Country generations.Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard To some, the Oregon Country Fair The Oregon Country Fair (OCF) is a three-day fair that takes place yearly beginning on the Friday of the second weekend in July in Veneta, Oregon, approximately 15 miles west of Eugene, with an attendance of approximately 45,000 over the three day period, with attendance peaking conjures up images of graying hippies, but Justin Scott says the fair is really about youthfulness. "The adults that are here are kids at heart anyway," says Scott, 28. "All of the people who seemed old to me when I was growing up, they don't seem any older to me now." Scott knows a thing or two about getting older at the fair. He's the son of General Manager Leslie Scott Leslie Scott may refer to:
n. A culture, especially of young people, with values or lifestyles in opposition to those of the established culture. coun gathering in the woods near Veneta at least 22 times. Over the years, he's worked every job from recycling to construction to coordinating the Youth Stage to serving on the 250-person Teen Crew, the fair's training program for future organizers. At this year's fair, which happens Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Scott will be working in crew services, providing water, refreshments and solar showers for volunteers. "I've grown up there, and my heart is still really with the Country Fair," Scott says. "It's the connections and all the friends I've made through the years." It isn't just the young-at-heart attitude that makes the Oregon Country Fair more spry An application framework from Adobe for building rich Internet applications using HTML. Spry takes the tedium out of writing AJAX code and also includes routines for creating animation effects and building widgets. For more information, visit http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/spry. than its 35 years suggest, Scott says. The counterculture gathering is staffed by a number of young volunteers, some of whom look more like Warped Tour Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues (generally parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected). fans than Woodstock survivors. "I'm a big-city kid who just loves to hug my trees once a summer," says Rivka Gross, 29, an industrial design student who grew up in Eugene, lives in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and never misses a fair. Gross works security at the fair and apparently prefers red-tipped cowgirl boots to standard issue Birkenstocks. She claims to have been to 30 fairs, even though she was in the womb for her first one. It's not uncommon to hear similar sentiments from other fair kids, some of whom remember tromping around the fair site when they could barely walk. "Growing up here was great, it's such a safe place," says Max Schwartz, a buff 19-year-old who works as a quartermaster quartermaster Officer who oversees arrangements for the quartering and movement of troops. The office dates at least to the 15th century in Europe. The French minister of war under Louis XIV created a quartermaster general's department that dotted the countryside with at the fair. `My parents would just put me in a white T-shirt that said `Please return to White Bird Medical' on the back and they'd send me off.' Despite the reputation the Country Fair used to have for rampant drug use and out-of-control hippie mayhem, Schwartz's father, Zak, says the former Renaissance Festival offered a nurturing environment. "They got out of (the fair) what I got out of it," Schwartz says, "love and community." Many Oregon Country Fair kids are following in the footsteps of their parents. Chelsea Landman, 24, took over the job once filled by her late father, Marshall, who founded the Community Village. She works in crew services and says she wouldn't ever think of missing a fair. "I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. of anywhere in the entire world where there is a bigger sense of community," Landman says. "I can't imagine myself being where I am today without the Oregon Country Fair." When she's not at the fair, Landman can be found working in retail and studying for a career in elementary school elementary school: see school. education. Max Schwartz goes to cooking school A cooking school or culinary school is an institution devoted to education in the art and science of food preparation. It also awards degrees which indicate that a student has undergone a particular curriculum and therefore displays a certain level of competency. in Portland, and Justin Scott works for a Portland wine distributor. "I'm amazed how many people have jobs that are totally unrelated (to what they do at the fair), things you would never guess," says Aster Grahn, 19, a student intern at the Carter Center The Carter Center is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. It is located at 453 Freedom Parkway in Atlanta, Georgia. in Atlanta, who will be providing media escorts at this year's fair. "I remember being up to my elbows in salmon (in the volunteer kitchen) one year with a woman who runs the law program at American University." Like many others, Grahn's roots at the fair run deep: Her mother, Ande, founded the volunteer kitchen at the fair's Main Camp. Leslie Scott, the fair's general manager, sees the presence of young volunteers as being crucial to the continued health of the fair. Not only are they the torch bearers, she says, but they also make the annual gathering interesting. "They are a huge part of what keeps this thing so dynamic and so alive," Scott says. "As the fair grows, we need to make sure to hold a space open for the young people. We don't have to encourage them to step into it, we just need to hold the space open. They find their own place." OREGON COUNTRY FAIR When: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday Where: Off Highway 126 west of Veneta at 24550 Chickadee chickadee (chĭk`ədē'), small North American bird of the titmouse family. The black-capped chickadee (Parus atricapillus), lively and gregarious, is a permanent resident over most of its range in the East. Lane, about 15 miles from Eugene How much: Advance tickets are $13 for Friday and Sunday, $16 for Saturday; day-of costs $3 more; $40 for three-day tickets; children 10 and younger free with an adult Transportation: Lane Transit District offers free shuttle from Valley River Center Valley River Center is a shopping mall located in Eugene, Oregon. As the largest shopping center south of Portland and north of San Francisco, this mall comprises over 130 local and national stores and restaurants. and the LTD LTD 1 Laron-type dwarfism 2 Leukotriene D 3 Long-term depression, see there 4. Long-term disability downtown station; limited parking at the fair is $5 per vehicle per day Radio: KLCC-FM (89.7 or www.klcc.org) will broadcast live from 11:25 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily On the Web: www.oregoncountryfair.org OREGON COUNTRY FAIR BY THE NUMBERS 18 stages plus ambient performers wandering the paths 300-plus craft and food booths More than 700 artisans Between 30 and 40 first-time artists More than 3,000 volunteers Coming Friday: Preview and schedule of events / Ticket CAPTION(S): Max Schwartz (from left), Aster Grahn, Chelsea Landman and Justin Scott have been coming to the annual Oregon Country Fair since they were babies. They're carrying on their parents' roles and keeping the event dynamic and interesting. |
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