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Laughing, Loving, Learning
Country
Fair offers lessons to live by.
By
Aria Seligmann
Fair weather means fair time. This weekend, along
the banks of the Long Tom River and amid the winding paths of "the
eight" inside the Oregon Country Fairgrounds in Veneta, thousands
of people will wander. From lemonade to hemp dress booths, from music
to vaudeville, through circus parades and throngs of wagon-hauled
toddlers and silver, mud and glitter people, hordes of merry fair-goers
will don their tye-die t-shirts or doff their tops for a weekend of
wild wonderment.
Many come for a complete escape from their "normal"
lives, while others come to reunite with old friends from fairs gone
by, to witness the standby entertainment they've come to love such
as Reverend Chumleigh and Unstuck in Time, and to glimpse something
new, like spoken-word star Alix Olsen (see Calendar feature) or singer
Alice DiMicele.
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Digging at the Fair
Ark Park finds kids knapping
People have gathered on the land at the Oregon Country Fair
for three decades — plus at least 11,000 years.
The historical evidence in the layered soils
has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. Archaeo-logical and
geomorphological studies in the area began in 1980 in connection
with the realignment of Highway 126. Large-scale excavations
were undertaken at two sites in 1986. This research has produced
the best Holocene (since the last Ice Age) geomorphological
(soil development) and human occupation record from the Willamette
Valley, spanning the last 11,000 years.
The record includes the earliest evidence of
human presence in the valley currently known. Uncovering camas
ovens indicates that the area functioned as at least a semi-permanent
residential base.
Ongoing research is focused on at-risk sites
(sites affected by fair construction or by erosion of the riverbanks).
Plans for the future include magnetometer surveys along Indian
Creek and on a 50-acre stretch of property recently acquired
from the city of Veneta.
A proton magnetometer is a device that measures
the intensity of the Earth's magnetic field. Normally, the soil's
magnetic field is randomly oriented. But when soil is heated
very hot, as in a camp fire or earth oven, the magnetic field
is realigned on a north-south axis. This shows up as an abnormality
on a computer-generated map.
This way of locating and mapping buried archaeology
sites avoids the necessity for digging. To ensure accuracy and
credibility, the archaeological research is supervised by scientists
from the UO and the Museum of Natural History. Dr. Tom Connolly
and Dr. Brian O'Neal, principle investigators, have donated
hundreds of hours to the research.
In 1989, for the fair's 20th anniversary, a
living archaeology display and demonstrations were added to
the fairís activities. Located on the upper river loop
at Dare Devil Meadow, Ark Park is the scene of continuous demonstrations
of aboriginal life skills and displays of artifacts found in
the area. Spearheaded by Jim Riggs (who taught Daryl Hanna how
to make fire in the Clan of the Cave Bear movie), visitors
can learn how to make fire, weave baskets, tan hides, make bows
and arrows, chip arrowheads out of obsidian, and more.
Demonstrators are on hand to show how to produce
each item, and often children learn so quickly they, in turn,
teach others.
OCF Archaeology was established to promote understanding
and respect for the original inhabitants of the land. People
have gathered here for at least 11,000 years, a length of occupancy
rare anywhere on earth. Rarer still, it was done peacefully.
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And some come to learn. The fair offers information
on issues and concerns that affect all of us. Energy Park may be one
of the more popular destination points this year as rising energy
costs mean everyone will be looking for alternative fuel sources and
ways to conserve.
According to organizers, the park is more than prepared
for an extra influx of visitors this year. Displays abound, and renewable
energy businesses have experts to answer questions on composting,
permaculture, alternative transportation and more. Organizations represented
in Energy Park include Homepower Magazine, the Ecobuilding
Guild, the Solar Energy Association of Oregon, and the American Hydrogen
Association.
"The whole emphasis this year is 'Saving energy saves
everything,'" says Energy Park Coordinator Nancy Bebout.
Handouts include suggestions for simple things people
can do — use a clothesline instead of a clothes dryer, turn
off lights, computers and appliances not in use, and change to compact
flourescent light bulbs in rooms where lights are left on for long
periods of time. The park will emphasize landscaping and saving water,
especially important during this drought year.
In addition to the easy tips, the groups will make
complex information on solar installation and converting to hydrogen
power available.
Hydrogen power, a technique in its infancy, is being
introduced and taught by local enthusiasts as a substitute for other
forms of fuel. Onsite, food booth owners have been shown how to use
hydrogen power for cooking. Additionally, some of the park's solar
experts have powered up the Blue Moon, Kesey and Shady Grove stages
using energy from our dazzling star for sound enhancement.
Energy Park folks will also toss their hats into the
entertainment ring with a street performance on how solar saves salmon.
Expect a parade of salmon swimming through the eight, returning to
Energy Park to find they have to negotiate their way through an evil
dam. Will the fish make it? You'll have to wait and see.
Besides the information booths, some crafts booths
offer hands-on learning to help educate the public on social issues.
One of the first booths that catches the eye as you enter the fair
site is decorated with an elaborate display of brightly colored condom
roses. At first the display elicits giggles, a little embarrassment,
then nods of appreciation. Like all of the crafts sold at the fair,
the roses are handmade — no, the condoms are not. Every rose
contains four condoms, with edges folded into a stem and left undamaged
so each can be used. As the condom petals are peeled off one by one,
the rose remains intact for next time.
Liane Swope, the "condom rose lady," is a colorful
and wise indidvidual who turned an idea into a lucrative business.
It started in southern California when Swope was working at Disney,
ordering costumes and costume parts for Disneyland workers. At Christmas,
women in the costume department made a gift for the co-worker whose
name they pulled out of a hat.
"I got this guy who thought he was God's gift to women,"
says Swope. "His wife had no clue he was such a jerk. In today's society
he would have gotten it for sexual harassment," she says, "but this
was 12 or13 years ago. I thought I should just make him something
to put condoms in."
Swope mentioned her idea to a male co-worker. "I came
in to work the next morning, and on my desk was a pile of condoms
and a Slurpee straw with a note that said 'Okay, now be creative,'"
she says. With the help of several laughing co-workers, she tried
all kinds of interesting contraptions before hitting on the idea for
a condom rose.
Swope presented her gift in a longstem rose box. "The
guy didn't think it was funny," she says, "but everyone else did."
The idea was a hit. Other co-workers soon asked her to make them a
rose.
Soon afterward, Swope followed her kids to Oregon
and went back to school to become a registered nurse. Before long
someone suggested she sell her product at the fair. She said she was
surprised at how easily she juried in. Her R.N. credentials help her
respond to detractors who might misjudge her intentions in selling
condoms — especially to young people, she says.
"If someone says, 'Do you know how young that kid
is?' I tell them it's not for me to judge," says Swope. "Let's not
have them learn on the streets. I can give them the right information."
Swope's cousin died of AIDS-related complications just four years
ago. "I tell anyone who questions me, 'I'd rather give free condoms
to kids then send their parents a condolence card.'"
 Swope
includes an instructional brochure on condom use and safe sex with
each rose she sells. As a nurse who works with mentally ill adolescents,
she uses the roses to talk about safe sex with the kids she works
with. But kids aren't the only ones who need educating.
"You'd be amazed at how many middle-aged women have
never seen a condom up-close," she says. So Swope keeps a store of
regular condoms with her, just to educate the crowd. "One 83-year-old
woman who was walking past the booth had never seen a condom, so I
handed her some. She came back 15 minutes later and said, 'I'll take
three of those roses. I'm going to put them on the nightstand of my
guest room because I know they're doing that in there.' 'Who?,' I
asked. 'Oh, just anybody who comes to visit,' she said.'"
Mothers buy the condom roses to begin conversations
with their sons on safe sex, and Swope has known a few kids who bought
them for their divorced parents with the advice: Here, get a life.
Swope sums up her direct approach to safe sex in a
straightforward way: "If you can't talk to someone about condoms then
you don't know them well enough to have sex with them."
The success of the stand has gone beyond Veneta. While
Swope regularly sells out the 1000 or so condoms she brings to every
fair, she has also put one daughter through school on the proceeds
and sold them in bulk to Planned Parenthood and various student unions.
One year, every freshman in a particular UO dorm found a condom rose
on his or her pillow as a welcoming gift.
For complete information and entertainment schedules,
see www.oregoncountryfair.com
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