. Sewing the seeds of community had joined that group that had started up in Eugene,” Hefner said. “I started with that and then Athena and I were talking and de- There’s a longstanding tradition of sac- cided that, because what happens - and it rifice and community involvement in Cot- happens very frequently - is that anything tage Grove, something even a global pan- demic can’t shake. Just as Rosie the Riveters - a group that holds a place of spe- cial prominence in the Cottage Grove area - took up manufac- turing slack in the war effort over seven decades ago, local residents Skye Hefner and Athena Intros — friends who work together at the Western Oregon Expo as office that’s based up in Eugene or Springfield manager and secretary, respectively — have ends up basically forgetting that Cottage headed up a local group to sew and provide Grove exists, so we decided that, instead of face masks for Grovers in need as the coun- providing work up there, that we wanted to try faces shortages of all manner of person- cover Cottage Grove because that’s what we al protective equipment (PPE). do.” “This whole [virus] thing started and I By Nick Snyder nsnyder@cgsentinel.com Towards the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdown, Hefner and Intros posted to the Pay It Forward Cottage Grove Facebook page that they would be providing hand- sewn face masks free of charge and began making their list. Healthcare workers, caregivers and essential workers were given priority and moved to the top. The list quick- ly grew to over 400 and then kept growing. “The list, as of [April 25], we hit 1,000 masks that we’ve put together and given out,” Hefner said. “Pretty much all of the ma- terial we’ve used has been donated from people in the community who have masks, but wanted to help out. It’s been really cool.” When asked about the idea of being a “modern-day Rosie the Riveter”, Hef- “I’ve been up until two, three, four o’clock in the morning, but this hasn’t just been me and Athena only, there’s a whole bunch of people that have been helping out.” See MASKS 2B Oregon to provide over 351,000 children with meal replacement benefits The Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Oregon De- partment of Education (ODE) announced today that Oregon families with children who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals will get cash benefits for the meals they would have received at school even if they have been accessing meals from schools during the closure. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) authorized DHS to pro- vide Oregon P-EBT (Pandemic School Meal Replacement Benefits) to more than 351,000 students receiving free or reduced-price school meals in Oregon, in- cluding almost 147,000 students already receiv- ing Nutrition Assistance. Households will receive benefits equivalent to one free lunch and one free breakfast for each eligible child – $5.70 per normal school day for the months of March, April, May and June. “Together, DHS and ODE are working to en- sure no child in Oregon goes hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dan Haun, DHS Self-Sufficiency Pro- grams Director. “This re- source is the result of our strong collaboration and will provide additional support for child nutri- tion and expand families’ options for healthy food.” “The approval of this program highlights the tremendous partnership between ODE and DHS and our shared desire to strengthen our com- munities,” added Dustin Melton, Director of ODE’s Child Nutrition Programs. “The P-EBT program will support stu- dent’s nutritional needs during a time of crisis and uncertainty.” Eligible Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Pro- gram (SNAP) households will have their March, April and May benefits automatically deposited to their existing Electron- ic Benefit Transfer (EBT) accounts in late May. Stu- dents who get free or re- duced-price school meals but do not receive SNAP benefits will automatical- ly receive an Oregon Trail See MEALS 4B