THE GREAT AMERICAN
ECLIPSE
Volume 142, Issue 7
DALLAS WRESTLING
SECTION C
DISTRICT CHAMPS
Page 11A
www.Polkio.com
February 15, 2017
$1.00
Roll credits for Motor Vu Drive-In
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The final cred-
its are rolling.
Motor Vu Drive-In’s Face-
book page had a “thank you”
message posted Friday on
behalf of the treasured
drive-in, one of a handful
left in Oregon. It said that, as
feared, the 2016 season was
indeed the last for the drive-
in. The Motor Vu opened in
1953.
Owner Jeff Mexico said he
had known for the last few
weeks that last year was to
be the last, but wanted to
begin the process of clearing
out equipment and supplies
before letting the communi-
ty know.
“We tried. We tried to do
crowdfunding,” Mexico said.
“We are sad to see it go. We
put a lot of time and energy,
heart and soul into this
place. We love what we do.”
After receiving an over-
whelming response in Octo-
ber to the possibility of the
drive-in closing for good,
Mexico thought it had the
support to stay open. About
300,000 people saw a poten-
tial “farewell” Facebook post
at the end of the 2016 sea-
son. Many indicated they
would help with the effort to
keep the Motor Vu alive.
Mexico launched a
crowdfunding campaign to
purchase the land from
owner J.W. Fowler, which is
developing the properties
surrounding the drive-in. He
DallaS
Dallas High School
drafts measure 98 fund-
ing plan.
»Page 14a
FallS CiTY
Falls City City Council
approves water master
plan, discusses how to
pay for $7 million in
projects.
»Page 5a
iNDEPENDENCE
Central athletes fin-
ish well at districts,
head to state competi-
tions.
JOlEnE GuzmAn/Itemizer-Observer
Motor Vu owner Jeff Mexico takes down signage at the snack bar at the drive-in on Friday afternoon.
had plans to seek grants,
apply to the National His-
toric Registry, and plant
trees on the fence line to cut
down on light and noise to
nearby houses.
The campaign didn’t turn
out as planned, however.
After 45 days, the crowd-
funding effort generated
about $5,000 from 121
donors, far from the 300,000
who initially expressed sup-
port.
Mexico said if they all had
pledged $5, he could have
raised $1.5 million.
“The cost of a Starbucks
espresso could have saved
the drive-in,” he said.
While sad to see the drive-
in he and his partner operat-
ed for almost a decade close,
Mexico is grateful for the
support that was offered.
He said Jim Fowler has
been more than gracious.
“He’s been really good to
let us go as long as he did,”
Mexico said.
Mexico also thanked Dal-
las Mayor Brian Dalton for
trying to help find an alter-
nate location in Dallas. The
former Weyerhaeuser mill
site was suggested, but Mex-
ico said the property is too
expensive and the location
would make drive-in traffic
burdensome in town.
Mexico said, despite his
momentary optimism last
fall, the plan to keep the the-
ater at the Fir Villa location
wasn’t going to be ideal in
the long run. The houses
planned on neighboring
property would have been
too close not to cause dis-
ruption to neighbors and
moviegoers.
See DriVE-iN, Page 9a
Fair board considers plans for building upkeep
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
RICKREALL — Facilities
were front and center at the
Polk County Fairgrounds &
Event Center’s annual work
session Saturday.
In the short-term, the fair
board wants to form a facili-
ties committee to identify
maintenance projects at the
fairgrounds, and how to get
them done with a tight
budget.
One of the first tasks
could be the demolition of
the old 4-H building.
“That building is being
held up right now by paint.
A good wind storm, ice
storm, snow storm will take
it out,” said Fair Board
Chairwoman Anna Scharf.
Eliminating the building
may provide an answer for
something the board has
struggled with for years at
the annual fair: Where to put
the entertainment stage.
The stage once was in
front of the old 4-H building,
right in the center of the fair.
It’s been moved or reorient-
ed in the years since, but it’s
not working, Scharf said.
“The main entertainment
area, we shoved it too far out
again. We’ve got to figure out
how we bring that back in,”
she said. “It’s disheartening
to see the talent that our en-
tertainment committee
works so hard to get to fair,
and then there’s nobody
there to hear them play or
see them dance. That’s really
frustrating.”
With the building gone,
there’s an opportunity to put
the stage in a more visible
spot.
First, though, the building
needs to come down. Scharf
asked for suggestions to
make that happen without
asking the county for more
money.
“Please be thinking
about that, how you could
volunteer your talents, how
you could volunteer your
resources,” she said. “We’ve
got a ways to go, but we
need to get moving on it
and we need to get the plan
in place to make it hap-
pen.”
The county officials and
fair managers have some
even bigger projects on their
mind, to the tune of $1.5
million.
Wednesday, today, the
Polk County Board of Com-
missioners will hold public
hearings on placing a 10-
year, $10 million bond on
the May ballot.
See Fair, Page 9a
Great American Eclipse comes in August
See special section inside for more information on Polk County’s plans for event
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Pat Jarrott was
climbing to 14,000 feet during the
last total solar eclipse seen in the
Willamette Valley.
He was flying small airplane on
the morning of Feb. 26, 1979. He and
a photographer friend planned for
an aerial view of the eclipse to avoid
the cloud cover that threatened to
block it for ground locations in Ore-
gon and Washington on the “path of
totality.”
He flew around until he found a
break in the clouds over Forest Grove.
Jarrott, of Keizer, had a camera,
but had to pilot the plane, so his
friend would adjust the settings of
the camera for him to shoot without
looking.
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
IN
YOUR
TOWN
The Great
American
Eclipse
Planning
Guide
Section C
“It was fun and hectic for a few
minutes,” Jarrott said.
On the ground that morning was
David Kasnick, at the age of 14. He
watched it from an observatory in
Goldendale, Wash., along with many
other astronomy enthusiasts.
The sky was partly cloudy that
morning, so he didn’t see the entire
eclipse, but it was still an experience
that led him to remain interested in
sky watching and eclipses as a life-
wed
Helping Hands
Emergency Food
Bank is open for
those who qualify at
monmouth Chris-
tian Church.
10 a.m.-noon. Free.
Rain
Hi: 54
Lo: 45
thu
learn what to keep
and what to ditch
when it comes to
clearing out clutter
at a workshop at
monmouth library.
6-7 p.m. Free.
Showers
Hi: 51
Lo: 37
long hobby. Kasnick, of Monmouth,
and Jarrott belong to astronomy
club Night Sky 45.
He described totality during that
February morning as not quite like
night, but an “eerie darkness.”
The 1979 eclipse was visible in to-
tality in Northern Oregon, Southern
Washington and parts of Idaho,
Montana, North Dakota and Cana-
da. Totality in the Portland area was
around 8:15 a.m.
Nancy Coffelt was watching from
a field next to her house in Tigard.
Coffelt describes herself as “kind of a
science geek,” so the rare event held
a fascination for her.
“I know it was a school day, I was
a senior in high school, but I don’t
remember if I had permission to
skip or not,” Coffelt said.
Overcast skies took some of the vi-
fri
no supplies neces-
sary at Independ-
ence Public library’s
adult coloring night.
Bring yourself and
your creativity.
4 p.m. Free.
Cloudy
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Lo: 37
sat
Have a wild time at
Dallas Public li-
brary’s showing of
the movie,
“zootopia,” rated
PG.
3:30 p.m. Free.
Cloudy
Hi: 49
Lo: 35
sual spectacle out of the eclipse, but
Coffelt still was impressed. During an
eclipse, as the sky darkens, the tem-
perature drops, and animals behave
as if the sun is going down.
“It did get noticeable darker,” she
said. “Since it was February, it was
already kind of chilly, so I don’t re-
member much of a temperature
drop. But the birds did get quiet.
That was very cool. … I remember
that it looked like what the sky
looked like just before sunrise — a
kind of dark silver.”
She said witnessing the eclipse
made a lasting impression.
Coffelt is the author and illustrator
of children’s space-themed books
“Dogs in Space,” published in 1993,
and the 1999 follow-up, “Dogs in
Space, the Great Space Doghouse.”
See ECliPSE, Page 9a
»Page 11a
MONMOUTH
monmouth City
Council adopts amend-
ments to zoning codes
to include marijuana
businesses.
»Page 2a
SPOrTS
David negrete wins a
district title for Central
wrestling.
»Page 11a
EDUCaTiON
Dallas targets gradu-
ation rate increases.
»Page 14a
POlK COUNTY
Polk County Fair
Board discusses
changes to 2017 event.
»Page 5a
DDA monthly
meeting
Wednesday
itemizer-Observer staff report
DAllAS — The Dallas
Downtown Association’s
general member meeting
is Wednesday (today) at 6
p.m. at Pressed Coffee and
Wine Bar.
On the agenda is an up-
date of upcoming projects
for 2017, what the organi-
zation is currently working
on and update for a DDA
volunteer.
A prize raffle from a
local business is on tap as
well.
For more information:
http://www.dallasdown-
townassociation.com/.
Newsletter
Want to be more con-
nected? Sign-up to receive
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newsletter at www.pol-
kio.com.
sun
mon
tue
learn more about
flying remote-con-
trol planes with the
Dallas Wingdingers
club at Whitworth
elementary’s gym.
1-3 p.m. Free.
Take the opportu-
nity to network and
have lunch with oth-
ers at the Dallas
Chamber of Com-
merce luncheon.
11:30 a.m. $15.
Jayme Stone will
perform tonight as
part of the Smith
Fine Arts Series at
Western Oregon
university.
7:30 p.m. $25-$28.
Cloudy
Hi: 47
Lo: 38
Rain
Hi: 47
Lo: 39
Showers
Hi: 49
Lo: 37