As is always the case in our little college town, it’s been a slow summer. Whether you celebrate the quiet of summer or miss the vitality of the OSU community—or a little of both—the turn of July into August means the beginning of the end of that part of our year. One upside is that, as we get closer to the start of the school year, science and nature events around town are starting to ramp up from their July doldrums. Here are a few things to do, from fun relaxation to dead serious local politics, this coming week in Corvallis:
Thursday: Concert for the Environmental Center
The summer is about halfway over, and so is this year’s SAGE concert series. This Thursday, two local bands are coming to the Arts Park to entertain and raise money for a great cause. DTW, a ten-piece horn band, fuses jazz, funk, R&B and swing into their own unique sound. The Brutal Bridges Band is a Corvallis-based group with an indie rockabilly / drawl-less country feel. The show is this Thursday, August 8 from 6 to 8:30 pm at Starker Arts Park. Tickets are $5-$20, with all proceeds going to the Corvallis Environmental Center.
Food will be available to buy, from Pupuseria Del Valle, Mud Ovens Pizza, First Alternative Co-op, Go Giddy Pops and Jason’s Snow Cones, with beverages from Block 15 Brewery, 2 Towns Ciderhouse, Lumos Wine, Airlie Winery and Tyee Wine Cellars.
Saturday: Champoeg Volunteer Day
First Foods are the plants and animals that sustained Indigenous people across the Northwest for thousands of years. Many of these species are now rare or endangered, and the Corvallis-based Institute for Applied Ecology is working to help a few of them come back. This Saturday, at Champoeg State Heritage Area, the IAE invites volunteers to help pull weeds and clear space for native First Food plants like camas, yarrow, yampa and more.
The work party runs from 9 am to 1 pm this Saturday, August 10. Volunteers are organizing a carpool from Corvallis.
To reduce the risk of poaching of rare plants and other harmful disturbance, the exact site of the work will only be sent to registered volunteers. Click here for more information and to sign up.
Tuesday: Community Gardens Webinar
Community gardens have the potential to be the best of both words in their name. They can be vibrant growing spaces and also centers of intentional, sustainable community, where growers share seeds, ideas, tips and often, food. Corvallis has several community gardens, on both private and public land. But while they combine the benefits of gardening and community management, they also share the challenges of both. It takes work, care, and planning to make and keep these spaces their best. Next Tuesday, OSU Extension Master Gardeners presents a webinar called “Don’t Lose the Plot: Making Community Gardens That Endure”. Presenter Lovay Wallace-Singleton founded Veteran’s Employment Base Camp and Organic Garden, a nonprofit based in North Carolina that assists homeless and disabled veterans with transitional employment and horticultural therapy. She will be discussing the joys and pains of running a garden-centered community.The webinar runs from noon to 1 pm next Tuesday, August 13. Click here for more information and to register.
Tuesday: Coffin Butte Landfill Meeting
Last but not least, there’s an opportunity this coming week to weigh in on one of our area’s most important and controversial environmental issues: the proposed expansion of the Coffin Butte landfill near Adair Village. It’s the second largest landfill in Oregon, with over a million tons of garbage from Oregon and Washington coming to Coffin Butte each year. Republic Services, who own the site, have said that without an expansion, it will be full in just over a decade, and another new landfill will have to be created for all that trash. A coalition of neighbors and local environmental groups have promised to fight the expansion, and next Tuesday, they are holding a community meeting to hear concerns about the plan. It will include a Q&A session, a panel of experts, and light refreshments.
The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday August 13 from 7 to 8:30 pm at the Corvallis Community Center on NW Tyler. Click here for more information.
By Ian Rose