Steve Barnes & BJ Jones are greeted by bundles of corn stalks at Cottage Grove’s historic Armory. Photo Provided
Guests entering Cottage Grove’s historic Armory this past Saturday were greeted by bundles of corn stalks, fresh cut flowers, apples and locally grown produce. The bounty was a sign of a gathered harvest for the start of Fall Equinox. Not only were the crops gathered, but so were the people. Four local organizations had worked together with the goal of having a community gathering that would be kid, youth and family friendly, as well as to raise funds. The event was successful on both counts, and it was gratifying to watch all the kids and young folks moving out on the dance floor. They were such an inspiration for this first Annual Harvest Moon Benefit.
Now what does a Cottage Grove festival have to do with Creswell you may ask? Well, let me tell you about South Goshwood.
This quizzical name is what my good buddy Jim Guthrie likes to call the Cottage Grove/Creswell area. To storyteller Guthrie, ”Goshwood” is the tips of trees you can see on the buttes poking through the fog and clouds, which often blankets the top of the Willamette valley. Jim describes the mystical town of Goshwood where all sorts of unusual things happen and interesting characters intersect. When we settled in Cottage Grove, Gutherie christened our new locale, South Goshwood.
When you look at a topographic map of the area between Cottage Grove and the Glenwood/Eugene area, you see that the Spencer Butte complex is a natural barrier that forces the Middle Fork of the Willamette River to join the Coast Fork in its northern march to the sea. This natural feature also caused the settlers to follow the river as a part of the Applegate trail. I propose that it also naturally creates a division between our two towns and the big city of Eugene/Springfield. To me, it takes a lot of fast talking to convince me to go into all that traffic and hustle and bustle when we have all we need right here in the Creswell/Cottage Grove economic region.
So my friends, I am going to keep letting you know about things that are more or less happening in the Cottage Grove portion of ”South Goshwood” so that you too will celebrate and enjoy our unique pairing of great places to live, work and socialize. Shop local and invest your money into your communities here and not over the divide.
That brings us back to the Harvest Moon Concert the other night. We were excited to have Creswell’s ”One Dollar Check” performing at the show, and we were glad to welcome Creswellians who followed their band down to the Grove. So friends, let’s celebrate and enjoy our two towns together before you pack your wagon and get the horses to climb the grade up into the big city – looking for a pot of gold that is all around you right here in Creswellgrove!
