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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes. You Are Here: Love Lost and Found News: Cesar Chavez School Feature: Coalition Happening Person: Mary Enos URBAN RENEWAL TO DIVERT $40 MILLION Just a week after the failure of Measure 30 threw state school funding into fiscal meltdown, the Eugene City Council is proceeding forward with a plan to divert an estimated $40 million from state school funding and local government services. The council held a hearing Feb. 9 on its push to add 25 acres to the Riverfront Urban Renewal District and continue it for 20 years. The Riverfront district would cost state school funding $22 million in property taxes over the next two decades, according to city estimates. The city would lose $15 million in funding for police, fire, library and other core services over the period. Lane County would take a $3 million hit. Property taxes to pay for local levies and bonds will also increase about 1 percent to make up for revenue lost to urban renewal. A big chunk of the $40 million will likely go to build a highway along the railway tracks to pump more cars through the river front area. Critics have said the highway will cut off the city and new courthouse district from the river and spoil a potential natural area. The city also plans to use a big chunk of the money for a huge new police station, which voters have twice defeated at the polls. "The timing can hardly be worse," testified Ray Wolfe in opposition to the tax diversion. Wolfe said the city had already spent $30 million in diverted urban renewal money downtown with "questionable benefits" and built a road to nowhere in the UO's Riverfront Research Park. Wolfe said the city shouldn't divert money out of funding for fire protection and other essential services into urban renewal. "Is there really nothing in the general budget that deserves a higher priority? That's what your saying." Cynthia Kokis said she's concerned with the impact on school funding and the environmental impact of developing the river area. She said urban renewal didn't work for downtown. "There's something terribly wrong." Kevin Matthews, president of Friends of Eugene, called the riverfront urban renewal proposal "corrosive of an atmosphere of public trust." Matthews pointed out the proposed highway was defeated by voters as part of the failed Ferry Street Bridge freeway plan and is "a really ill-advised transportation project." Matthews says the plan calls the riverfront area "blighted" but it's really a natural "gem" for the community. Bryn Anderson, a UO student on the campus planning committee, testified against the "wide environmental impacts" proposed development along the riverfront will have. UO professor Al Urquhart said the city should delete the UO's planned Riverfront Research Park of big office buildings along the river from the district. Urquhart pointed to "gross differences" between the research park's projected benefits and its reality. "The Riverfront Research Park has been a failure and should not be included." Drix Rixmann testified that Eugene should save the natural riverfront as part of the "magic" that makes Eugene an attractive place to live. "We have this beautiful river and now we're talking about taking it and giving a chunk of it to private business so someone can have an office with a view of it." Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Eugene Inc. testified in favor of urban renewal as a way for the city to accomplish its development vision for the riverfront area. But Councilor Bettman questioned the diversion of tax money. "We can't fund schools, we can't fund human services and we can't fund recreation." So far, at least five councilors have expressed support for the urban renewal tax diversion which is scheduled for a final vote Feb. 23. — Alan Pittman
As EW was going to press Wednesday, UO President Dave Frohnmayer announced he has put plans for the controversial new $180 million basketball arena on indefinite hold. Frohnmayer cited problems with arena's "scope, complexity and financing," but said he remains "committed to our common goal of creating a premier facility." The decision was made after consultation with the projects' donors. No information was available regarding whether a major donor had pulled out.
OLCV SCORECARDS SPOTLIGHT VOTING Two environmental scorecards released this week by the Lane County Chapter of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV), document the voting records of Lane County Commissioners and Eugene city councilors during the past two years. While the County Commission showed improvement, the City Council showed slippage. The Eugene council received a failing grade, averaging 41 percent on 10 key votes. The commission averaged 60 percent on 11 key votes, up from a poor 39 percent in the prior scorecard. The scorecards assign a rating to each decision-maker on votes that affect whether our region remains a beautiful and healthy place to life. "The scorecard separates true stewards of our environment from those who just talk that way," says Kim Leval, spokesperson for the Lane County Chapter. A majority of Eugene's councilors voted nearly every time against environmental safeguards, putting special interests before the public interest on contested issues such as sprawl, water quality, zoning, toxics reporting and the West Eugene Parkway. Scott Meisner and Nancy Nathanson scored 10 percent (both slipping from better ratings two years ago). George Poling, Gary Papé and Jennifer Soloman all scored worst-possible 0 percent ratings. Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor and David Kelly received recognition for their 100 percent pro-environment voting records. The three were consistently out-voted. There were only three times when other councilors joined with them, but in each case Mayor Torrey broke the tie, ensuring the anti-environment position passed, according to the report. "The developer-friendly majority on the City Council seems intent on turning Eugene into Southern California," says Lane County OLCV Steering Committee member Tim Sutton. "Their misguided planning decisions will lead to increased sprawl." In the county scorecard, the average was 60 percent. Pete Sorenson and Tom Lininger earned perfect 100 percent scores. Bill Dwyer earned a 63 percent. Bobby Green was rated 36 percent, an improvement over his 14 percent score in 2001. Anna Morrison once again received a worst-possible 0 percent. For more complete information on the scorecards and
how the ratings were determined, visit www.olcv.orgor
call
EUGENE PHOTOGRAPHER BACK FROM NICARAGUA Eugene photographer Paul Dix documented the Contra War in Nicaragua during the 1980s. His return there last year provided him with pictures that he will present in a slide show and talk at 7:30 pm Wednesday, Feb. 18, at Harris Hall, 8th and Oak. Donations will be accepted. With the help of his Eugene partner, peace activist Pam Fitzpatrick, Dix managed to locate and once again photograph some of the people who became part of his photo album at the height of the war. The event, titled, "Living with the Consequences of U.S. Policy," is part of a national tour of the Nicaragua Photo/Testimony Project. The program is co-sponsored by CISCAP and the Eugene Friends Meeting. For more information, call 342-3647.
BETTY TAYLOR FILES FOR COUNCIL RE-RUN
Eugene City Councilor Betty Taylor, representing Ward 2, has filed for re-election. Ward 2 is in south and southeast Eugene, bordered by Chambers on the west and 28th and 30th avenues on the north. Taylor says she advocates for environmental protection in the Eugene area, including acquisition of stream corridors and protection of trees. She supported the resolution in opposition to provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that restrict civil liberties. She supported the ordinance authorizing the Domestic Registry for unmarried partners, and says she's an advocate for "living wages, open and accessible government, citizen involvement, a performance auditor and an equitable source of funding for road maintenance." She opposes the downtown ordinance that prohibits gatherings of more than 25 people without a permit, and "any tax breaks or other incentives that do not clearly benefit the city." In addition to the City Council, Taylor is on the Executive Committee of the McKenzie Watershed Council, president of Friends of the McKenzie Watershed, chair of the Human Services Commission and a member of the Lane Regional Authority Board, and other boards and committees.
The photo of Dr. Mazure-Mitchell in last week's cover story "Gesundheit!" should have been credited to photographer Ruby Hi'ilawe Mitchell. To see more of her work visit www.rubystudio.net
Love
Lost and Found The One Who Got Away With his mop of dark hair and soulful, bespectacled eyes, Marc Muscato, 27-year-old, do-it-yourself media artist of "My House," "Not My House" and "A Secret History of Eugene" renown, recently bid Eugene farewell. On Jan. 16, fans filled the WOW Hall for Truck Stop Still Lifes, a presentation of short documentaries organized by KWVA and Not My House Mobile Arts. This marked the final Eugene arts event for Muscato, who would return the following week to "take care of some family stuff" in Buffalo, N.Y. Films included I Can Fly by Jesse Garlick and Muscato, as well as poetic black and white Super 8 work by Buffalo, N.Y., filmmaker Stephanie Gray, and the wild wanderings of documentarian Bill Bryson (creator of Truck Stop Still Lifes). Also featured was Owen Ashworth, aka Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, whose stack of amps and mini keyboard made for a serenade both bittersweet and a little grating, just like lonesomeness in real life. In his program goodbye Muscato wrote, "Eugene really does have an extremely supportive community for do-it-yourself projects, but now it's up to you! I hope you continue to support and create all-ages spaces for free expression." — Bobbie Willis
Ebay Love Items bought and sold on ebay from Eugene recently: Two tickets to see the UO men's basketball team play UCLA March 6, Section 103, row 14, seats 3 and 4. 29 bids. Winner: oregon_boi for $177.53. Everly Brothers poster advertising a performance at South Eugene High School. Four bids. Winner: pdoug for $43.52. Herb Grinder + Stash Box combination set ("You can grind and store your herbs in confidence and at the same time …"). Twelve bids. Winner: turbod43 for $30. Three 16-inch juggling torches ("Lots of fire means lots of fun"). Six bids. Winner: kgregddr for $51.99. Laminated Grateful Dead ticket and three backstage passes from Autzen Stadium, 1994. Ten bids. Winner: ripple-1972 for $103.06. Items won by jpassaro0 while "conducting research" on ebay: Valentine's postcard sent Feb. 28, 1910 from Elaina in Creswell, Ore., to Miss Leona Lamb in Montrose, Colo. On the front, a dashing man sneaks a kiss from a woman in a long red dress under the heading "It is no crime to kiss in Eugene, Oregon." On the back, Elaina writes: "Hello Leona, I guess you thought that I had gone dead again but I haven't. First card I've sent for a coon's age. If you will overlook it this time, I will try to do better in the future. It is raining here and has been for about four months." Bought from cowboysam for $11. — Jamie Passaro
ISO The One This April, 74-year-old Grace Mikesell and her husband, 90-year-old Raymond Mikesell, will celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary. How they met? Raymond, on advice from a friend, placed a personal ad in Eugene Weekly, January 1997. Grace says, "I was working on the New York Times crossword puzzle you used to run" and she caught an ad written by a man "over 75, but looks 10 years younger" with "physical capacity equal to that of most men 20 years younger" to enjoy skiing, traveling and hiking. An outdoor enthusiast, Grace (67 at the time) thought anyone still skiing at 75 must be serious. When Raymond, a one-year widower and UO emeritus professor in economics, met Grace, a 12-year widow and retired Michigan schoolteacher living in Eugene to be near her daughter, he was smitten. "Very well impressed," Raymond says of first meeting her. "More like blown away," Grace corrects. Within weeks Raymond was introducing Grace as his fiancée — "I've never been the type to wait indefinitely on making a decision." Grace thought they could maybe just live together, but Raymond wanted commitment. "After I was comfortable he was an admirable man," says Grace, they married April 1997. The two have been happy together since, skiing every winter and adventuring as far away as Antarctica. Lesson learned from the experience? "It pays to advertise," says Raymond with a grin. — BW
From the Art Department Among the stated goals of the still-incubating art program for the upcoming Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, for which an official Request for Proposals for art consulting services was released in early February: Unambiguously positive content. Scenes of non-turbulent water. Positive cultural artifacts, like barns and old houses. Photography is good, as long as it's of calm, serene nature scenes. People are OK, but relationships must be obviously and unambiguously positive and caring. Gardens — but no intense colors in the foreground. No deserts. No animals staring di rectly at the viewer. No uncertainty, no abstraction, no chaos. No challenging or provocative art. Citing "scientific research" that espouses calm and serenity, the art program RFP is just one part of the hospital's vision for "a model of patient and family centered care that honors the total patient experience in a healing environment," which, apparently, doesn't include waterfalls, abstract art, or animals intent on eye contact. — Jessica MacMurray Blaine
Cesar
Chavez School
When the Eugene District 4J School Board meets Feb. 18 it will hear recommendations from the school renaming committee as to which monikers to place on the marquees of two newly built 4J schools that will open next September. The board will also hear from many local citizens who want a say in naming the new elementary school to be built next to Patterson Elementary, which will be fed by students currently at Patterson and Westmoreland. The name those citizens want to see emblazoned over the doorway is that of Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-Amerian hero who liberated farmworkers by bringing them recognition and rights, and founded the United Farm Workers Union. Members of the local Latino community hope that other members of the community will also show up and lend their support to what they call "a moment" in a long-awaited quest for recognition. The meeting will begin at 7 pm Feb. 18 at 200 N. Monroe St. "Part of the motivation of some of us is to see a reflection of our community in Eugene," says LCC Diversity Coordinator Jim Garcia, a member of a community advocacy group working for the advancement of Latino issues, including the school naming option. "The Latino community has always been here but our sense is that we've been made invisible by those who can make us visible," he says. Latinos are the largest minority population in the U.S., in Oregon, and in Lane County, and people of Spanish descent have been in this geographic area since the 1500s. "Cesar Chavez was not a foreigner, but a Mexican American who fought for this country and for issues others didn't want to fight for," says Garcia. Latino students in 4J have also geared up to advocate for representation in the district. Last week, members of GANAS, a Latino student group at Jefferson Middle School, met with members of UO Latino group MECHA to discuss what such a name would mean for them. "He was a great leader," said Elizabeth Sampedro. "He brought recognition to the farm workers, who worked for so little pay." That sentiment is echoed by many students, most of whom have had or continue to have farm workers in their families. UO student Abel Diaz-Diaz adds, "Strawberries, blueberries, cucumbers — so many of the foods we eat come from farm workers, and not just Latinos, but African Americans, Chinese, and whites; Chavez helped all of them." "There is no other recognition for Latino leaders, and we want some recognition for the work we do," says eighth-grader Xochitl Soto. The students add that it is difficult for them to find
representations of themselves in the local community. When UO student
Evelia Zazueta came to Eugene, she says, "I didn't see someone like
me in the community, I The GANAS and MECHA students add that for younger children, seeing themselves represented in a school would have a huge impact. "It would make them so proud and they would tell others," says Alma Reyes-Guillen, who intends to address the 4J School Board on Wednesday. "They could tell stories of Cesar Chavez and be a part of it. I would be proud to be in that school." "Chavez is a good role model because he was a leader," says Garcia. "He was a person who chose to change the conditions of people who were not being treated very well in a nonviolent way. He was able to receive support from people all over the world for his cause." Because the Latino community has grown so much in Oregon and in Lane County in recent years, Garcia adds it's "a good time to see this reflection." And that growth, he says, is "the basis for our expression at this point. It's been bubbling up for a long time. Whether people are going to listen to us or not is not our concern anymore. We're just keeping it on the front burner all the time." And keeping it positive is important for the young ones. "When my step-brother and step-sister came to Eugene, they asked me, 'Why are there no names of Latinos anywhere? Do they not like us?'" said GANAS student Rayven Laury. The students unanimously felt that recognition and representation is of the utmost importance as of now, and the name of leader and hero Cesar Chavez is the one to begin with. "You look at his legacy," says Garcia. "The kids are able to see what he was trying to do and what he did. We have schools with names of people who have owned other people and who have killed other people and those are two things we are proud Cesar Chavez never engaged in."
Coalition
Tim Lillebo's world changed when he walked into a bar in Baker City nearly 30 years ago. So did Oregon's environmental legacy. Sitting there was a young man by the name of James Monteith, talking to some ranchers about how to keep a mine from being built in the nearby Elkhorn Mountains. Lillebo was making a living falling trees and building logging roads but had grown tired of seeing his favorite Eastern Oregon hunting and fishing spots get roaded and cutover, often by his own hand. Lillebo struck up a conversation with Monteith and liked what he heard: If like-minded folks in rural parts of the state could just band together, we could save the last, best wild places in Oregon. At the time, Monteith was running the fledgling Oregon Wilderness Coalition (OWC), which had been formed in 1974 by three Eugeneans to push for wilderness protection throughout the state. With seed money from the Sierra Club, Monteith was pulling together homegrown environmental groups and activists in places where big timber ruled: rural towns like Roseburg, LaGrande and Prairie City. Monteith eventually recruited Lillebo to work for the coalition. At the same time, another young native son and a OSU dropout, Andy Kerr, joined the group. Tim covered Eastern Oregon; Andy, the west side. Together, Jim, Andy and Tim set out to change the world, or at least their little corner of it. The rest is history. The coalition, renamed the Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC) in 1982, became the leading statewide environmental group in Oregon and has been instrumental in protecting nearly three million acres of wildlands in the state. The charismatic Kerr, with his colorful sound-bites, became a media darling and the most well-known, home-grown conservationist in Oregon. The group has grown from a handful of impoverished zealots and a budget of a few thousand dollars a year to a statewide environmental organization with a staff of 15 and a $1 million annual budget. ONRC, which turns 30 this year with a Feb. 21 celebration in Eugene, can take credit for a long list of environmental accomplishments, among them: drawing national attention to the battle over the Northwest's old-growth forests, halting the Elk Creek and Salt Caves dams in southern Oregon, securing wild and scenic designation for more 1,500 miles of rivers in Oregon, and helping to protect (at least for now) 58 million additional acres of forestlands nationwide under the Clinton administration's roadless and riparian management policies. It didn't do it alone, nor did ONRC always take the lead on every issue. Plenty of other environmental groups and individuals can share in the accomplishments. The group has taken plenty of criticism, including from some fellow conservationists who think it either has sold out, has strayed too far from its original vision or has hogged too much of the limelight. But no other Oregon-based group has played such a key role in so many environmental successes over the past 30 years. "At every important turning point in the long battle to protect wilderness and old-growth forests in Oregon and the Northwest, ONRC led the charge, often bucking the national environmental groups to do so," says Mike Axline, a UO law professor and a founder of the Western Environmental Law Clinic in Eugene who has represented ONRC in various legal challenges. "No other regional environmental organization in the West has had more influence and impact than ONRC in protecting public lands, water and wildlife." Even ONRC's foes acknowledge its influence. "They were the major player" in the epic battle over the region's old-growth forests that has been waged for 20 years, adds Chris West, vice president of the American Forest Resource Council, which represents timber companies in 13 Western states.
Evolving Movement
The environmental movement was much different in the early 1970s than it is today. Then, about the only way you could get an area protected was to work with one of the big national environmental groups, who then lobbied your local U.S. senator or congressman to sponsor a bill in Congress. It often was a drawn-out process that sometimes left local activists unsatisfied or feeling disaffected. But three Eugeneans — Sierra Club activists Holway "Holly" Jones and Joe Walicki, and the Wilderness Society's Bob Wazeka — had a very different idea: Organize the small grassroots groups that were springing up across Oregon. By forming a coalition, they could gain the political and financial clout to effectively push for wildlands protection. They formed the OWC in April 1974 and hired OSU grad Monteith to bring these groups together. Monteith would talk with anyone who would listen: activists, ranchers, small business owners. "It was visionary," says longtime political commentator and journalist Russell Sadler. "What Monteith did was organize these little disaffected groups, both politically and financially. ONRC became a very effective group, because the national organizations had to make compromises that left some grassroots groups feeling unhelped and unsatisfied." Recruiting Kerr and Lillebo also gave the coalition a truly home-grown flavor. Lillebo went to grade school in LaGrande and worked in the logging industry near John Day. Kerr grew up in Creswell and helped his father build houses during summer vacations. "We were all native sons," says Monteith, who grew up in Klamath Falls. "From the beginning, we tried to establish a very different conservation group. We were home-grown. We had a lot of Republicans and conservatives, hunters and fishermen. It wasn't a cowboy mentality, but maybe a redneck approach. This wasn't an intellectual movement." The fact Kerr, Monteith and Lillebo grew up in rural Oregon helped counter the timber industry's mantra that urbanites from Portland and Eugene were trying to force their will on rural Oregon. "These were not urban elitists," says Sadler. "The fact that they were rooted in the land, sons of the soil if you will, gave them a lot of credibility." "We felt had a message that came from Oregon, not from some far-off urban area," adds Monteith. Between 1975 and the late 1980s, the coalition achieved a series of successes, often with the help of national groups that weighed in with lobbying muscle in Congress. About 131,000 acres was protected around Hells Canyon in 1975. The Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 added 285,000 acres of wilderness in Oregon. In 1984, Congress passed the Oregon Forest Wilderness Act in 1984, protecting another 828,000 acres. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 1988, protecting parts of more than 40 rivers. Each step of the way, they had to work with Oregon's senior senator, Mark Hatfield, who sponsored most of the legislation. "He was the godfather," Kerr says. "The only way you saved wilderness then was, you had to have the senior senator from that state going along with it." Kerr, Monteith and Lillebo all made trips to Washington, D.C., to lobby Hatfield and others for Oregon wilderness protection. But they didn't look like lobbyists. More like John Fogarty, with their flannel shirts and blue jeans. So Kerr's mother bought him a sport coat. It was a 40-regular, and they kept it at a make-shift office in D.C. so they could wear it on visits. "We joked that you had to be a 40-regular to work at ONRC," mused Monteith. "Even so, in D.C., you still looked like a fool in a sports jacket." Monteith says the group's strategy was based on a "six-year cycle" with Hatfield: "He was our arch-enemy for five years, then when election time rolled around, he was our friend. It was a long, long rivalry, but we always got something out of him." Hatfield attended the ONRC's annual conference following passage of the 1984 wilderness bill — to a rousing ovation. It was an election year. Tom Imeson, who was Hatfield's legislative aide and Oregon field director from 1969 to 1985, says he had "a pretty good relationship" with ONRC, particularly with Lillebo, whom Imeson credits for convincing Hatfield to include large areas of Eastern Oregon into the '84 bill. "Tim had a very down-home, persuasive manner," says Imeson. "He has a stamp on the east side wilderness areas that is unlike anyone else in the state."
Good Science, Good Lawyers The renaming to ONRC marked a transformation from a behind-the-scenes support group for coalition members to a more traditional environmental group. The main office was moved to Portland in 1988. The number of paid staff grew.
The 1980s also marked a big shift in strategy, away from legislation and toward more litigation. Hatfield had flat-out told conservationists that he would not sponsor another major wilderness bill after 1984. "This meant our strategy of getting a wilderness bill on a six-year cycle wasn't going to work," Kerr says. There were two other important developments. First the federal forest agencies were creating long range "forest plans" to guide management of the federal forests. More importantly, biologists and other scientists were generating reams of new information about the impact logging was having on old-growth forests and the wildlife living in them. The science showed that the northern spotted owl was in serious decline. Conservationists had the ammo they needed for success, but it would take the better part of a decade. ONRC was just one of several groups to see the potential to use this emerging science as a way to halt logging in federal forests. In fact, ONRC had to be convinced by others that the owl was their ticket to success. They began filing administrative appeals of individual timber sales and broader forest management plans. When the agencies didn't do what they wanted, they started filing lawsuits. Court injunctions and rulings against the USFS and BLM eventually brought logging to a near-halt across the region in the late 1980s and early 1990s. National groups had weighed in with financial and political support. The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, working on behalf of various conservation groups, was instrumental in achieving a series of federal court victories. Eventually, Clinton's 1994 forest plan brought down federal forest logging to a fraction of what it was. Other rulings and actions, including Clinton's roadless and riparian area management rules, put another 58 million acres of federal forests nationwide under limited protection. Although many conservation groups joined forces to bring about a change in federal land management, ONRC was instrumental in "nationalizing" the old-growth issue. When Time featured the spotted owl on its cover in June 1991, it was Kerr who was featured in a side story, characterized as a "white collar terrorist." But Andy Stahl, who was instrumental in advancing the cause of old growth protection while with the National Wildlife Federation in the mid 1980s and later with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, said good science, good lawyers, and a Democratic president and senate contributed more to protecting federal lands. "Had Bill Clinton not won the election in 1992, things might have been very different," Stahl says. "It took the actions of top lawyers and top scientists, combined with some of the nation's top lobbyists, to prevail. That's not very 'grassroots,' but it is what eventually prevailed." Kerr is realistic about ONRC's role during the old growth fight. "What ONRC could do is start fights but not finish them," he says. In the 1990s, ONRC became more "professional," hiring specialists to deal with more complex issues. Doug Heiken, a lawyer who runs the Eugene field office, spends much of his time on legal challenges and the administrative rules and regulations the Bush administration is now attempting to reverse many of the Clinton administration's environmental policies. ONRC also started its own political action committee and has launched a campaign to get five million acres — virtually every remaining roadless area in Oregon — added to the wilderness system. Led by longtime field rep Wendell Wood, ONRC is trying to reform management of wildlife refuges and water rights in the Klamath Basin. All that requires a lot of money, which Tom Giesen, who served on ONRC's board before resigning in a dispute over Monteith's leadership in the late 1980s, doesn't like. Too much reliance on foundation money has made conservation groups, including ONRC, less independent and effective, he says. "The foundations control the agenda," says Giesen, now a graduate student in forestry at OSU. "It changed the movement. It's now focused on maintaining income rather than focusing purely on environmental protection." Regna Merritt, the current executive director of ONRC, says the group has more technical expertise but is committed to its roots. "The passion of the staff and our members remains the same," she says. "Although we have more folks with biology and law degrees on the staff, a degree is not necessary if you come with the intelligence and passion for doing this work." For more information about ONRC's anniversary party and fund-raiser Feb. 21 at LCC, call ONRC's Eugene office at 344-0675 or visit the group's web site at: www.onrc.orgThe deadline for reservations is Feb. 13.
"I started sewing when I was a kid," says Mary Enos, owner of 27th Street Fabrics. "In those days that's what you did — everybody had a sewing machine." A graduate of North Eugene High, Enos had a brief career in accounting before she married into the family that had founded the Eugene Vacuum and Sewing Center in 1948. When her mother-in-law looked to retire, Enos was recruited to take over the fabric department. "I've been here 30 years," she notes. "When I came in, I decided to expand and offer sewing classes." 27th Street Fabrics (renamed when it moved across Willamette Street in '86) currently has classes every day of the week, sewing clubs, occasional guest speakers and benefit events. "Sewing has changed — clothing is so cheap it doesn't pay to sew your own," Enos remarks. "Now it's recreation — also a social thing." Quilting, purses and home decoration are popular class offerings. "All day long the phone rings with questions," says part-time employee and sewing instructor Viki Neville. "It's a wonderful place for people to show off projects and get free advice." |
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MARY
ENOS
