Philomath Rotary joined three Corvallis-area Rotary groups this spring for a first-of-its-kind interclub food drive competition, an effort that resulted in the collection of 60,660 pounds of food — worth an estimated $12,133 — for South Corvallis Food Bank and Philomath Community Services.
The idea grew out of monthly meetings between the presidents of the four clubs and Assistant District Governor Peggy Sweet, where members compare notes and swap ideas. The clubs have collaborated in pairs before, but hadn’t taken on a joint project involving all four in years, Rotary Club of Philomath President Robert Hulshof-Schmidt said.
“After batting around a few ideas, we decided that food insecurity was something significant in the county that we could probably make at least a short-term, sizable impact in,” Hulshof-Schmidt said, adding the clubs agreed a lighthearted challenge format would make the effort fun.
Each club ran its own version of the drive with some collecting bagged food and barrels while others leaned on cash donations, calculated at $1 for every five pounds of food. Philomath Rotary’s members largely chose the cash option, a decision informed by club member Sharon Thornberry, executive director of Philomath Community Services.
Hulshof-Schmidt said that Thornberry had told the club that while all donations were welcome, cash gave the food bank more flexibility to get what it needed most.
Despite having just 13 members — the smallest roster of the four clubs — Philomath Rotary raised $1,656 and collected 8,280 pounds of food, working out to 637 pounds per person, second only to the Corvallis Rotary Club’s 735 pounds per person. Hulshof-Schmidt credited a handful of generous donors and strong member participation.
“That we managed to come in second, even on a per-member basis, was really an accomplishment, and it speaks a lot about the service-above-self model that Rotary really hangs on,” he said.
The Corvallis Rotary Club led all clubs with $6,028 raised and 30,138 pounds collected among 41 members. The Greater Corvallis club brought in $2,785 and 13,925 pounds with 75 members, while the After 5 club raised $1,663 and 8,317 pounds with 19 members.
Each club directed its donations to the food bank of its choice — Philomath Rotary’s contribution went to Philomath Community Services, while the three Corvallis-based clubs supported South Corvallis Food Bank.
Thornberry said the need locally continues to grow.
“The need in our community is greater than ever and growing every week,” she said. “I’m grateful for the continuing support of Rotary. This challenge raised a significant donation that makes a real difference in our ability to address this urgent situation.”
The Rotary Club of Philomath meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at Peace Lutheran Church and is actively looking to grow its membership.
2. Art space
Philomath’s City Council chambers will soon double as a community art gallery under a new pilot partnership with Maxtivity Creative Space for Community Arts, city officials announced at Monday’s council meeting.
The PhiloMAX Council Chambers Gallery will feature rotating exhibitions of local art, with three to four shows planned over the first year. Maxtivity will curate and manage the exhibits, which will be organized around themes reflecting the people, stories, cultures and natural environment of the Philomath area.
City Manager Chris Workman said discussions about using the chambers as gallery space began years ago, an idea originally raised by former Finance Director John Swanson. Talks picked up more recently between Workman and Maxtivity Executive Director Sarah Lench, and Assistant City Manager Chelsea Starner has since taken the lead in coordinating the project.
The concept went before the city’s Public Art Ad-Hoc Committee last month, where it received unanimous support before heading to the council.
Workman emphasized that the gallery is intended to stay rooted in the local community rather than function as commercial exhibit space.
“This isn’t going to be just another commercial space for some commercial art exhibitor to kind of be here, try to sell everything,” Workman said. “It’s going to be a focus on recognizing this is a public space where the public comes.”
Maxtivity is covering the costs of the gallery program for now but is seeking outside funding to sustain operations, including opportunities for local teens to help run the space — from setting up exhibits to staffing open houses. Starner said the teen involvement component was particularly appealing to staff.
Councilor Spencer Irwin echoed that enthusiasm, saying he has teens involved in art within his own family.
“I just think it shows the kind of city we are that we’re directly tying in with the artists in our community,” Irwin said.
Most artwork will be hung on the walls, though some sculpture pieces may also be included, Workman said. Starner noted she’s provided Maxtivity with diagrams of how the space is used for council meetings, court proceedings and staff events to ensure the gallery doesn’t disrupt regular city business.
The gallery’s inaugural exhibition, “Small Town, Big Arts,” will be installed any time now and will be included on the Philomath Open Studios tour, scheduled for Oct. 17-18 and Oct. 24-25. A public opening reception is set for Oct. 2, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Lench is scheduled to return to the council’s Oct. 12 meeting to formally present the exhibition and provide an update on the pilot project.
Mayor Christopher McMorran said the gallery adds to a growing local art scene that already includes Maxtivity, Slipstream Clay Studio, Green Heron Gallery and the soon-to-open Guild at the Philomath Emporium.
“We’ve gone from having a very limited art scene in Philomath to a growing art scene,” McMorran said.
3. Honoring Rocky
Family and friends will gather Sunday to celebrate the life of former Mayor Rocky Sloan, who died Aug. 8 at age 58. The Celebration of Life is set for 1 to 3 p.m. at the Randy Kugler Community Hall in Philomath City Park — a venue with its own connection to Sloan, who helped lead its construction during his time serving the city.
City Manager Chris Workman told the City Council at Monday’s meeting that the city’s Public Works crew will mark the occasion with a lasting tribute.
“The public’s invited to attend … and during that event, Public Works will be planting a tree in Rocky’s honor there at City Park,” Workman said.
The council also paused for a moment of silence in Sloan’s memory during the meeting.
Ahead of the service, former Mayor Eric Niemann shared his own tribute to Sloan through a letter to the City Council, which was read aloud by Mayor Christopher McMorran.
Niemann’s words traced Sloan’s decade of service — four years on the City Council from 2009-2012, followed by three terms as mayor from 2013-2018 — and recounted a list of accomplishments and community moments he witnessed firsthand: Sloan judging the Philomath Elementary School spelling bee, helping Cub Scouts retire flags on Flag Day, riding his four-wheeler in the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo parade, and planting trees along the Hunsaker Bike Path on Arbor Day.
Niemann also drew a line between Sloan’s day job as an electrician and an unexpected moment of civic pride years later.
“In 2022, I remember going to Hayward Field to watch Sage Kramer from PHS win the state championship in women’s javelin,” Niemann wrote. “The Philomath Warriors showed up at the top of the scoreboard. Obviously I was proud of Sage, but I also marveled that the wiring work of Rocky Sloan powered the same scoreboard.”
Sloan received the “Key to the City” at his final council meeting in December 2018 and was later named Philomath’s First Citizen by the Philomath Area Chamber of Commerce in February 2019.
More on Sloan’s life and legacy can be found by reading his obituary and in a previous Three Things column.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
