No matter how young or how old, everyone can make a difference. So says Lily Bussel, 17, of Eugene, Oregon. Knowing she wanted to help others, she combined her love of cupcakes with fund-raising, and voila! Henry D. Sheldon High School had its own Cupcake Club. The Cupcake Club makes homemade cupcakes every week, sells them Tuesdays after school, and at the end of the month they donate the profits to local charities.
“I've never really thought that baking would take off for me like this,” said Lily. “But it really has and I’m thinking about possibly maybe a cupcake shop later on in life and donating a portion of the proceeds to charity. So this baking, this is hopefully going to stay for a little while."
The Cupcake Club votes on where to donate the profits at the end of every month. So far, they've given over a $1000 to agencies from Birth to Three to FOOD for Lane County to Womenspace.
"Find something you love to do, and use that skill or hobby to benefit others," she advises. "Many obstacles will arise, but you have to be flexible. Remain optimistic, be persistent and be willing to compromise in order to attain your goal."

        

Maude Irvine Kerns (1876 – 1965) was an American artist. Kerns was born in 1876 in Portland, Oregon, where she was raised by her pioneer parents. After high school, she graduated from the University of Oregon, the California School of Fine Arts and later Columbia University, where she received a second degree in fine arts under the guidance of Arthur Wesley Dow. After spending time traveling through Asia and Europe seeing the works of Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Paul Klee and others from the avant-garde art movement, as well as a stint with renowned art teacher Hans Hofmann, Kerns returned to teach art at the University of Oregon in Eugene where she was named head of the Arts Department. She remained until her retirement in the 1940s. Many of her early works were destroyed during a fire at the art school.




The Maude Kerns Art Center is a non-profit community center for the visual arts. Our goal is to promote and advocate appreciation and creation of the visual arts by offering a wide variety of exhibition programs, educational programs for all ages, facilities for artists, public events, and support for community artists. The Center is Eugene's only non-profit community center for the visual arts.


Mission Statement:
To nurture artistic expression and creativity in the individual and to cultivate an appreciation and understanding of art and culture in our community.

        

The Prefontaine Classic is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field.


Originally started as the Hayward Field Restoration Race, in 1975 the name was changed to Prefontaine Classic on the namesake of the legendary University of Oregon distance runner and Olympian Steve Prefontaine who was killed in a car accident a week prior to the meet. The meet is also referred to as the Nike Prefontaine Classic as Nike has been the title sponsor since 1978.


The 2009 Prefontaine Classic will be held on Sunday, June 7th in Eugene, Oregon. Start time will be at approximately 10:45 a.m. Pacific Time, If you can't it make to Hayward Field in person, you can watch the meet live on NBC from 11:00a to 1:00pm.

        

Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park, also known simply as Honeyman State Park, is located three miles south of Florence, Oregon.


Originally named Camp Woahink, the park was created by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), and was later renamed to honor Jessie M. Honeyman (1852 – 1948) of Portland. As president of the Oregon Roadside Council, Honeyman worked with Samuel Boardman, Oregon's first Superintendent of State Parks in the 1920s and 1930s, to preserve Oregon coastal lands.


Honeyman is the second largest overnight camp in the state. There are two miles of sand dunes between the park and the ocean. Two natural freshwater lakes are within the park.


Nature programs, bird watching, wildlife viewing and picnic facilities are among other activities available if water sports aren't your cup of tea. The dunes are a great spot for taking an ATV for a ride, while hikers will love the park's various trails with views of the lakes.




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Originally a crossing point on the river, settlement began in the early 1900s. Bend was incorporated as a city in 1905. Economically, it started as a logging town, but is now identified as a gateway for many outdoor sports, including mountain biking, fishing, hiking, camping, rock climbing, white-water rafting, skiing, and golf.


The name Bend was derived from "Farewell Bend," the designation used by early pioneers to refer to the location along the Deschutes River where the town eventually was platted, one of the few fordable points along the river.


The settlement "Farewell Bend", was later shortened to "Bend" by the U.S. Postal Service.


Tourism is one of Bend's largest sectors. The Mount Bachelor ski resort brings in tourists from all over Oregon, Washington, and California. The nearby Cascade Lakes are also a large draw for tourists. Recreational activities include downhill and cross country skiing, hiking, biking, rafting, golfing, camping, fishing, picnicking, rock climbing, and general sightseeing


 Spelunking, also called caving, in the lava tubes at Skeleton Cave, Arnold Ice Caves or Lava River Caves will show you how the underground half lives. Lava River Cave, Oregon's longest continuous lava tube, is a good beginner cave for families to explore.


For a panoramic view of Bend and the volcanic peaks around it, take a walk or a drive to the top of Pilot Butte. From this 511 feet high volcanic cindercone, you can see a vista of the high desert region, including nine snowcapped Cascade peaks.






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Built of wood instead of stone, like most of the other lighthouses along the Pacific Coast, the white-frame Yaquina Bay Lighthouse in Newport, Oregon, has stood the test of time.


The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was built on a piece of land surrounded by woods and overlooking both ocean and bay. With this location it was able to shine its beams 12 miles out to sea, giving sailors the visibility needed to safely navigate into the harbor.



Whale oil was used as the fuel to keep the lamp lit, thus creating a full-time job just in keeping the light shining day and night. The only keeper the lighthouse knew was Charles Pierce, who lived in the quarters attached to the building with his wife and six children.



By the late 1940s, officials had announced plans to demolish the much-decayed lighthouse. Local residents, stressing the historical importance of the structure, strongly objected. Concerned citizens formed the Lincoln County Historical Society to save the property. After years of community involvement, state officials agreed the site was worth preserving.


The lighthouse now currently operates as a museum within Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site.



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What is believed to be the world's only Bigfoot trap is located in the Siskiyou National Forest in the southern part of Jackson County, Oregon, a few miles from the California state border. It was designed to capture a Bigfoot (or Sasquatch), the legendary hominid that is said to live in the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

The trap was built in 1974 by the North American Wildlife Research Team (NAWRT), a defunct organization based in Eugene, Oregon, that was inspired by Perry Lovell, a miner who lived near the Applegate River, who claimed to have found 18-inch-long human-like tracks in his garden. NAWRT operated the trap, keeping it baited with carcasses for six years, but caught only bears.

Since then the trap had been abandoned and was deteriorating. In 2006 the United States Forest Service, under the Passport in Time program, began to repair the trap. The trap has become a tourist attraction over the past 30 years and hundreds of people visit it annually.

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After the Cape Perpetua area article I felt a great need to go and visit this beautiful place. Not much has changed since I was a kid. This place still remains vast, and full of great wonder. We arrived on a day when fog swept through.






Here is the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area article

        

Detroit Lake is a reservoir impounded by the Detroit Dam on the North Santiam River. Detroit Lake is situated over a historical road bed of the former Oregon Pacific Railroad. This route was built by Colonel T. Egenton Hogg as a proposed transcontinental railroad. Because of a lack of funding, the line terminated in Idanha, southeast of the lake. Idanha had rail service until the 1950s, when the track was removed for installation of the Detroit and Big Cliff reservoirs. Detroit Lake was created in 1953 after the completion of the dam. Part of the Willamette Valley Projects, the lake was intended primarily for flood control and power generation but has become one of the major recreation resources in western Oregon.


Detroit Lake is 3,580 acres in size. Its average depth is 121 feet. The deepest section of the lake is nearly 450 feet.


Detroit Lake is surrounded by rolling hills covered with enormous douglas firs. On a map, Detroit lake resides within the outskirts of the Willamette State Forest. Mountains can be seen in the distance, rising above the hills. Sometimes in the aerlay spring, snow still clings to the distant mountains, making the scenic views picturesque.


Detroit Lake campground has full hookups, electrical, tent sites, visitor center, two moorage docks, fishing dock, wildlife viewing area, two playgrounds, two designated swimming areas, and an ADA fishing dock.



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Cape Perpetua, the last of the cape trio, was named by Captain James Cook in 1778. Cook passed by as he fearlessly continued north on his fruitless search for the Pacific link to the Northwest Passage


The 2,700-acre Cape Perpetua Scenic Area was set aside by the Siuslaw National Forest in the early 1960's for its unique characteristics, a Sitka spruce rainforest with a transition to the sea. Sites within the Scenic Area include Devil's Churn, the Cape Perpetua Overlook (highest point along the Oregon Coast), the Cape Perpetua Campground, Cook's Chasm, and the Spouting Horn.


26 miles of hiking trails through coastal mature and old growth rain forests, to breathtaking vistas, tidepools and the beach. The viewpoints and trails are open to the public year round. Some of the trails are wheelchair accessible, one is suitable for mountain biking, and all provide opportunities for birding. The most popular forest trail leads the visitor one mile to the Giant Spruce Tree - a massive tree that is over 500 years old.


Cape Perpetua Scenic Area and built the Cape Perpetua Visitor Center in the 1960s to highlight the unique beauty of the central Oregon coast.The Cape Perpetua Visitor Center is located two miles south of Yachats. The visitor center offers spectacular views of the ocean and coast from its deck. It is also a popular place to watch migrating gray whales. The visitor center has comprehensive natural history and cultural exhibits, an interactive children's science area, a theater with nature films, and a bookstore.



Area Hiking Trails

1. Captain Cook Trail (to tide pools) - 0.6-mile loop from the Interpretive Center, under Highway 101, through wind-sculpted vegetation, past an old CCC camp, Indian shell middens and tide pools. At high tide the Spouting Horn can be observed across Cook's Chasm. Paved, easy walk.

2. Cape Cove Trail (to beach) - 0.3-mile trail past Cape Cove Beach connecting the Captain Cook Trail to the Trail of Restless Waters. Paved, easy walk.


3. Trail of Restless Waters (to Devil's Churn) 0.4-mile loop from the Devil's Churn parking area, past Devil's Churn along the lava rocks and tide pools to join the Cape Cove Trail 0.7-mile from the Interpretive Center. Watch for sneaker waves. Wheelchair accessible to ocean overlook. Paved, but steep trail.

4. Giant Spruce Trail - 2.0 miles round trip from the Interpretive Center to the 500 year-old "Giant Spruce". The trail parallels Cape Creek and goes through old growth forest with lush ferns, skunk cabbage, and the sound of birds. Easy walk.

5. St. Perpetua Trail (to the viewpoint) - 2.6 miles round trip from the Interpretive Center to the viewpoint. The switch-backed trail climbs the south face of Cape Perpetua and affords some excellent views of the Pacific Ocean. A 600-foot change in elevation occurs from the trails' lowest point to the top of the Cape. Moderate to difficult hike.


6. Whispering Spruce Trail - 0.25-mile loop from the Viewpoint Road (Rd. 5553) parking lot, which is a 2.25-mile drive from the Interpretive Center. Great ocean views from the highest point on the Oregon Coast. Trail goes to CCC-built stone promontory and West Shelter. Easy walk.

7. Oregon Coast Trail (ocean views) - 2.6 miles round trip from the Interpretive Center. This trail overlooks the rocky shoreline and ties into the Gwynn Creek and Cummins Creek Loop trails. Moderate walk.

8. Cook's Ridge/Gwynn Creek Loop Trail (old growth) - 6.4-mile loop opportunity from the Interpretive Center through old growth forest, and has several ocean views. The trail begins at the top of the upper parking lot and goes around the Discovery Loop. Moderate hike.

9. Discovery Loop Trail (dense forest) - 1.0-mile loop from the Interpretive Center on the Cook's Ridge Trail. Travels through a variety of forest stages. Moderate hike.


10. Cummins Creek Loop Trail (old growth) - 10-mile loop from the Interpretive Center up Cook's Ridge Trail to Cummins Creek Trail, down to the Oregon Coast Trail and back to the Interpretive Center. The trail has ocean views and goes through old growth and open meadows. Moderate to difficult hike.

The Cummins Creek Trail also loops back on itself to provide an alternative opportunity (6.25 miles) for mountain bikers and hikers.

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