47th Oregon Country Fair opens today
An estimated 50-thousand people will converge on a 466-acre parcel of land between Veneta and Noti this weekend. It’s the 47th annual Oregon Country Fair.
Many of the 3-thousand volunteers at the fair have already been working since Memorial Day Weekend to prepare the 220-acre fair site… and the 240-acre parking fields.
While rain is forecast for most of the weekend, organizers say that’s not entirely a bad thing… it settles the dust.
18 stages featuring live entertainment, hundreds of booths with food, merchandise and services will appear in the forested area through the weekend… only to disappear back into the underbrush by late Sunday.
Tickets for the fair are not sold on-site… they can be purchased only online at tickets west-dot-com. There is parking at the location but Lane Transit District offers free bus service to and from the fair all three days.
Lane County Sheriff’s Deputies will be spending more time on Highway 126 in the area assisting with traffic flow… and also keeping a sharp eye out for speeding and impaired drivers.
Forestland classification meeting in Florence
Another meeting and work session to review lands within Lane County and determine which should be classified as forestland will be held in Florence next week.
Earlier this year some area residents were alarmed to find a wildland firefighting assessment had been added to their property tax statement. The Oregon Department of Forestry provides wildfire protection services and the Forest Patrol Assessment helps pay for that.
The vast majority of the assessment is paid by industrial forest land owners, but there are many residential and commercial properties in what is called the Wildland-Urban Interface that are also charged.
Tuesday’s meeting will continue the process of reviewing those lands. It is open to the public; it begins at 9 a.m. and will be held at the Oregon Department of Forestry office, 2660 Kingwood Street.
Siuslaw Region Vision to be published this month
A volunteer group has been working for more than two years to help develop a “vision” of what many residents in the area hope to see over the next decade.
A comprehensive report detailing that vision and the specific items contained within will be published in the next few weeks.
The overall group is called the Siuslaw Region Vision and the core group of volunteers who have been working on developing it have labeled themselves as the “Vision Keepers”.
The list of items that community members would like to see include the development of community centers for all ages throughout the Siuslaw Region; creating a regional parks and recreation district; establishment of affordable and reliable transportation options; and establishing a community health clinic in the upriver community.
The Siuslaw Region includes not only Florence, Dunes City and the surrounding area, but also the upriver communities of Mapleton, Swisshome and Deadwood.
The complete list of goals, along with information on how it was developed will be released in mid-July.
Library Adult Summer Reading Program to host trail guide author
If you’ve taken a walk on an Oregon beach, you’ve hiked part of the Oregon Coast Trail. It was established more than 40-years ago by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and stretches from Fort Stephens near the mouth of the Columbia River to south of Brookings.
The trail itself is nearly 400 miles long, and it has been broken down into 40 approximately 10-mile long “day hikes”.
Connie Soper wrote the guidebook “Exploring the Oregon Coast Trail” in 2015. She’ll be in Florence next week to talk about her book and tell people about some of the things they’ll find in it.
Soper’s talk is part of the Siuslaw Public Library’s Adult Summer Reading Program. It’s at six p.m. Tuesday in the Bromley Room… it’s free and she’ll have copies of her book available for sale.
