POLITICAL STAGE MAKES WAY FOR ACTING.

Byline: Eric Florip The Register-Guard

Sandra Rennie couldn't imagine herself living anywhere but Springfield.

And she won't - Rennie, 75, and her husband, Gordon, have lived in their home in east Springfield since 1956, and they have no plans to leave anytime soon.

A former politician who spent eight years on the Springfield City Council before a brief stint as the city's first female mayor from 1986 to 1987, Rennie has been an active member of the community for as long as she can remember. But she took an unusual path to get into public office, starting in 1976 when a City Council position opened in her ward.

"I didn't even think about it, frankly," she said. But after Rennie and her husband were approached by two local activists who suggested they seek the position, Rennie decided to run for the office. She was elected that fall, and served two four-year terms as a city councilor.

"I think Sandra did a great job," said Bill Morrisette, one of the recruiting activists who now serves in the state Senate. "I think she brought a woman's perspective to the council."

Near the end of her political career, Rennie decided to return to her roots - the arts. She also said she didn't want to overstay her welcome in public office.

"I figured I had done my stint, and it was somebody else's turn," Rennie said. "I think there is a time when people who have been in political office for a long time have been there long enough, and it needs new blood."

She still serves on various boards and councils, but she does have more time to devote to her old focus of acting, as a University of Oregon graduate in speech and drama. Even before stepping out of public office, Rennie acted in the first production held at the Robinson Theatre after it was dedicated to retiring professor Horace Robinson in 1976.

"I enjoyed it tremendously," Rennie said. "It was not hard to do - it was like putting on an old shoe. It was comfortable."

Rennie has since acted in a number of plays and even traveled with Encore Theater, a senior theater group that performed for at-risk youths and detention centers around the state until 2006.

Rennie and her husband now spend a large part of their time with Antique Peddlers downtown. The two have operated a space in the store since its opening in 1985.

The couple's house has the look of an antique shop, with plenty of old trinkets and decorations covering the walls. Gordon also collects and restores dozens of old clocks - even he doesn't know how many - the oldest of which date back to the early 19th century.

"I just sort of came by it naturally," Rennie said. "My parents were inveterate collectors. They just collected everything, and they loved it."

During more than 50 years living together in Springfield, Rennie and her husband also have witnessed a lot of growth within the city. Though their house was once an isolated rural home, it now sits in the middle of a full-blown neighborhood near Thurston High School.

"When we moved here, there was a bean field over here, a corn field across the street and a dairy over there," Rennie said. "The city caught up with us."