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Last Monday evening saw the Fern Ridge School District Board hold their monthly meeting. During this time, it was revealed that if voters pass a bond measure for $15.6 million in May, the district is on the short list to also receive a grant for $6 million.
This bond, if passed, would result in homeowners being charged $2.20 per $1,000 of value in their home and is based on other districts statewide. While nobody likes higher taxes, the benefits are many. As stated by Scott Rose, a Facilities Consultant hired by the district, the monies would be spent on such things as a new track at Elmira High School complete with a synthetic turf football field in the center and aluminum grandstands. Also included in the plan is loose equipment such as hurdles, pole vaults, and a scoreboard along with plans for a new restroom/concession building. Veneta Elementary School could see a gymnasium upgrade complete with a new floor, pads, ceilings, equipment, and improved heating. Expanded field development for grades K-12 as well as the community in general is also included in the district’s “bucket list.” Safety is also a concern, and exterior doors that have reached the end of their lifespans and are not latching properly at the high school will be replaced with the passage of the bond and the receipt of the grant, and a 6’ chain-link perimeter with fire department approved lane gates will be installed. Heating and ventilation systems issues at both the high school and the middle school will be addressed and the middle school science wing will be updated for contemporary instruction/STEM with these renovations resulting in code improvements to interior ramps. Also, to be potentially addressed is the stand-alone covered shelter, which is decaying as well as too small, with conversation to focus on options for another outdoor area for students to enjoy, possibly resulting in repurposed space off the gym and commons that will facilitate wallball, hoops, and seating. The middle school Home Economics room could also see renovation as could the Band and Choir rooms and all General Education classrooms. Veneta Elementary School, Fern Ridge Middle School, and Elmira High School could all see repaved parking lots and in the case of the elementary school, an expansion, along with a reconfiguration of the middle school parking lot to relive the congestion as parents drop off and pick up their children. Further work at Veneta Elementary focuses on the playground and the flooding that impedes access to the play structures. Elmira Elementary has issues with poor drainage at the rear of the building that would be addressed, and the kindergarten playground needs to be enlarged. It is also hoped to add a walking track comprised of a ¼ mile of wood chips around Elmira’s field. The School Board will not officially vote to put this bond on the ballot, however, until their meeting in February when things will then become official. At this time, they will take a vote with certain projects included as put together by a community bond planning committee. Whie it may seem like a lot of work that the district has planned and maybe even pie in the sky to some, it has been worked out so all of it is covered under the bond and the potential grant and would be a boon to students, staff, and parents alike. But the decision will ultimately rest with voters and what they are or are not willing to do. Should the Board vote to go ahead with the bond, and it seems likely, voters will at least have time to think about the pros and cons of either voting for or against it, and hopefully will make a decision that will be in the best interest of all, in particular the children.
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 Wander into Fern Ridge Community Library on a certain Tuesday morning and you are likely to see an announcement on the whiteboard by the book bike touting Daisy Chain and a Sing and Sign program. You might even be curious enough to take a peek into the Konnie Room in which the program is held. If you do so, you will see that the tables have been pushed aside and the center of the floor is covered by a pair of bright mats festooned with letters, numbers, shapes, and animals in English as well as Spanish as you might expect in a preschool.
Positioned around those mats are indeed preschool aged children and younger along with at least one parent and sometimes both as well as a younger sibling. The anticipation is high as the children and their parents get ready for the morning’s Sing and Sign class put on by Daisy Chain, a local non-profit that strives to provide postpartum services not necessarily available elsewhere. Daisy Chain was founded in 2012 when after many discussions around a kitchen table, research was begun into the services and resources that were available in Lane County and it was discovered that there was a need for their skills in postpartum care. Working together, the founders combined their professional, educational, and personal experiences to bring about the programs and services Daisy Chain offers. These days, Daisy Chain is considered at the forefront of providing doula, lactation, pregnancy, birthing and parenting resources with a purpose of providing individuals and families with research and evidence-based support services in their reproductive years. Daisy Chain’s programs are free of charge to all families and are brought forth in both private homes and locations throughout the community by staff and volunteers who are highly skilled and professionally trained. Fern Ridge Library is one such locale after a partnership with Daisy Chain was entered into April 2023 and it’s Sing and Sign is as much for the parents as it is for the children as they learn how to relieve stress though singing. Led by Kelani Larson with assistance from Tori Yoder, Sing and Sign, which as the name suggests, incorporates sign language into the songs, begins with an acknowledgement of those children in attendance as each of their names is used in a song that doubles as a greeting to welcome them to “the show.” Then other songs such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star are sung while Larson also does sign language and the children pretend to do such things as climb into a rocket and blast off to the moon. Finger plays are also engaged in as a way of teaching the children how to count and packets that are assembled for the children beforehand allow them to participate in a song while using felt characters to count backwards and be silly with things such as scarves while dancing. A total of 12 songs and dances such as The Hokey Pokey are performed, and the program then ends with singing a goodbye song. At this point, the children are welcome to get toys such as Legos and a plastic VW van stuffed with tiny people and animals out to play while their parents are welcomed into the Nursing Nook to receive whatever they might need at any stage of nursing such as night weaning, getting a baby started on solids, and weaning to a cup. Parents, who have become acquainted over the weeks, chat with one another as their children make themselves comfortable on the rugs and enjoy a little unstructured time before they must leave. In another two weeks, they will gather again, and the Konnie Room will once again become alive with singing, laughter, and the stomps of little feet dancing about. All the while, the children are learning and preparing for the day they will walk into a Kindergarten classroom. Right alongside them, their parents are learning, too. The next Sing and Sing will be held on February 13th. If you have a child or children aged five or under, feel free to join in. Caption – A exuberant youngster dances while Kelani Larson leads her young audience in yet another song.
A normally placid parking lot was ablaze in the flashing of police lights and those in the vicinity were wide-eyed as three men were taken into custody on suspicion of drug trafficking on January 4th after a continuing investigation by Lane County Sheriff’s deputies led them to the parking lot of the West Lane Center at Highway 126 and Territorial.
Ronald Antonio Aguilar-Espinoze 24, and Edil Mario Zuinga-Navarro 19 were found to have warrants for their arrest from Multnomah County for Delivery of a Controlled Substance. A subsequent search of the car, a Chrysler 300 sedan, led deputies to seize nearly a pound of fentanyl powder, several hundred pressed fentanyl pills, and 3 ounces of heroin. A related warrant also led to the seizure of a pair of firearms. Aguilar-Espinoza, Zuniga-Navarro, and the third person in the vehicle, Josef Dylan Burns, 55, were taken into custody and charged with various drug offenses. Aguilar-Espinoza and Zuniga-Navarro were lodged at the Lane County Jail on their outstanding warrants and the investigation is continuing with more charges possible. Authorities describe the seizure as “large-scale.”  From repairs and renovations to vandalism, to sports, much is going on or has been completed in the Fern Ridge School district as the winter term gets underway.
For starters, the district employed Federal Tite IV funds when it purchased an antenna for the district office roof, a repeater that will be located in the basement and one radio for each building. This was done out of concern over the inability of the District Office to communicate with school during phone/electricity outages coupled with spotty and otherwise ineffective cell service. With this device, one radio will be installed at each school that can be utilized in speaking with the District Office, even in the event of a power outage or no cell phones in the building. Tests were conducted showing things worked well and installation will begin within the week. Also, winter break saw the middle school receiving new carpet in the commons area and the setting up of a new intercom/PA system. While all the larger work has been completed, the project should be finished in totality in two weeks. The high school, meanwhile, had some very old popcorn ceiling (asbestos) removed. Unfortunately, on Christmas night, an unidentified vehicle drove on the main field at the middle school and on the grass in front of the high school, which resulted in substantial damage that was incurred while the driver performed “cookies.” The district does have the ability to lock the gate at the middle school and both gates at the high school, which would prevent this from taking place, however, doing so becomes problematic for teams that engage in late practices or come home late from a game, not to mention custodians coming in to work. Another reason for leaving the gates open at the high school is that two of the three are what’s known as “bar gates” and in the past at least three individuals have collided with them after not being aware they were down. There have also been two very close calls where serious injury could have been sustained. However, the district may be forced to rethink this decision to leave the gates open. Photos of the suspect vehicle can be seen on Superintendent Gary Carpenter’s Facebook page. Several months ago, Lisa Leatham, principal of Veneta Elementary School announced that she would be retiring. Her position has been posted since early December and will close in mid-January. A hiring committee comprised of seven individuals has been formed to oversee the appointing of her successor, which will not be easy as she is leaving large shoes to fill. The district is also looking to hire a School Psychologist. There has been no luck in filling it for several years, but things are looking up after the University of Oregon psychology program was reached out to and two applicants will soon be interviewed. A School Psychologist would be an asset to staff, parents, and students alike and the district will no longer have to contract out for these required services. Winter sports are hot and heavy with boys’ and girls’ basketball, wrestling and cheer. Territorial Sports Program is also offering a wide selection of sports along with basketball and school gyms are seeing heavy use. This year is the first time that Oregon high school basketball has used shot clocks. Currently, they are mandatory at the Varsity level. Below that, they are optional only. Lastly, in December the school board voted to continue to use Planned Parenthood but has also requested that other options be explored. Prior to any instruction the district will hold a parent night at each school where presenters will review the curriculum/material to be used and answer any questions. Any parent who wishes to do so can opt their child out of the instruction. This month, the board will be voting to renew sponsorship of West Lane Charter School. If approval is gained, negotiations will begin on the new contract for what is assumed to be another five years. This is all for now, but more will be shared monthly after the board meets on the third Monday of the month. This may be a small district, but it’s a busy one.  Steve Benavides has enjoyed singing practically all his life. As a kid growing up in Cave Junction, Oregon, he sang in the choir at church and in middle school, he won the role of Teen Two in a production of “We Are the World,” based on the hit song from the 1980’s. In high school, he focused on sports rather than music, and was a star pitcher for the baseball team. He also played football and basketball and wrestled. However, he decided he wanted to learn how to act but after speaking with the instructor, found himself in the school choir “by accident” where he sang as a tenor.
The instructor had a lot of faith in Benavides, and Benavides himself always knew he could sing, but for a while he focused on being a self-described “hoodlum” after he and his mother and seven siblings moved to Pheonix, Oregon, following his parents’ divorce. Fortunately, his life of crime was short lived, and things began to turn around. It was while on a trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain in southern California with a friend when he was 18 that Benavides recorded a record for his mom in a demo booth. As he recounts it, “We had just gotten off the log ride and were soaking wet when my friend suggested I make a recording.” He decided ‘why not?’ and proceeded to cover the song “Every Rose Has it’s Thorn” by Poison as well as “Friends in Low Places,” by Garth Brooks, which his mother loved. Benavides didn’t give the matter much more thought until moving to Veneta at age 20 to join his mom and learning that he was something of a local celebrity due to her having played the demo for many appreciative people. His mother, who wanted him to do something to get out of the house, suggested that he make singing a career and to show just how much faith she had in her son, she came home one evening with a clipping from the now shuttered Seafood Grotto restaurant in Eugene touting a karaoke contest. Benavides entered and won 4th place. This was followed by competing at the Seafood Grotto’s Springfield restaurant in part two of the competition where he was pitted against 49 other people from around the country. Cameras were everywhere to record the contest, Benavides remembers, as were his friends, cousins, and then girlfriend, who all came to cheer him on. He performed “Blaze of Glory” by Jon Bon Jovi and won. His confidence in his ability as a singer grew and he began to think that his mother was right, that maybe he could make it as a singer. This belief in himself was then reinforced when a friend in Medford proposed that he should sing at a bar in Ashland. When he performed “Friends in Low Places,” he brought the house down. Benavides had caught the performing bug and competed again, this time at the Golden Years Festival in Coburg which found him pitted against two bands, one of which was Red Desert. He placed 2nd and was then approached by the band’s manager who asked him to join. Two months later, Benavides became a bona fide member. The band played together for a while, but things such as the death of a guitarist and the leaving of two others ended things but Benavides and a bandmate he declined to name continued to perform together at locales such as the Sweet Home Jamboree, Chinook Winds casino, Three Rivers Casino, along with traveling to gigs in Portland and Washington. Further, Benavides and his bandmate opened for the likes of Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sara Evans, Sawyer Brown, and Ricky Van Shelton. Benavides drummer even taught the drummer for Confederate Railroad how to do the double pedal stomp. As the gigs continued, Benavides and his entourage traveled through Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota. It was a dream come true, this touring and singing, and though things weren’t always the best on a personal level, professionally, they couldn’t not have been better. Then, Covid hit and 2 ½ years of gigs that had been scheduled were abruptly ended. While on lockdown, Benavides used the time to hone his guitar skills and proceeded to learn some 300 songs. Once the pandemic ended, he found himself and his group, Redrock Project, really having to struggle to find jobs as businesses everywhere toiled to get back on track. Steadily, things have gotten better, and Benavides and his band are “excited” to get back on stage doing what they love. When jobs started being offered again, Benavides says other bands became angry with him for being given opportunities they weren’t, but he didn’t let this bother him or slow him down. As a solo artist, Benavides is a regular performer at Crazy Al’s in Veneta, along with the Beer Station and Bugsy’s in Junction City. He is established as a performer at the Veneta Harvest Festival and has played at the Eagles Club in Eugene. Later this year, he and his band have been asked to sing at the Sister’s Rodeo and at the Prineville Hardtails. “The future is bright,” Benavides says. There is a lot to look forward to and he hopes to continue to perform for as long as he can. As he succinctly puts it, “You can’t keep a good band down.” Also, he adds, “Brown chicken, brown cow.” |
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