Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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Wooden boats NIMROD: One of the star attractions at the ninth Annual McKenzie River Wooden Boat Festival on Saturday was about 75 years old. The 14-foot plywood drift boat, built by Woody Hindman for Prince Helfrich in 1939, generated some fond memories. It was orginally set up to accommodate a trap line that ran from the Upper McKenzie to its confluence with the Willamette recalled Prince’s son, Dick Helfrich. That was before knee rests were installed to turn it into a guide’s boat. “One night we pulled that little boat out on an islan...
British band The Oregon Brass Society, Oregon’s only British Style Brass Band, will present A Free Concert for the McKenzie Valley at 3 pm on Sunday, May 4th, at the McKenzie Bible Fellowship gymnasium building, 45061 McKenzie Highway in Vida. This is will be their CD Release Concert ~ Donations gladly accepted call 541-896-3829 for further information. McKenzie River Reflections...
British band...
May is National Military Appreciation Month Willamalane logo Willamalane to offer a week of free activities for military families, May 19-25 SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – To honor current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, Willamalane Park and Recreation District is offering a week of free drop-in activities during National Military Appreciation Month. From May 19-25, active duty personnel from all branches of the services, the National Guard and Reserves plus retirees, veterans and their immediate family members can take advantage of...
Happy angler The 2014 outdoor recreation season will get a boost this weekend starting with the annual Fisherman’s Breakfast, set for Saturday, April 26th. The event, sponsored by McKenzie Fire & Rescue at the Leaburg Training Center, will be held between 6 and 11 a.m. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for kids. Further to the east in Nimrod, the 9th annual McKenzie River Wooden Boat Festival will be held at the Eagle Rock Lodge, 49198 McKenzie Hwy., from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is free to the public. The McKenzie River Guides Association will b...
Kiosk at Hendricks Bridge Lane County Parks is looking for feedback on proposed enhancements to the Hendricks Bridge Boat Ramp. This is the second phase of the enhancements to the site. Boaters and community members are invited to provide feedback to help the Parks division design the new boat ramp and parking lot. The division is working closely with the Oregon State Marine Board to design the enhancements. The proposed design will be available for the community to examine and provide comments and feedback. The Oregon State Marine Board,...
Pond skimming Today - Saturday, April 12, - features Pond Skimming. Grab your swimsuit and sunscreen and head to Hoodoo for the best slope slide party of the year. Dress up in your funniest costume and enter the Pond Skimming Battle Royale, presented by Three Creeks Brewing. Pond skimming brings out the brave (and slightly crazy!) skiers and riders who have dreams of crossing 100 feet of icy water successfully. Wanna try pond skimming with a friend? Enter in the ultra-cross competition where teams of two (one skier and one snowboarder) race the...
Bank for pond called a “high hazard” Walterville canal bank WALTERVILLE: Water levels are being lowered in the Walterville Pond. After a routine dam safety inspection in 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reclassified the small lake’s embankment as a “high hazard” facility, saying a catastrophic breach could potentially cause a domino failure of the Walterville Canal’s embankment. “A rupture to either embankment presents a risk of significant property damage and possible loss of life,” according to FERC. The pond was origin...
Ranger district lobby MCKENZIE BRIDGE: Visitors seeking information on hiking trails and other recreational opportunities won’t find it at their usual connection point this summer. Due to budget constraints, the McKenzie River Ranger Station, and other district offices throughout the Willamette National Forest, won’t be open on weekends this year. District Ranger Terry Baker said rather than being open on Saturdays from Memorial Day weekend through Columbus Day, Forest Service employees will interact with the public out in the field. “We’ll hav...
Floating fish collector BLUE RIVER: A $5 million floating fish collector is on its shakedown cruise behind Cougar Dam. But don’t expect the experimental craft to travel too far. The hull is being moored vertically to the reservoir bottom in four places, and anchored horizontally by cables extending to the dam face and adjacent hills. Ten semi trailers were used to transport the Portable Floating Fish Collector to the site. At the end of March it will be used to carry out research in support of the Cougar Downstream Fish Passage Project. R...
Avalanche graphic By Anthony Sagliani, Meteorologist for AccuWeather.com 7 March 2014 -- AccuWeather.com reports while rain and storminess from the past few days is moving out of the Pacific Northwest on Friday, the threat for avalanches will remain straight through the weekend. Mild air will surge northward into Oregon and Washington on Saturday. A storm system will then bring rain across all but the highest elevations Saturday night before snow levels gradually lower Sunday into Monday. Combined with wind and new snowfall over the past 24-48...
Clear Lake Lodge CLEAR LAKE: Linn County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of an experienced scuba diver found in the waters of Clear Lake on Sunday. Sheriff Bruce Riley reports his deputies are investigating a drowning that occurred on March 2nd. At 12:23 p.m. the sheriff’s office received a 9-1-1 call reporting that a group of three men had been scuba diving and one did not surface. James Paul Ward, 49, of Forest Grove was diving in Clear Lake with longtime friend Christopher Todd Baggarley, 46, of Banks and his 24-year-old son...
Olallie Trail LEABURG: A newly recognized challenge to experienced riders has been added to attractions that can be promoted to mountain bikers. That was the message Randy Dreiling had when the McKenzie River Chamber of Commerce met last week at Ike’s Pizza. Dreiling, the groups executive director, said he hopes the Olallie Loop Trail will, “Not only relieve pressure on the McKenzie River Trail but also get people to stay here longer.” In addition to Ollalie, Dreiling said there are four other back country routes that riders need to learn...
Hoodoo pond Mother Nature was very generous to Hoodoo this week, dropping a nice base of 72 inches. That’s more than 25 inches of new snow this week. The Hoodoo crew has been working hard to get the mountain groomed and ready for this weekend with much success. The pond in the bowl (aka “Lake Hoodoo”) is now gone and the Ed and Manzanita lifts will both be running this weekend. The Easy Rider, Big Green Machine and Hodag lifts will still be closed for the time being, but should get running soon. The Autobahn Tubing Park is also closed until...
It's "Tightwad Thursday" Powder Enjoy 25+ inches of new snow and on $19 Thrifty Thursday! Snow has been falling like crazy at Hoodoo the past few days, including 25+ inches of new snow since Monday, leaving the deepest base of the season at nearly 71 inches! Another 5-11 inches is expected through Thursday! If you're a powder hound, this is exactly what you've been waiting for all season. Hoodoo will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, with the Ed chair running and all lift tickets just $19. Hoodoo will also be open 9 a.m. - 4 p.m....
Measuring depth Oregon chub are small floodplain minnows that live in sloughs, swamps, beaver ponds, and low-gradient tributaries. Researchers report those off-channel habitats were dramatically reduced by the construction of Willamette River flood control dams, channelization of the river for navigation, and draining wetlands for agriculture and development. That created prime habitats for nonnative game fish, such as bass and bluegill, which prey on the minnows. Due to the threats, the chub was listed as endangered in 1993, when only eight...
Hoodoo icicles Matthew McFarland, General Manager, Hoodoo Ski Area Sadly, this last storm left us worse off than we were before it hit. The local Bend newspaper just ran a story that we were going to meet and decide on the opening of Hoodoo today. I guess that is newsworthy, but truthfully, we come here daily, check the conditions, check the forecast and make decisions. The last two weeks have been spent mining snow from the trees and various pockets where the wind deposits it and hauling all the snow up to the top of Manzanita and Easy Rider...
The State of the Snow at Hoodoo Skiing at Hoodoo Released 1/15/14 Waiting for snow, but hoping to open very soon! All of us at Hoodoo are anxiously awaiting to open for the season. We appreciate your patience and apologize that we have not been able to get the lifts running. In an effort to keep all of our awesome Hoodoo guests continually updated, here's a behind-the-scenes look at the current situation at Hoodoo Ski Area. Hoodoo’s lead groomer Ray Gates did an outstanding job of acting fast with the snow we've received so far. Our first p...
By Matthew McFarland, General Manager, Hoodoo Ski Area Here I sit looking out the window at the lack of snow, full of hope for the weekend storm and wonder what it will bring. We have a huge pond that surrounds the Manzanita lift, which is about 3.5 feet deep. There is roughly 6-8 inches of snow on the runs, with even less at the tops of Ed and Green. The forecast is calling for 16-26” of snow through the weekend. We will either end up really happy and able to open (at least minimally, if we get the full 26 inches)… or really sad with a...
Natural and Cultural Entertainment Centers for State Travelers Oregon governor John Kitzhaber has pushed for a more effective tourism industry, as it has currently been "an important part of Oregon's economy that generates nearly $9 billion in the state." Analogous to his call is the reinstatement of the support for gaming centers that hugely contribute to the protection of the natural resources and the preservation of cultures that have existed for centuries. Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton Owned and operated by the Confederate Tribes of...
Chains on car MCKENZIE BRIDGE: High-way 242, the Old McKenzie Pass was closed for the winter last Saturday at 5:30 pm. Hwy. 242 has closed. Oregon Dept. of Transportation crews locked the snow gates between White Branch (milepost 61) and the junction with U.S. 20 at Sisters, due to severe winter conditions. Another scenic route, the Aufderheide Memorial Drive between Blue River and Westfir was clear on Tuesday, however, USFS officials report it is very hard to keep up to date on its condition. Box Canyon is at 3600 feet, so during the fall...
McKenzie map MCKENZIE BRIDGE: The recent release of the McKenzie River Corridor Map has been proven to be popular among boaters and fishing enthusiasts who use the McKenzie River. The map features access points, river miles, rapid names and classes, as well as many useful facts about the area between the headwaters at Clear Lake and the confluence near Harrisburg. The publication is water resistant and pocket sized. It costs $3.95, and was originally designed to be a larger interpretive piece at boat launches and agency offices. The map’s most...
'37 Chevy" src="http://mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com/sites/default/files/small_%2737%20Chevy.png" style="width: 180px; height: 139px; margin: 5px; float: left;" Organizers of this year’s McKenzie Art Festival report it was a big success. According to the Emerald Art Center, “This festival had the best turn-out to this date and will continue to grow every year. We want to give a huge thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers, artists and participants.” Held on the grounds of McKenzie Fire & Rescue’s Leaburg headquarters, the site of...
Golfers at Tokatee RAINBOW: The second annual Tokatee Scramble, a golf tournament benefiting the McKenzie River Medical Clinic, will take place on Sunday, August 25th, a week before Labor Day weekend. The annual event’s date has been moved up to late summer instead of fall, so more summer visitors can participate. Tokatee Golf Club, on the McKenzie Highway in Rainbow, is hosting the tournament. Registration fees are $75 per person, or $300 per four-person team (the same as last year) and include an 18-hole round of golf, cart, range balls, d...
Chainsaw sculptor Kevin Strauslin A Northwest Rendezvous in Blue River? The three-day McKenzie River Chainsaw Festival certainly fit the bill – filling the air with the sound of racing two stroke saw engines and plenty of chips and sawdust. For Randy Gauthier of Moberly Lake, British Columbia, it almost didn’t happen. The single parent father is new to the trade. After working for 23 years as a dangerous tree faller he began carving only six months ago, deciding he had to find a better way to spend some time with his son. His love of c...
