STEWART FINDS HIS
PITCHING ZONE
Page 12A
Volume 142, Issue 29
www.Polkio.com
July 19, 2017
$1.00
Planning
is key for
enjoyable
eclipse
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
The Dallas Food Bank
renovation is complete.
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — We
could have thousands of visi-
tors for the days before and
after the Great American
Eclipse on Aug. 21.
Travel Oregon estimates
that up to 1 million people
will travel to Oregon, and
plenty of Oregonians outside
the “path of totality” will
travel to the Mid-Valley to
see the full eclipse.
That means those of us
lucky enough to live here
need to be ready to deal with
— or avoid — the inconven-
iences that may arise from
having that many guests.
“It can be really enjoyable
if we prepare,” said Travel
Salem spokeswoman Kara
Kuh.
People travel from all over
the planet to see solar
eclipses, so it’s to our com-
munity’s benefit, economi-
cally speaking, to show our
visitors a good time in hopes
they will return, said Dallas
Economic Director AJ Fos-
coli.
“It both excites me and
scares me to death,” he
said. “Because that means
we will have 7,000 new
people coming in to see
what a great community
we have. And if we show
ourselves well enough,
maybe they will want to
come back.”
Planning is key to making
those few days more bear-
able, Kuh said.
“If residents do their shop-
ping three or four days be-
fore the eclipse, they won’t
be struggling against the
crowds,” Kuh said.
She said people should
consider limiting their travel
in the days around the
eclipse by moving unneces-
sary appointments to anoth-
er time.
See ECLIPSE, Page 7A
»Page 2A
FALLS CITY
Falls City will offer
camping and breakfast
and a viewing party for
the Great American
Eclipse.
»Page 5A
INDEPENDENCE
Polk Fire No. 1 to up-
grade equipment.
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
A teen from Oregon State University Extension used drone to film La Creole Orchards on Thursday.
The search for the grail
Caceu owns one of two olive farms in Polk County
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Bogdan Caceu is search-
ing for the “holy grail” of olive trees.
Caceu is the owner of La Creole Or-
chards, bordering the Bridelwood
neighborhood of Dallas. He’s among
about a dozen growers who are pio-
neering Oregon’s budding olive and
olive oil industry.
There are two farms in Polk County,
La Creole and Redding Olive Grove In
West Salem. The first orchard planted
in the state is in Keizer.
Caceu grows about 1,200 trees on
5.5 acres, and hopes to plant another
6,000 trees on the property someday.
Before that, Caceu must tackle the
problem of how to irrigate all those
trees — he has a grant application in
at the Oregon Water Resources De-
partment. Also critical to long-term
success is finding the best olive vari-
etals to plant to withstand Oregon’s
winters.
Caceu and other Oregon olive grow-
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Tiny olives grow on the trees at La
Creole Orchards.
ers are getting assistance in the quest
from an Oregon State University Ex-
tension research team.
“What would be really nice is find
that one cultivar that very few people
grow, and we find out that it’s perfect-
ly cold-hardy and that it gives a really
nice crop per acre and yields per ton
in terms of oil, and (makes) a really
nice oil,” Caceu said. “That is the holy
grail that the OSU research program
might identify for us.”
—
An educated gamble
La Creole’s 4-year-old trees dot the
sunbaked hillside in rows between oak
trees and plum trees leftover from the
orchard’s previous life. At this point in
the growing season, the olives are tiny
green orbs. Final results of the 2017
season won’t be known until harvest in
November, but Caceu is pleased with
the fruit set on his still-young trees.
The orchard’s output will increase
in the coming years as trees as young
as 1 year old are planted in blocks sur-
rounding the older trees.
Caceu selected the Dallas property
from about a dozen options in Ore-
gon.
See OLIVES, Page 10A
Fire near Falls City fully contained
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
KC WAGNER/for the Itemizer-Observer
The Riley Central fire burned just west of Falls City.
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
FALLS CITY — The Ore-
gon Department of Forestry
said the Riley Central Fire,
which began on July 9 just
west of Falls City, has fin-
ished mop up duty.
ODF Public Information
Officer Jim Gersbach said
they have entered a check
and patrol phase.
“We will continue to
monitor the fire to make
sure that something wasn’t
fanned by winds and came
back or something like
that,” Gersbach said. “With
fires, you want to be careful
with ever saying a fire is
completely out. We want to
make sure that everything
looks good.”
The length of the check
and patrol phase will de-
pend on the terrain.
“If you have a lot of logs,
you have to make sure there
aren’t any embers burning
underneath,” Gersbach said.
“It varies by the type of fire
and terrain. There’s no
telling how long it might
be.”
The fire was more than 4
miles away from the Black
Rock Mountain Bike trail
system, Gersbach said.
Gary Weaverli, a trail
manager for the Black Rock
Mountain Bike Association,
said he did not hear of any
damage to the mountain
bike trails.
“As far as I know, BRMBA
is OK,” Weaverli said.
See FIRE, Page 7A
»Page 2A
POLK COUNTY
County administrator
Greg Hansen an-
nounces pending re-
tirement.
»Page 14A
SPORTS
A three-on-three bas-
ketball tournament re-
turns to Summerfest.
»Page 12A
Polk museum
to build a
plank house
Itemizer-Observer staff report
RICKREALL — The Polk
County Historical Society
is working with Grand
Ronde Tribal Elder Don
Day to build a replica
cedar plank house at the
Polk County Museum in
Rickreall.
The Polk County Board
of Commissioners ap-
proved the project last
week.
“This replica will be an
outdoor display on the
Polk County Museum
grounds in Rickreall,”
wrote Ann Gage, the Polk
County Historical Society
education coordinator in a
letter to the commission-
ers. “It will be used as an
outdoor educational ex-
hibit demonstrating primi-
tive technologies, tools
and methods by Don Day
during its actual construc-
tion.”
Gage wrote that after
its completion, it will be a
venue for educational pro-
grams about the Kala-
puyan culture.
“Its presence and the
recording of the construc-
tion process will provide
unique, historical docu-
mentation for the public,”
Gage wrote.
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wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Try your hand at
pickleball at the
Roger Jordan Com-
munity Park with
the Dallas Pickleball
Club.
9 a.m.-noon. Free.
Need inspiration for
the next great
novel? Come out to
the Dallas Senior
Writing Group at the
senior center.
10 a.m. Free.
If you’re looking for
something to do
with the whole fam-
ily, check out Mon-
mouth Library’s
family movie.
1:30 p.m. Free.
Check out the Inde-
pendence Farmers
and Riverview Mar-
kets for fresh prod-
ucts and cool
treasures.
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Come see singer
Marcia Whitehead
perform and share
her story at First
Presbyterian Church
in Dallas.
10:30 a.m. Free.
David Rosenfeld, a
first-generation im-
migrant of German-
Jewish parents will
speak at the Mon-
mouth Senior Center.
Noon. Free.
Looking to give
your kids some-
thing different to
do? Check out the
chess club at Inde-
pendence Library.
4:30 p.m. Free.
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