Wood Chips

Oh dear bloggees, I am falling behind. I still owe you a Talk Thursday, but today…yes, the Monday after it’s time for the Oregon Chainsaw Sculpting Championships in Reedsport. An annual Father’s Day weekend event that Ducky and I never miss.

Officially one hundred and fifty years old on February 14th, Oregon celebrates her 150th birthday all year long. This year’s extreme art extravaganza focused on that sesquicentennial milestone.

The Oregon Chainsaw Sculpting Championships features around 20 chainsaw artist who travel the world competing in the Echo Cup Challenge. Chainsaw artist from not only across the States, but also Australia, England, Japan, Germany, and Sweden vie for the first leg’s points.

This year there were fewer moose, a lot of bears, and a few nautical themed pieces, like Oregon’s Cape Blanco (pronounced Blank-0) Lighthouse.

The majority of main event pieces in the competition drew from a series of Oregon’s historical points

A few whimsical pieces

And I think this is my favorite main event piece.

Each morning the carvers are challenged to a quick carve at 10:30. For forty five minutes they carve what ever the wood blank has told their artist eye is captured in side.

Each evening at 5:30 the pieces are auctioned off. It’s a win, win, win situation for the chainsaw artist, the buyers, and the Reedsport / Winchester Bay Chamber of Commerce.
Father’s Day Weekend, next year, be there. Ducky and I will be.

Sith,
Cele

Rhododendron Festival – 2009 Pacific Wonderland

I live in heaven, I love where I live, I live where I love. Florence is a small town to most, sometimes too big to me, but it offers all I want. And my husband is willing to commute eighty miles each way to work. Thank goodness.

On the third full weekend each May Florence celebrates our native Macrophyllium – Rhododendrons.

And some not so native, but beautiful all the same.


We do this with an annual festival that is three days of sun (oh please lord), classic cars, and a parade.


My job is to run all over town on Saturday of the festival, interview people, and remind everyone of the sights they don’t want to miss, bring them the sounds of what they are missing, and remind them to cross traffic on Highway 126 at signaled intersections. In Florence there are only four.

This year I had a two hour break mid day so we started by visiting the car show.
Over four hundred entered this year’s event at Three Rivers Casino. What a cluster !&#! of a traffic jam… but the cars were divine.














Ducky and I have a Rhody tradition. After I get off work Saturday afternoon… usually around 6:30, we go to old town Florence and watch KCST’s Classic Car Cruise.



After we sit and watch the first two or three circuits the cars make, Ducky and I begin walking.

Now, true Florence is not large, Old Town is even smaller, but it makes for a nice walk, we stop and chat with old friends, watch the cars and make our way to the west end of Bay street for a Mocha. Then we walk all the way to the east end of Bay Street (wow, three blocks) and have an elephant ear from the carnival and find a bench on the boardwalk and enjoy the evening.

For the week or so before Rhody Festival I write a parade script. Spend the majority of Sunday of Rhody Weekend broadcasting said script in all its hometown Rhody glory.





BTW, it’s really hard to take pictures while you’re broadcasting the parade.

And then I go home and crash.

I’m at the crashing part.

Sith,
Cele
PS just 363 days until Rhododendron Festival is here (May 22nd – 24th 2010.)

Rhody Fun On 101

I know I’ve been errant this past week or so, it happens every May. Florence holds the second largest festival in the state, I’m mean really doesn’t a beautiful Rhododendron make you want to party and parade?

My task? To take the hundred, or so entries, and make them into a script. This year they invited me to the parade committee meeting where they organize the entries into a comprehensive list of pages that create order out of mass confusion. This year’s parade had fewer miss placed entries, more communication.

After spending a week writing, rewriting, reordering, and a frustrated bout of crying…or two festival weekend kicked off. I worked Saturday morning my normal airshift. Then spent the rest of the day touring town, talking about the festival from different location. My favorite event..

The Rhody Show N’ Shine

The very first car I saw immediately reminded me of Sid and Scott.

Well Scott specifically and his brand new toy…will someday look just like this.

Except this is a '59...and Pink.

Then I found a 1957 Chevy Belaire that reminded my of my very first car…which was actually a 1958 Chevy Belaire that was two tone cream over root beer.


I am a paint job junkie…much better than drugs. Flames seem to be the rage in classic cars. But I love those paint jobs where there is so much clear coat that you seem to fall into the paint job when staring right on. My favorite Black Cherry, but there are a few blues and greens that capture my heart.

Muscle cars are a must.

Saturday’s Show n’ Shine and the evening’s Classic Car Cruise through Old Town Florence was just the perfect diversion needed before Sunday’s parade.

Sith
Cele