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This is a page to promote all the wonderful things that happen in our All-America City, Cottage Grove, Oregon.


If you are involved in something that you would like shared with others, let me know.


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Friday, February 19, 2010

Village Green Conference Center/Moonstone Cloistered Gardens Urban Renewal Project Proposal



Précis

Village Green Conference Center/Moonstone Cloistered Gardens

Cottage Grove Urban Renewal Ballot Initiative
(Proposed as a 2010 Cottage Grove Ballot Measure)


Contributed by Jim Kness, The Blind Seer of Cottage Grove


Anyone May Copy And Distribute This


I. Our city should be the site of an exemplary regional conference center; The Village Green/Moonstone Gardens should be redesigned and upgraded in such a way as to accomplish this purpose.

II. The Village Green/Moonstone Gardens has a civic ambiance and architectural style that needs to be preserved and restored instead of being torn down. An architectural design charrette should be hosted by the Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce as soon as possible to enable this urban renewal iniative. Time is of the essence; economic development and cultural improvement should be proactively enabled by the CG Area Chamber of Commerce, CG Economic Development Director, CG City Council Manager, and CG City Planner.

III. I believe that in order to obtain sufficient funding for a Village Green Urban Renewal District there should be a tourist destination tribal casino facility built on the Gateway Boulevard side of I-5. The Tribal Casino and Conference Center needs to be connected by a pedestrian bridge (with electric shuttle auxiliary conveyance)over I-5 that could serve as an architecturally significant landmark for Cottage Grove. A major truck stop facility (for selling locally produced bio-fuel products) could also be located on the Gateway boulevard side of I-5. The Tribal Casino/Conference Center needs to be designed in a synergistic relationship with the major truck stop facility and fast-food purveyors of Gateway Boulevard.

IV. I believe that the District boundaries for this major Cottage Grove Urban Renewal Ballot Initative should be drawn as shown on the maps that accompany this précis.

V. I believe that an architectural design charrette for a Grand Ronde Tribal Casino should be undertaken concurrently with the Village Green design charrette as previously mentioned. The present fast food purveyors fronting on Gateway Boulevard are part of a civic ambiance that could be esthetically augmented in conjunction with a tribal casino/truck stop architectural design concept. The City of Cottage Grove could acquire property within this urban renewal district by right of eminent domain if need be, or with a "Buy and Lease-Back" agreement with existing property owners. This kind of 50 year lease hold would remain in force even if the property title deeds were to be ceded to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon for the purpose of building a tribal casino within the city limits of Cottage Grove

VI. The Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce needs to host a joint architectural design charrette for the Village Green Conference Center/Grand Ronde tribal casino with financing in mind for accomplishing maximum civic benefit. The financing of the VGCC/ GRTC economic development concept could be accomplished with a combination of Urban Renewal revenue sharing bonds, serial levy bonds, and tribal casino debenture coupons.

VII. Here are some architectural design criteria that I believe should be written into both of the conference center/ tribal casino design charettes:

A. A cloistered wall needs to be built along the edge of the I-5 right-of-way for the purpose of suppressing "freeway noise". The cloister wall should be specified as an element of landscape architectural design consistent with the philosophy of Moonstone Gardens and the needs of Cottage Grove and its citizens.

B. The present Wal-Mart site next to the Village Green should be acquired by right of eminent domain and should be included as part of the Moonstone Gardens/Village Green Conference Center architectural master plan. Wal-Mart as a corporate entity could be compensated for CG condemnation with an amicable relocation to Creswell.

C. A four or five-story parking structure to serve the patrons of a tribal casino facility could be built on the site of the present Vintage Inn, KFC, McDonald's, gas station, etc. All of these present fast-food purveyors would retain their present business locations at sidewalk level under the roof of the tribal casino parking structure. The actual tribal casino facility could be of the penthouse (e.g. on rooftop of parking structure) pavilion style, resembling the architectural style of the Village Green.

D. A quasi-arcology structure consisting of several geodesic Rotegrity Domes could provide bridge access over the I-5 right-of-way between the Grand Ronde Tribal Casino Facilities and the Village Green Conference Center. The Rotegrity Dome frameworks could also be used as a "world renowned aeroponic garden floral exhibit."

Charrette: –noun- a final, intensive effort to finish a project, esp. an architectural design project, before a deadline.
                           Origin: 1965–70; < F: cart, OF, equiv. to char chariot, wagon (see car1) +-ette -ettefrom the idea of speed of wheels

Precis:–noun- a concise summary.
                         Origin: 
1750–60; < F, n. use of adj., lit., cut short. See precise




1. digest, condensation, abstract.



definitions from dictionary.com




Contributed by Jim Kness, The Blind Seer of Cottage Grove
Anyone May Copy And Distribute This


Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Cottage Grove's 2010 Relay For Life







Many team members participate in honor of a loved one. Dawn Maezes, the Fight Like a Girl team captain, is participating for her second year in the Cottage Grove Relay For Life in honor of many family members, including herself. Maezes is an eighteen-year survivor of cancer and her mother and all her sisters have also faced cancer. This year they are celebrating their survival with a family reunion at the event being held on June 18, 2010 at Lincoln Middle School.

This is the fourteenth year for Relay For Life; in 1986 the first event with teams took place in Tacoma, Washington. The year prior, Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon, personally walked for 24 hours to raise the first $27,000.
Each Relay For Life team consists of 8 to 15 members. There are currently twenty-one teams registered for this year's Cottage Grove event. Maezes' team grew so large that had to split in two. One team is Fight Like a Girl and their motto is “Teed Off About Breast Cancer.” The other team is called the Cottage Bowlers and their mission is to “Strike Out Cancer”.
There are a variety of ways for people to participate. During the 24-hour period of the relay, teams always have at least one person walking the track. Other ways members participate are by helping to set up, decorate, operate or clean-up team campsites. There are competitions for the best decorated site.

People can come and walk even if they have not participated before the event and this is valued as it helps to fill in scheduling gaps that may occur at the last minute. Photographers are valued also. To participate sign up online or contact Natalie Cardoza at 541- 767- 2695 as soon as possible.

Each member, whether walking or helping in another way, does fundraising prior to the event. They each set a personal fundraising goal of $100 or greater. Maezes said, “They make it so easy, with a simple e-mail that you can send to contacts of your choosing for sponsorship of your walk.”
Maezes is referring to the American Cancer Society, who has raised over 3 billion dollars with this event. She added that they also make it easy for you to invite other people to participate on your team or even to invite survivors you may know to walk. Participants are encouraged to invite people over the phone or by letter if that suits their personal style better.
It is suggested that each fundraiser aim to gather many small donations, a few larger ones or some combination in-between. Places to find people to ask are through organizations you are a part of, your work or service providers you have contact with. 
There are also lit bags, which line the Relay For Life track, called luminaries, that are sponsored and then dedicated to a loved one, in memory, honor or support of their experience with cancer. Maezes said, "It is awesome when they light the luminaries. It is an unbelievable feeling to be a cancer survivor walking the survivors' lap." 
Maezes made one last point saying, “It is so important for those of us who have fought and won to know there are others and that we can, as a group, do something for those who are still fighting the battle alone and need support and encouragement.” 
For more information: 


Thursday, February 4, 2010

Supporting Local Businesses






We all know that healthier businesses lead to healthier communities. On January 6th,  2010, twenty-six local businesses received a boost to their company’s immune system right here in Cottage Grove! They are attending a nine month, Strategies of Success (S.O.S.) class hosted by the Chamber of Commerce through the Lane Community College Business Development Center (LBDC).

This great partnership has brought much needed resources to the Cottage Grove business community. The current class is full but there is another in the works for this fall. Chris Nystrom, the LBDC instructor who is teaching the class, stressed that she is there to be a guide, helping to direct the business owner to finding the information and resources that they need, but most importantly to be a coach encouraging them towards greater success.

In addition to the once-per-month class each attendee gets a monthly private consultation here in Cottage Grove with Nystrom, where she supplements the topics covered in class with even greater detail, tailored to the needs of each business.

The class brainstormed opportunities, challenges and trends that they see as business owners here in Cottage Grove. Each participant then got to define for themselves who their target market is and then did an exercise sharing this as an elevator pitch to another classmate. The night was filled with positive energy and with great hopes of future growth for each business this year.

Local businesses can look forward to more opportunities like this class in the future. The Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce is committed to supporting local businesses and is always looking at new ways of serving each business better.

To find out more about the services that the LBDC provides contact them at http://www.lanebdc.com/ or (541) 463-5255 or come down to the Visitor’s Center at 700 E. Gibbs to pick up a copy of their spring 2010 schedule.

For more information or to get on a waiting list for the next class this fall please contact Kristin at the Cottage Grove Chamber at (541) 942-2411.

This is a reprint, courtesy of the Cottage Grove Area Chamber, of an article,
which I wrote for their monthly Chamber Newsletter that gets printed in the Cottage Grove Sentinel. ~ Rose R. Miller