Even though it is still grey, cold and rainy, the time to get out and do things fun has come to the Northwest. And a little rain has rarely slowed down Oregonians.
Ken Kesey in “Sometimes a Great Notion” says it best: “Standing out there as though they have lived and worked and logged in wet so long that they are no longer capable of distinguishing it from the dry.”
When they heard I was moving to Cottage Grove, my big-city friends asked me, “What are you going to do for entertainment?”
And although I wasn’t really worried my first summer here showed me that was not a problem. The real issue is how to be in two or more places at once.
My wife and I got the local paper and looked at the community calendar with all the happenings and try as we might we couldn’t do it all. There were some painful choices to be made about which event to attend. And as the spring moves into summer the pace quickens and gets down right frantic.
As way of example let me give you a rundown on some Cottage Grove events happening in what’s left of April.
If you haven’t seen the Cottage Theater’s production of “The Sound of Music,” you have until April 28 to be delighted by the music and the magic of the stage. This will be the last show you can experience before the Cottage Theater closes for renovation. If you miss this you will have to wait until October when the doors reopen with “Complete Works of William Shakespeare” (abridged) [revised] to experience Cottage Theater.
This Friday and Saturday is the Junk, Gunk, Fashion Funk, 2019 Trashion Show at the Opal Center. Local artists will strut their stuff made of castoff material and is highly entertaining, held on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.
Come celebrate your home planet. Saturday April 20 is Earth Day in Coiner Park, held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be live music, speakers, tours, booths and the Swinging Bridge rummage sale.
Tuesday, April 23 you have Science Pub, “Thinking Inside the Box – Cavity Nesting Birds,” held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Axe & Fiddle, and/or Jazz Jam at the Cottage Events Venue on Row River Road, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m..
Then to kick off the season is the first Art Walk on Friday, April 26. This is a great way to experience the historic downtown while enjoying featured artists, street musicians and the neat shops and eateries downtown. Art Walk is the last Friday each month 6 to 8 p.m.
Two more and we have April down. Get out and enjoy some nature with the Coast Fork Watershed Council & Coast Fork Birders at Cottage Grove Lake. Meet at Lakeside Park on London Road at 8 a. m. See the CFWWC page for more info. And for something completely different “The 16mm Film Night” Saturday, April 27, a collage of vintage TV ads, cartoons, short art films; 7 p.m. Opal Center.
So catch your breath and get out and enjoy where you live and plug into some of the wonderful things that makes the Grove such a great place to live and play!
Contact Chronicle columnist Dana Merryday at 541-942-7037 and [email protected].
