Groundwaters

What’s Been Happenin’?

December 15, 2008 on 6:08 pm | In This 'n That | No Comments

Groundwaters has entered its fifth year of publication. Judy Hays-Eberts never imagined that her “gift to the community” would remain so loved and appreciated for so long. As Thanksgiving approached this past year, the Groundwaters‘ staff was reminded of the loving support, both moral and financial, that has kept us on course since we took over production from Judy and Sonny in January 2007. We feel truly blessed.

Judy and Sonny have moved from Veneta. They are now living in a lovely older home in a quiet neighborhood in Philomath, closer to Sonny’s work at Oregon State University. We miss their physical presence in our lives, but we are fortunate to keep up to date by email. Judy’s health has stablized enough that she has fewer days of pain than she did last year and she seems quite happy with their new home. Pat Broome and her husband Dennis spent Thanksgiving dinner with the Hays-Eberts. “…Judy showed us around her garden in the mist. She said she is looking forward to Spring when she will be able to get out in it and see what surprises the previous owner has left. She also has an almond tree and a fig tree (with some figs still on it) as well as some apples…”

Judy writes, “Philomath is a step back in time. We love it, so far. At the local Thriftway, the clerk still takes items out of the cart for the customer. Richey’s in Corvallis is even more old-fashioned (by our generation’s standards), with handwritten signs for the specials, etc. Corvallis and Philomath both seemed to have retained their past, while they have modernized at a slower pace than Lane County. It’s such a pleasure to park for free and see the shops downtown… And, we’re not as concerned about the possibility of things being stolen around here.

“We’re still living with a lot of boxes! Unpacking seems like a slow process. Hopefully, the house will be in order by Thanksgiving – when it will be full of extended family. We’re also getting to know how to live with natural gas. So far, so good…”

On another note, on page 16 of our January issue, you will enjoy the return of an earlier contributor to Groundwaters. In his story, “Natalie and Alexis,” Greg Williams has shared a familiar legend with us in his wonderful Brothers Grimm fairytale style of writing. Welcome back, Greg! With Greg’s story comes a vision for the future of Groundwaters, as well. When an appropriate graphic could not be found to accompany the story, I sought the help of some of our talented “Bubbling Up” contributors to see if one of them would be willing to do an illustration for us. A very talented new contributor, 16-year old Chelsey Franklin of Cottage Grove, has agreed to come up with an original piece of art and we are so excited to begin what we hope is a continuing tradition for the magazine.

This brings on our hope that other artists – young and old alike – will be willing to provide illustrations for Groundwaters‘ submissions. If you are interested, please contact us at contact@groundwaters.org so that we can send you copies or descriptions of upcoming articles that can be enhanced by illustrations. In the past, I’ve searched for appropriate clipart, but we have so much local talent that it seems a shame not to use it if it’s available! Please consider volunteering your talents to future issues of Groundwaters!