[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2007-09-26

[Heritage Info]

In this issue:
1.  Washington County museum to break ground
2.  Indian Day to be celebrated at Champoeg
3.  Public television to broadcast 'Oregon at War'
4.  Special assessment law to change Sept. 27


WASHINGTON COUNTY MUSEUM TO BREAK GROUND

The Washington County Historical Society will break ground at 3 p.m.
Sept. 27 on a construction project that will more than double the
museum's collection storage space and add a 1,000-square-foot education
space.

The historical society has raised nearly $1.7 million for the museum
makeover during the past five years. "The new museum will provide a new
home for the history of Washington County and new space for county
residents and visitors alike to learn about our county's rich and
colorful history," said the society's executive director Marc Granlund.

The Washington County Museum is located on the Rock Creek campus of
Portland Community College, just east of NW 185th Avenue and NW
Springville Rd. For more information, call 503-645-5353.


INDIAN DAY TO BE CELEBRATED AT CHAMPOEG

Storytelling, drumming, dancing, processions, and craft demonstrations
will be in the spotlight when the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
celebrate National Indian Day from 3 p.m.-7 p.m. Sept. 28 at Champoeg
State Heritage Area .  

Kalapuya people, one of the five tribes that make up the Grand Ronde
Tribe, gathered at Champoeg for thousands of years before it became one
of the first permanent settlements in the Pacific Northwest.  *We are
very pleased to invite once again the Confederated Tribes of the Grand
Ronde to re-connect with their lands here at Champoeg,* said Dennis
Wiley, Park Manager.  *It has been too long, since 1851, that the
Tribes were formally invited to this meeting place.*

*The Champoeg area is in our ceded homelands,* said Tribal
Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy.  *We lived, hunted, fished and practiced
our traditions here. We are pleased to be partners with Friends of
Historic Champoeg in keeping our story alive.*  

Friends of Historic Champoeg, working in partnership with Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department, will host the celebration which will feature
performances by the Canoe Family, as well as opportunities to see,
taste, hear and experience the rich cultures of the Tribes.  Admission
is free with an Oregon State Parks day-use permit.  The parking permit
will be waived for all Tribal members.
Friends of Historic Champoeg is a non-profit organization, dedicated to
interpreting the story of Champoeg and the surrounding French Prairie.
For additional information, contact FHC at 503-678-1649 or
info at champoeg.org, or the Confederated Tribes at 503-879-5211. 


PUBLIC TELEVISION TO BROADCAST 'OREGON AT WAR'

A new documentary "Oregon at War" will debut at 9 p.m. Sept. 27 on both
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and Southern Oregon Public Television
(SOPTV).

The Second World War brought major changes * economic, social and
demographic * to the state of Oregon. The war years also left profound
impressions on the individuals who lived through them, whether in
military service or on the home front. Oregon at War is a one-hour
special that explores both the big picture and the personal stories of
Oregon and Oregonians during World War Two. Countless Oregon women had
worked throughout the war at jobs once off-limits to their gender. The
state now had thousands of new African-American residents. And for the
first time, Hispanic workers were a significant part of the agricultural
labor force. 

"Oregon At War" explores what happened during those war years through
the stories of 17 Oregonians who remember them. Some of these people
served in the military * an Air Force pilot from Baker City who was
shot down over China; a logger from Scotts Mills who served as a medic
in the bloody battles for New Guinea; a crop-science major from OSU who
was aboard a landing craft in the invasion of Normandy; and twin
brothers from Portland who both fought in the Battle of the Bulge and
were both captured by the Germans.

On the home front,  two Portland-born Oregonians whose families were
forced to leave their homes, sell their belongings and live confined
behind barbed wire talk about their experience; a Forest Service ranger
who responded to the Japanese balloon-bomb killings; a buckaroo who
broke wild horses for the U.S. Army Cavalry; a woman who came to Oregon
for the wartime work * and for the right to sit wherever she wanted on
the bus; and another woman who, as a teenage girl in a town of young
military men, jitterbugged her way through the war.

Information about the program, as well as other material related to the
topic, are located on each organization's websites. The OPB website is
http://www.opb.org/programs/oregonexperience/oratwar/ while the SOPTV
website is http://www.soptv.org/sos/


SPECIAL ASSESSMENT LAW TO CHANGE SEPT. 27

The Special Assessment of Historic Properties program (ORS 358.475
-.565) has again undergone some changes.  The program is a
state-sponsored incentive program instituted in 1975 to encourage
preservation and appropriate rehabilitation of properties listed in the
National Register of Historic Places.  It was the first tax incentive of
its kind in the nation.

During this past legislative session, Senate Bill SB 416 passed and was
signed by the Governor on June 28.  It will become effective as of Sept.
27.

The two major changes created by the new law are:
1)  Local jurisdictions have to give blanket approval through a
resolution or ordinance in order for owners to be able to apply for a
second term of the benefit.  This includes both commercial and
residential property.
2)  Local jurisdictions can exclude certain districts or properties
from participation in the program.

A Task Force is to be created to conduct a comprehensive review of the
program and make recommendations to the 2009 Legislature in light of the
upcoming 2010 sunset of the program.

For the full text revisions, click on the following link: 
http://www.leg.state.or.us/bills_laws/ 
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which can be contacted at heritage.info at state.or.us