You can’t really say Opal Irene Whiteley is from Cottage Grove. Born in Colton, Wash., she moved to the Row River Valley at age 5. The Whiteley family moved continuously around the valley from Cottage Grove up to Star, Ore., as father Ed followed logging and mill work through the lumber camps and towns that had sprung up along the river where the rich virgin timber was being harvested.
“The Sunshine Fairy,” as she was…
