HALLOWEEN
ATHLETIC TRAINER
HAPPENINGS
JENNIFER
KRUG
Page 10A
Page 14A
Volume 141, Issue 43
www.Polkio.com
The GREAT
Pumpkin float
$1.00
Curtain call?
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Andy Hendersen has been growing giant
pumpkins for almost a decade, but this year he raised
something unique in his prized pumpkin patch.
His 919.5-pound giant didn’t make its way into the
record books — not by weight anyway.
“My biggest was 1,250.5 pounds,” he said. “They can
get up to well over 2,000 pounds.”
His “small,” big pumpkin still was destined for great-
ness — not on a scale, but on a river.
Hendersen says, with more than a little irony, that the
world of giant pumpkin enthusiasts is small. He often sees
the same people at annual weigh-ins and other events.
This fall at a Bauman Farm and Garden’s weigh-in,
Hendersen connected with Charity Rusch Marshall, an-
other competitive grower, who was tracking down a
record of her own. She picked Hendersen’s carefully culti-
vated gourd as an option for her pursuit of a Guinness
World Record in river floating in a pumpkin boat.
See PuMPkIn, Page 10A
October 26, 2016
Motor Vu Drive-In faces an
uncertain future
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
Population estimates
may help with city plan-
ning.
»Page 3A
FALLS CITY
City officials chip
away at park payoff.
»Page 3A
InDEPEnDEnCE
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
The Motor Vu Drive-In Theater opened in 1953. The theater held its last showings of
the year on Friday and Saturday, and may be have closed its doors for good.
Central cross-country
teams prepare for dis-
tricts.
»Page 14A
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
Photo courtesy of Charity Rusch marshall/Itemizer-Observer
Charity Rusch Marshall paddled a pumpkin 15 miles.
DALLAS — Jeff Mexico has made running
movie theaters an unlikely career. Mexico,
who owns the Motor Vu Drive-In and Fox
Theater in Dallas, opened his first theater in
Stayton in 2002.
The Motor Vu has been a landmark in
Oregon. Originally opened in 1953, it was
No. 7 in the USA Today 10 Best Reader’s
Choice for best drive-in theater.
But the Motor Vu may be no more. Mexico
announced on Facebook last week that Fri-
day and Saturday were the theater’s final
showings of 2016 — and possibly forever be-
cause the land the theater resides on is for
sale for more than $1 million, Mexico said.
“We were told it was possible we wouldn’t
make it through the 2016 season,” Mexico
said. “I’ve been asking them since August
every few weeks if this is our last season. We
still don’t know for sure. The post was to say
thank you for supporting us.”
What happened next left Mexico
floored — and hopeful that the drive-in’s fate
may be brighter than he thought.
—
When Mexico announced the drive-in
may be closing its doors forever, he expected
MonMouTH
Western Oregon Uni-
versity practices earth-
quake drills in the Great
Shakeout.
»Page 3A
SPoRTS
Pirates volleyball
heads to state.
»Page 14A
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Jeff Mexico works at the Motor Vu Drive-
In on Friday night.
a few thousand views and some words of
support.
“It blew up,” Mexico said. “There were
more than a quarter million views, which is
crazy. I was expecting maybe 3,500. I’m pret-
ty sure there are people from across the
country sharing their input. It was a com-
plete shock.”
See THEATER, Page 8A
Folklife festival celebrates culture
Event returns to fairgrounds for second year, showcases variety of music, art, food
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
RICKREALL — Polk
County Folklife Festival will
return for its second year
Saturday at the Polk County
Fairgrounds & Event Cen-
ter.
The festival debuted in
March 2015, and due to a
calendar quirk — there
were five weekends in
March last year — it had to
take a year and a half break
before fitting into the fair-
g ro u n d s s c h e d u l e t h i s
month.
The additional time al-
lowed organizers to bring in
new acts and vendors to ex-
pand upon what was a suc-
c e s s f u l f i r s t ye a r t h a t
brought in about 1,200 peo-
ple, including attendees,
artists, vendors and event
volunteers.
Folklife was created to
celebrate the Willamette Val-
ley’s varying cultures with
music, food and art.
There should be even
more of that on display Sat-
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
JOLENE GUzmAN/ Itemizer-Observer file
A blacksmith will be among the vendors and demonstrators at Polk County Folklife
Festival at the Polk County Fairgrounds & Event Center on Saturday.
urday.
“We tried not to have the
wed
Try your hand at
painting at the
Boondock’s Paint-
ing, Canvas and
Cocktails in Falls
City.
7 p.m. $30.
Rain
Hi: 60
Lo: 50
exact same performers that
we had last time because
thu
fri
Central High will
host the Build Ore-
gon Career Expo
where students can
speak with profes-
sionals and colleges.
8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Free.
Get your toes tap-
ping at the Guthrie
Park Acoustic music
Jam Session on
Kings Valley High-
way in Dallas.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Rain
Hi: 59
Lo: 45
Partly sunny
Hi: 60
Lo: 48
there are so many different
cultures, types of singing
sat
Support LaCreole
theater programs
and enjoy a good,
funny, spooky time
at “Comedy of Ter-
rors.”
7 p.m. $3 to $5.
Partly sunny
Hi: 60
Lo: 47
and dancing that you can
have,” said Monica Johnson,
the festival’s vendor coordi-
nator and president of the
Dallas Arts Association. “We
went to other things this
year.”
Among the new perform-
ers is Iraqi folk dancer Ishtar
Sumer and two storytellers,
one who uses poetry, and
another telling children’s
stories.
“We did not have story-
tellers last time, so that will
be definitely something
new,” Johnson said. “There
will be two different types of
that going on during the
day.”
Festival headliner Oregon
Valley Boys, a swing dance
band, will take the Jane
Keefer festival main stage at
5:30 p.m.
Don’t worry, there’s plenty
of room to dance — and you
will want to dance.
Vendors and demonstra-
tors will include spinners, a
flint knapper and a black-
smith.
See FoLk, Page 5A
EDuCATIon
most districts see in-
creased enrollment.
»Page 16A
Dallas Glow
Run
Saturday
Itemizer-observer staff report
DALLAS — The Dallas
Glow Run will take place
Saturday at 7:15 p.m. in
downtown Dallas.
The 5-kilometer run be-
gins and ends in Dallas.
The run was originally
scheduled for Oct. 15,
but was rescheduled be-
cause of the massive rain
and winds predicted by
the National Weather
Service.
Proceeds will go to
Christmas Cheer, a non-
profit that provides hol-
iday meals for families
in need in the Dallas
area.
Organizers of Dallas
Christmas Cheer are
preparing to sign up fami-
lies for the program.
The Dallas Adopt-a-
Family program matches
donors with families
needing help to provide
gifts for children and a
Christmas dinner for the
family.
Families needing help
can sign up Nov. 14
through 18, from 4 to 6
p.m., and on Nov. 19 from
2 to 4 p.m. at the Academy
Building.
Individuals, families or
businesses wishing to
adopt a family may email
melissa.baurer@usw.salva-
tionarmy.org, or call 503-
507-6269 for more infor-
mation.
sun
mon
tue
Love ’em or hate
’em, today is Na-
tional Candy Corn
Day, celebrating one
of the oldest, most
well-known treats of
Halloween.
Happy Halloween!
For a list of events
throughout the
county all weekend,
see the Halloween
Happenings on
Page 10A.
James2 Community
Kitchen feeds all
who are hungry
each Tuesday at St.
Philip Catholic
Church in Dallas.
4:30-6:30 p.m. Free.
Rain
Hi: 56
Lo: 45
Partly cloudy
Hi: 58
Lo: 47
Showers
Hi: 57
Lo: 45