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updated July 9th

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South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
Ariel view of south slough estuary
Contacts:
Joy Tally
Education Program Specialist
(541) 888-5558 ext. 27
Deborah Rudd
Public Involvement Coordinator
(541) 888-5558 ext. 58 www.southsloughestuary.org.

Come celebrate estuaries at South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.  All programs are held at the Interpretive Center located 4 miles south of Charleston on Seven Devils Road unless otherwise noted.  Please register for all programs in advance.  Call South Slough at (541)-888-5558 to register.

The trails at South Slough Reserve are open daily from dawn until dusk.  The Interpretive Center’s fall hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 am-4:30pm.


one of the South slough's many trails




For Immediate Release:

July 1, 2009

 

Contact:

Joy Tally

Education Program Specialist

South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve:

(we reach the bottom of the trail join us

 
South Slough's mission is to improve the understanding and stewardship of Pacific Northwest estuaries and coastal watersheds.
 



 

Contact:

Deborah Rudd

South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

Public Involvement Coordinator

(541)-888-5558 ext. 21

To sign up for future outings, please call 541-888-5558.





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Coquille River Lighthouse photo by Airlee Owen
As I See It for August 20th, 2009
By Mary Schamehorn

I am actually happy that the Myrtle Point Herald, where I work as editor, isn’t online.

Well, that’s not quite true. But I am proud of the length we go to provide accurate news and to print signed, verified letters that we try to make sure are true … to the best of our ability.

Because of the laws of libel, we would never knowingly print something that libeled or slandered someone, even if the letter writer were more than willing to sign his or her name, because the paper is equally as responsible.

I love to read the Western World … but I always pick it up on the newsstand, and I don’t go to the Internet to read it online.

    That’s where the problem lies. For a corporation that is so careful never to run unsigned letters, I can’t for the life of me understand why they would print such terrible comments about people in the community on their blog, without requiring that the writers sign their names or identify themselves in some way. A case in point was a couple of particularly nasty blogs about our city manager (who, I think is about the best one this city has ever had). Someone printed them out and gave them to him, and we tried to figure out who wrote them. That is self-destructive at best. It would probably turn out that both of the people we felt might have written them . . . didn’t. In fact, a friend said she didn’t think it was either of the ones we came up with, but the suspicion has been cast. I don’t mind people having their opinion, but why they would not have the courage to sign their names is beyond me. I don’t believe I have ever written anything for print without identifying myself. It helps keep me from going overboard … when sometimes I might want to.

      I understand that there are many blog sites on the Internet, and people usually use a “pen name” of one sort or another. That’s pretty much the accepted practice, although in many cases (take the health care issue, for example), I think unsigned, hate-filled rhetoric accomplishes very little. And the reader never knows who, or whose money (make that insurance companies), is behind those unsigned blogs.

    I’ve asked my good friend, Amy Moss Strong, the editor of Western World, why Lee Enterprises, the owner of the paper, allows such postings, with no regard for truth or who they hurt, without making them sign their name.

    I don’t think she is particularly comfortable with them either, and she promised that she would talk to her boss about it.

     And I hope she does.

     I keep thinking about an editorial written by Robert Jump, editor of Coquille Community News (a very good online newspaper), who, like me, has been in the business for a long time.

    He said: “We’ve gotten a ‘bad rep’ and with Internet communications being what they are, the news industry seems to have thrown accuracy into the wind in favor of politics and ‘clicks.’ Many newspapers featuring online editions also feature blog sections where visitors may comment regarding a story or issue. The result thus far has been a free for all where hearsay, innuendo and supposition reign supreme, and little if any value can be placed upon the information presented or the topics being discussed.”

I, for one, am glad I was trained in the “old school.”

*        *        *

Several months ago, it was announced that planning had begun on a proposed $20 million destination resort featuring a world class golf course next to the ocean in Pistol River (between Gold Beach and Brookings).

Plans for the Pistol River Golf Club project were unveiled in May by the Crook family (who have lived in Curry County since the late 1800s) and Brookings developer Leroy Blodgett (former Brookings city manager).

An article in the Curry Coastal Pilot said: “Although the 200-acre resort would rival Bandon Dunes it would be aimed at a clientele different from the business groups that travel to Bandon for two or three days of golf and meetings.”

I’m not sure how the writer determined that golfers are here for meetings; that might occur once in a while, but it is definitely not the norm. They’re here for golf and to have fun.

Blodgett said this would be more of a “getaway kind of thing” with families staying at cabins at the resort for four or five days. “Maybe they’d play golf. Maybe not. It’s a beautiful area.”

Although the resort would have an 18-hole, top-rate golf course, designed by Denver-based Dye Designs, their “target market is to have a reasonable greens fee,” said Blodgett.

He said while the Bandon Dunes greens fee is about $240, they were looking at a fee of $115, which would include a golf cart.

This is the second time in the past couple of years that well-known area families have announced plans to build a golf course in Curry County. It will be interesting to see if this one gets off the ground.

*        *        *

I know how offended I was by the Ally Bank commercials, featuring youngsters being humiliated, disappointed and made fun of. But when I saw those very commercials discussed in the business section of USA Today, I knew I wasn’t the only one who had noticed them.

My friend Susan Coraor, who owns property here but lives in Pennsylvania, wrote to the company, like I did, to say that she found the commercials distasteful. I will have to admit my e-mail was a bit stronger, which may be why she got an answer from the bank … and I didn’t.

The bank thought that Susan was concerned about the children who appear in the ads, saying “I can assure you that the children were treated fairly and had fun on the set.”

To say that they are clueless is an understatement. Of course, those children were being treated fairly (and probably well financially), but it was the message they were sending to those of us forced to watch them that was offensive.

If that is their way of trying to “revolutionize the banking industry,” (their words, not mine), I don’t think they will last long.

*        *        *

Flower gardening has taken on a new meaning for me as I lovingly tend my “highway flower garden” night after night . . . and day after day, watering, weeding and dead-heading.

That’s why I thoroughly enjoyed last weekend’s flower show, sponsored by the Port of Bandon to honor well-known gardener Mary Smith. Many of the areas top gardeners brought beautiful bouquets and displays for the show. It was a real treat.

We old-timers remember the flower shows that Mary put on, at The Barn, for many years. She admits she’s getting “up in age” and isn’t able to garden like she used to, but there is no doubt that she will always be our “master gardener.”

                                                           

As I See It for August 20th, 2009
By Mary Schamehorn

Coos Curry Electric Cooperative has sent out several press releases in recent weeks about their impending rate increase. And since Bandon area residents are served by three utilities, including CCEC, their customers definitely need to know that a sizeable increase is coming.

It appears that the first part of the predicted 15 percent increase will go into effect in October, with the remainder to be added to the bill in the spring. Thus far, the good news for City of Bandon customers is that we aren’t planning to pass any of the wholesale rate increase onto our customers.

*        *        *

There is apparently a new bank, known as Ally Bank, which is looking for customers. I am sure that if you watch TV, you have seen some of their cruel, heartless commercials. They apparently find great humor in making fun of little children. I personally think they are just about the worst commercials I can remember in a long time. Most of us hate violence in commercials, but usually it’s so exaggerated that it’s not believable.

But those Ally Bank spots, which pit one little child against another, are awful. In one, some man (the banker, I presume) asks two girls if they want a pony; he then gives one little girl a miniature and the other a real pony. In another a little girl has a shiny new bike, and when she goes to ride it, she is informed by the man that she has to ride in the confines of a two-foot triangle.

I was so incensed after watching a couple of their ads on The Golf Channel this week that I took the time to contact them. I told them that if they are truly interested in gaining new customers, they might rethink their advertising campaign.

They need to find out who writes the Traveler’s Insurance commercials . . . and hire them.

*        *        *

I recently received a question about “private beach access” and what that really means in the state of Oregon. The answer, of course, is that if a person owns the property all the way to the beach, they can restrict access through their property. It they don’t and if there is a right-of-way or some kind of public easement between their property and the beach, it allows public access.

That is unless access is restricted by the City (as is the case in some areas on the South Jetty) to protect the foredune.

So, yes, just because our beaches are public, it does not mean that people have to grant access through their private property. That’s why Oregon has so many parks and waysides, which provide access to the beach.

*        *        *

For years I’ve wanted to spend a few days at Steamboat Inn on the Umpqua River near Glide. And for my 70th birthday (Aug. 5), my boyfriend decided that he would take me there … the weekend after my birthday. But as “luck” would have it, his work schedule changed, and he had to cancel our three-night reservations.

And when I say “luck,” I couldn’t have picked a better word.

Not only would we have suffered through unbearable heat, but the resort experienced a voluntary evacuation around the time we were scheduled to be there because of the dense smoke from the 3,000-acre Williams Creek Fire. A 10-mile section of Highway 138, leading to the resort, was also closed for several days.

I feel sorry for those who did have reservations … and kept them.

*        *        *

I don’t spend a lot of time going through my old report cards, but while looking for the documents I needed to renew my driver’s license, I stopped to look over a few of my old “Elementary Pupil Growth Reports” from third grade. I guess that was the politically correct term (back in 1948) for report card. Who knows?

But it was what my teacher, Madge Shull, said, that definitely got my attention . . . 61 years later. “Mary retains her place in the superior group in all subjects.” Wow, that’s great, I thought. Uh oh (but) . . . “Writing is her weakest one. It is our aim that all work including workbooks reflect neat, careful writing.” To interpret that, I am guessing that my writing was sloppy, incoherent and not very good.

However, now that I think about it, my guess is third-grade writing did not mean content, grammar, spelling and flowing sentences. It simply meant that my penmanship wasn’t all that good.

At least that’s the way I prefer to interpret it.

*        *        *

I have never grown vegetables, but this year I decided to buy a couple of tomato plants to put on our recently glassed-in front porch. I was sure that by this time I would have vines dripping with small tomatoes because I was careful to give them adequate Miracle Grow and as much water as they could handle.

After nearly two months, I have at least six feet of growth on both plants, but I can count the tomatoes on one hand. And that might be an exaggeration.

I realized just what a failure I was this week when I purchased a good sized package of homegrown tomatoes from Lachlan Miller . . . for $1. They were sweet and wonderful, and made me realize that I would be wise to stick to growing flowers … and leave the vegetables to those with a lot more knowledge than I have.

If my food source depended on my garden expertise, it is clear that I would starve to death.

Thank heaven, we still have the wonderful Little Farmers Market where we non-growers can still buy great, fresh produce – grown by someone else.

 

<Jump back to top of page>

*            

ART BEAT by
Victoria Tierney

i will insert pictures later this morning

start with totem poles picture sent by Louaine Elke

Many of you remember Louaine Elke who shot through Bandon like a comet a few years back, teaching the watercolor class through SWOCC, giving talks on the history of textiles, sponsoring paintouts, and presenting READERS THEATER for the Bandon Playhouse.  When her husband Bill Huelsenkamp died from cancer at age 75, Louaine packed up and moved back down to California to be nearer kids and grandkids.  She was 75 when she left and I’m not sure how many years ago that was (2?, 3?) but she hasn’t slowed down much, from the reports that come this way now and then.  The most recent was this photo of a fabulous TOTEM POLE PROJECT that she’s been working on the last several months with a group of other ceramics enthusiasts.  Don’t know how much you’ll be able to tell in a small photo (she emailed a large one showing three totem poles) but it looks delightful.  Congratulations Louaine!  Always good to hear from her.

photos of my paintings

Susan Lehman and I are the  featured “Meet & Greet” artists scheduled for Second Street Gallery August 22nd and 23rd (this coming Saturday & Sunday, from 10 am – 4 pm).
I decided that in keeping with the economic times I would make up a basketful of “Tiny Paintings” ……most of them are prints of watercolors I’ve done over the years….some have been embellished with pen and ink or colored pencil.  I drew frames around each one and they are all hand-signed and hand titled……It’s kind of an ART SHOW IN A BASKET. It was really fun going through old photos of paintings and deciding which to make into cards.  Takes me back to my illustrator-roots.  I kind of like the way my art looks reduced in size and translated into the printed medium.  I only printed up one of each so early birds get to choose. The pieces are ten dollars each ……hope that will squeeze into your budgets!
(Half goes to support the gallery of course….they really need our support too!)

And for those of you who are fresh out of Bach Books (the COMPOSER COMIX
created by Crystal Landucci and yours truly for Educational Services Division many years ago,) we just happen to have quite a large number still packed away in boxes, so I’ll bring a carton.  Bargain prices.  (attention all you piano teachers out there!)

I’ve also been working on some new pieces since I got back from John Salminen’s workshop, and I’ll bring those along as well. Both Susan and I will be demonstrating techniques and happy to talk about methods….. We’d love to see you…hope you will stop by.


painting of “Traditional Dancer” by Jeffrey Handsome Dog Cree

Speaking of Susan Lehman, she and I hang the shows together at the Bandon hospital,
and last year we did a show called “Native American Art Empowers INVISIBLE PEOPLE” as a fundraiser for Red Lodge Transition Services.  Out of that has grown another show, “OREGON PRISON ART”, which will open at the COOS ART MUSEUM next December.  I’m curating that show and it has been a mind-expanding experience rounding up the artists for this show.   Since there was no way to open it to the entire prison population, I invited some of the finest artists from the  Native American show, and then traveled to Salem to see the prison art show up at the “Dome Building” there (the headquarters of the Department of Corrections).  I wrote down the names of some of my favorite artists there, and sent them all letters inviting them to be in the show.
I’ve been really blown away by the level of excellence of some of these fellows…..

Work is just now starting to come in (they are supposed to have it in by October 1st)  so I thought I’d just show you this piece that came in from Jeffrey Handsome Dog Cree.
He’s one of the men whose work we showed last December.  I’ll be telling you lots more about this show as we get nearer to opening night, but  just to give you a “heads up” on what we can expect in December.

Susan Lehman, by the way, is also curating a show for the Coos Art Museum which will open in the Maggie Karl Gallery (the big downstairs gallery) in December.  The actual opening night date is Friday, December 11th, and both shows will remain on display through February 13th.  Susan’s show is called “THE CUTTING EDGE” and is a juried collage-art show  open to artists in Oregon, Washington, California, and Hawaii.
If you’d like to submit work get in touch with Susan or with the Coos Art Museum at 267-3901.


Enjoy  these last beautiful days of summer.  Me, I’m heading up the Rogue River.  Hope to see you at Second Street this coming weekend!


VICTORIA


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