Community Village Meeting Minutes January 9, 2025
Present: about 35 Villagers
Council present: Sam, Tim, Karla, Kaitlyn, David, Kelsey, Nathan
Not: Diane, Sara, Adrian, Omo
Agenda:
Agenda Review
Set Intentions
Fair Announcements – Frog’s memorial
Site Report
Village Social Events – Rebuilding Community
Booth coordinator meeting options
Activist Report – Burrito Brigade
Path Planning
More?
Unfair Announcements
Strokes and Pokes
_________________________
Hello
We all said hello and did an intro
Agenda Review
Added ‘One Fun Thing’
Set Intentions
…..
Fair Announcements
- Frog’s memorial will be at WOW hall, January 18, noon – 2pm, doors at 11:30. You are invited to take the stage and tell Frog-like jokes, or read from one of his books. Rich the Tie-Dye King has purchased 300 rubber chickens (wow), paid for by Holiday Market vendor donors, to hand out, ready to be squeezed. After 2pm the Fighting Instruments of Karma will be leading a parade to…???
- Maybe we should do a Frog event in the Village? Just like Frog did, with others telling the jokes with kids…or folks who used to be kids. Plato will schedule that event!!
- Be an OCF member – so you can vote for Village friendly candidates. Visit .net site to fill out a membership form. https://oregoncountryfair.net/elections/membership-application.pdf
- Peace & Justice booth members carry signs and stand on the corner of 7th and Pearl on Fridays 4-6pm holding “End War” signs, to end the war in Gaza. Join them, OK?
Site Report
Lotsa rain, the Long Tom flood stage is 10’, recently it was 13.5’ with many folks kayaking or canoeing on the site…be careful, there’s a current, and wear flotation devices, don’t go alone, and tell someone you are doing it. Brush coulda been pushed anywhere. A good example of why all booth stuff should be in the loft or tied down…it won’t stay put. Also, the Emerald Borer bug will destroy many trees and shade will be harder to find.
Village Social Events – Rebuilding Community
We’re hoping to schedule social events for all villagers this year, partially to make up for the limited community building that Zoom meetings in February and March can accomplish. Whirled Pies rents for about $200, but we don’t need to reserve a time, just go there and meet up. Check with them to identify times when they are not booked with some other activity. They do have empty dates. Let’s make a poll or survey to see which dates work best for us. Who is doing this?
Booth coordinator meeting options
Booth coordinators can gather for a social and networking event, with maybe a bit of business and getting to know new coordinators. Kim Robles offered to help coordinate this, perhaps after the March meeting (first time for booth breakdown) or maybe before. Waddaya think? Contact Kim: kimrobles8@yahoo.com
Activist Report – Burrito Brigade
This 501©3 organization creates burritos, hot and tasty and Vegan, wrapped in tinfoil, and shares them on weekends (mostly Fridays 3-5pm) in Eugene and Springfield to all who come, soon in Cottage Grove and Veneta as well. Because they are not supported by Federal funds, they have no rules…anyone who’s hungry can eat. They began in 2014 when the founder, Jenifer Densen, realized other providers were closed on weekends, creating a gap in services. During the pandemic, services closed even more, so they started in the garage. Eventually they rented a former Chinese restaurant space on Garfield St, that included a food pantry. The organization has expanded to serve Portland and Chicago, serving over 31,000 burritos with 10,000 volunteer hours. Services include movable “Little Free Pantries” that appear in different places in town as needed, an idea that started in Arkansas. Food is gathered from Food for Lane County and grocery stores (13 partnering businesses) that was being discarded as it aged, but is still good, saving 300,000 pounds of food. And if some of it is not good, it is picked by goat and pig farmers, so there is no waste! Awesome! For more information or to volunteer, visit https://burritobrigade.org/ See Burrito Brigade brochure images below.
One Fun Thing
Some jokes, including, “Why did the lifeguard refuse to rescue the drowning hippie? Because he was just Too Far Out, Man…!!
When President Trump visited England, he attended a parade with the Queen. A horse in the parade let out a big fart. So the Queen apologized to Trump for the fart and he said, “Oh, I thought it was the horse.” What a ……
Path Planning
The OCF has resumed discussion in the Path Planning Committee about opening a new path between the Village and the main 13th street, entering the Village about where the Dome is now. Their reasons for this are to abolish dead ends and cul-de-sacs for fire safety, and to prepare for erosion that might close the Shady Grove path in the future. This was brought to the Village in 2014, and after many months of discussion we reached a consensus to allow it with very specific conditions. This consensus can be seen at the very bottom of our Guidelines page online, please read them: https://communityvillageocf.org/community-village-guidelines
At that time OCF withdrew the plan, as the booth on 13th refused to move. But that booth is now OK to do it as the owner has retired. At that time, some Villagers were excited about the project, as Village booths – Spirt, 4A, or Rainbow Village – could be closer to the main drag like P&J is now because the path would perhaps have booths alongside it, and provide more exposure to the public. There was also a chance we might include additional camping. The conditions we consented on includ restricting access for the entrance at night to help us keep children safe, and a small entrance to prevent overwhelming traffic. Some of us regret the consensus now and want us to remain the true Heart of the Fair and not have a new entrance.
Moving forward, we must have representation on the Path Planning Committee, share our requirements, but approach it with the attitude of partnership rather than opposition. Comments included realization that the Fair is different now than in 2015, the new leadership may not be concerned about our consent and move ahead anyway, and that erosion is more of an issue then it was. One spoke saying ‘the organic heart is all about keeping things flowing…lets help it flow the way that’s best…’ This change could be very exciting and create something that will serve us for decades. Let’s all be involved!
We concluded that it’s important to determine if we really have a say or not, to have Villagers on the committee, and to come to a new consensus if our present requirements are not met. Dea, Karla and Kaitlyn offered to be on the committee, and Banjo shared that they will next meet on January 19th, noon-3pm, In-person at DUG’s Green with only a “possibility” of Zoom . https://oregoncountryfair.net/path-planning/ It’s a very big deal…. Change is coming…
Unfair Announcements
Cecelia is no longer a Girl Scout, so don’t bug Taylor for cookies this year!!
Say a prayer for the victims of the L.A. fires.
Strokes and Pokes
Thank you, Sam
Let’s do the Hokey Pokey!!! So we did… 😊
Community Village 