At its monthly meeting last week the  Operation Coquille, Inc. Board approved  the application from the Hat Shop to come  under the tax exempt umbrella. Their project  emphasis is providing a central point  where individuals and families can get  information about where to obtain special  needs services in this area. They are located  at 142 Central (across from Truffles.)

Their  project is The Teen and Parent Resource  Center which is currently being updated at  this time. The mission of the resource center  is to provide information about all available  resources (local, national and on the  web) to teens and parents with regard to  related youth issues of depression, suicide,  addiction, and self injury. They have some  teens volunteering already at the Hat Shop  and would like to create a street team to  educate the public about teen problems and  resources for dealing with them. They are  proposing a new motto for teen groups -  “nothing in excess.” Jenny Rose is the key  contact person at the Hat Shop.  The pool project committee says it  needs thirty more signatures on petitions  supporting their request for an Urban  Renewal Agency commitment of $250,000.  For individuals who haven’t yet signed a  petition, they are available at both Judy’s  New Image on Central and at the Sentinel  office on First. Another grant request for  $500,000 is in the process of being prepared  and expected to be submitted next  month.

Meanwhile the new swimming season  has gotten underway. Because of the  slowing of grant funding due to the nationwide  economic recession this will not be  the last season for the existing pool. There  will be at least one more season for the  existing pool before new pool construction  could possibly get under way. Depending  on how soon economic recovery occurs it  may be even longer before enough funding  commitments can secured so that actual  construction scheduling can be accomplished.  . The River Walk Trail project continues  selling honor bricks to raise funds for the  project. Purchase forms are available at the  community center, city hall and the Sentinel  office. These bricks will ultimately become a  part of the trail surface between the parking  area near Fat Tuesdays and the old railroad  trestle. Two sizes are available (4"x8" and  8"x8") at $50.00 and $75.00 respectively.

Sample bricks can be seen at the Sentinel  office and in the community center near the  entry to the large auditorium. The project  committee is exploring several additional  fund raising activities.  The hanging flower baskets are beautifying  the core area and Central, but the project  committee says that they can still use a few  more volunteers for manning the watering  truck this summer. Watering is done on  Tuesday and Thursday each week and takes  about 1 ½ hours to make the rounds.  Interested persons can sign up at the Coquille  Garden Shop on Central between Curves and  the Motel.  Operation Welcome provides newcomers  special bags containing information about  services and merchants in Coquille. Earlier  this year bags were going out at the rate of  about one per week.

Newcomers, or those  knowing of newcomers, are invited to call  the Sentinel phone number (396-3191) and  ask for Dian with their requests for these  welcoming bags. The influx of newcomers  has increased during June according to Dian  and the local merchants are being very generous  with items to fill the welcome bags.  Operation Coquille Inc. needs more volunteer  members willing to help carry out community  benefit projects for improving our  quality of life. Individuals can become members  by coming into the Sentinel office on  First St., completing a membership form, and  leaving the form with a dues payment on our  desk. (Dues are only $20 per year.)  Operation Coquille depends primarily on  membership dues to cover its administrative  expenses so all contributions for projects can  be used by the projects for their expenses.

by Lowell Thomas

The pool project committee is in the  final stage of gathering signatures on petitions  supporting their request for an Urban  Renewal Agency commitment of $250,000.  For individuals who haven’t yet signed a  petition, they are available at both Judy’s  New Image on Central and at the Sentinel  office on First. Another grant request for  $500,000 is in the process of being prepared  and expected to be submitted next  month. The project is also waiting to hear  back on the grant application for $10,000  that was submitted last month. Meanwhile  the new swimming season has gotten  underway.

Because of the slowing of grant  funding due to the nationwide economic  recession this will not be the last season for  the existing pool. There will be at least one  more season for the existing pool before  new pool construction could possibly get  under way. Depending on how soon economic  recovery occurs it may be even  longer before enough funding commitments  can secured so that actual construction  scheduling can be accomplished.

Last week t Terrance O’Connor and  Dennis Graham were in Sun River to present  Coquille’s River Walk trail project proposal  to the state committee which is deciding  which of 68 projects applying for funds  will actually get funded this year. The project  committee had hoped to be able to pave  as much of the multi use pathway as the  grant and locally raised funds would allow  this summer. Dennis reports that he doesn’t  feel very optimistic after giving the presentation.  The project continues selling honor  bricks to raise funds for the project.  Purchase forms are available at the community  center, city hall and the Sentinel office.

These bricks will ultimately become a part  of the trail surface between the parking area  near Fat Tuesdays and the old railroad trestle.  Two sizes are available (4"x8" and  8"x8") at $50.00 and $75.00 respectively.  Sample bricks can be seen at the Sentinel  office and in the community center near the  entry to the large auditorium. The project  committee is exploring several additional  fund raising activities.

The hanging flower basket project committee  says that they can still use a few more  volunteers for manning the watering truck  this summer. Watering is done on Tuesday  and Thursday each week and takes about 1 ½  hours to make the rounds. The committee  says that the more 3-person crews that are  signed up, the less frequently each crew has  to be on duty. Interested persons can sign up  at the Coquille Garden Shop on Central  between Curves and the Motel.  The Coquille Valley Historical Society  reports that interest remains high for area history  books. It expects to have sold all copies  currently available before the end of summer.  Since sales are on a “first come, first serve”  basis, the Society suggests local residents  come in early before the normal out of town  tourists buy up the remaining copies of the  several local history books they have available  for sale.

They are at the Coquille Valley  Museum on Central next to Truffles. The  museum is now open weekdays during the  summer.  Operation Welcome provides newcomers  special bags containing information about  services and merchants in Coquille. Earlier  this year bags were going out at the rate of  about one per week. Newcomers, or those  knowing of newcomers, are invited to call  the Sentinel phone number (396-3191) and  ask for Dian with their requests for these  welcoming bags.  Operation Coquille Inc. needs more volunteer  members willing to help carry out  community benefit projects for improving  our quality of life. Individuals can become  members by coming into the Sentinel office  on First St., completing a membership form,  and leaving the form with a dues payment on  our desk. (Dues are only $20 per year.)

Last Saturday was “Gay 90's Day” in  Coquille. Crowds enjoyed a multitude of  events during the festive, sunny day. Not  all events were just “fun.” Many groups  took advantage of having so many folks  visiting the core area to introduce them to  many of the “cultural” activities now available  here. The museum had the authors of  recent Coquille Valley history books on  hand to sign their works for buyers. The  new center for arts education enhancement  and the martial arts training center were  open to show off their programs and new  facilities in the former Barrows Drug building.

The Coquille Dog Park was dedicated  on Saturday, June 6. The project committee  deserves special credit for this accomplishment  completing the project in half the time  and at less than 40% of the cost of a similar  project recently completed in larger community  over in the I-5 corridor.  On June 17 Loran Wiese and Dennis  Graham will be in Sun River to present  Coquille’s River Walk trail project proposal  to the state committee which will decide  which of 68 projects applying for funds  actually get funded this year. The project  committee hopes to pave as much of the  multi use pathway as the grant and locally  raised funds will allow. The project continues  selling honor bricks to raise funds for  the project. Purchase forms are available at  the community center, city hall and the  Sentinel office.

These bricks will ultimately  become a part of the trail surface between  the parking area near Fat Tuesdays and the  trestle. Two sizes are available (4"x8" and  8"x8") at $50.00 and $75.00 respectively.  Sample bricks can be seen at the Sentinel  office and in the community center near the  entry to the large auditorium.  Hanging flower baskets are up and  beginning to fill out. Seiya Nishi says the  cool weather this spring slowed the growth  of the flowers in the baskets prior to their  being hung on the power poles. He expects  that the warmer weather and fertilizers in the  water truck water will accelerate their growth  over the next few weeks. The hanging flower  basket project committee says that they can  still use a few more volunteers for manning  the watering truck this summer.

Watering is  done on Tuesday and Thursday each week  and takes about 1 ½ hours to make the  rounds. The committee says that the more 3-  person crews that are signed up, the less frequently  each crew has to be on duty.  Interested persons can sign up at the Coquille  Garden Shop on Central between Curves and  the Motel.  The Coquille Valley Historical Society  reports that interest remains high for area history  books. It expects to have sold all copies  currently available before the end of summer.  Since sales are on a “first come, first serve”  basis, the Society suggests local residents  come in early before the normal out of town  tourists buy up the remaining copies of the  several local history books they have available  for sale.

Operation Welcome provides newcomers  special bags containing information about  services and merchants in Coquille. Earlier  this year bags were going out at the rate of  about one per week. During May the rate has  dropped to none, but it is expected that activity  will pick up in the summer. Newcomers,  or those knowing of newcomers, are invited  to call the Sentinel phone number (396-3191)  and ask for Dian with their requests for these  welcoming bags.  Operation Coquille Inc. needs more volunteer  members willing to help carry out community  benefit projects for improving our  quality of life. Individuals can become members  by coming into the Sentinel office on  First St., completing a membership form, and  leaving the form with a dues payment on our  desk. (Dues are only $20 per year.)

The Coquille Dog Park will be dedicated  on Saturday, June 6. The project committee  deserves special credit for this  accomplishment. It is a very positive statement  about the character of Coquille folks  that this project was completed in half the  time and for about 36% of the cost of a  similar project recently completed in larger  community over in the I-5 corridor. The  ingenuity exhibited by our committee (led  by Linda Short) in securing not only monetary  donations but donated materials and  labor had to be a factor in getting coquille’s  dog park completed in such an expeditious  fashion. This project is another example of  what causes visitors to comment about their  amazement over how such a small city can  accomplish so much.

On June 17 Loran Wiese and Dennis  Graham will be in Sun River to present  Coquille’s River Walk trail project proposal  to the state committee which will decide  which of 68 projects applying for funds  actually get funded this year. The project  committee hopes to pave as much of the  multi use pathway as the grant and locally  raised funds will allow. The project continues  selling honor bricks to raise funds for  the project. Purchase forms are available at  the community center, city hall and the  Sentinel office. These bricks will ultimately  become a part of the trail surface between  the parking area near Fat Tuesdays and the  trestle. Two sizes are available (4"x8" and  8"x8") at $50.00 and $75.00 respectively.  Sample bricks can be seen at the Sentinel  office and in the community center near the  entry to the large auditorium.

Hanging flower baskets are up! Seiya  Nishi says the cool weather this spring  slowed the growth of the flowers in the  baskets. He expects that the warmer weather  we have been enjoying recently will  accelerate their growth over the next few  weeks. The time for watering crews to start  their scheduled runs began last week. The  hanging flower basket project committee  says that they can still use a few more volunteers  for manning the watering truck this  summer. Watering is done on Tuesday and  Thursday each week and takes about 1 ½  hours to make the rounds. The committee  says that the more 3-person crews that are  signed up, the less frequently each crew has  to be on duty. Interested persons can sign up  at the Coquille Garden Shop on Central  between Curves and the Motel.  The Western Oregon Wind project has  transferred its prototype wind turbine production  to Reedsport

They report that production  is progressing well. The funds for  installing demonstration units for use by  Coquille and Bay area schools are still progressing  through the US Congressional  approval processes in Washington, DC.  Initial performance estimates indicate the  school installations will generate more power  than needed for school use, thereby pumping  surplus electricity into the Northwest Power  Grid. The project hopes that revenues from  sales of surplus power is enough to help the  involved school districts with their current  budget problems.

Operation Welcome provides newcomers  special bags containing information about  services and merchants in Coquille. Earlier  this year bags were going out at the rate of  about one per week. During May the rate has  dropped to none, but it is expected that activity  will pick up in the summer. Newcomers,  or those knowing of newcomers, are invited  to call the Sentinel phone number (396-3191)  and ask for Dian with their requests for these  welcoming bags. The objective of this project  is to help newcomers get situated and familiar  with where they can find locally the  goods and services they need for every day  life.  Operation Coquille Inc. needs more volunteer  members willing to help carry out  community benefit projects for improving  our quality of life. Individuals can become  members by coming into the Sentinel office  on First St., completing a membership form,  and leaving the form with a dues payment on our desk. (Dues are only $20 per year.)

Coquille’s river walk project is one of  68 projects vying for $5.5 million in State  Parks and Recreation funds this year. On  June 17 Loran Wiese and Dennis Graham  will be in Sun River to present Coquille’s  project to the state committee which will  decide which projects get funded this year.  The project committee plans for the  requested funding are to pave as much of  the multi use pathway as the grant and  locally raised funds will allow. The project  continues selling honor bricks to raise  funds for the project. Purchase forms are  available at the community center, city hall  and the Sentinel office. These bricks will  ultimately become a part of the trail surface  between the parking area near Fat Tuesdays  and the trestle. Two sizes are available  (4"x8" and 8"x8") at $50.00 and $75.00  respectively.

Sample bricks can be seen at  the Sentinel office and in the community  center near the entry to the large auditorium.  I had the opportunity to observe a similar  trail along Clear Creek in Golden,  Colorado while I was there for my 50th  year reunion of my graduation from  Colorado School of Mines. The multiplicity  of users was amazing! People of all ages  used the trail for walking, jogging, cycling  skate boarding, exercising their dogs, pushing  strollers filled with babies, visiting with  people residing or resting adjacent to the  trail, fishing just below the trail and bringing  kayaks to and from the Olympic Kayak  Competition Course in the creek. Every  few blocks there was a post containing a  dispenser for “Mutt Mitts” to be used to  clean up after the four legged trail users.  The only “poop” soiling the trail was that  left by members of a flock of Canadian  Geese that have taken up residence in a  nearby park.

Hanging flower baskets are going up  this week. The time for watering crews to  start their scheduled runs will begin next  week. The hanging flower basket project  committee says that they can still use a few  more volunteers for manning the watering  truck this summer. Watering is done on  Tuesday and Thursday each week and takes  about 1 ½ hours to make the rounds. The  committee says that the more 3-person crews  that are signed up, the less frequently each  crew has to be on duty. Interested persons  can sign up at the Coquille Garden Shop on  Central between Curves and the Motel.  The pool committee reports that even in  harsh economic times there are still a few  funding sources accepting grant applications.

This month a new grant application was submitted  to one of them. Currently efforts are  under way on an application to another funding  source. Their fund raising appears to be  on track to match last year’s total again this  year, in spite of the sad state of the national  economy. If they get the commitment they  are requesting from the Urban Renewal  Agency, they will far exceed last year.  Operation Welcome provides newcomers  special bags containing information about  services and merchants in Coquille.  Newcomers, or those knowing of newcomers,  are invited to call the Sentinel phone  number (396-3191) and ask for Dian with  their requests for these welcoming bags. The  objective of this project is to help newcomers  get situated and familiar with where they can  find locally the goods and services they need  for every day life.  Operation Coquille Inc. needs more volunteer  members willing to help carry out  community benefit projects for improving  our quality of life. Individuals can become  members by coming into the Sentinel office  on First St., completing a membership form,  and leaving the form with a dues payment on  our desk. (Dues are only $20 per year.)  Three new projects have been submitted  since the beginning of this year.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN COQUILLE
by Lowell Thomas

The Hanging Flower Basket Committee  reminds the community that this project  depends entirely upon financial support  from the public. Through much trial and  error processes they have managed to  reduce by half of the original financial outlay  the annual cost of beautifying Coquille  with 50 hanging flower baskets and over 30  sidewalk planters. Reflecting current economic  conditions, this year’s donations are  slower coming. In the past sufficient donations  have been received by Gay 90's weekend  to cover the entire annual cost of this  project. This year it appears that appeals  may have to continue well into the summer  to cover all the costs.

The committee urges  all flower lovers to come forth with their  donations now so the project team can concentrate  their summer efforts on maintaining  the flowers. Donations can be mailed  to Operation Coquille at PO Box 525,  Coquille, OR 97423. The committee also  suggests those members of the public who  enjoy the results of their efforts stop by the  Coquille Garden Shop on Central next to  the motel to thank the Nishis for providing  all the materials and plants to the project at  cost and for donating the space for nurturing  the baskets before they are ready to be  hung.

The Pool Committee is still collecting  signatures from city residents who are in  favor of having the Coquille Urban  Renewal Agency commit $250,000 of those  funds to the community pool project. Dian  Courtright and Judy Gederos are out on a  door-to-door campaign to obtain another 50  signatures to go with the 350 already on  hand. The committee hopes that a strong  showing of over 400 city resident support  signatures will convince the Urban  Renewal Agency that this project deserves  priority for Urban Renewal funds. In this  tough economy private funding organizations  are only considering giving grants to  those projects having the strongest local  support. Adding the requested commitment  of Urban Renewal funds to monies already  donated by the general public is needed to  strengthen Coquille’s appeals for funding.

The River Front Walkway project continues  selling honor bricks to raise funds for the  project. Purchase forms are available at the  community center, city hall and the Sentinel  office. These bricks will ultimately become a  part of the trail surface between the parking  area near Fat Tuesdays and the trestle. Two  sizes are available (4"x8" and 8"x8") at  $50.00 and $75.00 respectively. Sample  bricks can be seen at the Sentinel office and  in the community center near the entry to the  large auditorium.  Operation Welcome provides newcomers  special bags containing information about  services and merchants in Coquille.  Newcomers, or those knowing of newcomers,  are invited to call the Sentinel phone  number (396-3191) and ask for Dian with  their requests for these welcoming bags.

Latest reports indicate that Operation  Coquille’s request for Federal funds for a  demonstration distributed network type wind  turbine are still included in a major appropriations  bill in Congress. This project is  intended to demonstrate a practical way of  providing locally generated electrical power  that could survive the effects of major disasters  such as a major earthquake which could  destroy the existing power grid lines which  now provide the majority of electrical power  throughout this area.

Local supporters are  being urged to write or e-mail Congressman  DeFazio to encourage his continued efforts in  support of this legislation.  Operation Coquille Inc. needs more volunteer  members willing to help carry out  community benefit projects for improving  our quality of life. Individuals can become  members by coming into the Sentinel office  on First St., completing a membership form,  and leaving the form with a dues payment on  our desk. (Dues are only $20 per year.)  Three new projects have been submitted  since the beginning of this year. Staffing and  funding these projects will provide opportunities  for more community-minded volunteers  to become involved in enhancing the  quality of life in Coquille.