Lawrence Leighton Smith, founding conductor and musical director of the Sunriver Music Festival, passed away at the age of 77.
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Happy Holidays! Nature Center................ 8 Calendar...................... 13 SROA News.................. 22
Public Safety................ 34 Classified..................... 38 Commentary................ 39
Two public meetings will be held to discuss listing the Oregon spotted frog as ‘threatened’ on the Endangered Species list
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S U N R I V E R
S C E N E A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSOCIATION
DECEMBER • 2013
volume xxxix • Number 12
River access recommendations accepted; cost estimates next
Baby, it’s cold outside! Thanks to temperatures in the single digits, the waterfall at the entry circle to Sunriver froze to create a curtain of ice in late November.
By Brooke Snavely The SROA Board of Directors accepted the Infrastructure and Amenities Master Plan (IAMP) task force’s recommendation regarding permanent river access at their Nov. 16 meeting. The board authorized consultant WHPacific to complete the scope of its work, which includes final plans and cost estimates to develop an owners’ permanent river access site next to HOLA Restaurant. The first phase would include a gravel beach for hand launching canoes, kayaks and rafts; a paved boat ramp for launching trailered boats, paved parking, a restroom and a gate to limit access to owners, guests and renters of proper-
According to forecasts in the 2013-2014 Farmer’s Almanac, the “Days of Shivery” are back and we can expect a winter that will experience below average temperatures — so bundle up.
Turn to Ramp, page 3
Susan berger photo
2014 maintenance fee increased 4.5%
Sunriver Mudslinger wins national award By Sunriver Scene staff The Sunriver Mudslinger, which attracted 345 participants in its first year, won the Resort and Commercial Recreation Association’s (RCRA) Excellence in Programming Award in November. Emily Savko, SROA recreation programs manager and key player in developing the Mudslinger, was at the RCRA’s annual conference at Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort in Florida to accept the award. “Being an owners association recreation department made us unique,” Savko said. “Very big resorts won this award in the past, but we felt that the Mudslinger event was deserving in that we created it from scratch and it took effort from everyone in the community — Public Works, the Sunriver Fire Department, The Village at Sunriver and a lot of volunteers — to pull off. Why not nominate it?” The competition for this year’s Excellence in Programing Award was stiff. Huge resorts, the likes of the Ocean Reef SUNRIVER SCENE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSN. VOLUME XXXIX • NUMBER 12 P.O. BOX 3278 SUNRIVER, OR 97707
Beach Club in Key Largo, Fla., which staged a “Crenshaw Massacre” Halloween, were looking for recognition of their special events. The Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas partnered with Cartoon Network to create an 8-week themed event with famous cartoon characters. Omni Amelia Island Plantation, the resort hosting this year’s RCRA conference, nominated its Dr. Seuss celebration for the award. “We didn’t know what competition we were up against until the night of the award presentation. When they announced the other property names, I thought, ‘We don’t have a chance because they have outstanding recreation programs, they are top tier,’ ” Savko said. Savko admitted to “throwing up her hands and shouting with delight” when the Sunriver Mudslinger was announced the winner. Savko serves as secretary of the RCRA board of directors and normally would be informed about the selection but the board kept her in the dark.
SROA recreation programs manager Emily Savko holds an award SROA received for Excellence in Recreational Programming for the Mudslinger event.
According to RCRA, the Excellence in Programming Award recognizes professionals or students “who have created and implemented a special, unique and innovative program that has brought special recognition, significant increase in guest/student satisfaction, contributed to the betterment of the community and or increased profitability to the member’s property or educational institution.” Turn to Award, page 5
The Sunriver Owners Association’s maintenance fee will be $107.64 per month in 2014. The SROA Board of Directors approved the rate at its Nov. 16 meeting. The 2014 rate is $4.64 more than the 2013 maintenance fee and constitutes a 4.5 percent increase, the lowest rate increase in nearly a decade. The maintenance fee increased 5 percent in 2013 and 6 percent the previous nine years with two exceptions when owners approved larger increases. The board is authorized to increase maintenance fees up to 6 percent annually without a vote of the members. “At 4.5 percent we hit our objectives for funding the reserves and establishing an operational reserve for SHARC,” said Mike Gocke, SROA treasurer. “This gets us to where we want to go.” SROA Finance Committee member Bob Wrightson described the 4.5 Turn to Fee, page 3 PRSRT STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BEND, OR PERMIT NO. 213