By Dana Merryday – Special to The Chronicle Editor’s note: Dana Merryday, a former Chronicle columnist and current Cottage Grove City Council member, wrote a series on Pupke in 2022. Following Pupke’s passing, The Chronicle invited him to submit this column. COTTAGE GROVE – On May 16, 2025, Ronald Irving[Read More…]
Author: DANA MERRYDAY - for The Chronicle
Councilor spends time in unhoused camps, recounts conversations
It had been a while since I had spent much time at either of our two designated camping sites for the unhoused in Cottage Grove. With three city councilors under threat of recall due to the public’s displeasure on how the City of Cottage Grove has attempted to navigate[Read More…]
Capitol experience: CG council visits Salem
Editor’s note: This past week, local government representatives traveled to Salem to attend, “City Day at the Capitol.” Highlights included presentations from the League of Oregon Cities government relations team on legislative priorities, and briefings from Oregon’s new governor and legislative leadership about their priorities for the 2023 session. Members[Read More…]
Local cemeteries hold deep history
For the last few months I have been engulfed in working on a historical display that will be erected at the J. Polk Currin Swinging Bridge. One side tells of the days when River Road was essentially downtown Cottage Grove and is titled “Slabtown”. I didn’t have much to do[Read More…]
Heritage Fair a wholesome, fun activity for families
COTTAGE GROVE – In its 90th year, the W. O. E. (Western Oregon Exposition) Heritage Fair brought its magic to town last weekend. This all-volunteer labor of love brings warm, family fun to Cottage Grove in a relaxed setting. While not intending to be a well-kept secret, one kind of[Read More…]
Remembering Vermin Supreme: A legend in his own right
As American politics devolves into a sideshow of risibility, I am reminded of my old friend Vermin Supreme. With politicians of both major parties scrambling to convince the general public that their brand of snake oil is the balm for a divided nation, perhaps Mr. Supreme’s moment has arrived. I[Read More…]
Part 3: Pupke; celebrating Bud Taylor’s legacy
COTTAGE GROVE – For a small backwater, Cottage Grove sure seems to have produced some outsized personalities. One that still holds water is longtime swimming coach Bud Taylor. Some of his former swimmers, realizing that they too were getting up in years and having attended memorials of classmates, felt it[Read More…]
Out with the corsets, in the Bloomers in Cottage Grove
CHRONICLE ARCHIVE PHOTO- Women march in their “Bloomers” at a 2018 Bohemia Mining Days parade. When I was in junior high school girls were not allowed to wear pants. When it got really cold, this restriction was lifted for the duration of the cold snap, then slammed back into place[Read More…]
Saving the planet – one tree at a time
WePlantInc Green Ambassadors at Arbor Day tree giveaway in Endana, Kenya. DANA MERRYDAY, COTTAGE GROVE Sometimes good ideas happen through serendipitous meetings in exotic places. WePlant Inc, an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), based in Cottage Grove is just such a story. This nonprofit, whose status is akin to other NGOs,[Read More…]
The covered bridge legacy in Cottage Grove
Cottage Grove claims the title, “Covered Bridge Capital of the West,” in part since it has one of the highest concentrations of covered bridges in this area while also possessing the only covered railroad bridge west of the Mississippi River. Local business leaders working under the Cottage Grove Area Chamber[Read More…]
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