McKenzie River Reflections - Make the McKenzie Connection!

Growing up, my older brother, Frank, reminded me of Dick Tracy. No, he didn’t have a wristwatch phone but he was the only teenager I knew of in the Sixties who could play records in his ‘57 Chevy as he drove down the road. There were other...

The Walterville Grange would like you to join us at the 70th annual Walterville Community Fair on September 11 from 7 AM to 4 PM. The Walterville Waddle will begin at 8 AM (signup is online or morning of the race starting at 6:45 on location). Fair...

Note: Zybach wrote this a year ago, following the Labor Day fires in Oregon. The most deadly, destructive, and widespread catastrophic wildfires in Oregon’s history erupted on Labor Day this year, driven by strong east winds. But unless we change h...

A little-noticed initiative by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR and five other senators would boost local jobs, accelerate sales and improve economies. The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, S. 2434, is designed to help local news...

hat today we must share with you the loss of our beloved father, and your beloved small town cartoonist, Barry McWilliams. Barry passed away a few days ago from a sudden heart attack at his home in Pipestone, Montana. One might say his decades of rel...

ad an opportunity to chat with several fellow Veterans, Service Members, Military family members, and Gold Star families. It is beyond the obvious in saying that the past few days have been extraordinarily difficult for those with a personal...

Vida McKenzie Community Center is absolutely thrilled to announce being awarded $240K from Sen. Floyd Prozanski and another $240K from Rep. Cedric Hayden from a legislator’s discretionary fund. VMCC receive these funds specifically for the...

e you to join us at the 70th annual Walterville Community Fair on September 11 from 7 AM to 4 PM. The Walterville Waddle will begin at 8 AM (signup is online only this year). Fair entries (your canning, baking, garden produce, arts/crafts,...

Greetings McKenzie friends, Just an FYI...It's getting hot again so Living Water Family Fellowship is serving as an official Lane County "Cooling Center" at our temporary modular. We are servicing the McKenzie Valley. 52353 McKenzie Hwy. Doors will...

’Brien Memorial Library was destroyed by the Holiday Farm Fire that affected the entire Blue River community. Soon after the loss of our library, efforts were started by a few determined individuals to find grant money and raise funds to rebuild....

I think we need to petition the Governor to declare a National Disaster on Lame County’s Land Use & building permitting. The Holiday Farm Fire was a horrible experience but not much compared to Lane County Land use Soon it will be another winter...

With much discussion and careful consideration it has been decided that the safest and most responsible action to take at this time is to cancel the August 14th Popsicle Social Event due to the increase in COVID numbers in Lane County and Oregon and...

When conventional food supply chains had difficulties adapting at the start of the pandemic, farmers markets and local food systems clearly displayed the resiliency of short supply chains as interest in local foods spiked nationwide. Farmers markets...

The 2021 Oregon Legislature convened in early February. Among its first orders of business was the formation of two wildfire committees; one in the House and one in the Senate. The House Committee was a “special” committee, with its only charge w...

As many of you know the Upper McKenzie Community Center hosted the relief center, our version of a free community store, just after the Holiday Farm fire last September until March, helping our neighbors who had suffered so much get through the winte...

At midnight on Labor Day, I joined a caravan evacuating the Holiday Farm wildfire which destroyed more than 500 homes and devastated 174,000 acres. Our lives were forever changed that night, never to be the same. Yet, the incredible support from...

“Looking good!” People have been telling me while delivering Reflections to stores and restaurants for the last two weeks. That’s because they liked seeing color photos rather than the print edition’s normal black & white front-page images....

Last year was the worst wildfire season for western Oregon and the Willamette and Mt. Hood National Forests in decades. As for the Forest Supervisors of these National Forests, we saw firsthand how the fires affected the lives of our communities, emp...

r Day night 2020; nine months since the Holiday Farm Wildfire devastated more than 170,000 acres and destroyed more than a thousand structures and five-hundred homes in the McKenzie Watershed. Three seasons (Fall, Winter, and Spring) since thousands...

The Board of Vida McKenzie Community Center is pleased to announce receipt of $13,000 from the Chambers Family Foundation to support the rebuilding of the Center’s facilities, destroyed in the Holiday Farm Fire. With the addition of this grant...

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order calling for strengthening vulnerable agricultural supply chains and encouraging production here at home. In the past 18 months, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural...

With underwriting from Kendall Auto Group’s Hope Project, Vida McKenzie Community Center is holding a family friendly BINGO Drive-Thru Fundraiser on July 10th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The entry cost is only $25 per person and includes one Bingo card...

re, the Oregon CommunityCredit Union Foundation formed a Fire Relief Fund to support fire relief efforts in the region. At the suggestion of a neighbor, Mandy Jones, the Vida McKenzie Community Center applied for a grant to help cover some of the...

The McKenzie Community Track and Field in Blue River is making an appeal for people power to help with a spring clean up at the Blue River facility. The track was fortunate and received only minimal damage during the wildfire. The track was a...

The McKenzie Education Foundation has been providing free books to all pre-schoolers up to age 5 who live in the McKenzie School District. We know many families haven’t been able to return to the river since the fire and we would like to help you...