Kenneth Michael Roberts/Courtesy photoJerry Vervarka, right, joins other volunteers in preparing the Christmas Community dinner a few years back. The kitchen at First Presbyterian was humming on Christmas Day as teams of volunteers worked together to fill orders for community dinners, no questions asked. The rich aromas of turkey, ham,[Read More…]
Author: DANA MERRYDAY - for The Chronicle
Cottage Grove offers plenty of intrigue from ‘Christmas Past’
Coast Fork Willamette out of its banks in 1964. PHOTO: Debra Monsive Today is Dec. 23, two days after the Winter Solstice and two days before Christmas. This timing warrants turning back the pages for a peek at some Cottage Grove Christmas pasts. Like Scrooge’s ghosts, these bits and pieces[Read More…]
Opal Whiteley’s past is a local magical mystery tour
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[Read More…]
Thanksgiving trash? I’ve heard that before
Christmas has many songs and carols that begin playing earlier every year it seems, but Thanksgiving has hardly any musical offerings. One of the very few Thanksgiving songs is Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant Massacree. And by Guthrie’s own admission, it isn’t really about Thanksgiving at all. It’s a long diatribe[Read More…]
Munsell, Grocery Outlet helping teens
Grocery Outlet Bargain Center in Cottage Grove has key items labeled for the “youth warming” project. DANA MERRYDAY/PHOTO Sometimes a simple gesture comes at just the right time to make a big difference in one’s life. For Karen Munsell, it was a gifted pair of socks at such a juncture[Read More…]
Remembering Past 45 Arts & Crafts, an iconic piece of Cottage Grove
Crystal Hunt and Dorothy Cooper at the former Past 45 Arts & Crafts shop in Cottage Grove. PHOTO/COTTAGE GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY COTTAGE GROVE – When looking for a place in Cottage Grove 11 years ago, we checked out a lot of houses. One was an older, cute home right on[Read More…]
Winter greetings: Cottage Grove refines Pallet Shelter Village policies
The City of Cottage Grove Pallet Shelter Warming Center. DANA MERRYDAY/ THE CHRONICLE It has never been easy to be “without physical means” in Cottage Grove. Being a small town, anyone new is instantly noticed and comes under increased scrutiny. In snippets of city records from the past printed in[Read More…]
Around the Grove: Area cemeteries offer amazing experiences, history all year
View from the hill that Sarah Alexander chose to be buried on in 1853. DANA MERRYDAY/PHOTO Halloween had that weird Sunday edition this year. When locals started putting out their decorations over a month ago, their displays often included mock tombstones. Seeing those got me to move on a reader’s suggestion that[Read More…]
Cards are lasting links to art teacher’s legacy in the Grove
The Mary White Bridge – the original – built in 1929 and torn down 1964. PHOTO COURTESY OF COTTAGE GROVE MUSEUM A story on the Dorena Covered Bridge, which appeared in this column, prompted a reader to contact me and share a treasure. The gift was a complete set of[Read More…]
Banner days: Catching up on happenings across The Grove
The Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce/Lane County Cultural Coalition banner hangs in Downtown Cottage Grove. Artwork by Heather Endicott. DANA MERRYDAY/PHOTO The closing of the Village Green Resort was the impetus for taking a look back at the history and contributions of the Woodard family over these past weeks.[Read More…]
