[Heritage] Heritage News 2011-05-31

[Heritage Info]

In this issue:
1. Comments Invited for Champoeg Heritage Area Invited
2. Walking Tours and Outdoor Activities Planned
3. "That's All Folks!" at the Jewish History Museum
4. Innovative Traveling Exhibit Debuts in Central Point
 
COMMENTS INVITED FOR CHAMPOEG HERITAGE AREA GRANT PROPOSAL
 
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department invites public comments on
an environmental assessment required in a Land and Water Conservation
Fund grant request that would help add 58 acres to Champoeg State
Heritage Area. The environmental assessment, a requirement in the
federal grant application process, addresses the potential effects of
the proposed land acquisition on biological, cultural, aesthetic and
socio-economic resources. Parks and Recreation will accept public
comments through June 24. Visit www.oregon.gov/OPRD/RULES to view the
assessment. Direct comments and / or questions to Cliff Houck, Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department, 725 Summer St. NE, Suite C, Salem OR
97301, or by e-mail to cliff.houck at state.or.us .
 
WALKING TOURS AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES PLANNED 
 
Champoeg: A celebration of Oregon State Parks Day will take place at
the Champoeg State Heritage Area from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., June 4. A
variety of activities will help visitors discover Champoeg, including
tours of an 1860s kitchen garden and the old Champoeg town site.  For
more information or directions, call (503) 678-1251 x 222, or visit the
State Parks website at www.oregonstateparks.org .
 
Portland: A walking tour of the Yamhill Historic District and nearby
buildings on SW Second and Third avenues from 6:30 to 8 p.m., June 2
will reveal some of the earliest remaining buildings in downtown
Portland. Participants will learn about 19th century buildings like the
Poppleton, known for the whimsical faces on its upper façade, and
architectural gems designed by notable architects such as Warren H.
Williams, Whidden and Lewis, David Lewis, and Cass Gilbert. Visit the
Architectural Heritage website (www.visitahc.org) for more information.

Bend: This summer from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, a new story unfolds at
the High Desert Museum’s ranch and sawmill. Set at the turn of the
20th century, guests will become acquainted with ranch hand William
Thomas as he helps Mary Louise Miller maintain the family homestead
while her husband, Clay Miller, tends Hereford cattle on the open range.
The Millers recently joined other homesteaders to buy a used sawmill
from the U.S. Army. Now they mill timber for barns, sheds, worker
bunkhouses and other projects instead of buying lumber from distant
mills. It is a time of rapid growth and changing technology with the
railroad soon to arrive in central Oregon, along with electricity, the
telephone and the automobile. Join the family as they discuss women’s
suffrage, the Panama Canal and their president, Theodore Roosevelt. For
further information, visit www.highdesertmuseum.org .
 
Jacksonville / Central Point: The Children’s Heritage Fair, a day of
events designed to make history come alive through hands on activities,
arts and crafts, and entertainment, will take place from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m., June 4 at the Southern Oregon Historical Society’s Hanley Farm.
Children will experience pioneer life by engaging in gold panning;
cooking and food preparation like butter churning, cheese making, and
grinding wheat into flour; and creating pioneer toys. A mock archaeology
dig; spinning and weaving wool; pottery making; tin punching and many
other activities will engage Hanley Farm visitors. Draft horses will
plow fields on both days, tractor rides will take guests on a tour of
the farm and music will accompany square dancing. For more information
on Children’s Heritage Fair, please contact the Southern Oregon
Historical Society at (541) 773-6536 ext. 1003 or visit www.sohs.org .
 
"THAT'S ALL FOLKS" AT THE JEWISH HISTORY MUSEUM
 
An opening reception for a new exhibit titled, “That’s All Folks!
The Mel Blanc Story” will take place from 5 to 8 p.m., June 2 at the
Jewish History Museum. Many of us know Mel Blanc as the voice of Bugs
Bunny, Pepe Le Pew, Barney Rubble, and countless other cartoon
characters.  Blank, as he originally spelled his name, grew up in
Portland, was the youngest conductor ever to lead the RKO Orpheum
Orchestra and was the first voice artist in Hollywood to receive screen
credit. His career spanned vaudeville, radio, movies and television
starting in the late 1920s and continuing to this day, more than 20
years after his death. The exhibit covers his youthful years in Portland
to his remarkable Hollywood career as the voice behind more than 400
animated characters in over three thousand cartoons through film, sound,
photographs and memorabilia.  The exhibit runs through Sept. 11. Visit
www.ojm.org or call (503) 226-3600 for further information. 
 
INNOVATIVE TRAVELING EXHIBIT DEBUTS IN CENTRAL POINT

“History: Made by You”, a community-based traveling exhibit program
sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society, will make its debut
at 1 p.m., June 10 with a ribbon cutting opening the first exhibit,
“Icons of Agriculture: Central Point’s Community Roots”, at
PremierWest Bank, 300 E. Pine St. The first exhibit created through
partnerships between Historical Society staff and volunteers from
various communities, “Icons of Agriculture: Central Point’s
Community Roots” celebrates the town’s rural heritage. Using four
local icons: Seven Oaks Farm, the former Mon Desir restaurant, the Rogue
Creamery, and the Grange Co-op grain elevator, the exhibit highlights
how the family farm, the orchard boom, the dairy industry, and the
Grange Co-op have shaped the Central Point community. The exhibit
explores how the agricultural industry has changed over time and
underscores how, with changes in technology and the economy, some
aspects of the industry have faded while others have adapted and
thrive.
 
Developed at a public forum held at the Central Point City Hall, a
committee made up of Central Point citizens grew the initial concept for
the exhibit through a partnership with Historical Society staff,
determining its theme and content, researching background information,
selecting objects and photographs, and coordinated exhibit locations,
including Premier West, the county fairgrounds, and Sterling Bank. For
more information about “History: Made By You” visit www.sohs.org or
call the Historical Society (541) 494-0273.
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Oregon Heritage News is a service of the Oregon Heritage Commission,
which can be contacted at heritage.info at state.or.us