Survey will boost art education

Recently, the Corvallis Arts Center distributed a survey to determine how to restructure our classes to better meet the needs of our community. We would like to thank the many teachers, parents and community members who took the time to fill out and give such thoughtful comments.

ArtCentric gives a warm and appreciative "Thank you" to Julie Stenson of Meristem Consulting for her invaluable resource assistance in designing the survey. Also, thank you to Gail Everett Stahlke for her tireless research and data entry; to Leetra Taylor for donating her artistic talents for our "art doll" drawing prize.

We have used the survey information to strengthen our focus on quality instruction for 3- to 14-year-olds based on essential art principles, with an emphasis on individual creativity.

Our fall classes, staring Oct. 4, will reflect the changes we have made to respond to the needs and preferences of our community.

Tricia Sorgen,

Education coordinator

ArtCentric

Corvallis

Thanks for flower basket support

Thank you, Corvallis! Thank you so much for your generous support of the Flower Basket Program. Nearly 250 baskets adorned our city streets this summer. Additional poles on the Riverfront as well as further south on Second Street meant more baskets and more donations, and you came through! Only a couple of weeks remain to enjoy the baskets lining the downtown streets. Then they will be removed and sold at the Fall Festival as a way of obtaining seed money for next year's baskets.

Continuation of this lovely tradition relies solely on the support of our civic organizations, businesses and private citizens. Tax-deductible contributions can be made at any time.

Sandi Olsen, volunteer

Corvallis Flower Basket Program

Wedding gift blessed local kids

CASA-Voices for Children would like to thank Edith Thompson of Corvallis for her generous contribution of $1,000 in honor of the marriage of Jon Pugsley and Joan Demarest. Thanks to continued support from generous citizens, CASA-Voices for Children continues to increase advocacy efforts in Benton County on behalf of abused and neglected children.

We congratulate Joan and Jon on their marriage and wish them all the best.

It says a lot about their commitment to children that gifts are given in their name on behalf of our community's most vulnerable citizens.

Michelle Maddux

CASA-Voices for Children

Store helped in Franklin barbecue

On behalf of the students, staff and parents of Franklin School, we would like to thank the employees of WinCo Foods for their generous donation of food for our back-to-school barbecue. Those in attendance truly enjoyed the great food and family atmosphere at this year's event. Your continued support of our annual barbecue is a shining example of your commitment to local schools. We feel very fortunate to have WinCo Foods actively involved in the Corvallis Community!

Dawn Cole, Robert Hyatt

Co-chairs

Back to School BBQ

Mike Strowbridge

Franklin Principal

Gifts of meat will feed hungry

People at Stone Soup, the Jackson Street Youth Shelter, St. Vincent's Food Bank, Monroe Food Bank, Philomath Food Bank and many church pantries are enjoying fresh meat because of 19 donated animals at the Benton County Fair to Love INC.

Thank you to Jeff and Mark Goracke, Patty Ball/Golden Fur, Chuck Carlson, Northwest Compressor, First Baptist Church, Valley Landfill, Laura King, Randy Jones Chevrolet, Mastercraft, Forrest P. Bowman, Karla Chambers and the Volunteer Fire Department at Bellfountain for their generous gifts.

Thank you to the Ralph Hull Foundation for providing the money to pay for all the butchering and for five animals! One of the most expensive items on a shopping list is the meat, and for many low income families, it's the first place they reduce costs, so often they don't have good sources of protein.

Thank you from them and from many others like them. May God bless you for your generosity.

Wilma Van Schelven

Executive Director

Love INC

Dedication at camp was great

We'd like to take an opportunity to thank the dedicated staff at OSU's KidSpirit summer camp. Under the direction of Karen Swanger, the staff took extra care to ensure that our special needs daughter would be able to keep up with the other children in the summer program and that she would enjoy herself. Their care and compassion went the extra mile, and we are so grateful! What a great program KidSpirit is!

Jim and Melanie Lloyd

Corvallis

Pep rally was a real success

Special thanks for all of those that helped and participated in the Oregon State University Pep Rally sponsored by Citizens Bank, along with Campus Connection and the Downtown Corvallis Association. Mike Parker was an outstanding emcee, Mayor Helen Berg gave a rousing speech, Coach Mike Riley and Athletic Director Bob DeCarolis also were on hand to lead the spirit charge. The OSU cheerleaders and members of the OSU Alumni Band did a great job setting the tone.

Additional thanks go to Bob Grant Construction, Clear Channel Radio, Corvallis Ambassadors, Mike Corwin and Robert Clifford from the OSU Athletic Department and Citizens Bank for sponsoring the event.

Thank you to the community for coming and supporting our businesses and OSU.

We appreciated your attendance and enthusiasm. Here's to a great football season. Go Beavs!

Karen R. Grant

Vice president and

assistant manager

Citizens Bank

Kudos to dance club for the fiesta

I hope many of you have seen the Fiesta Mexicana 4-H dance club perform the past two years! Their colorful costumes and wonderful dancing have been seen all over the Willamette Valley!

I would like to thank Maria Gonzalez for starting this group and serving as its chief dance instructor and 4-H leader. Also I would like to thank Erica Cruz and Isidro Gonzalez for serving as volunteer 4-H leaders. I am proud of the hard work of the 4-H members in the club, who have learned many dances and bring Mexican culture to their audiences.

Thanks to the OSU Folk Club, Oregon 4-H Foundation and Kiwanis Foundation for financially supporting the club. The youth have danced in Springfield, Woodburn, Albany and Corvallis, including performances at the national MECHA conference at OSU, the Albany Art & Air Festival, the Benton County Fair, and the Corvallis Fall Festival.

Tammy Skubinna

4-H Extension Agent

Thanks for successful dance

The Ancient Ways non-profit organization would like to thank several organizations for helping us put on a successful fund- and awareness-raising concert, "Dance on for Africa!" on Aug. 28. Money was raised for our project, Nhimbe for Progress, which supports seven rural villages in Zimbabwe, pays school tuition for more than 200 children, operates a pre-school, and has built a library and health center.

Thanks to musician Loren Mach, who has organized ZimRide (www.zimride.org) to raise money for and awareness of three projects in Zimbabwe and who added so much to the concert. Special thanks to The Maharimbas marimba ensemble for donating their wonderful music. Thanks to African drummers Amy Becker and Dan Gillman, and to Golden Munyaka who was a great master of ceremonies.

Thanks to Dominos Pizza, Periwinkle Provisions in Sweet Home, First Alternative Co-op, and Riverspring Fellowship in Lebanon. And thanks to the many volunteers, their friends, and relatives, who came to help with this special event! A special thank you goes to the First Congregational Church/United Church of Christ for the use of their beautiful facilities. All of this help, discounts, and donations are greatly appreciated.

Jaiaen Beck

Executive director

Ancient Ways

Mary Ann Tarr

Coordinator

Dance on for Africa!

Cloudburst classic helps Old Mill

The annual Cloudburst Classic Golf Tournament lived up to its name this year, but that didn't dampen the spirits of the volunteers, staff or golfers. With Bob Gilder's pre-tourney clinic and his generous team sprit, Sean Arey and staff's expert organization, gifts and raffle prizes galore donated by the community, and a chance to "hit the duck" for a bottle of Airlie wine, the benefit for Old Mill Center for Children and Families was a huge success.

A hole-in-one to sponsor Starker Forests Inc.; eagles to co-sponsors CH2M Hill, Brown & Tedstrom, and Alan Sugawara; and birdies to the dozens of hole sponsors, donors, committee members, photographers and masseuse. To the golfers, who braved buckets of rain and gale force winds, thank you for your enthusiasm and grit.

On behalf of the children and families who will receive critically needed services underwritten by the proceeds from the tournament, Old Mill Center extends our sincerest appreciation to you all.

Bev Larson

Executive director

Dave Thompson

Chairman

Cloundburst Classic

Committee

CPD rode to bike theft victim's aid

Last week my bicycle was stolen. I reported it to the Corvallis Police Department with a photo and identification, and it was recovered three days later. I would like to thank Officer Bryan Rehnberg, who found my bike and apprehended the person who had it and also Alice in the dispatch office, who was friendly and helpful. I am very happy to have recovered my bike, and I appreciate the good work of our local police.

Peggy Mullett

Corvallis