A post about Post (Oregon)

This is a post about Post.  You don't get to write that sentence very often.  So even though this isn't directly about Cottage Grove, well, I just couldn't resist.  Besides I live in Cottage Grove, so isn't that enough?

Post is the geographic center of Oregon.  It is about 25 miles east of Prineville.  If you go there, do not take the road to the Prineville Reservoir or you will find, 14 miles down the road, a dead end into a "resort" located there.   That means if you didn't want to be there, you have to go back 14 miles, making it a total of 28 miles out of your way before you can even begin to go 25 more miles out of your way to get to Post.

As you can see from the picture, there is a Post Post Office, located in the Post General Store and Tavern, in front of which, you may notice, is a Post engraved with the word Post.  It's Post's Post.  

All there is in Post is the Post General Store and Tavern, which has the Post Post Office, the Post Gas Station,  the Post Tavern and the Post picnic grounds which are along the banks of the Crooked River, where a bit down the road we saw swans.  Wild swans.

If you try to search for Post, Oregon in Google maps you don't get Post, Oregon. Instead you get a whole list of Post Offices in Oregon, but not Post's Post Office, at least not in the first 10 pages.  By then VFW Posts started showing up so I knew I was getting off track.

However, by then I had seen the listing for the Cottage Grove Post Office.  I also saw listings for Post's surrounding post offices in Redmond, Prineville, Madras, and Bend, but no listing for Post's Post Office.

The Post General Store and Tavern is for sale.  Note the impressive display of elk heads along the wall.  That picture shows only half of them.  There are more.  Anyway here is your chance to live out your fantasy of running an old fashioned general store.  

And here was my chance to post about Post.

One last thing.  When I was in the Post Post Office, I sent a picture postcard of Post to a friend of mine who used to work with me at a place called the Post. No kidding. 

And now I will end my Post post.

Good planting=Good planning

Aren't those trees around the Safeway strip mall beautiful now that they are in full bloom? You know, the ones you can see in the distance in this picture.  

I wonder why they were planted there.  They ring the entire property.  What was there before Safeway?  The trees are older than Safeway (I think).  Anyway nice going whoever planted them for whatever reason.  

Pretty!

Don't the newly planted flower boxes under the Bohemia Park sign look pretty?  I wonder what good samaritan does the upkeep.  

I'm glad someone cares.

The Welcome to Cottage Grove signs could use the same treatment.

Mystery boxes

See those boxes?  They are on the front steps of the old bank building on the corner of 6th and Main St, and they have been there, in that exact position forever!  At least a year.  Doesn't anyone use those doors?  Don't the building occupants care?  

The building itself is beautiful.  Built in 1911 to house the bank started by Herbert Eakin and Darwin Bristow, the guys who started the original mercantile in the triangular "Prestons" building across the bridge at River and Main St., this building must have been a beautiful bank.  

I wonder what it looks like inside.  Does the "Attorney," as the lovely sign painted on the window on 6th St. says, really work in there?  If he or she does, they certainly don't use the front door, or surely this person would have removed those boxes by now.

Maybe it is some sort of experiment to see how long it takes boxes to decompose.   I say enough!   Take them to the recycler.  They are an insult to this otherwise lovely portico.

Taekwando tournament coming to Cottage Grove

More than 150 Taekwando students are coming to Cottage Grove next Saturday, March 28th, for a big tournament. It will be held at Cottage Grove High School.

If you've never seen a Taekwondo tournament you should check this one out. It's right in our backyard and more than 50 local Taekwondo students are participating. Come and check out the awesome work these kids do. Doors open at 8am, tournament starts at 9 am. In addition to the intricate moves, will be stunned at the discipline and complex protocol this martial art requires.

A Bad Idea: High Density Buildings in the Greenway

The land adjacent to the Coast Fork has a special classification called the Willamette River Greenway, which has an entire state wide land use goal - Goal 15 - dedicated to it.   As such any building that takes place there must undergo more scrutiny.    It needs a special permit called a Conditional Use permit.   

Right now someone wants to change the zoning of their property, which is in the Greenway, from medium density to high density.  The City has all sorts of complicated arguments that say because the property was zoned before the Greenway provisions went into effect, the zoning criteria should be grandfathered in allowing them this change, which, under the new development code would probably not be allowed.   

Because it's such a big deal, the permit requires the city to change its Comprehensive Plan to allow for this property to change its zoning.  And the City Council must vote on it.

The city argues that Cottage Grove needs more high density housing and therefore the council should allow this change.  I say we may need more high density buildings, but not in the Greenway!  

We've already allowed our stretch of the river to be built upon willy-nilly, with houses in various states of repair hugging the banks much too closely.  If the dam at Cottage Grove Lake is ever compromised, those houses are gone.  Plus I can't believe they don't have foundation issues, being so close to the banks.

The only portions of the river that aren't built on are those that are too skinny to allow for the proper setbacks anyway.   There are those two lots across from the high school that barely meet setback requirements.  The trail along along the bank to the north of the Woodson bridge is the only use there could be for that strip of land.  And the city hall parking lot - what an abominable use of that stretch of river front.

So the bottom line, which should be at the top of this post is this: allowing high density construction in the Greenway is a bad idea.  If you agree, tell the council at the hearing on Monday night.

Thai in Town

Has anyone tried the new Thai restaurant in town?  It's called Natalie's and is next to Subway.  I read somewhere they have another restaurant in, was it Medford?  Grants Pass?  Anyway I wish them luck.  Lots of people like Thai food.  And lots of people go to Subway so they will see Natalie's.  I hope it works out for them.  It will if their food is good.

Unsalted butter

Went to my favorite small town neighborhood grocer to buy a pound of butter but all I could find there was salted butter.   They carried organic butter and Bht free butter, but not unsalted.  I did put in a request that they carry it so maybe they will. 

In general we get plenty of salt in other stuff we eat so why add it to butter?  Besides I think it tastes much better, more creamy without the salt.

Clean your ditch

If you live in the country near Cottage Grove, please clean your ditch.  Your responsibility does not end with your property line.  Some of the ditches along Gowdyville are starting to look like miniature garbage dumps.  Clean them!

If you live in town, make sure the sidewalk and street in front of your house or business is clean.  

Don't wait for someone else to do it.   Do it yourself.

Video: Oregon Covered Bridges

Picked up a video called "Oregon Covered Bridges" at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport today. It is a video tour of more than 50 of Oregon's covered bridges organized by county. The Lane County tour begins in Cottage Grove. It talks about each of our area's covered bridges and includes shots of the Opal mural that has a covered bridge in it, as well as a shot of the old Opal park with its little covered bridge, which was built from timbers from the old covered bridge that is now in Myrtle Creek. 

What happened to that little covered bridge? Kids used to love to play on it.

The video also talks about the Chambers Railroad covered bridge, the poor condition of which is noted in sad tones by the narrator. Won't the makers of this video be happy to know we have a $1.3 million federal grant to re-build it? Some people think that's a waste of money, but I don't. Work was originally supposed to start this summer with the systematic disassembling of the bridge piece by piece, but for some unclear reason, work can't start until next summer. 

Read how our city manager describes the situation in the March 6th Friday Update : http://www.cottagegrove.org/update.html

No sidewalk + sidewalk to nowhere

There is no walkway from the main sidewalk to the post office.  If you are on foot, you have to navigate your way through the parking lot or walk along the driveway hugging the curb next to Dominos.   

And even though the post office is right across the street from Safeway it's not an easy walk.  Ever notice how the sidewalk along the storefronts in the Safeway shopping center comes to an abrupt end before it connects with the main sidewalk on 14th?  It's a sidewalk to nowhere.  Clearly people want it to connect.  See the path they've worn? Why was it built this way?  Maybe it has something to do with the slope?  In any case, this really bugs me.

Guess what's going in next to Safeway

A 24-hour fitness place called Anytime Fitness.  Better than the empty storefronts that are there now.  

Here is one vision of what the world is becoming. What does it mean for Cottage Grove?

This is a 2008 update of a popular youtube video. I wonder who in our CG elementary, middle, and high school system is aware of the ideas this video communicates. Our children sit in their classrooms completing one page worksheets (I hate worksheets). That is, if the schools have enough paper left by March to make copies. Most of the jobs they will compete for when they graduate have not been invented yet. What is CG doing to make sure our children have options in this brave new world 3.0 edition?

Needs a paint job

When is this building going to get a paint job?  It's on the National Register of Historic Places but you can see the paint peeling before your eyes.  Can't anyone do something?  It looks pretty good in this picture, but drive by (corner of Birch and H St.) and you'll see what I mean.  How can we let this happen?

Old soldiers never die ...

but the cottage grove armory may.  I wonder what will happen to that old building.  I was walking around the almost empty basement of it the other day, past some of the old drill boards.  what tales it could tell, but won't.  I traveled to Salem yesterday and for some reason it was a day being exposed to far to many memorials of soldiers who had died in battle.  outside the state capital there is a memorial to those from Oregon who received the medal of honor -- mostly posthumously. one or two went back to the wars in the early 1900s.  the others were Vietnam, except for 1 world war two man -- a boy actually.  then off to another building in Salem.  you walk in the front door and there were far too many glass cases with far too many pictures of Oregon boys and men who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.  how about no more stupid wars. how about no more wars generated by men too cowardly to serve when it was their turn.  I saw an add on the internet offering "up to" 40,000 dollars to sign up for the military, plus "100 percent college tuition reimbursement."  so you're in a small town in America and there are few prospects for jobs and the education system prepared you for little more than filling out worksheets.  $40,000 and free tuition seems like a million dollars.

Pharmacy woes

Heard the pharmacy situation at Safeway is not working out as hoped.  Lines are too long and there is no privacy.  I miss McCoys.  I bet others do too.  

Grading day

You thought it was one big party day for the teachers, at school without the kids, hanging out and filling out report cards.  But no - it's a lot of work, especially for the elementary teachers.  Have you seen the elementary school report card?  It has about 420 parts to it (okay that's an exaggeration, but it is one detailed report) plus collaborating with other teachers and writing comments on each report card.  

So no, they are working, not partying.  Now you know.   

They aren't babies anymore

All those Bread Club babies are growing up.   Just a few minutes ago they were all so little, but now they aren't - all running around like they own the place.   And really they do.  Just don't tell them.

Fine Food

Never been in the place but the refurbished neon sign outside the Grove bar sure looks nice.  If only it blinked or flashed.   Still better to save it than junk it.

Ghost Town

Went to the dry cleaners today to pick up a shirt that had been there for way too long.  It is a ghost town where Smart Shop/Rays/Market of Choice/Price Chopper used to be.  The cardboarded windows, the sign telling us there is a Rays 8 miles to the north flapping in the breeze - all reminders that an empty store means an empty parking lot, which means an eerie emptiness that bleeds over to all the businesses nearby.   The decision of one big business undercuts the valiant efforts made by the smaller, surrounding businesses to continue.  I think I saw a tumbleweed blow by.  Sigh.