Mayor Dave Stram holding the rock painted with his image. Painting done by Aaron Donley. The rocks were placed in random locations around town for community members to find. JENNI DONLEY
If you’ve been moseying around town lately with a keen eye, you may have noticed little painted rocks scattered in discreet places. Some are painted with landscapes or hearts, others with glitter or goodwill sayings. But no matter the design, the intent is clear: to simply make you smile with this random act of kindness. After all, it’s the little things in life, right?
Most recently, Sanipac’s Aaron Donley upped the ante by showcasing Creswell’s Mayor Dave Stram on one of the rocks stashed around town, taking ”rocking” to a whole new level.
”Aaron’s been pencil drawing his whole life; he just loves to sketch,” said Jenni Donley, Aaron’s wife. ”One day, when I started to paint my rocks, he kind of sat down with me and realized, ‘wait, I can sketch on these rocks too.’ It’s the same idea, just a different medium.”
And so ”Rock Stram” was born, and everyone’s been getting their kicks from it – including Mayor Stram himself.
”When Mayor Dave caught wind, he called Aaron and was so excited,” Donley said.
Since Rock Stram was released into the world, many community members have been having a field day dropping clues on the Creswell Painted Rocks Facebook page to find him. The group’s exploded since it was first introduced to the community and now garners over 550 followers on the social media page.
The premise is simple. All you do is gather some flat, paintable rocks, acrylic paint, sealer and decorate your rock. Often, rocks can be found with a hashtag mark such as #CPR (for Creswell Painted Rocks) and #CreswellRocks with instructions at the bottom of the rock to tell the finder where to post the found rock on Facebook, if you so choose. If not, you can simply rehide your found rock at another location for others to find, or keep it for yourself.
The Creswell Painted Rocks hunt is such a positive activity for the whole town. ”It’s impacted people’s lives personally, and shows that Creswell is a community of encouraging people,” Donley said.
The rocks can be planted everywhere and anywhere. The rocks should be visible, but not too visible. Popular hiding spots include waterfront parks, inside local businesses, in playgrounds and on family-friendly hiking trails. Common places to find these rocks in town are at Holt Park, Garden Lake Park, the pocket park across the street from South Lane County Fire & Rescue, and Creswell Library, to name a few.
”People thrive on each other’s positivity,” Donley said. ”People are being changed because of everyone’s kindness.”
If you’re looking to get involved, Creswell Rocks will be hosting a paint party on Saturday, June 30. The event also doubles as a fundraiser for the Creswell Library Expansion Fund and will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Creswell Library ”backyard.” Rocks and paint will be supplied, or you can bring your own. Refreshments will be provided and there will be fun raffle prizes to win. All ages are welcome.
And be ready to ”rock out” during the Creswell Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Fourth of July Celebration, because the Creswell Rocks crew are all painting red, white and blue rocks to hide around town on July 3, just in time for the holiday celebration.
Find out more online on Facebook: Creswell Painted Rocks #CPR #CreswellRocks.
