4A | JANUARY 14, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR |
Opinion
541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respect-
ing an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press, or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the Govern-
ment for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
USPS#133880
Th e message of Rufus Valentine
Valentine, that’s exactly
what happened.
When my shift ended,
it was near dusk. Along
the sidewalks, automat-
ed lamps had started
humming to life. As I
approached the parking
tower, I noticed flashes
of red and blue spilling
Ned Hickson
from the shadows of the
underground level where
I was parked. The closer
situated closest to the mall item, as if I wouldn’t know I got, the more patrol cars
I saw.
entrance, we got the brunt it otherwise.
At the edge of the drive,
“Coming right up,” I
of unhappy mall dwellers.
yellow crime scene tape
said, and took the menu.
“Hey, there’s some guy
had been strung. Taking
shooting people with rub- As I turned to ring in his
ber arrows out there,” one order, I saw him reach for a spot among a crowd of
onlookers, I saw a white
of them said, brandishing his quiver.
sheet — and the callused
“Hey,” I said, one hand
the arrow in question and
hand of Rufus Valentine
on his drawing arm.
rubbing his cheek.
protruding from beneath
“Here’s the deal. No
With security nowhere
it. Next to him, his wings
matchmaking until after
to be found, I decided to
lay in a crumpled pile.
lunch.”
settle the matter myself
I later learned that
He studied me for a
and strode out the door
Rufus Valentine — born
moment, then set his
— and was immediately
Rufus Jones in 1936 —
bow on the counter. “I’m
tagged.
had left the mall that day
no matchmaker. I’m just
“Got you! Spread the
love, brother,” Rufus said, tryin’ to spread the love — and taken his message to
the parking garage. It was
one brother, one sister, at
as if he’d tossed me a box
there that he encountered
a time.”
of chocolates instead of
“That’s a nice sentiment; a street gang and attempt-
nailing me with a rubber
ed to “spread the love.”
just don’t do it in here,
arrow.
He met the faces of prej-
OK?” I said and released
“Excuse me, but you’ll
udice and hatred instead.
his arm.
have to stop with the
With the approach of
I think everyone has
arrows. My customers are
said things that they wish Martin Luther King Day,
complaining,” I said.
he always comes to mind.
In that same instant, he they hadn’t. In the top
And, also, no small
10 of my own regrettable
plugged a passerby who
measure of guilt. Had I left
turned and gave me a dirty phrases, that one ranks
him alone to do his work,
look, spouting something right up there. First,
or brought him lunch,
because of my tactics
about restaurant promo-
things might have turned
to control him. Second,
tions getting out of hand.
out differently.
because he called me on
A sudden ebb in the
Even though he’s no
shopping current allowed it. And third, because I
wouldn’t get the chance to longer here to sling his
me to grab his attention.
arrows, I hope we can
take it back.
“Hey, it’s almost noon.
take his message to heart
With the smell of par-
How about lunch on me?”
— and spread the love:
mesan and cream sauce
“What’cha got?”
one brother, one sister at
“Come in and find out,” in the air, this obviously
a time.
I said, ushering him inside hungry man stood from
the counter, grabbed his
and up to the counter in
bow and quiver, and left
hopes of containing him
Note: I originally wrote
the counter.
through the lunch rush.
this editorial in 1998
“People need love more
Sitting there at one of the
during my first year as a
stools, his wings protrud- than I needed fettuccini
journalist. It’s my way of
ing from either side of the Alfredo,” he said, and ex-
honoring Rufus Valen-
ited the restaurant. When
chair back, he drew more
tine and carrying on his
he kept going, I consid-
than a few stares.
message — a message that
ered myself lucky.
Handing him a soda, I
He could become some- seems particularly import-
noticed that his dark black
ant on many levels at this
hands were worn and cal- one else’s headache.
moment.
Unfortunately for Rufus
lused. His fingernails had
our hands.
I’d dealt with worse
things.
The complaints started
soon after we opened.
Since our restaurant was
As I’ve mentioned be-
fore, I lived in the South
for 10 years, with six of
those years spent in the
suburbs of Atlanta. In the
early 1990s, I was a restau-
rant chef operating in one
of Georgia’s largest shop-
ping malls — three stories
of glass, sale banners and
merchants spanning six
football fields’ worth of
mall space.
As you can imagine,
I’ve dealt with as many
personalities as there are
seats in a 280-capacity
dining room. The fact that
Rufus Valentine dug such
a deep groove in my mem-
ory should tell you a little
something about the man’s
character.
The first time I saw Ru-
fus Valentine was during
the Atlanta Braves’ heyday
in February of 1992, when
all of Atlanta was antici-
pating the spring — and a
run at the World Series.
Essentially, you could be
completely naked; but as
long as you had a Braves
cap on you were consid-
ered properly attired by
most Atlantans.
So, when Rufus ap-
peared in his red tights,
heart-shaped wings, and
Braves cap at the west
entrance of the Lenox
Square mall, I and most
others assumed he was
there to express his love
for Atlanta’s baseball team
— at least until I saw the
bow and arrows.
But even then, I could
see that he was harmless.
The arrows in his quiver
were tipped with foam
rubber —red, of course —
and in the shape of hearts.
Considering the date,
I made the connection
and realized we had a
Braves-loving Cupid on
dried to the point of split-
ting. He gave me an appre-
ciative nod and sipped,
then blurted “fettuccini
Alfredo.” He laid the menu
down and pointed to the
From the Editor’s Desk
The staff of Bohemia Elementa-
ry School would like to say a very
heartfelt thank you to the many
people who donated to help bring
Christmas joy to many children in
our community.
The generous donations received
from individuals and businesses
helped bring joy to more than 145
children.
It is without a doubt that we say
we could have not achieved this
without the support from many of
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HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite
2021
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
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