Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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Vida McKenzie Community Center is absolutely thrilled to announce being awarded $240K from Sen. Floyd Prozanski and another $240K from Rep. Cedric Hayden from a legislator’s discretionary fund. VMCC receive these funds specifically for the rebuilding of its 70+ year old facility, destroyed in the Holiday Farm Fire. Adding $480K to the monies already raised through other grants and community fundraising efforts, VMCC is hopefully on track to open its doors in September, 2022, just two years after the fire. In response to this generous grant, P...
e you to join us at the 70th annual Walterville Community Fair on September 11 from 7 AM to 4 PM. The Walterville Waddle will begin at 8 AM (signup is online only this year). Fair entries (your canning, baking, garden produce, arts/crafts, photography, antiques, flowers, sewing and handcrafts) should be brought to the hall from 7:30 to 9:30 AM and judging will start at 9:30 AM. Flag raising will be at 10 AM by the Boy Scouts. The parade will begin at 11 AM (contact Dani Wright to enter in the parade). The famous Walterville chicken barbeque...
Greetings McKenzie friends, Just an FYI...It's getting hot again so Living Water Family Fellowship is serving as an official Lane County "Cooling Center" at our temporary modular. We are servicing the McKenzie Valley. 52353 McKenzie Hwy. Doors will be open from Noon to 6:00 pm, tomorrow thru Saturday, 8/11-8/14. Please come prepared to "self-entertain" (your own book, head phones, devices, pillow, favorite lawn chair, etc.) There are padded chairs, water, HEPA air filters, and WiFi available. Masks are required indoors at the Living Water...
’Brien Memorial Library was destroyed by the Holiday Farm Fire that affected the entire Blue River community. Soon after the loss of our library, efforts were started by a few determined individuals to find grant money and raise funds to rebuild. In just about nine months after the loss of our beloved Blue River library, this effort had gathered momentum, adding volunteers and Board members to help. The first results of this effort was a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the opening of a temporary library at the Upper McKenzie Community Center. P...
I think we need to petition the Governor to declare a National Disaster on Lame County’s Land Use & building permitting. The Holiday Farm Fire was a horrible experience but not much compared to Lane County Land use Soon it will be another winter that we all are HOMELESS thanks to Lane county Living in a motel, a FEMA trailer, county provided housing, a recreation vehicle & or exiled to Washington state is being HOMELESS Most of us are trying to rebuild but the massive Roadblock is Lane County Land use The longer they stall the price of r...
With much discussion and careful consideration it has been decided that the safest and most responsible action to take at this time is to cancel the August 14th Popsicle Social Event due to the increase in COVID numbers in Lane County and Oregon and the risk associated with the Delta variant of the virus. Our community has been through so much this past year and the possibility of creating a super spreader event is a risk for the safety and health of our community members we are just not willing to take. We hope you understand and support our...
When conventional food supply chains had difficulties adapting at the start of the pandemic, farmers markets and local food systems clearly displayed the resiliency of short supply chains as interest in local foods spiked nationwide. Farmers markets across the country did what they could to safely open for the farmers and the customers who had come to depend on them, with 72% of market organizations in the U.S. operating the same number or more market days during summer 2020 as in summer 2019, according to the Farmers Market Coalition. The...
The 2021 Oregon Legislature convened in early February. Among its first orders of business was the formation of two wildfire committees; one in the House and one in the Senate. The House Committee was a “special” committee, with its only charge wildfire related issues. It was chaired by Representative Brian Clem and was exempt from regular committee rules, meaning that it was allowed to stay open long after most of the other House committees were shuttered. The House Committee had representation on it from any Lane County members of the Legisla...
As many of you know the Upper McKenzie Community Center hosted the relief center, our version of a free community store, just after the Holiday Farm fire last September until March, helping our neighbors who had suffered so much get through the winter. Now that the winter weather threat is over, the library is currently setting up operations and will be opening in July – we are so excited to have them! The annual members meeting was held earlier in June and resulted in a vote to change the non-profit status type from a 501(c)7 to a 501(c)3 whic...
At midnight on Labor Day, I joined a caravan evacuating the Holiday Farm wildfire which destroyed more than 500 homes and devastated 174,000 acres. Our lives were forever changed that night, never to be the same. Yet, the incredible support from others has made a huge difference. We are on Recovery Road and wouldn’t be this far along without the help of too many to list here. Nonetheless, one person stands out, Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch. As the ash smoldered, and the highway choked with fallen and falling trees, she has been with u...
“Looking good!” People have been telling me while delivering Reflections to stores and restaurants for the last two weeks. That’s because they liked seeing color photos rather than the print edition’s normal black & white front-page images. This week I’m expecting to hear comments along the lines of: “Must be a lot of news!” when they find the July 1st issue weighs twice as much. Printing in color and adding more pages are the result of one input - advertising. In both cases, it’s pretty expensive. The second though, has some interesting wri...
Last year was the worst wildfire season for western Oregon and the Willamette and Mt. Hood National Forests in decades. As for the Forest Supervisors of these National Forests, we saw firsthand how the fires affected the lives of our communities, employees, and loved ones; it has been both heartbreaking and uplifting. We witnessed some amazing moments: community members and Forest Service employees coming together to support each other; donations literally coming in by the truckload; local, state, and federal agencies and community organization...
r Day night 2020; nine months since the Holiday Farm Wildfire devastated more than 170,000 acres and destroyed more than a thousand structures and five-hundred homes in the McKenzie Watershed. Three seasons (Fall, Winter, and Spring) since thousands of McKenzie folk had to run for their lives. I was one of those people. I left our home at midnight taking with me with our dog, a ‘bug-out’ bag, the shirt on my back, and little else. As I was preparing to leave, I walked through our home one last time to say goodbye. It was clear what was in sto...
The Board of Vida McKenzie Community Center is pleased to announce receipt of $13,000 from the Chambers Family Foundation to support the rebuilding of the Center’s facilities, destroyed in the Holiday Farm Fire. With the addition of this grant money, VMCC moves closer to its goal of putting shovel to ground by January 2022 and completing construction by September 2022. To learn more about ways you can help the Center reach its goal, visit www.vidacommunitycenter.com. It is easy to donate or to volunteer for one of the Center’s upcoming fun...
Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order calling for strengthening vulnerable agricultural supply chains and encouraging production here at home. In the past 18 months, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural producers, processors, and other small businesses revealed the dangerous effects of consolidation up and down the food supply chain. Farmers, processors, and retailers faced significant losses, and customers found product shortages and high prices. The pandemic isn’t the only issue. News of the r...
With underwriting from Kendall Auto Group’s Hope Project, Vida McKenzie Community Center is holding a family friendly BINGO Drive-Thru Fundraiser on July 10th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The entry cost is only $25 per person and includes one Bingo card (but you can buy more at $5/card if you wish,) free admission to the Lavender Bloom Festival, a fabulous lunch prepared by Vinnie’s Smoke’in BBQ and live music. Here is how it works: Sign up in advance at www.vidacommunitycenter.com or mail your check to VMCC P.O. Box 163, Vida, OR, 97488. On the d...
re, the Oregon CommunityCredit Union Foundation formed a Fire Relief Fund to support fire relief efforts in the region. At the suggestion of a neighbor, Mandy Jones, the Vida McKenzie Community Center applied for a grant to help cover some of the cost of rebuilding. In April, the Board of Directors of OCCUF generously approved $10,000 toward this effort. VMCC is very grateful for this grant. It will certainly hasten the day when the new Center becomes a reality. Thank you to Mandy and to OCCU Foundation! Gerry Aster,VP and Secretary Vida...
The McKenzie Community Track and Field in Blue River is making an appeal for people power to help with a spring clean up at the Blue River facility. The track was fortunate and received only minimal damage during the wildfire. The track was a sheltering location and the valiant efforts by firefighters spared the building and possibly several lives were saved. Grants and insurance coverage provided the track with needed repairs for the electrical damage to the septic system controls and inside cleanup from smoke damage. A grant has made it...
The McKenzie Education Foundation has been providing free books to all pre-schoolers up to age 5 who live in the McKenzie School District. We know many families haven’t been able to return to the river since the fire and we would like to help you receive books in your current location. Unfortunately books can’t be forwarded through the post office. Please go to our MEF website: mckedfound.org and leave me a message under the Contact Us tab or check out the ImaginationLibrary.com website to see how to get books in your current zip code. If you...
The Holiday Farm Fire 2020 drastically changed the environment throughout the McKenzie corridor, clear to all who live and travel through the watershed. The blackened and burnt landscape, still in early phases of cleanup and restoration, is remarkable to say the least and too many, heartbreaking. But restoration is being accomplished, both naturally and with community efforts. The McKenzie is greening up!! Pioneer understory plants have emerged to the surprise and joy of all, native flowers are blooming and many canopy species are proving...
in Blue River was a huge success and the Blue River Bottle Boys would like to thank all those who joined the brigade to help our cause. In conjunction with the OBRC (Bottle Drop, ) we collected Blue Bags to deposit during Earth Week in order to receive an extra 20% on the redemption value. In addition to those extra funds, we will get a cash award for the prize winning video we submitted. The McKenzie Community Development Corporation made it possible for the husband and wife team of Alice Bonasio and Tom Atkinson to create the prize winning...
Look at our beautiful school and the heart of our community. We are all so grateful it survived the fire. But now as we rebuild our community let’s not forget the needs of our school. For the past 2 years a committee of staff, community members and administration has worked hard to assess the needs of our facilities, and come up with a plan. Those needs and plan were presented to the board. Our school bond for $15,215,000 is coming up for a vote in the May election and I am voting yes because I believe it’s what our community, students and upc...
We write to inform you of our community celebration on Earth Day, this Thursday, April 22, at 11 am in Blue River. The celebration will focus on the benefits of the Oregon Bottle Bill adopted some years ago by a very forward-thinking legislature and governor. Ours is one of only a handful of states requiring a deposit be paid on most beverage containers, the intent being it would be an incentive to keep containers from littering our landscape, polluting our waterways or ending up in the landfill. Truly a wonderful gift to Mother Earth and a...
cover and rebuild. The Coronavirus made for a challenging river season for not only our rafting business but for all of the businesses along the McKenzie River. Making it worse, the Holiday Farm Fire started on Labor Day and ravaged much of our beautiful river valley. Our season came to an immediate and dramatic close. Far worse than what we lost as a business is what the residents lost … everything. They had very little time to evacuate their homes, some leaving with only the clothes on their backs. The high winds fueled the flames that r...
NOAA will soon release a much-anticipated update of U.S. climate data for placing recent weather conditions—such as heat waves and flooding rain—into historical context. Climatologists from NOAA NCEI are currently compiling and reviewing 30 years of weather and climate data from across the U.S. to serve as the nation’s updated climate “normals” for the next 10 years. This new 30-year dataset will span from 1991 to 2020 and is scheduled for release in May 2021. Traditionally, scientists define climate normals as three-decade averages of climat...
