Nightmares, flashbacks, irritability, anxiety and avoidance are all symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome or PTSD, a reality for many returning military personnel.

The local Blue Star Mothers chapter wants to help families cope with the disorder.

“When our soldiers come home, there is the misguided notion, on the part of both the soldier and the family, that now that they’re back home and safe, everything will fall back into place as it was before they left,” Carol Lundberg said.

Lundberg is a member of Blue Star Mothers of the Willamette Valley. More importantly, she knows first hand how PSDT can affect a soldier and his family.

Lundberg is the mother of two post-deployment soldiers, including a son discharged recently from the U.S. Army with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Coming home after deployment requires a great deal of re-orientation on the part of the soldier and the family,” Lundberg said. “Sometimes in trying to cope the soldier will turn to drinking or drugs, which can in turn, escalate symptoms. Families need to recognize the signs and symptoms so they can seek help from the various agencies set up to deal with this disorder.”

To help people understand PTSD, a reality for 10 to 18 percent of war veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, Blue Star Mothers are hosting a lecture, “The War after the War,” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 10 at Santiam Memorial Hospital’s Freres Auditorium in Stayton.

Dr. David Collier, a team leader at the Salem Oregon Veterans Health Administration, will speak on the issue. Collier will be joined by soldiers and their families who will share their experiences and answer questions about PTSD.

“As our group works with military members and after talking to our mothers whose kids have gone through deployment, we thought this was a timely issue to bring to our community,” Lundberg said.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a long-term condition that can interfere with social and work function, Lundberg said.

“I know of Vietnam vets who still suffer from the effects of PTSD even today,” she said. “There are many things that can contribute to susceptibility, including genetic history and prior trauma. Recent research shows that exposure to combat may be more associated with PTSD symptoms and that women are at about equal risk for mental health diagnosis as their male counterparts.”

Denise Brandt, president of the local BSM chapter, lives with aspects of the condition daily. Her husband is a Vietnam veteran who suffers from severe PTSD.

“I never know what will happen with him from one day to another,” said Brandt, who also has a son, Tim, who could also be at risk. He is currently stationed in Afghanistan.

“No matter which war you have been in, it can affect you, too,” Brandt said.

Lundberg said the first step is to recognize the problem. The second is to contact a care provider and/or agencies, such as the Veterans Hotline, the Veterans Administration, or the National Center for PTSD, she added.

“Communication is vital,” Lundberg said. “The most important thing I found in dealing with PTSD is to talk. A good deal of this involves listening, not only to what they don’t say.”

Lundberg said her son Brandon, who was only 20 when deployed, returned home not speaking much about his circumstances, but opened up over time.

“I’ve head horrendous stories of atrocities that human beings have inflicted on one another,” she said. “It’s disturbing that our kids have been witness to some of the worst things imaginable, but I’m also very proud of them and their willingness to provide service to their country.”

Now that American troops have pulled out of Iraq and scheduled to pull out of Afghanistan, the military is not as “popular” a topic as a few short years ago, she said.

“Our Iraq and soon our Afghanistan veterans may have completed their missions, but we still have more troops out there serving our country, some in places most people have never heard of!” Lundberg said. “They still deserve our support, even if they aren’t the main headline of today’s news.”

Blue Star Mothers of the Willamette Valley is a nonprofit group of military family members who provide support to military service members and their families. The group was recently approved by the National organization as the second chapter of the Blue Star Mothers in the state of Oregon.

“Last year, while seeking memberships, we received enough donations to mail Christmas packages to 10 soldiers in Afghanistan,” Lundberg said.

As well as the lecture, BSM members will be participating in the Military Weekend at the Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer over the Fourth of July, the Stayton SummerFest, and the Sublimity Harvest Festival, according to Lundberg.

A national movement of families giving hope to children and parents in crisis has reached Stayton.

New Growth Shelters, a fledgling program based at Foothills Church, connected recently with Safe Families for Children in Salem and hopes to spread its wings to become its own nonprofit within a year.

“Police Chief Rich Sebens approached us and asked if the church could come up with a network of homes to help kids in crisis,” said Tim Schabel, pastor at Foothills.

“It sounded like a good idea, so we first connected with Northwest Human Services, a group that runs shelters in Salem,” Schabel said. “They educated us on youth culture, and then connected us with Safe Families for Children. We talked to them and realized they’re doing what we want to do.”

Safe Families for Children is a promising new collaboration among Catholic Community Services and local congregations, including Foothills and Jefferson Baptist in the greater Santiam Canyon area.

The outreach started with a privately run program in Chicago in 2002 that is fast becoming a national model for communities that want to expand their care for children at risk, according to CCS information.

“We want to serve the communities and engage other churches to help as well,” said Teri Alexander, CCS’ program coordinator for SFFC.

“Currently we’re focusing on recruiting more volunteer families to serve, ensuring that children could stay in their neighborhood and experience the least disruption. We know that in a rural community, resources are scarce. With SFFC, neighbors are empowered to build relationships and offer support as in ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’”

The SFFC “village” gives parents in crisis time, support and flexibility to work through challenges without fear of losing custody of their children.

The network of volunteer host families provides parents with a safe home to place their children in challenging times, such as illness, incarceration, homelessness, substance abuse or domestic violence.

Given the go-ahead by Oregon’s passage of Senate Bill 991 in 2010, the program is not a form of foster care, is church-rather than state-based, drawing community interest from CCS to the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, according to the bill’s author, Sen. Peter Courtney (D-Salem).

“It’s a classic example of the Good Samaritan response by the church community for needs Monday through Friday,” said Dick Withnell, chair of the Oregon Commission on Children and Families.

According to CCS literature, the average length of a child’s stay is about six weeks, but can range from two days to a year, Alexander said.

“Twenty-two families have qualified so far to take kids overnight,” Alexander said. “We’re getting calls every day about kids. Our goal is to serve 100 youths in one year, and to have 60 host families.”

Today more than 450 nights of safe respite has been provided by the families supported by their respective SFFC church team, engaging more than 130 additional volunteers, Alexander said.

“Stayton, one of 10 participating area churches, has a really strong team,” she said. “They want to serve the community and engage other churches to help as well.”

New Growth Shelters is working on putting together its own informational video to reach out to other churches in the greater Stayton area, said interim director April Mack.

“Our biggest need right now is host families,” she said. “This program is run by volunteers so we need volunteers to step up, from a day of babysitting to overnights. The New Growth team is there to support in any way we can, from running errands to bringing a meal. If we can step up and help out, nine times out of 10, the kids don’t need to be put into the foster care system.”

According to CCS, in 2010 in Oregon alone, out of 71,886 child abuse/neglect reports, only 7,306 were founded for abuse or neglect. In observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month in April that year, pastors at participating churches, including Foothills, asked members of their congregations, “Who is caring for the remaining 64,580 children?” Local families began to respond, heeding the biblical edict to help the “sojourner,” Schabel said.

“Over and over again in scripture, God tells the Israelites to take care of the sojourner – people without a home, a wanderer in your land,” he said. “God has a real heart for people in crisis who are misplaced, particularly kids who have nothing to do with what mom and dad got them into.”

Ginna and Roger Neufeld heard Schabel’s message and decided to become involved.

“In December, we got a call for a 3- and 4-year-old whose diabetic and pregnant mom had to be hospitalized,” Ginna Neufeld said. “They were with us four days. When you deal with people, you tend to use your own lifestyle as your frame of reference. These children were very needy. This was probably the most difficult thing we’ve ever done, and the most rewarding!”

Neufeld said she still hears from the family, who have since left the area.

“The children still ask about us,” she said. “We’ve kept in touch.”

Today, about 20 people at Foothills are involved in New Growth Ministries, including three families trained and two in the process, Schabel said. The group’s immediate goal is to train 10 host families, he added.

“While we started this outreach at Foothills, we’re also looking for people outside of the church to be our partner in finding these homes,” he said.

So is CCS.

“Anyone can volunteer,” Alexander said. “If people are called to serve in this capacity, they can always pick up the phone and call us.”

Priscilla Glidewell was certified as a host family for SFFC, but is not currently hosting because of taking in foster children. Glidewell, owner of Budget Blinds in Stayton, believes like most involved, “Through showing the love of Christ by our actions, we have the ability to show these children and parents a different way to live.”

Glidewell said her pastor at Salem Evangelical Church is bringing the SFFC program before the congregation weekly for prayer and action.

“This is a war of attrition – of great intentions and lots of challenges,” Schabel said. “There are so many bases to be covered – training, assisting families. We are the Safe Families hub out here. Our end game is to have a local shelter for families in crisis, and hope to end up with a local board that can own this vision.”

Schabel wants New Growth to sustain 10 to 20 safe family homes throughout the Santiam Canyon.

“We want to build something that is community owned,” Schabel said.

“This is a great opportunity for the church to do good without expecting anything in return,” Schabel said. “We need to get this done!”

For information about New Growth Ministries, call April Mack at 503-910-9529.For information about CCS’ Safe Families for Children program, call Teri Alexander at 503-485-8970 or e-mail SafeFamilies@ccswv.org.

A wet spring will not dampen fishing or river trips on the North Santiam, river guide Bill Sanderson said.

“The spring greenery and the birthing of new birds and animals along the riverbanks is the most delightful news of the season,” said Sanderson, who operates North Santiam River Trips. “It is obvious that spring is here!”

For those who want to venture down the North Santiam, spring weather requires good planning, raingear or both, he said.

Sanderson said good numbers of steelhead are already coming up the river, and salmon are just starting.

“The forecast is for very good runs of fish this year,” he said. In April Sanderson blogged, “Fish numbers have started to come up the Willamette and into the Santiam systems. So far 3,114 steelhead have come across the Falls at Oregon City.”

Sanderson said the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff are counting summer steelhead, several of which have been recently caught in the Mehama area.

Whether out to catch fish or just to float leisurely down the river, good planning results in good river trips, Sanderson said. “Many variables can be dealt with by arranging trips in advance.”

For Detroit Lake enthusiasts, the very wet winter months provided an abundant snowpack.

Although Detroit Lake is lower than expected because much of the recent percipitation is still frozen on the ground, Sanderson said that he expects lots of water to flow into the lake in time to help fill it by the first week of May.

“The trout in Detroit are concentrated in a smaller area,” he said. “It is easier to find them now than when the lake is full. The bite is different when the lake is cold and when the fish are in different areas. Challenges are often rewarding!”

Several areas, especially between Shelburn and Jefferson and all runs upstream from Mehama, present navigation difficulties around tree trunks and narrow channels. Sanderson advises following an experienced leader the first trip through these areas.

“River activity was minimal during the floods, and we will really enjoy the good conditions as they surely will arrive soon,” he predicted.

For information contact Sanderson at 503-897-3301 or e-mail billsan@wvi.com.

The popular Detroit Lake Fishing Derby will make the most of good fishing conditions this May.

“We’ve been doing this for 30 years,” said spokesman Dean O’Donnell of the event that draws about 3,000 visitors yearly.

“They’ve been stocking the heck out of the lake, so the fishing has been great!” O’Donnell said.

Sponsored by the Detroit Lake Recreation Area Business Association, the fishing derby will take place 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19, and 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, May 20. Sign-ups are at the Detroit City Hall.

“The highlight for me is seeing the kids get excited about winning something,” O’Donnell said. “We always give away a girl’s and boy’s bicycle. It’s not based on the largest fish. When they register, they get a ticket to win the various prizes.”

The grand prize for adults is a 14-foot Smoker Craft fishing boat donated by Riverview Community Bank, a boat trailer donated by EZ Loader Boat Trailer Co., and a tongue jack donated by Steven’s Marine. One lucky winner will walk away with a net filled with prizes from local businesses.

Grand prizes are drawn from tickets given to people when they sign up, said spokesman Bob Franz.

Entrants buying $5 in prize tickets receive a jar of Pautzke bait,  O’Donnell added.

“The bait is worth the $5, so it’s like getting it free,” he said.

The first 700 entrants will also get a free fishing derby hat, Franz said.

DLRABA charges adults $15 and children 13 and younger $8 to participate in the derby. Cash prizes are given for all caught tagged fish brought to the registration table. An awards ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Detroit City Center.

All Season RV and Marine and Pautzke Fire Bait join Riverview Community Bank as main sponsors, O’Donnell said.

The derby, which organizers say is “very family oriented,” kicks off the summer season at Detroit Lake, the popular recreation spot about an hour’s drive from Salem, east along Highway 22.

The event is the Detroit/Idanha fundraiser for the city’s annual Independence Day celebration, Fireworks at the Lake, to be held this year on Saturday, June 30.

To be a sponsor or for information about the  derby, contact O’Donnell at dlraba@HotMail.com or 503-854-3696.

By Mary Owen

Aumsville Community Theatre is taking its newest play on the road.

Nunsense, dubbed a “hilarious spoof about five nuns putting on a talent show as a fundraiser” by director Shannon Rempel, will run in Mill City, Shaw and Macleay.

“This play should attract audiences that like to laugh and sing along,” Rempel said of the musical comedy. “Catholic audiences will relate and get a kick out of the jokes; others will enjoy learning about the humor of the nun. If you like fun music, hilarious jokes and contagiously funny characters, you will love this show!”

The play kicks into gear with the death of 52 nuns who contract botulism after eating vichyssoise prepared by Sister Julia, leaving only 19 sisters in the order to carry on.

The talented, ballet-loving Sister Leo (Samantha Smith), streetwise Sister Robert Anne (L.C. “Max” Graff), befuddled Sister Mary Amnesia (Mary Hildebrandt, the Mother Superior, Sister Regina (Sonja Persey), and mistress of the novices Sister Mary Hubert (Aletha Kindle) show off their talents while borrowing the high school set of Grease.

“A successful fundraiser will help them bury their dearly departed,” said Rempel, who is working with assistant director Kevin Crawford. Choreography and music is under the direction of Kathy Crawford.

The play will run for three weekends, with shows at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.

The schedule is: May 11-13 at the Santiam High School auditorium in Mill City; May 18-20 at St. Mary’s Parish in Shaw; and May 25-27 at the Macleay Grange in Macleay, where the theatre company has finally found a home after their start in the Aumsville Community Center.

“We are going into our second year and will start making plans for our next season of plays,” Rempel said. “A possible fall holiday play is in the future as well as more musicals and family fun performances.”

At the end of the year, ACT will roll out the Red Carpet Aumies Awards, featuring entertainment, food and recognition to the actors, directors, designers and crew from all ACT shows. The fundraising event for the nonprofit group will be open to the public.

“I’m very excited by the success of ACT,” said Rempel, who founded the group last year to bring theater and appreciation of the arts to Aumsville and the Santiam Canyon.  The group’s first production, Three Murders and It’s Only Monday, was performed as a kick-off activity to Aumsville’s Centennial Celebration.

“I could not have imagined the overwhelming response we’ve gotten… It is a pleasure to entertain our audiences and to partner with others interested in the arts.”

Rempel said ACT’s production of Nunsense has been “blessed by the partnerships with Hearts to Arts and Macleay Grange.”

“We are so thankful for their generosity and passion for theater and the arts,” she said. “I would also like to thank the citizens of Aumsville and their open arms that helped us get started. We could not have done all the great plays we’ve done without them. We look forward to many more years of entertaining this community and all our neighbors.”

For more information about ACT, call Rempel or visit
aumsvillecommunitytheatretroop.webstarts.com.

The Sublimity Fire District will ask voters to approve a small hike to an existing bond measure May 15.

We’re asking for a $950,000 bond measure to replace two of our aging fire engines,” said Chief Brandon Hamilton. “That would raise the tax rate 9 cents per thousand of assessed value above what’s already being paid.”

Bond Measure 24-327 would increase an average $200,000 home owner’s taxes by $18 a year, Hamilton said.

“Currently residents are paying about 30 cents per thousand of assessed value for a 20-year bond measure that was approved in 1998,” he said. “This would raise the amount homeowners pay to 39 cents per thousand and extend the measure, which expires in 2018, to 2026.”

Hamilton hopes homeowners will view the amount as a drop in a very big bucket of district need for the two new structural fire engines, he said.

“National standards recommend replacing fire engines after 20 years of service,” Hamilton said. “One of our three fire engines – two at the main station and one at the Drift Creek substation – is 30 years old. The fire pump on the front only pumps about three-quarters of what it should pump. And it’s only a two-man engine.”

To fight a structural fire, a minimum of four firefighters are needed, Hamilton said.

“The ideal is six,” he added. “Two to go inside, two outside on back up, one to run the pump, and one to act as incident commander. So with the two-man engine, we have to wait until other units show up.”

The second rig, purchased in 1993, turns 20 next year, according to Hamilton.

“Calls have risen since we got it, and it has had a pretty busy ride,” he said.

Maintenance costs have gotten to “that nickel and dime stage” on the rig, Hamilton said.  “It’s starting to cost money to keep it. Just last month, we had to put $3,800 into it.”

Due to advanced age, the district is financially struggling to keep the older engines functional as well as the rest of the district’s apparatus, he said.

“In 2009-10, we spent more than $19,000 in maintenance for apparatus,” Hamilton said. “In 2010-11, we spent over $25,000. This current budget year, we’re already sitting at just shy of $16,000.”

The bond would ensure the replacement of the two engines, reducing the amount of money used to repair and maintain the apparatus. If passed, it would also provide funds to purchase equipment for proper outfitting or the new apparatus, he said.

“The board and I are keenly aware of the economic climate,” Hamilton said. “We’re asking for an amount that will strictly just meet our needs. We’re hoping people will realize we’re not going after a want list, but to maintain a standard and do what’s in the best interest of the community.”

Now in its 100th year, the Sublimity Fire District will continue to serve the community with highly skilled staff and volunteers along with good quality fire apparatus, Hamilton said.

“We look forward to the next 100 years of serving this community,” he added.

By Mary Owen

The CanyonArts Festival brings a whole new lineup of entertainment, a full day of music and interactive fun for the family this month.

“Aside from our performers, there will be time between sets and activities for open microphone and jam time on the main food court stage,” said Renate Medley, organizer for the popular Santiam Canyon event and cofounder of event sponsor, Santiam Hearts to Arts.

“Also new this year is the Mock Chalk Walk, soggy Oregon’s answer to pavement drawing,” she added. “Teams of up to four will be given a 4-by-4-foot chalkboard on the floor to create a masterpiece with chalk pastels. The entry fee is $20 per team, and the top three prizes will be cash awards of $50, $75 and $100.”

The CanyonArts Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 19 at Mill City Middle School and on the street in front, 450 SW Evergreen St. Entrance to the event, contests and entertainment is free. A small fee of under $1 will be charged for Kid Zone carnival games and activities.

“There will be much to do, but families won’t want to miss the ArtSmart Passport Trail,” Medley said. “Follow the trail and fill your coloring passport with stamps. Meet featured artist Denise Sanders and six other famous artists from the past. These artists, portrayed by actors, will give visitors a ‘from the heart’ look at their lives. At the end of the trail, passport holder will receive a brand new free book of choice through partnership with our First Book Local Advisory Board.”

Medley cites spin art bike painting as another “unique and super” activity.

“Bring your home movie cameras!” she said. “It is the beloved no-fail art activity with a new spin. In this collaborative creative process, one partner peddles while the other paints. Artists here can’t make up their minds which job is more fun, but the outcome is always the same – hysterical family amusement!”

Entertaining every hour throughout the day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. are, in order: Scott Johnson, jazz/blues; Heaven Bound, gospel; Santiam Canyon Community Chorus, choral; Home Grown Fiddlers, string band; Old-time Fiddlers, string band; Nickels and Stars, folk; Trexler Farm Ramblers, bluegrass; and John Olivera, country. Most performances will be 30 minutes, with open microphone and jam time in between.

On the children’s stage will be: Puppet Times, time to be arranged; Aumsville Community Theatre, multiple voice and poetry skits, 10 a.m.; and Cwerks Interactive Children’s Theatre, performance and storytelling, 2:30.

In the Literacy Corner, authors will be reading from their books and talking about the wrting process throughout the day.

Assisting at the festival are Santiam High School volunteers through the International Club under the guidance of Caroline Gillaspy and the FAA under the guidance of Nicole Shultz.

“These are great kids who do a massive amount of work in setup and tear-down activities, and also helping on festival day,” Medley said.

The CanyonArts Festival is the largest of many events by Santiam Hearts to Arts, a nonprofit for the arts based in Mill City and serving the Santiam corridor.

“The festival serves our mission by providing cultural opportunity for our participants and visitors alike,” Medley said.

“We are grooming the festival to be a revenue-producing event that will eventually fuel our other projects and programs, such as the children’s poetry and art contest, the fish fence project, school assemblies, support of the pop culture class, and other community events, including the Spring Awakening, Theatre Outreach, Cascade Foothills Saturday Faire, and Remembering Black History, to name a few.”

A self-dubbed “creative right-brainer,” Medley knows artists, musicians and other creative folks are not conventional linear thinkers.

“Because of this they are often misunderstood,” she said. “This is particularly true of children who are frequently prompted to prepare for a ‘real job’ in a culture that is so focused on economics and capital gain. I think this is a flaw in our society because it is the creative thinkers who bring positive change to our world.

“As the CAF theme states this year, nothing wonderful ever came into this world until someone ‘Dared to Dream’ it!” Medley added.

Santiam Hearts to Arts’ mission, she said, is “to do just that.”

As cofounder of the group with husband, Mike, she said she had “a dream that literacy and the arts could make a difference to individuals, to our local school system, and to our community in the same way it had been the defining factor of my existence.”

Raised in the foster care system, Medley said there were times when book characters were her only permanent friends, and art and music her only means of expression.

“When I moved to Mill City six years ago and discovered that shrinking school budgets had prohibited most arts activity for over a decade, I couldn’t rest until I at least tried to do something about it,” she said.

What evolved through Santiam Hearts to Arts happened largely because of others who felt the same way, she said. The organization meets at 10 a.m. on the first Saturday of the month at Trexler Farms.

“I encourage those who feel the arts have touched them to come out and explore our organization,” Medley said. “They might just find the perfect fit.”

The Stayton Public Library Foundation is nearly $16,000 richer thanks to funds raised at an unusual toasting event in March.

Several years ago, Stephanie Jorgensen attended an Irish toast competition. She presented her idea for a toast competition as a fundraiser to Stayton City Manager Don Eubank and Mayor Scott Vigil.

Those conversations led to Jorgensen organizing The Toast of Stayton in March.

Jorgensen said the event accentuated the positive, highlighting the best in the Stayton community, and “even better, it gives a window into how each of us love our community for a variety of reasons!”

So after three brainstorming sessions with Library Director Louise Meyers, members of the library foundation, and two city administrators, Jorgensen’s idea became a reality.

On March 10, doors opened at the Stayton Community Center to nearly 300 people who came to celebrate – and toast – the city of Stayton.

“It was a great party, with food, music, local art and best of all, the great people from Stayton,” Jorgensen said of the Mayor’s Charity Celebration to benefit the Stayton Public Library Foundation.

“Santiam Memorial Hospital, a champagne-level sponsor, presented a short movie that spliced together photographs of their construction project, illustrating the hospital’s progress from demolition to construction,” she said.

SCTC, also a champagne-level sponsor, arranged for Ken Cartwright to film the event, and SCTC board president Bob Koenig delivered a toast to the community, praising the excellence of the Stayton Public Library.

“The guests were very social, danced to music by Joe Stoddard, enjoyed appetizers from Roth’s Fresh Market, Rob’s PanezaNellie Pizza Shoppe, Patti Cakes, Trexler Farm and Valley Family Roasters,” she wrote. “Guests enjoyed talking to Orville Roth about the Roth’s remodel and the expansion of the deli and organic produce section.”

Mayor Vigil and his band, After Hours, donated time and energy to set up the stage and sound system before playing rock ‘n roll, keeping the dance floor busy late into the night, Jorgensen said.

The highlight of the evening was the toast competition. Guests purchased vote tokens for $1 and $5 to be used to vote for their favorite of eight toasts.

“Two toast contestants were the warm up act, and wrote their toast on a napkin just minutes before the competition,” Jorgensen said.

The remaining six toasters were pre-selected after they competed in a qualifying toast competition the week prior to the actual event, she said.

Michael Jaeger won the competition, collecting $179 in votes. He immediately donated his $100 winnings back to the library, but kept an engraved beer mug, Jorgensen said.

Other participants were Tom Van Veen, Paul Toews, Catherine Cromer, Mary Albert, Carol Tabor, Jack Darley and Louise Meyers.

“So many people have encouraged us to do the event again!” Jorgensen said. “We will discuss the future of The Toast of Stayton at our next board meeting. An inside scoop … all our board members enjoyed the event and working together. We’re thrilled to earn money for our beloved library.”

Funds raised go to the Stayton Public Library Foundation’s endowment fund to help provide an income stream to support library services. “Fundraising has been challenging in our economy, and we’re excited that The Toast of Stayton delivered a positive experience,” Jorgensen said. “It was the most successful fundraising event since the Capital Campaign.”

Stayton Library Public Foundation
To donate to the foundation, learn
about the Crown Jewel Society
or for information, call
503-769-9658 or visit
staytonlobraryfoundation.org

Funds raised at The Toast of Stayton event are a great start to the $1 million Stayton Public Library Foundation board members hope to raise in the near future to help support library services.

Formed in the early 1990s, the foundation started a Capital Campaign that ended in 2007 with $2.9 million in funds toward library expansion, board member and past president Dave Karr said.

“The city didn’t put a dime into it,” Karr said. “After we raised another $150,000 for furnishings, we had a little over $100,000 left. We decided one of the things we should do was to continue the support of the library by setting up an endowment fund. We entered into an agreement with the Oregon Community Foundation, which maintains funds for hundreds of organizations in the state.”

Today, the endowment fund has about $100,000 in cash and $200,000 in pledges, still a far cry from the board’s ambitious undertaking to raise $1 million by 2014.

So board members have organized a campaign to find more endowment gifts, Karr said.

“That’s hard, especially in this economy,” he said. “We’re hoping to find people who want to make an estate gift. A lot of people tell me how much they love the library. We just need to find a few of those who want to help us out.”

In addition to funding the endowment, the foundation covers administrative costs for its work, provides $25,000 to the city of Stayton for library operations, and funds the Outreach Storyteller program, Karr said.

“We’re reading to kids twice a week in some 26 classrooms in Stayton and Sublimity,” he said. “We also give the kids four books to take home each year. That program costs us about $28,000 a year.”

The foundation’s next step is to expand its Crown Jewel Society, founded two years ago to provide ongoing financial support for library improvements, Karr said.

“We’ve got about 112 members who are giving us about $20,000 a year,” he said. “That’s wonderful, but we need to double that.”

Karr said raising $40,000 annually would keep the sustainer club financially secure.

“The second goal is to make a specific ask for endowment gifts,” he said. “With a million dollar endowment fund, what we could do for this library is absolutely amazing.”

The Toast of Stayton, he added, built “a little spirit and helped the library foundation at the same time.”