The Canyon Weekly
July 31, 2014
Volume 5, Issue 31
Your local news source for the North Santiam Canyon
Serving the communities of Lyons, Mehama, Elkhorn, Mill City, Gates, Niagara, Detroit, Breitenbush, Idanha and Marion Forks
Goats help clean up Hammond Park
The city of Mill City has some new landscape workers at Hammond Park. Have you met them? Billie, Nibbles, Sweet Pea, Banjo, and Amanda Lynn were there last week hard at work eating up blackberries and ivy and invasive grasses that have taken over the popular river access space. Over the years, teams of volunteers, such as the Canyon Catalysts, have spent hours laboring to try to fight back weeds. But each year it just grows back. So now there are automatic living weed eaters available happily munch-
ing back the non-native plants, thanks to the efforts of the folks at Kayak the Santiam who donated and helped built temporary goat fencing, and Mill City Parks Commissioner Thorin Thacker, who spearheaded the idea and brought in the goats. A community page on Facebook “Herding Bleating Kids” has been formed for volunteers to sign up for “kid sitting” times to make sure the hungry little helpers don’t escape from their pens there in the park. “Grab a book, a picnic, or come lay in the sun, while helping do the easiest weeding job you’ll ever do!” said organizer Thorin Thacker.
The Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT), the nation’s largest touring children’s theatre, is back in Mill City next week to bring their own rendition of Alice in Wonderland to the stage. MCT has been touring extensively for more than 40 years now from Montana to Japan, and will visit nearly 1,200 communities this year with up to 44 teams of Tour Actor/Directors. A tour
team arrives in a given town with a set, lights, costumes, props and make-up, everything it takes to put on a play...except the cast. The MCT team will hold an open audition Monday, August 4th at 10am to cast local and visiting kids to perform in the production. The show is then rehearsed throughout the week and public performances will be presented Friday evening and Sat-
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Lost hikers spend the night in the woods Sheriffs’s office offers safety tips for survival
Over this past weekend, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescues Teams were called to three separate cases involving lost hikers. One of those rescues happened in Opal Creek Wilderness, where three boys ended up spending the night outdoors. Bodie Teeple, age 17, Alex Ruiz, age 16 and Allen Carrillo-Mejia, age 17 went hiking last Saturday around noon and failed to return from their trip. The teens had intended on a lengthy hike into the wilderness area, but only brought basic clothing and water. When they didn’t return as scheduled,
a command post was set at the Elkhorn Fire Station around midnight on July 27. Rescuers dispatched a Jeep Patrol, Posse and K9 search teams. Officials said that the teens were all found safely the next morning, walking out of the wilderness. Apparently they decided it was too dark to hike out at night so they elected to camp and start walking out the following morning. All three boys are reported to be healthy and uninjured and have been returned to their families. But not everybody is so lucky. Many lost hikers have suffered injuries, and (cont’d on page 2)
urday afternoon, all at Santiam Auditorium. All the MCT shows are original adaptations of classic children’s stories and fairytales, with a sometime crazy twist on the classic stories that you know and love. Creativity, social skills, goal achievement, communication skills and self-esteem are all characteristics that are attained through the participation in this unique, educational project.
MCT’s mission is the development of lifeskills in children through participation in the performing arts. See more info on page 8.
Auditions open for childrens theatre
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