Can’t drive 55? You’re in luck as the speed limit on some highways has been increased to 65 mph, including Highway 97
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Nature Center ............... 8 Calendar ..................... 13 SROA Board................ 22
Public Safety ............... 30 Classified .................... 38 Commentary ............... 39
Crater Lake National Park recorded a 25-year high in visition numbers in 2015, welcoming 664,000 visitors
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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
MARCH • 2016
VOLUME XLII • NUMBER 3
Ready to frolic in filth? Annual mud run to be held
Sunriver Owners Association is ready to host the 4th annual Sunriver mud run. On Sunday, March 20, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. families and friends who love to frolic in filth will come out for the Sunriver March Mudness Spring Break Mud Run. The 1.5-mile course is designed for participants to choose their level of “mudness” through an obstacle intensive course. Elements consist of a half-mile run, a scramble over and under obstacles, and multiple mud pits to run, crawl and jump through. The objective is to get dirty and have fun doing it. The event is open to individuals, families and teams. Creative costumes are encouraged and spectators are welcome. The Sunriver March Mudness starts and finishes in a meadow near the Sunriver Marina and HOLA! restaurant. A timed, competitive race open to the first 100 adult registrants will kick-off the event. Prizes will be awarded to the top three male and female competitive finishers. Non-competitive waves will follow to keep the focus on fun, and
Open house will answer questions about proposed use of Mavericks
About the Legion of Honor The French Legion of Honor is an order of distinction first established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. It is the highest decoration bestowed in France and is divided into five categories: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand Croix (Grand Cross). The highest degree of the Order of the Legion of
By Brooke Snavely Two open house events are scheduled Friday, March 4 at the Mavericks building on Cottonwood Road to present concepts for converting the former fitness facility into memory care and assisted living units. The open houses are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and any interested persons are welcome. Attendees will be given tours of the buildings in their current condition, and descriptions of how the existing spaces could be converted into memory care and assisted living uses. The open house appears to mark a new phase in efforts to obtain support for proposed uses on the property. Thus far, efforts have been targeted at 2,000 properties on Sunriver’s north end, and that outreach continues as well. The developer needs 75 percent of property owners in the villages (River Village, Deer Park, Fairway Crest and Fairway Point) near Mavericks to sign a petition that requests three words – assisted living facility – be added to the list of uses permitted on the property. As of Feb. 18, project proponents had received approximately 700 responses from nearby property owners. That constitutes about half the number of signatures needed to facilitate modification of village declarations on the property. Deschutes County already allows the proposed assisted living/memory care use. According to Christian Myers, Sunriver Assisted Living Project manager, a second letter was sent in February to approximately 1,300 owners that had yet to respond. “It (the second letter) explains that we are only trying to add three words to the village declarations,” said Myers at the Feb. 18 meeting of the Sunriver Men’s Club. “The (village) covenants, codes and restrictions need to be changed to add our proposed use. We’re not seeking to take on deed restrictions at this time,
Turn to Honor, page 4
Turn to Mavericks, page 3
PHOTO COURTESY DOUG MILLER
Participants make their way out of the Army crawl at the 2015 mud run.
allow plenty of time for everyone to complete the course. Non-competitive registration currently costs $25 for adults (ages 12 and over), and $15 for children (ages 4-11) through 12 p.m. March 19. The first 150 people to register will receive a Sunriver March Mudness Silipint. Registration costs increase the morning of the mud run. All participants will be entered for a chance to win a Mt. Shasta Tent by
Cascadia Vehicle Tents, a $1,500 value. All participants will receive one drink voucher for an age-appropriate beverage at the end of the race, dog tags for completing the race, access to changing tents, and a fire hose rinse off courtesy of the Sunriver Fire Department. Online registration is available until 12 p.m. March 19 at www.sunriver marchmudness.com. Race packet pick Turn to Mud, page 3
Sunriver owner to receive the French Legion of Honor By Scene staff Paul Sobel will be presented the French Legion of Honor on Friday, March 4, 1:30 p.m. at Touchmark in Bend. The award will be presented by a representative of the French Embassy in the United States. Sobel served as a lieutenant with the U.S Army Air Corps in World War II as a navigator with the Eighth Air Force. He completed 35 combat missions over Europe in B17 bombers and was awarded the Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters. Eleven of those flights were to northern France and the Ardennes where the B17s were re-tasked with lowlevel bombardment of German artillery positions. Sobel served as lead squadron navigator on several of the flights. “We had to fly 11 missions in a row without a layover because of the critical
SUNRIVER SCENE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSN. VOLUME XLIl • NUMBER 3 P.O. BOX 3278 SUNRIVER, OR 97707
nature of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Normally, the B17s flew high altitude and focused on bombardment of war manufacturing plants deep inside Germany,” Sobel said. “It was terrible weather, the worst winter in recent times with rain, snow and nearly constant cloud cover. We were flying blind using radio navigation instruments. On one flight, an inboard engine caught fire and we crash-landed near the airfield from which we had
just taken off. We had 2,500 pounds of bombs and 2,700 gallons of gasoline on board. The fact that the ground was muddy probably saved us. Had that been hard ground the plane might have fallen apart and the payload could have exploded. The crew and I night not have survived.”
PRSRT STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BEND, OR PERMIT NO. 213