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2011 Achievements

ALPINE COMMUNITY CENTER activities and accomplishments for 2011 are summarized below. None of this would be possible without the financial and volunteer support of community members like you!

n A new Building Task Force formed to support the ACC Board of Directors through the tasks of purchasing, repairing, and remodelling the facility. This year, new paint, new beams in the main hall, repairs to the water main, and a new insulated roof; funding for all these activities became available from local donors and grants, and 500 hours of labor have been donated!

n An Outreach Committee is working toward the goal of a completely paid for and self-sustaining facility within the next three years!

n A Programming Task Force is seeking out and supporting community members who want to spearhead a program, a class, or an activity. We welcome and encourage community participation and guidance for how best to use the facility.

n The Alpine Cooperative Preschool moved into the new facility in August and continues with an enrollment of 12 students this fall. Sherrie Deaton is our preschool teacher.

n The Monroe Resale Shop operates with volunteers in the old bank building in Monroe with sales increasing four-fold. Profits benefit ACC operations and programs.

n Teens In Action offers Monroe high school students opportunities for recreation and community service. Two members graduated in 2010 with full resumes, community support, and substantial Ford Family Foundation college scholarships!

n The Alpine Century, a fundraiser for ACC, grew from 125 to 154 cyclists and the net income rose from $4200 to $5100 with the help of over 50 local volunteers.

n The Alpine Recycling Center, a program of ACC, is visited hundreds of times per month by local recyclers, thanks to dedicated volunteers who monitor the site.

n The Alpine Holiday Festival for 2011 once again provided a welcome holiday gathering and showcased the talent and energy of our community.

5th ANNUAL ALPINE CENTURY RAISES FUNDS FOR ALPINE COMMUNITY CENTER

Monroe, Oregon July 29, 2011 - Alpine Community Center will be hosting the 5th annual Alpine Century cycling event from its new facility in Alpine on August 13, 2011. The success of this event has enabled the all-volunteer, grass-roots non-profit to fund programs that serve the rural community including the Alpine Coop Pre-school and the Alpine rural recycling center.

This year, cyclists who converge on Alpine from all over the western United States will be getting their first look at the new Alpine Community Center, which is just around the corner from the previous location. All of Alpine will be involved in welcoming the visiting cyclists. Alpine Chapel Park will provide ample parking and the Fire Hall is moving its emergency vehicles out of their bays to provide a covered venue for lunch tables.

Alsea Scenic Byway and Lobster Valley attract cyclists to the area for the pleasure of cycling through the awesome scenery combined with the challenging elevation profile. As one rider puts it “When I tell my friends that the ride combines the Alsea Falls loop with Lobster Valley, their eyes light up with excitement.”

The Alpine Century sweetens the attraction with safety and support such as ham radio operators and vehicles that patrol the route, well-provisioned aid stations, and a gourmet lunch at the end of the ride featuring fresh local food made by community center volunteers.

“Every year, the volunteers come out to help direct traffic, patrol the routes, prepare lunch, and staff aid stations.” explained the event coordinator. “And every year they are happy help again because the cyclists are so appreciative and the community center receives such a great benefit.”

Safety is key and neighbors who are driving the rural roads around Alpine on August 13 are encouraged to take special precautions and offer a welcoming smile to the cyclists they see.

Alpine Century is a benefit ride for Alpine Community Center. Support for this event is provided by Benton County Public Works, Consumers Power, Corvallis Cyclery, Benton-Lane Winery, Pioneer Telephone, Peak Sports, Gu Energy, and Gorge Delights.

For additional information, to volunteer, or to sign up for the ride contact: Evelyn Lee at 541-847-6028.

A huge thank you to Ford Family Foundation for their active support of our South Benton community.

Alpine Community Center has been buzzing with the Ford Family Foundation's Effective Organizations class.

This completes year two of the five-year commitment by Ford Family Foundation to support our area with opportunities for free training with the goal of enhancing community vitality.

These fun and useful classes benefit everyone, from experienced leaders, teens just starting out, and the entire community.

Topics this year included fundraising, grant writing, budgeting, board of director responsibilities, resolving conflicts, and much more!

Thanks to Ford Family Foundation for caring so much, and their generous gift to our community.

Last week's Alpine Community Center open House was a joyous and wonderful success. Looking around at the diversity of people and seeing old friendships deepen and new ones being formed gave me a warm feeling and a sense of pride in being part of this community. If you haven't had a chance to watch the video about the Open House that Lonnie and Alison produced, here's that link again.

There have been many people who contributed to the preparations for the Open House. We did the best we could to remember everyone so please forgive us if your name isn't specifically mentioned. You are indeed appreciated!

Jason and Alicia of Crag Creek Forestry = pruned the rhododendrons and did weed-eating in the ditches

Marie Saito = Kids corner

Sky Evans = temporary tattoos

John Norrena= beer server, structural engineering work

Avalon Wine = provided wine

Johan Forrer = musician

Sam Pecorilla = musician

Howard Steele = musician

Diane Hoff = strategizing and keeping notes at key discussions

Mike Puhek= electrical inspection

John Scott = roofing, sign installation and cross removal, cleaned gutters, replaced light bulbs in the porch, helped with central beam issue

Tibbi Scott = vacuuming, indoor cleaning, gutter cleaning,

Jim and Sharon Kavanagh = helped with furnace repairman, provided bread and butter

Hazen Parsons = weatherized outdoor water plumbing, helped in kitchen

Andy Parsons = replaced outdoor water plumbing

Roger Irvin = Grass fed, free-range beef for chili

Jenny Gray = backup beer server, designed the flier

Alison Hellwege= helped in kitchen

Lonnie Hellwege = photos and video

Devon Barnhurst and swine 4Hers = set up and clean up

Veda Kreth = food server, kitchen help

Karen and Tad, Queen Bee Honey = For their cooperation and support in hosting the Community Center up until now, and making the transition easy to the new building.

Susan Debates = cleaning

Sherrie Deaton = kitchen help

George Wisner = set up and clean up

Patty Parsons = food coordinator, shopping for all the chili ingredients, raspberry lemonade

Dorothy Brinckerhoff = printed and distributed flier, put announcement on cable, helped put up mail box
Steve Rose = carved a large stirring spoon for the chili

Llyn Peabody and Chris Burns = cooked the chili

Gary Watts = helped with water, mail box and more

Rob Hinton = roofing, sign installation and cross removal

Gordon Dobbie = roofing, sign installation and cross removal

Pete Salerno = roofing, sign installation and cross removal

Warren Halsey = cross removal

Laurie Halsey = provided lunch for work party

Evelyn Lee = continuing to manage the list serve, spear-heading the building acquisition and too many other things to detail here.

Thanks to some amazingly generous neighbors, Alpine Community Center takes possession of the vacant church property at 25184 Webster Avenue in Alpine on January 1, 2011, right behind the fire station on Bellfountain Road. We have so much to be thankful for this Holiday Season!

The ACC board believes that owning this facility will help us continue to provide the programs and services we currently offer, and will open opportunities for new ways to serve the community for decades and generations to come.

Getting to this point has been a whirlwind of contributions and collaborations. Donations of skill, time, and financial support have been truly amazing and have kept this process moving steadily forward.

If you want to read more about the details of this amazing venture and where we are in our planning and execution, please check out http://www.alpinecommunity.net/pg33.cfm. We will occasionally provide more detail about the transactions and news updates for those interested.

Local supporters have already contributed $7,200. As you consider your year-end giving and your plans for supporting worthy causes in the year ahead, consider a tax-deductible one-time gift or a budgeted donation plan to Alpine Community Center. Your financial support will result in improvements that you can witness daily.

Monroe Resale Shop has opened in the beautiful old bank building on Hwy 99. Open four days a week, Weds through Saturday. Terrific stuff! Want to volunteer to staff the shop? Contact Dorothy at 541-517-5943.

Alpine & Monroe Food Sharing Gardens are a teaching and sharing garden located in Alpine Park and behind the Methodist church in Monroe. Our fantastic volunteers, Llyn and Chris are keeping a terrific blog about the garden at http://alpinegarden.blogspot.com/.

Alpine Community Center is proud to announce the award of funding from Trust Management Services, LLC and Benton County Foundation to enhance our preschool program.

Teen Group. This program is now over two years old! The name of our group is Teens In Action. It is the perfect example of a home-grown program that meets specific needs in the community. Here’s the story. A group of teens began meeting with adult supervision to organize a town hall meeting about teen drug and alcohol use through the Strengthening Rural Families organization in Philomath. The teens were engaged, enthused, and proactive. They involved other teens in some “practice sessions” before the town meeting, and they began to express their desire for more teen activities. They have organized and hosted several dances for high school students with the help of their adult guides, and they want to continue generating teen activities. Those involved are from several different grades and social groups. Alpine Community Center has agreed to adopt the group as one of our programs, providing them with a non-profit umbrella, and a couple of the teens have sat in on several board meetings and have participated fully. This is just the beginning of a process that continues to grow. These student have been involved in several town meetings regarding social issues in our area. They also hosted a dance for the senior citizens that was well received. We continue to work toward eventually establishing a teen center where kids can come and relax and have some fun.

Alpine Community Center is an all-volunteer organization. Your tax-deductible donations go to operating the facility and running our programs. Your financial support makes this grassroots effort possible.

We have now made it easier to accept your donations! Paypal members can use their paypal accounts to make donations! It's quick and easy. Use our donate button:

Here is a brief synopsis of ALPINE COMMUNITY CENTER activities and accomplishments. None of this would have been possible without the volunteer support of community members like you!

Contribute to ALPINE COMMUNITY CENTER by sending your tax deductible donation to 25184 Webster Ave, Monroe, OR 97456.

Sign up on our contact list or call Dorothy at 541-517-5943 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 541-517-5943 end_of_the_skype_highlighting to get involved. We will use this list to contact you about events and activities you can help with or participate in.