Cottage Grove

I'm pretty sure I'm getting my metaphors mixed up from PSY 201 when I say this, but Oregon is very gestalt in that the sum of its parts are greater than its whole.  Looking at page 33 in the 1994 Rand McNally Atlas will show you a good road map of Oregon, but our state is better represented as a series of small towns--each with its own quirky and unique characteristics.  Cottage Grove is the perfect example.  

Founded in 1848 by Lord William de Cottage Grove and ruined in 1957 by Interstate 5, Cottage Grove still clings to one of the state's best under-appreciated downtown areas to this day.  Don't believe me?  Check out the last 20 minutes of a little movie called "Animal House."  'Nuff said.  In 2005, Cottage Grove was even the home of the 25th anniversary party of the release of Animal House, and it won't surprise anyone that reads this that I was there with bells on.  

Before I go any further, I just want to say that Mayor Gary Williams was extremely friendly, and the first Mayor to give me a town pin.  I didn't even know that towns had official pins, but they do.  I met him in Salem at the OMA and he was the first Mayor to shake my hand and make me feel welcome despite the fact that I was using up their catered lunch time with this silly project.

Okay, that said, Mayor Williams has some serious party planning skills.  Or skillz, if you will.  And that Animal House weekend was one of the craziest weekends of my young life.   Sure, it helped that a friend of mine won the John Belushi look-alike contest.  And yeah, maybe I had been drinking for a good chunk of the two days I was there.   But it warmed the cockles of my beer-infused heart that a little town of 9,000 people could welcome a crowd of 50,000 into the streets of their downtown, and then disperse them with fire hoses after the parade was over.  It was chaos:  People were running in every direction trying to escape the downpour.  Seriously!  But instead of terror and panic, everyone had a knowing grin on their faces as if to convey, "We knew what we were getting into when we came here, and we're enjoying it."

And that's what Oregon is:  A whole bunch of towns filled with people that--for the most part--knew what they were getting into when they came here, and are enjoying it.  Despite the downpour.

Oh, and also I don't have any pictures of Cottage Grove because I jumped in the pool of the Comfort Suites with my camera in my pocket.  I tried to fix it by taking it apart, but it's way too gestalt.

Seven down, 235 to go.