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It's
Summertime!
Ready for steaming crawdads,
cheap beer, buck naked friends, skimpy
swimming suits, berry pickinŠ, scooter
cruisinŠ, fireworks, kids
activities, a peace day, music
in the parks and more? Good! ŠCause weŠve got the lowdown on fun,
complete with a guide to get you filling in your calendar with fests
from down south to way up north. Warmer days are here, so go ahead,
fire up the Šcue, pop a Pabst and come with us to revel in long hot
days, and starry, starry nights
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| Savy crawdad repels from tongue for safety. |
Red
Gold
CrawdaddinŠ the Clay
By Ben Fogelson
Close your eyes and pretend that youŠre
me.
Turn back the hands on your clock by
a year.
Difficult with your eyes shut? Okay,
open Šem, now turn back the clock, pop open a cheap American
beer, and come along.
Come with me to Clay Creek. ItŠs crawdadding
time.
Driving to Clay Creek is like entering
a dream. You leave downtown and the occasional car-alarm behind, the
suburban sprawl with its exhaust and fast-food fades away, the airport
and its screaming turbines become a memory, and youŠre down in the
algae-covered river falling on your ass Šcause youŠre drunk as shit
and youŠve banged your shin and youŠve got one little red dinosaur-looking
mutant hanging off your finger and another one swimming away laughing.
Clay Creek is an escape É a meandering
body of water in the lush Pacific Northwest coastal hills off Hwy.
26. One afternoon last June, whoever among our group of old high school
amigos made it back from their careers as corporate lawyers, account
executives and bowling alley attendants descended upon that oasis
É after a stop for beer.
The excuse was a bachelor party. Since
we werenŠt the types to haunt the townŠs bottomless bars, we traded
black-lights and neon thongs for underwater rocks and slippery splendor,
for sandbars dotted with slabs of natural slate promising hidden treasures
É darting red flashes of sharply clawed enemies, and the sun, the
merciless sun that beats down upon the intoxicated sunscreen-less
fool.
Add even more beer. YouŠre there with
us, right?
Now youŠre in the water.
†Beer!˙ you call, †bucket!˙
Somebody far down the river whoŠs barely
able to stand lobs a silvery aluminum bomb high into the air over
your head. And then another. And another just to be sure. The shiny
projectiles shimmer through the sunlight filtered by the alder and
cottonwood trees. †Bluuuush!˙ into the river they fall. †Bluuuush!˙
The beers float downstream toward you, gleaming in the cold, clear
flow.
†Yo!˙ calls the bucket guy, stumbling
crookedly upriver, his ankles twisting in the treacherous chasms of
rock beneath the water, a white perforated bucket dangling from his
hand. Dozens of red crawdads swim inside as water sloshes out of the
holes.
Unable to stand the pinch on your middle
finger, you flick your hand in bucket guyŠs direction and the Šdad
sails in a high arc. Bucket manŠs eyes open wide, his imagination
flipping through the painful scenarios of which of his body parts
might get pinched if the crawdad lands right. YouŠre hoping for his
left nipple. Bucket man leans back, his weight on the heels of his
sandals. He lifts the bucket high, pointing it at the sailing Šdaddy
like a vampire-hunter holding a cross, falling backwards at the same
time.
 |
| Another difficult crawdadding maneuver. Only
for the inebriated. |
Simultaneously he crashes butt-first
into two, maybe three feet of water and the Šdad plops inside the
plastic container to meet its manhandled brethren. ThereŠs nothing
left to be seen of your friend, only two arms raising out of the water,
a pot-bellied lady of the lake with a bruised tailbone proffering
a nearly overturned white bucket of red gold in one hand, and a Schlitz
in the other.
Finally he surfaces. †Did I get it?˙
He asks with a grin.
†Nope. Pass me a Bud.˙
ThereŠs a strategy to crawdadding,
and you know all the tricks. Upon your feet are old tennies. Sandals
work, but the bottom of Clay Creek is crisscrossed with a notorious
network of slanted valleys thin enough for your ankle, stronger than
your ankle bone. And youŠve learned to ignore pain because without
even mentioning all the bumps and scratches one gets from slipping
around on the beercans, before one attains a sufficiently elevated
blood-alcohol level, picking up a sharply double-clawed Šdaddy in
your tender city-dwellerŠs paw is counter-intuitive to say the least.
YouŠve got your †turners,˙ who flounder
from rock to rock, flipping stones where the Šdads like to hide, and
your †grabbers,˙ who, yelling †Red gold! red gold!˙ fall all over
the place diving for the backwards zooming crawdads once theyŠve been
liberated from peaceful domiciles.
You work together, pooling your smarts
to outwit the crafty and highly mobile crustaceans. You work as a
team because if you go it alone youŠre bound to turn an ankle, snap
your fingers between two rocks and catch no more than 50 crawdads.
Together with your 12 drunken sots, moving through the stream like
a well-sauced machine, you could end up with as many as ŕ well ŕ say
150.
As the group tires, you gather one
by one around the floating Coleman coolers and do shotguns until the
others arrive beet red and bleary-eyed. One of you shows the rest
how he can eat a live water-skipper. He dares the group, gnashing
his teeth and beating his chest, and a handful of you also eat live
water-skippers. ItŠs the last evening for one of you to be a bachelor,
and bonding is important.
Finally, back at camp, night has descended
and the crawdads are all sucked from their shells. The crew is chanting,
still half-naked, trying to rock a great forest log onto the sputtering
campfire. You look at your watch.
Sometime before midnight you silently
slip off the splintery campsite table while the steaming crawdad exoskeleton
carnage sits heaped on a newspaper tablecloth. YouŠre breaking your
groupŠs sacred pact by leaving before the crack of the next dayŠs
noon, tip-toeing invisibly to your car while your brothers remain.
But youŠre not celebrating the end
of bachelorhood; the wife lies in wait at home, a far better sleeping
companion than the inebriated warriors humping the forest logs.
Your friends were always wild in their
revels, undaunted by tasks such as ringing the dinner bell by repeatedly
applying a saucepan to their own foreheads, and as you quietly sink
into the driverŠs seat and pull away with the headlights off, you
laugh at the peril you would certainly be in if they were to discover
your flight.
But what would they do, toss you in
the river, tie you down and draw on you, make you drink more Hamms?
Back to top
You're
Looking Swiming, Babe
Summer's scariest garb.
By Nicole Hill
The fluorescent lights
of the dressing room are shining down, exposing all those unseemly
bodily regions you havenŠt seen all winter. A carnage of swimming
suits that donŠt fit hang like doll parts on the back of the door.
The sun is out, nowhere to run nowhere to hide ... or maybe there
is. Buck-naked is always an option. Or you can get creative with some
of the latest fashions.
The walls of "Pineapple Kiss," a swimsuit
apparel shop in the 5th St. Public Market,
are arrayed with halter tops matched
with boy-short swimming suit pieces for the fashionably active, yet
modest beach dweller. Then thereŠs the very low-cut, straight across
Š70s style, revealing every inch of the torso and then some if you
bend over too far, displayed near the one-piece "tummy-tucker" with
under-wire and padded bra support É well appreciated by the woman
who desires a little added structure.
At NobodyÔs Baby, a retro clothing
and costume shop on 13th Avenue, it takes just one look at the vintage
womenŠs swimsuits to realize theyŠve been a troubling topic for many
years.
After centuries of women wearing bathing
gown smocks with metal weights sewn into the hem so the dress wouldnŠt
float up, one woman, Australian Annette Kellerman, decided to change
that. She set the precedent in 1907 after being arrested in the U.S.
for braving the beach in a one-piece bathing suit.
After the public saw Kellerman frolicking
the beach scantily clad and smock-free, woman everywhere began stripping
down. But bare legs were still too shocking to show, so they wore
matching stockings pulled up just below their tunic and bathing suit
shorts.
And so the story goes, bathing suits
have been shrinking ever since. "If you line up the suits they just
get smaller and smaller," says NobodyŠs Baby clerk, Esther Garcia,
shuffling through a rack of polyester one-pieces and "play suits,"
which were designed only for out of water fun.
In the 1950s, things got stretchy with
new fabrics and "smocking," a gather sewn in the hip of the swimsuit.
Designers began to make the most of women's classy curves, since they
obviously werenŠt going away. Bras were built into suits to accentuate
and support the bust. "They padded everything," Garcia adds, "and
they werenŠt ashamed of it." Women could show off their hips, squeeze
in their tummy and push up their bosom if they wanted.
And just when women looked like they
were going to undergo some serious beach bursting, the "burn your
bra" decade rolled around and padding fluffed away. Thin became hip
and stringy low-cut bikinis littered the scene.
MenŠs swimsuits, on the other hand,
strangely went in the opposite direction. "Men have covered up more
over the years," says GarciaŠs co-worker Amy Clancey, pointing to
a rack of menŠs skimpy wool and satin briefs that wouldŠve been a
hit at a 1950s pool party. Now menŠs swimming trunks nearly reach
their knees.
Swimsuit fashion for women reached
its peak for shock value after the introduction of the thong and the
tiny triangle top. There didnŠt seem to be anywhere else to go except
nude, which wouldnŠt really be good for the apparel industry É so
swimsuit makers now are simply borrowing from time-proven classics,
although with a little added comfort.
One of the more popular swimsuits this
year is a Š70s-style halter-top that ties at the neck and flatters
most body sizes. Women can choose between snug-fitting boy shorts,
looser board shorts, high cut bikini briefs or the straight across
Š70s cut. The good news is swimsuit retailers have figured out that
not all women fit into a standard style. They offer mix-match sets
or you can simply mail in your dimensions to a catalog and let them
figure out what will work.
So donŠt fret at the poolside this
year. There are options É give your body a little added cleavage and
curveage, as women so unabashedly did years past, go the shorts route,
skimp into a tiny two-piece or simply let your body be.
Back to top
Scooter
Stylin'
Vintage Vespas and modern
motoring hit the streets in summer.
Vanessa Salvia
Imagine tooling down the road, scarf
splaying out behind you, an easy smile smoothed across your face as
the wind whips your hair. You arrive at your destination with nary
a crinkle in your crisply ironed skirt. You have no trouble finding
a parking spot, and you have an extra seat on which your date can
sit and ensnare you with loving arms. No, youŠre not piloting a bicycle.
Certainly not a skateboard. Only on a scooter, a motorscooter that
is, could you have this much freedom,
low cost and maintenance and guaranteed coolness points.
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| Sleek vespas line up outside L&L
Market |
Scooters are enjoying a big revival.
But the trend goes way back, encompassing a half-century of style.
†Happiness goes with Lambretta,˙ an
old advertisement attests, showing two obviously thrilled youths zipping
off on scooters to some teenage Shangri La. The 1953 film Roman
Holiday showed an adventurous Gregory Peck and plucky Audrey Hepburn
falling in love on the back of a Vespa. Love, youth, adventure, economics,
form and function were suddenly intimate friends thanks to scooters.
But that was 50 years ago. Why do we
still love scooters?
A masterpiece of design, scooters began
rolling off the assembly lines en masse in Italy in the late 1940s.
(An American model scooter, Motoped, which didnŠt catch on, had been
in existence since 1915 and is believed to be the first.) In post
World War II Italy, gasoline and automobiles were too expensive for
most. Italians needed a thrifty way to get around. Enter Vespa. Vespa
introduced its prototype model in 1946. All 100 sold. In 1947, 10,345
were sold, followed by 20,000 in 1948.
To Italians, the †Wasp,˙ or Vespa,
had become a symbol of their post-war identity and re-emergence as
an industrial force. Vespa ownership symbolized a new patriotic duty
to support ItalyŠs industrialism. Their cost and coolness made them
a hit with youth and they were perfect for cruising ItalyŠs narrow
streets.
Another company, Lambretta, became
an instant competitor. In 1948, Lambretta added a second seat and
a more powerful engine and production zoomed. With all this popularity
came scooter social clubs.
The Lambretta Club of Milan celebrated
Christmas 1958 by parading through the streets, bearing frankincense,
myrrh and a new Lambretta TV 175 Series 1. Even in Catholic Italy,
this was not considered blasphemous. Scooters ruled.
Scooter-mania developed its own youth
subcultures. In Europe, the Mods and Rockers dominated and often clashed.
Each group had specific music, hairstyles, clothing É and transportation.
A scooter was as de rigueur a fashion accessory to a Mod as a motorcycle
was to a Rocker.
Even in 1950s USA, a land besotted
by hot-rodding cars the size of yachts, scooters held our fascination.
The 1955 Ice Capades ice-skating show touring the country featured
traffic cops riding Lambrettas on ice. Sears sold scooters through
the pages of their ubiquitous catalogs. In the 1960s and 1970s, the
scooter craze in America quieted down. It never really went away,
and recently scooter-mania has been enjoying a revival.
There are uncountable purists out there
who hope and pray to find an old model tucked away in someoneŠs barn,
just waiting to restore its luster with their loving hands. EugeneŠs
own Top Dead Center Scooter club boasts nine full-time members. At
the recent scooter club rally held Cinco de Mayo weekend, 47 scooters
swarmed our streets. Top Dead Center members ride vintage, mostly
Š70s model scooters; members cache many older models also. But most
scooter-philes will agree É the new model scooters are cool, as much
for their easy-driving automatic transmissions as for their body styles
resembling the classic early models.
In Eugene, Wheelworks cycle store sells
new models by Bajaj and Aprilia. Bajaj, who used to make Vespas for
the Indian market, makes models that look much like Š60s and Š70s
Vespas. Aprilias are Italian-made and very nice, smooth riding, with
automatic transmissions and starting at $2600 É much cheaper than
the average new car! The staff at Wheelworks says †buyers are anybody
from teenagers to seniors.˙ Are they buying them for economy? †Naah,
not anymore.˙ Style? †Naah, well yeah.˙
WhatŠs the real reason? †TheyŠre fun.˙
Back to top
Hello,
Summer
A Sampling of fun for kids.
By Bobbie Willis
Goodbye raincoats; goodbye
galoshes; goodbye schoolbooks, teachers and gym class. Hello summer.
Remember that anticipation and schoolŠs
out freedom that launched you into the stretch of summer vacation?
Remember how it faded just a little toward July into thereŠs-nothing-to-do
boredom? Well, we have plenty of suggestions to keep the little ones
you love happy and busy through the summer break.
Sheldon Community Center has some fresh
takes on the old summer youth camps. ThereŠs a week celebrating the
Police and Fire Departments É kids will get to meet the canine unit.
Another week will let kids record a song and music video. JerryŠs
Home Improvement will be sponsoring a week of camp where kids will
learn to build two picnic tables for the community center. Price per
week ranges from $99-$115 per week. For registration information,
contact the Sheldon Community Center at 682-5312.
That high-energy acting troupe at the
Mad Duckling Theatre has a great line-up of plays for children (and
adults) to enjoy this summer. The season starts with WhoŠs Afraid
of the Big, Bad Wolf?, which runs July 9-20, Tuesday through
Saturday at 11 am. Pinnochio Commedia runs July 30-August 10,
again Tuesday through Saturday at 11. These shows and the UO actors
are always a lot of fun and full of enthusiasm É youŠll find that
enthusiasm contagious. Shows take place on the lawn outside Robinson
Theatre. For ticket information, call the Mad Duckling Box Office
at 346-4192. Tickets go on sale June 17.
Some interesting activities going on
out-of-town:
There are a number of free fishing
clinics planned for June 8. This is a chance for kids to learn about
the fun of fishing. There will be boat rides, drawings for prizes
and casting contests. Clinics will be held in a number of different
places. For information on the clinic nearest you, check out the Oregon
Department of Fish & Wildlife Web site at www.dfw.state.or.us
And the Oregon Zoo in Portland will
be showing the exhibit Winged Wonders with butterfly activites
and 450 butterflies from all over North America. This is a walk-though
exhibit, allowing you to be surrounded by more than 20 seldom-seen
species of butterflies, inlcuding sulfurs, swallowtails and zebra
longwings. Admission to the zoo is $4 kids 3-11, $7.50, general admission,
$6 seniors and free for kids under three. Admission to the butterfly
garden costs $2 more. For more information, visit the zooŠs Web site
at www.oregonzoo.com or call (503) 226-1561. The butterfly exhibit
runs through Sept. 2.
Finally, for some of you older kids,
the Science Factory (formerly known as WISTEC) has a great opportunity
for volunteer work. You can help with a choice of several week-long
half-day summer science camps run by the Science Factory. ThereŠs
an application to fill out and youŠll be able to choose from two training
days in June. You also get to choose the times during the summer that
work best for you and thereŠs some flexibility in the topics you help
teach. This is a great way for kids 13 and up to get work and volunteer
experience while having fun and learning a lot.
So there you have it É just a sampler
of all the interesting things to do just when you think thereŠs nothinŠ
to do. Keep checking the WhatŠs Happening Calendar for kids events
throughout the summer, and look at our camp guide in the back of the
paper for summer camp information. Goodbye boredom, hello fun!
Back to top
A
Day of Peace
Spiritual gathering offers
chance to walk, talk peace.
By Aria Seligmann
Ancient Cherokee prophecy proclaims
that a circle of love will go around the world starting in America.
Lakota Chief Arvol Looking Horse points to the birth of a white buffalo
on Aug. 20, 1994 in Janesville, Wis., as heralding the coming of world
peace. Even with the current political tension among governments,
many people are sensing a growing feeling that peace is at hand.
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| Clan Dyken |
June 21, in addition to being Summer
Solstice, is also World Peace Day. On that day, many people in many
countries around the world will be gathering at sacred sites to pray
for peace.
†We believe that on that day a shift
will occur,˙ says Steve Traisman, founder of Walk in Peace, a non-profit
that produces the Ashland Country Fair and is hosting the 4th Annual
World Peace Celebration to be held June 21-23 in Wellsprings, one
mile north of Ashland.
The three-day event will have entertainment,
food, crafts, a wellness circle with yoga, massage and more, but the
focus will be on the sacred. Sunrise ceremonies and prayers will help
create an event that †Separates us from other hippie fests by putting
out information that people need to walk in peace,˙ says Traisman.
A town meeting will be held at 5 pm
on June 21, with speakers including those of various religious backgrounds
and keynoter Eric Sirotkin, who served on the Truth and Recon ciliation
Board with Desmund Tutu. The meeting will be presided over by Agnes
†Pilgrim˙ Baker, a grandmother elder. Participants are invited to
come and share a three-minute description of a win-win solution.
Traisman expects 5,000 to gather for
the festival. †ThereŠs tremendous energy and enthusiasm for peace,˙
he says.
SaturdayŠs events culminate with Diane
Patterson, spokes-person for DineŠ rights, opening for Clan Dyken,
a band that has raised many dollars to support the DineŠ peoples resistance
to relocation from Big Mountain. Saturday evening is also dedicated
to the memory of Roberta Blackgoat, known as the †Mother Teresa˙ of
the Lakota people, who died just recently at age 88. Blackgoat fought
for years to preserve the four corners area of the southwest from
gold and uranium mining. Also honored will be the late Arlene Hamilton,
who sold thousands of dollars worth of DineŠ weavings and dedicated
the proceeds to their cause.
With so many bands, including Hanuman,
Scott Huckabay, Sasha Butterfield, Freedom and many more, plus the
different types of dancing É Sufi, Firedancing, drumming and other
activities, the event is celebratory, not somber. †WeŠre raising awareness
within an artistic framework,˙ says Traisman. †If people have a great
time, the medicine starts to work.˙
Because of the spiritual nature of
the gathering, absolutely no drugs nor alcohol will be allowed on
the premises.
June 21-23, Wellsprings
(formerly Jackson Hot Springs), Ore. One mile north of Ashland. Friday:
2-11 pm; Saturday: 10 am-11 pm; Sunday: 10 am-7 pm. $12 weekend or
$5 per day. Tix at One World in Ashland. Under 12 free. Limited camping
at Jackson Hot Springs, call 482-3776. For event info., call (541)
482-4241.
Back to top
The
Sounds of Summer
Local concerts in the park
offer family entertainment.
By Vanessa Salvia
 |
| Los Lobos. |
Weather: warm and breezy.
Check. Succulent vittles in basket. Check. Friends, family, loaded
into bikecart, scooter. Check. Blanket, lawnchairs. Check. Heading
to the park. Free music.
Tuesdays and Thursdays from July 9
to August 8, check out EugeneŠs Summer Concerts in the Park series.
Concerts are at various recreation centers and parks throughout town
and begin at 6:30 pm. First up is the West Coast Rhythm Kings at Amazon
Center. The Kings compose original music inspired by jump swing and
roots-oriented blues É perfect for dancing. The horn section- The
Four Reedsmen of the Apocalypse- brings in some Latin and soul, while
the vocalist (The RevelatorsŠ David Peterson) is a double-whammy harmonica
player and tap-dancer. Peterson and his tap-dancing props take vaudevillian
performance to new heights.
The series closes on a high note on
Aug. 8 with EugeneŠs own Norma Fraser performing at Churchill Youth
Sports Park. JamaicaŠs Fraser had no idea when she recorded for the
islandŠs first important music label, Studio One, that her song †The
First Cut is the Deepest˙ would become a hit classic. Through the
studio, Fraser met many, including The Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo and
Bob Marley. Her smooth and soulful, voice, rhythmic style and independent
spirit lend pure class to her performances. Last year Fraser initiated
her own label, Gyftt, and released an album of her own music entitled
CŠmon Baby.
This year, WillamalaneŠs Island Park
lineup includes such hot locals as LaZoo and Shelly James Music Box.
But an added bonus this year is the booking of Los Lobos. ThatŠs right
Grammy-winning Los Lobos, Sunday June 23 at 7 pm. (There is a charge
for this concert.) MusicŠs cross-cultural importance is inherent in
the sound. LobosŠ success in 1987 with their cover of †La Bamba˙ for
the Ritchie Havens bio-pic of the same name brought the band worldwide
attention. Lobos then released La Pistola y el Corazon in 1988,
a welcome return to Mexican acoustical traditions and a revitalizing
pause after the party anthem of †La Bamba˙ and before the blues romp
of 1990Šs The Neighborhood.
In the mid-nineties singer/guitarist
David Hidalgo and drummer/singer Louie Perez re-invented and re-energized
themselves as The Latin Playboys, a foursome pushing
even wider musical boundaries. Los
Lobos continues to play a forceful role in music with the release
of its newest CD, Good Morning Azatlan, scheduled to be released
June 4th. See festival listings for complete lineup.
The Washburne Park Classical Concert
Series kicks off June 23 and continues every Sunday evening through
Sept. 8. Performances begin at 6:30 pm. Two additional concerts will
take place Thursday, July 4th and Monday, Sept. 2nd.
The Concert Series was first held in
the Rhododendron Garden at Hendricks Park, then moved to the Washburne
location when lots of people started showing up to soak in the sounds
of light brass and wind instruments.
The Eugene Symphonic Band traditionally
performs twice during the series and this yearŠs no exception. Concert
coordinator Orville Etter says before The Great Depression and World
War II, cities
would often hold free concerts for
the community, and this series hearkens back to that tradition. Etter
also organizes the Atrium Building (10th and Olive) concert series,
which takes advantage of the buildingŠs superb acoustics. Look for
a forthcoming schedule of those events, which will begin in June.
See festival listings for the complete
schedule for the rest of these series. While no glass containers,
alcohol, smoking or pets are allowed at the rest concerts, picnics,
lawn chairs and blankets are always welcome!
Back to top
Nudists
of the World, Unite!
Willamettans gear down for
summer.
By Nate Puckett
Pat Brown is 60 years
old, and weŠre talking politics, and I think she might be naked. †My
primary emphasis,˙ she says over the phone, †will be on membership
growth.˙ Brown is running for President of the American Association
for Nude Recreation. She does not use phrases like †if elected.˙ She
is full of confidence and candor and ideas.
She is a take-charge nudist.
†Our potential for growth is huge,˙
she says. †There are millions of nudists out there who donŠt even
know it.˙
There are, however, about 500 people
near Eugene who do. They are members of the Willamettans, a co-operatively
owned nudist resort just outside of Marcola, a small town northeast
of Eugene. The organization was founded in 1953, and is a member of
the AANR, which boasts approximately 50,000 members, all of whom Pat
Brown plans on leading.
†Taking off your clothes and accepting
yourself is . . . a comfort, a very healthy comfort,˙ she says. †And
the more we present ourselves to the community as exactly who and
what we are, the more acceptance nude recreation will get. ItŠs clean,
wholesome family entertainment.˙
To many of the Willamettans, nudism
goes beyond entertainment and recreation. ItŠs a lifestyle choice
they find liberating, even enlightening.
†ThereŠs so much that matters in society
that doesnŠt matter here (at the resort),˙ says B.J. Kinman, whose
husband John is also a member. †When no one is wearing clothes, you
canŠt tell if theyŠre rich or poor. You canŠt judge them that way.
Society tells us we have to be perfect physically, but around here
it doesnŠt matter. If someone has surgical scars, we think thatŠs
beautiful, because it means that kept them alive.˙
The largest demographic chunk of the
Willamettans is aged 45-65, although the group bills itself as a †family
nudist resort.˙ The resort itself is most popular in the summer, and
includes an Olympic-sized swimming pool, two tennis courts, volleyball
and shuffleboard courts, an indoor hot tub, a sauna, a main lodge,
RV hookups and tent sites, and hiking trails. The grounds cover about
40 acres.
But the main attraction seems to be
other members. †The friendships in the nudist communities go very
deep,˙ says John Kinman. †I find a lot of acceptance for who I am,
and not any social pressures.˙
†You find a pure honesty in people
when no one is bound by clothes,˙ says member Tom Combs. †When people
are nude they have nothing other than themselves.˙
Such a scenario É at least to this
reporter É seems less than desireable, if not downright terrifying.
LetŠs face it: Yourself just isnŠt enough sometimes. Who wants pure
honesty when you can get by with some social hedging? Who wants to
lay all their cards on the table when you can just ante up? Am I,
for example, wearing clothes right now, as I write this? And would
I tell you if I wasnŠt? And would you even want to know?
The prospect of being exposed (not
even literally, but yeah, okay, up to and including literally) to
the world at large is a heady one. What nightmare, after all, do we
most commonly hear about and sympathize over? Is there anything more
common É and more petrifying É than the †I was at school/work and
I realized I was naked in front of everyone˙ dream? HavenŠt any of
the Willamettans ever had that?
And for GodŠs sake, how do they keep
out the creeps?
†WeŠre very protective of our members,˙
says Combs (and I bite my tongue because he is pleasant and dignified
and doesnŠt deserve some smart-ass comment from a representative of
the textile-addicted press). †We do a criminal background check of
anyone who wants to be a member . . . we also have an orientation
program and a procedure manual that make clear what type of behavior
is acceptable. WeŠve never had that sort of problem, though.˙
The biggest obstacle local nudists
seem to face is the weather. The Pacific Northwest does not lend itself
to year-round naked fun. Indeed, only a few hardy Willamettans stick
it out year-round. But even the most die-hard (or dress-hard) northwestern
nudist spends some time covered up.
†We may be a little strange to most
people, but weŠre not nuts,˙ says John Kinman. †Sometimes you need
clothes if youŠre going to be outside.˙
Summertime, however, is nudist time.
And while most of the Willamettans will devote themselves to enjoying
their surroundings au natural, Pat Brown plans to be touring
the country, hitting up nudist communities in different regions for
their support. At the AANR national convention in Sacramento this
August, she will find out if she or some woman named Marylou from
San Francisco will serve a two-year term.
†It took me a while to get used to
nude recreation, to embrace it, but I really have,˙ she says. †The
childlike, creative joy of everything being okay, of being acceptable,
is just amazing.˙
Because I figure itŠs the only time
IŠll get to ask a presidential prospect, I swallow hard and launch
the Final Question: over the phone, over the top É but oh, so crucial.
†Pat,˙ I ask, †Are you naked right
now?˙
†Actually, I am,˙ she says. †Yes, I
am.˙
Top that, W.
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Destination:
Eugene
Let your guests entertain
themselves over July 4.
By Anita Johnson
If youŠre looking for the perfect time
to invite your family and friends to this part of Oregon, if you donŠt
love to entertain them all the time, if you really only want to light
the grill and wash the sheets, weŠve got it for you.
Eugene is a destination resort on July
4, 5, 6 and 7. ThatŠs Thursday through Sunday this year. Popular wisdom
is that the rain is done by early July, so count on sun.
The usual summer delights É Saturday
Market, biking, hiking, sidewalk cafąs, Amazon pool, river sports
, etc., É already are happening, but itŠs the Fourth of July specials
that make this weekend so great.
Consider the Oregon Bach Festival. A
classical kidsŠ film series, †Beethoven Lives Upstairs˙ starts at
l0 am on July 4 and the weekend ends with Tan Dun: Crouching Tiger
Concerto at 4 pm July 7 in Silva hall. For the entire program of this
world-class festival, call BachŠs office, 682-5000 and see EWŠs
special Bach Festival supplement in our 6/20 issue.
Between Bach, you and your guests can
mosey around Alton Baker Park on the Willamette river where Art and
the Vineyard runs July 5, 6 and 7, Friday through Sunday. You can
pick up lunches, dinners, and even wine samples plus listen to fun
live music and look at local juried arts and crafts. Children can
roam around this casual outdoor event, plus participate in a couple
of special events just for them.
Another tradition on July 4 is the
run (or walk) from Spencer to SkinnerŠs Butte. Hundreds of locals
and guests, some quite classy runners, join in the Butte to Butte
no matter what the weather. Registration and T-shirts usually are
handled in the lobby of the Hilton. The race begins at 8 am. Call
687-1989 or see buttetobutte.org for more information.
Sports fans who would rather sit and
yell than run or walk have a great schedule with the Eugene Emeralds
baseball team this year. From July 4 through 8, the Ems play at home
in Civic Stadium with the Spokane Indians. On July 4 starting time
is 6:35 pm to accommodate fireworks.
More fireworks light the skies from
the Lane County Fairgrounds, Junction City and different sites every
year. Neighborhoods all over town put together potluck dinners in
the parks over the holiday. So, what does a host and hostess have
left to do? Not much, but keep track of the time schedules in Eugene
on this Fourth of July.
Back to top
Pick
a Peck of Summer
U-Pick places satisfy craving
to gather
By Marina Taylor
My son and I wandered
the long straight lines of apple trees late last summer, me hauling
a bucket of fruit, he sticky and dusty from bug hunting and sampling.
Suddenly he pointed up: a birdŠs nest! We scrambled up level with
it and peeked in at the shell shards and downy feathers, a little
dental floss and twine mixed with the straw. It was one of those perfect
afternoons, warm and still.
 |
The discovery capped what had been a
perfect day of picking. There is a visceral satisfaction to gathering
your own food. ItŠs a form of entertainment and sustainment for those
with more time than money, and a way to slow down and connect with
nature for anyone. To find places where you can do your own grub gathering,
OSU/Lane County Extensions Office, 950 W. 13th near the Fairgrounds
(682-4243) puts out the †Fresh Produce BuyerŠs Guide,˙ a map with
contact information and specifics on most farms: which are organic,
when certain crops are available, directions. This yearŠs edition
should be out any day now.
Detering Orchards out past Coburg is
a good all-purpose place to start: It offers a great selection of
(non-organic) fruits and veggies, has a market stand on the farm with
some †imported˙ produce (ask where it was grown) and canned jams and
jellies. Many farms only offer a couple crops for u-pick, but Deterings
is big enough to offer a real variety. Call 995-6341 for directions.
Coburg Hill-view Farm (343-6473) has
the biggest, most intensely flavored raspberries I have ever had cross
my lips, as well as hard-to-find gooseberries and rare apple varieties.
Corwin Farms (689-7297) on the corner of River Road Loop #1 and #2
is another favorite of mine for strawberries, theyŠre sweet and tender.
The berries arenŠt sprayed, but they do use a fungicide in the winter.
Thistledown Farms is the first in a
long succession of farms out River Road, however most of their produce
is sold from a stand, and only occasionally do they offer u-pick.
BushŠs Fern View Farms near Veneta has great corn and nice peaches
too, and miles of strawberries. In the summer, neighbors stop by,
pick up some produce and leave some cash in the box. You can get in
touch with owners by calling
935-4083.
Blackberries are best gathered by ponds,
or along the river where the street doesnŠt come too close. The bike
paths along the Willamette have kept many Eugeneans in free pie and
purple fingers all summer long.
Once you gather your perishable produce,
obviously youŠll have to do something with it. I recommend sharing
with neighbors you havenŠt met yet or family and friends. DonŠt underestimate
your own family either. We gobbled up 15 lbs. of cherries in one week
a few summers ago. Cherry smoothies, cherry-dill-arugula-cream cheese
sandwiches, cherry ice cream ŕ Or, if youŠre up to it, call the Extensions
Office for canning tips.
The most satisfying part is the repetitive
task of gathering, sampling, wandering in search of the most heavily
loaded bush or tree. This is our source of life, this food, and honoring
it feels great.
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