Cottage Grove Sentinel
Sports & Leisure
B1
THURSDAY | MAY 13, 2021
Note: Game times and
dates are subject to change
May 13
• Elkton baseball
hosts Umpq. V. Chr.
4:30 pm
• ND/Yon baseball
hosts N. Bend JV
5 pm
May 14
• CGHS track & field
Districts (Day 1)
at Siuslaw HS
11 am
May 15
• CGHS baseball
at Elmira
Noon and 2 pm
• CGHS softball
at Elmira
Noon and 2 pm
• CGHS track & field
Districts (Day 2)
at Siuslaw HS
11 am
May 17
• ND/Yon baseball
at Umpq. V. Chr.
7 pm
May 18
• ND/Yon baseball
hosts Marshfield JV
Noon
May 21
• CGHS track & field
Districts (Day 2)
at Siuslaw HS
11 am
May 22
• CGHS track & field
Districts (Day 2)
at Siuslaw HS
11 am
• Yoncalla T/F
State meet
La Grande, Ore.
10 am
• N. Douglas T/F
State meet
La Grande, Ore.
10 am
• Elkton T/F
State meet
La Grande, Ore.
10 am
Racers gear up for Wallbanger
Cup this Saturday
T
he annual Wallbanger
Cup is set for this Sat-
urday, May 15, at Cot-
tage Grove Speedway. The Wall-
banger Cup is one of the most
prestigious Street Stock races
in the Northwest and is held in
memory of the late Mark “Marky
Wallbanger” Howard.
Howard was not only ma-
jor force in the Cottage Grove
Speedway but in racing through-
out the Northwest.
“You would be hard pressed
to find a person that Mark didn’t
help during his time here,” gen-
eral manager Heather Boyce said
on the speedway’s website. “He
was definitely one of the good
ones. It is our huge honor to run
this race in memory of such an
amazing man.
Boyce said the best of the best
will be in attendance Saturday
night battling it out for the cov-
eted Wallbanger Cup — and to
be the one to scrape it along the
front stretch, as is the races tra-
dition.
Races returned to the speedway in April and will continue through the summer. (Photo by
Madman Photography)
Saturday’s races will also fea-
ture 360 Sprints, IMCA Mod-
ifieds and IMCA Sport Com-
pacts. Tickets are very limited
due to Covid restrictions and
can be purchased in advance on-
line at www.cottagegrovespeed-
way.com
Front Gates open 3:30 p.m.,
with Hot Laps/Qualifying taking
place from 5 to 6 p.m.
The format will consist of a
pill draw for heat race position-
ing, with each heat race group
qualifying in order; heat race/
hot lap groups will be the same.
Heats will be lined up with a
6-car invert. Failure to run hot
laps in your group will result in
being lined up in the rear of the
heat.
For more information, call the
Cottage Grove Speedway at 541-
729-8666.
Cottage Theatre begins construction
on major remodeling project
Cottage Theatre is beginning
construction on its ACT III re-
modeling project, an effort that
has been ten years in the mak-
ing. The remodel will add 50
seats to the theatre’s auditorium
and make a variety of safety and
technical upgrades to enhance
audience and participant enjoy-
ment at the 39-year-old com-
munity theatre. Design for the
project is being handled by GMA
Architects of Eugene, and Ordell
Construction will be serving as
the general contractor.
“This project was conceived
following years of capacity
crowds and multiple sold-out
performances,” comments Cot-
tage Theatre Executive Director
Susan Goes. “At the same time,
our old seats had passed the end
of their useful lifespan and some
chronically-underfunded por-
tions of our budget provided a
strong incentive to look for a way
to grow revenues. Adding more
seats emerged as the most practi-
cal way to accomplish this.”
To make room for 50 more
audience members, the theatre
will “re-rake” the auditorium by
adding concrete on top of the
existing levels to make a steep-
er slope. The far side seating
sections will be eliminated and
more rows added to the center
three sections. “One of the things
we’re most excited about is the
improved view from every seat
post-remodel,” adds Goes. The
lobby also will be updated, with
new, larger bathrooms added,
along with a community room
that can host pre- and post-show
receptions, classes, and private
meetings.
Safety and accessibility im-
provements to the facility include
the addition of a fire sprinkler
system (which was not required
The remodel of the theater will include the addition of 50 seats to the three center sections
(courtesy photo)
by code when the building was
constructed in 1998), aisle light-
ing, additional ADA seating,
and a Hearing Loop Assistive
Listening System. The latter will
greatly improve the theatre ex-
perience for all patrons with tele-
coil-equipped hearing aids.
Longtime Cottage Theatre vol-
unteer Board Treasurer Mark Al-
len has led the fundraising effort
for the $2.4MM ACT III project.
“We are so excited to finally be-
gin construction on this project,”
said Allen. “This moment has
been a long time in coming! We
had originally hoped to complete
what was to have been a $1.5MM
project in 2019, but an unexpect-
ed construction cost increase
caused us to delay the project so
we had additional time to raise
more money. We are so very
grateful to the hundreds of the-
atre patrons who have stepped
forward to support this project,
by sponsoring one of our new
seats or making an even more
substantial contribution.”
The largest single source of
support for Cottage Theatre’s
Athlete of
the Week
remodel comes from individual
donations, a fact which helped
CT attract additional foundation
and government support. Major
funders include the State of Or-
egon, M.J. Murdock Charitable
Trust, Ford Family Foundation,
Woodard Family Foundation,
Fred W. Fields Fund of the Or-
egon Community Foundation,
Faye and Lucille Stewart Foun-
dation, Sunderland Foundation,
and the Oregon Cultural Trust.
“At this point, we have raised
about 95% of what we need,”
comments Goes. “But we are far
enough along with our fundrais-
ing that we are confident we can
complete construction this year.”
Construction on the remodel
is expected to continue through
the summer. Assuming con-
struction occurs on schedule
and COVID guidelines permit,
Cottage Theatre hopes to resume
performances in October with
their long-postponed produc-
tion of Mamma Mia. “We cannot
wait to welcome everyone back
to the theatre!” states Allen.
Now in its 39th year, Cottage
This week’s athlete of
the week is Elkton High
School senior
Margaret Byle, who
won three races at last
week’s May Showers
meet at Reedsport High
School
Theatre has grown tremendous-
ly since humble 1982 beginnings
under a parachute on the lawn of
Cottage Grove’s Village Green.
After operating out of a small
storefront for many years, the
theatre’s current facility was built
in 1998 (ACT I). A Rehearsal
Hall was added in 2006 (ACT II).
Cottage Theatre normally pro-
duces plays and musicals year-
round, typically presenting 80
performances annually. (The
theatre has been closed since
March 2020 due to COVID re-
strictions.) The theatre also of-
fers children’s theatre camps and
partners with Cottage Grove
High School to produce the an-
nual Rhythm & Blues Revue
each February. A member of
the American Association of
Community Theatre (AACT),
Cottage Theatre was one of six
theatres in the nation selected to
produce a world premiere in the
AACT 2018 NewPlayFest.
Cottage Theatre will share
construction updates on its
website at www.cottagetheatre.
org.
Lady Elks
senior
Margaret
Byle won the
100M, 200M
and 400M
races during
the May 7
Reedsport
HS May
Showers
Meet.
SENTINEL FILE PHOTO
