McMinnville, OR

Easter Bunny to soar-in at Museum

The Easter Bunny will be arriving by helicopter at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum on:

Saturday April 4, 2009.

There will also be an Easter egg hunt, petting zoo and children's Easter crafts.

Children, ages 10 and under need to arrive with their Easter basket at 9:30 a.m. to register in the IMAX Theater. The Easter egg hunt will start at 10:00 a.m. and the Easter Bunny's grand helicopter entrance at 10:30 a.m. The petting zoo will be open from 9:30 a.m. to noon. The Museum's education Department will also provide Easter themed crafts for children throughout the event.

The cost is $6.00 per child or $10.00 for two children, pre-registration is recommended. For more information about the event or to register, you can call 503-434-4007 or email beth.wilson@sprucegoose.org.

Among the many treasures to be discovered in McMinnville is our Gallery Theater. Saturday evening was the last performance of the current production, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and I was fortunate to be among a nearly sold-out house that enjoyed every minute of it.

Where do these talented performers come from?

By day they are shop clerks, business owners, high school or college students, or maybe your next-door neighbors whom you greet daily without ever knowing they possess acting talent, trained voices, a knack for comedy timing or once considered a professional dance career. It's even possible that the polite person who carried your groceries to your car today has appeared in over 50 plays.

The theater is a labor of love for the community volunteers who, for the love of theater, devote countless hours and rely on ticket sales, advertising, private donations and Gallery memberships to entertain and enlighten the lucky citizens of Yamhill County and beyond.

Visit the website, pick your favorite shows or order season tickets and get ready for an affordable evening of excellent theater amid the enticing aroma of fresh-baked warm chocolate chip cookies that are ready for you at intermission.

We've done it again!! Last year the Yamhill Valley was listed among theNew York Times list of 28 havens for a relaxing escape. While thumbing through the March issue of Sunset magazine yesterday I was delighted to see (drum roll please) McMinnville listed second in the Food and Wine Haven category of the article 20 Best Small Towns in the West.

The selection criteria included "... possesses a sense of connectedness you find only in places so small you can't get lost in the crowd" and dubbed the towns "we-topias" for their blend of self-reinvention and community.

The rest of the intro mentioned that "These towns inspire dreams (and maybe moving plans)" which gives me a natural opening to mention my website, JeanElmore.com for more information about McMinnville and a searchable data base of all property listings in our area.

Thank you, Sunset!

We in Yamhill County like to think we've achieved a degree of sophistication with our vineyards in the hills, world-famous pinot noir, fine dining and local artists. After all, the area was recently written up in the "Havens" series in The New York Times. The article entitiled
Rural Vistas, Natural Healing and Pinot Noir is a testimony to our arrival on the national scene as "a place to be".

That article was published on November 28, the same day as the McMinnville Santa Parade, and the irony was inescapable. There were thirty-seven entries in the parade and each was a reminder of our real selves - an agricultural area of small towns full of residents with a sense of fun.

The mounted Sheriff's posse with the lead horse sporting antlers and a red nose started things off, followed by children in a home-made miniature Christmas train, and always the "Rakettes" of the Garden Club with their decorated rakes and creative hats performing choreographed routines along the route that would make a Rockette hang up her tap shoes for good.

We'll welcome the New Yorkers who may come to visit or relocate as a result of the Times article, but we'll always be secure in the knowledge that deep in our roots there's a little bit of Mayberry.

Weather here in the beautiful Yamhill Valley ( check out www.yamhillvalley.org) is for the most part very mild. Even when it is raining hard, it is still relatively warm, rarely dipping down below 40 degrees.

Then we get a "weather event" like we are having today and tomorrow. That means a lot of forecasting for the s word -- SNOW. What that really means here is that if there is the slightest skiff of snow on the ground for more than 15 mintues, everything shuts down. We are not experienced snow drivers, we are not prepared for it and even though I may be an excellent snow driver the chances are good that my neighbor is not.

It was snowing steadily around 6 AM and now at noon it is more rain than it is snow. We have to settle for our white christmas being the white lights in our award winning downtown McMinnville. See www.downtownmcminnville.com It is pretty spectacular. Frankly I will take that over the snow that must be shoveled any day of the week.

The arctic blast that follows today's cold -- 36 degrees and falling-- will at least bring ice.

I think it is a good time to be inside. I am cozy with my knitting. I could be doing housework but doesn't a snow day sound like it should be fun?? Me too.