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MIDWEEK EDITION

Tuesday December 24 2019

www.currypilot.com

SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946

Brookings, Oregon

Fair board deals with staff resignations C

Linda Pinkham Staff Writer

urry County Fair Board members are scrambling to ensure the fair will go on after the resignation of Event Center on the Beach manager Nikki Sparks.

Sparks had filed a grievance with the county’s human resources staff before resigning for “personal reasons,” according to Commissioner Christopher Paasch. He is the fair board liaison for the three county commissioners. The board held an

emergency meeting Dec. 20 to approve posting a job description for both the event center manager - and the office assistant position currently held by Linda Ash, who plans to leave at the end of January. Former county commissioner and former fair board

member Lucie Labonté brought up her concerns regarding the fair manager’s resignation, including questions about the grievance procedure. Fair board member Tim Scullin said “none of us knew about the grievance letter.” Paasch said he also

was unaware of the grievance. The urgent need to fill the vacant positions is prompted by the fair’s entertainment bookings and contracts, which need to be executed during the month of January. Entertainers create their annual schedules early in

the year, and the best acts in particular fill their schedules early. During the emergency fair board meeting, it was determined that an interim administrative committee would be appointed to work More Staff on Page A2

Happy holidays

Carol Hungerford Publisher

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Over 2 million LED lights illuminate Azalea Park in Brookings for Nature’s Coastal Holiday’s Festival of Lights, from 5-9 p.m. every night through Dec. 29. Photo by Jessica Goddard.

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Nature’s Coastal Holiday creates Curry scholarships

ature’s Coastal Holiday, a nonprofit organization responsible for the Festival of Lights holiday display in Azalea Park, is partnering with the Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) Foundation to offer three scholarships for students attending the school’s campus in Brookings. “Many people don’t realize this is a completely volunteer-coordinated and staffed holiday lights event...,” said Klaus Gielish, board president of Nature’s Coastal Holiday. “The goal

with this ambassador scholarship is to encourage that same ripple effect of volunteering.” Students can apply for the Nature’s Coastal Holiday Ambassador Scholarship starting Jan. 1 by completing an application online at www.socc.edu/ scholarships. Applications are due by March 1. Recipients must attend Southwestern’s Curry campus in the upcoming 2020-21 academic year and plan to take at least six credits. In the spirit of Nature’s Coastal

Holiday’s mission, recipients also must demonstrate community involvement and leadership, and be willing to volunteer at least 10 hours with the organization. The annual event began with 22,000 lights in 1997 and has grown to more than 2 million lights, bringing more than 20,000 visitors to the Brookings-Harbor community each year. Southwestern’s Curry campus is at 96082 Lone Ranch Parkway in Brookings.

few weeks ago, our entire team at The Pilot had the opportunity to volunteer one evening at the annual Festival of Lights event. This was my first experience with this dazzling event - and I was in for a huge treat. Steve and I were assigned to ticket sales at one of the Azalea Park garden entrances. Having been through the azalea gardens this summer, we knew where we were going, but still arrived early to ensure we had time to walk through the display of lights before starting our shift. From the Festival of Lights committee members, there had been much buzz about the increased number of lights this year. Oh. My. Goodness. Two million lights. You read that correctly. The volunteers had crafted 2 million lights into a remarkable, festive,

thoughtful, musical, joyous display. To put this into perspective, the town of Leavenworth, Washington prides itself on being a year-round Christmas village. It’s a town nationally promoted as a tourist destination for its Christmas “feel.” A highly regarded national news publication recently touted Leavenworth as being a “Hallmark Christmas movie” sort of place. Leavenworth boasts half a million lights across town … one-quarter of the lights Brookings has on display in Azalea Park alone. Volunteering was the perfect way to begin our holiday season. Without fail, visitors to the gardens were happy to be there. Steve and I were consistently greeted by a wide variety of, “Happy Holidays!” The mood was festive and heartwarming. Young people were hanging out together in the park, families were sharing a special time, and it appeared there were a fair number of couples having a “date night.” So, a giant thank you to the Festival of Lights committee that makes this happen each year. Thank you to the sponsors who help finance it. Thank you to the volunteers for the remarkable number More Carol on Page A5

Mary keeps us warm M

Knitting for the needy

Bank, Homeless Coalition and Oasis House in Gold Beach receive her generous donations, as well as the Veterans Club and Coats for Kids of Brookings. You might also find the colorful scarves strung around a telephone pole. They are a welcome, beckoning, free gift for the homeless to help keep them warm during the colder wet autumn and winter months.

Mary Puckett and her granddaughter, Jordan, donate handmade scarves at the Christian Help Thrift Store in Gold Beach. Courtesy photo.

If you or your organization could use some scarves this winter, call Christian Help Thrift Store at 541-247-4903.

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ary Puckett of Brookings welcomes the holidays. She has joyfully spent the year collecting yarn from yard sales, thrift stores and friends, to lovingly create cheerful, warm scarves for those in need. Puckett started knitting about 30 years ago to help her stop smoking. She continues “smoke-free” as she prepares for her scarf giveaway. Puckett donates the warm scarves to various organizations in both Gold Beach and Brookings. Christian Help Thrift Store, the Food

Index

Classifieds.................A7-9 Crosswords...............A4 Calendar....................A6 Comics......................A4

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