The Coronavirus has put a damper on what was supposed to be a high school senior’s crowning year and has robbed them of the traditional memories. Prom, senior trips, activities and the rite of a graduation ceremony. Parents, school officials, city employees, and the staff of Cottage Grove High School have put their heads together to try to make this unique graduating class’ last hurrah as memorable as possible, all things considered.
One special feature is up in the air at Bohemia Park. It acknowledges the graduates from Al Kennedy High School, the Academy for Charter Education (ACE), Child’s Way, and Cottage Grove High School. A collaboration between the City of Cottage Grove, the Main Street Coordinator, and the South Lane School District has placed a banner with the name of each graduating senior on the lamp posts that run the length and breadth of Bohemia Park.
The joint effort made sure everyone’s name gets to wave proudly on the custom banner with the appropriate school colors and logo for each graduate. It took everyone pulling together to get the names right and printed with the right background, rigging up the hanging hardware, and placing them on poles.
The banners look great and when viewed from one end of the park to the other, you get a feel for how many students we have to be proud of. The best part is that on Monday, June 22, there will be a curbside event at City Hall, where students can claim their banner as a keepsake of the year their name was in lights (or on the lights). Pickup hours are 8 a.m. until noon, and then 1-6 p.m. Thank you everyone who helped in this special tribute.
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Some of the usual hijinx associated with graduation will proceed, albeit via the internet. For Cottage Grove High School, scholarships, awards, and baby pictures will be virtual but happening this year. The cap and gowns will be distributed in anticipation of the day of graduation, Saturday, June 6. At 11 a.m., an online graduation ceremony will be streamed featuring speeches by the class valedictorian and principal, along with the reading of the names of those graduating. Starting at 2 p.m. there will be a graduation cruise. Graduates will assemble in vehicles at 1:30 p.m. in the back lot and, on the signal, the cruise will follow a route that starts with receiving their diploma in front of the gym, proceeding to the photo spot in front of the school and then exit to the world of opportunity as a fully minted high school grad!
Al Kennedy graduates will have their online ceremony on Friday, June 5 at 5 p.m. It will be re-streamed on Saturday, June 6 at 9 a.m. followed at 10 a.m. by a graduate cruise. I also wish our charter schools a celebratory finish to a bizarre school year.
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Last weekend my wife and I took a bike ride up the Row River Trail to Harms Park. It was good to see all the families on bikes, scooters, or just walking the trail. All safe activities that can be done with good spacing and plenty of fresh air. The path was brightened by colorful wildflowers bursting out in the warm weather after the nourishing rains.
We had spotted a fair-sized sailboat cruising on Dorena Lake. It looked so magical that we wanted a closer look. Imagine our surprise when we were able to travel fast enough by pedal power to catch up and eventually pass it. Later we were able to wave a greeting as it blissfully sailed past our observation point.
On the way home we took an alternate route and followed the bike/cart path that hugs the Middlefield Golf course. That took us through North Regional Park. This is one of the City’s two natural resource parks. The other is the Row River Park, formally known as the East Regional Park, or colloquially as Turtle Ponds.
North Regional Park is facing some changes. It is the site of the 18-hole disc golf course, laid out in 2009 by Tom Chrestman. Several holes of the course have been impacted by the planned effluent pond. This holding pond will give the water treatment plant more options of using the treated water for irrigation, a real boon for the future. If you think about it, does it make sense to use high quality drinking water to spray on lawns?
In any case the park is facing a major overhaul/redesign, similar to its cousin, Row River Park. Here is a chance to give your input into this process. A survey is available and you are urged to put in your two bits. A $50 Bi-Mart gift certificate is in the mix, plus the satisfaction of knowing you had a hand in what could bloom from this process. Please give your input here at surveymonkey.com/r/NRP_Survey.
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If you were around in the early ’70s you probably remember the “White Tornado” ad from Ajax ammonia. Well, we have our own tornado of cleaning in the person of Councilor Kenneth Roberts. He has long been a force on Main Street, encouraging power washing, maintaining the colorful planters and in general keeping the Historic District spiffy.
Lately he has been expanding his range and furthering his magic touch. Even our colorful murals have benefited from his tender care. The historic Coca-Cola murals downtown were brightened by Roberts. The old Moose Lodge, whose exterior murals welcome visitors that approach the Grove from South 99, also has benefited.
Another long-missing welcome from the southern port of town has been restored. When I first came to town there was a welcome sign on Highway 99 at Harrison. It was vandalized about five years ago and stood forlorn since. Councilor Roberts, the Lions Club, and the City leaders partnered to make a beautiful and solid replacement. The hand-painted sign proclaims “The Covered Bridge Capital of Oregon, Welcome to Cottage Grove.” All seems right again now.
The summer temps finally hit for a few blazing days. A sign of things to come as summer vacation looms for students who have been sheltering in place for the last nine weeks of school. Enjoy and keep practicing consideration and self-care so we can make it to Phase 2. Congratulations to all of our graduates!
Write to Dana at [email protected].
