Tonight

Friends meet

The group Compassionate Friends holds monthly meetings for parents, grandparents and siblings of families who have lost a child. The meetings are held the first Monday of the month at 6 p.m. at South Coast Hospice, 1620 Thompson Road in Coos Bay.

For more information, those interested can call Pam Lowry at 266-0282.

Tuesday

Health care reform

The traveling forum “Your Oregon, Your Health” will be in the area from 7 to 9 .m. on Tuesday at Lakeview rooms F, G and H, at Southwestern Oregon Community College, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay.

Beginning May 1, the Oregon Health Fund Board kicked off a series of 14 community meetings across the state to listen to public input on the broad concepts of health reform.  The meeting series, titled Your Oregon, Your Health, will serve to get community input critical to comprehensive health care reform in Oregon.

The Oregon Health Fund Board, established by the 2007 Legislature, is a group of seven citizens responsible for developing a statewide health reform proposal in time for the 2009 Legislative session. Their volunteer work for this effort is guided by more than 100 committee members who serve on the advisory committees and several workgroups developing recommendations for the board.  Also guiding the board will be input from hundreds of Oregonians in cities across the state, from Coos Bay to Ontario, and Astoria to Klamath Falls, who will attend the Your Oregon, Your Health community meetings, a press release said.

Your Oregon, Your Health meetings will consist of conversations among attendees, in large and small groups, facilitated by the American Leadership Forum.  The meetings are sponsored by Northwest Health Foundation and organized by Oregon Health Forum, Oregon Health Decisions and the 25 member organizations of the Oregon Health Reform Collaborative.

The meetings will focus on finding common values among Oregonians around health care quality, access, cost and delivery.  A report from the meetings will be presented to the Oregon Health Fund Board, its advisory committees and the Governor’s health policy team in early July, a press release said.  

Childcare and interpreters will be available at each meeting by calling Oregon Health Forum at (503) 226-7870 or toll free at (800) 501-4220.

Thursday

Food series at Colette’s

Colette’s: Good Food + Hungry Minds,  at 3229 Broadway Ave., suites H and I, in North Bend, is hosting a series of food workshops designed to inspire interactive conversations among the community about food.

The local food series will be informal and fun, with an open question-and-answer format, and comments or suggestions will be welcome.

 The conversations will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Colette’s  and will continue from May through July. Scheduled topics include:  

* Thursday: Community Supported Agriculture, Suzan Brawnlyn

* Wednesday, June 18: The Politics of Hunger, Rollie Lobsinger, South Coast Food Share

* Monday, June 23: Coos Head Food Store: Becoming a Co-op, Bobbie Stewart

* Tuesday, July 8: Winter Gardening, Master Gardener volunteer

* Thursday, July 17: Kitchen Literacy: The History of Food, author Ann Vileisis

* Monday, July 28: Local Foods in Local Restaurants, Alex Bourdigu, owner of Porta restaurant

* Thursday, July 31: Cooking with Pacific Northwest Ingredients, at Oregon Coast Culinary Institute, Southwestern Oregon Community College, from 4 to 6 p.m.

The food conversation series is sponsored by Oregon Coast Community Action, an organization that houses, feeds, warms and educates vulnerable individuals, children and families throughout the South Coast. For more information on the food conversation series, those interested can call 888-7057, e-mail shawna.behm@gmail.com or visit http://www.orcca.us.

This weekend

SOLV at Mingus Park

A series of SOLV workdays are planned in coming weeks. Choose to battle scotch broom at Pony Slough, remove garbage and build swallow nest boxes at Hallmark Creek or become an ivy-removal pirate at Mingus Park. Tools, gloves, equipment, water and refreshments will be available at each site. This project is designed to improve the water quality and wildlife habitat of these areas. Students can earn volunteer service hours and can request written documentation of the number of hours served.

Scheduled events include:

n Mingus Park, “Ivy-Pirates,” from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Participants can meet at the parking lot across from the park. The event is sponsored by the City of Coos Bay, OCEAN and South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. For more information those interested can call Tom Gaskill at 888-5558, ext. 26, or e-mail tom.gaskill@state.or.us,

To register for any of these events, those interested can visit http://www.SOLV.org.

Mid-June

Concerts in Reedsport

 The Riverfront Rhythms 2008 Concert Series will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 13, on the waterfront at the Umpqua Discovery Center in Reedsport. The concert will feature the “Young Bucs.”  

Also on the schedule are:

* A 40-piece band, “National Guard,” will perform at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 21, at Pacific Auditorium.

*  “The Puffers” will perform at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, June 27. They will play familiar and original tunes.

* “Slow Ponies,” at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1. They are an old-time Western group.

* The “Oregon Coast Lab Band- Evolution” will perform at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 22.

The concerts are free. Seating will be on the lawn, and participants should bring their own chairs or blankets. There will be food vendors, and picknicking is welcome. No pets, smoking or alcohol will be allowed.

For more information, those interested can call (541) 271-4816.

Later in summer

BHS 1978 reunion

The Bandon High School Class of 1978 will hold its 30th Reunion on Cranberry Festival weekend, Sept. 12-14. Activities planned include a Friday night beach party, a Saturday dinner at Billy Smoothboar’s and a Sunday picnic at Bullards Beach State Park.

For more information, those interested can e-mail Bandon1978@gmail.com.

MHS 1988 reunion

The Marshfield High School Class of 1988 will have a 20th reunion on Friday, Aug. 15, and Saturday, Aug. 16. Activities will include an informal bowling night on Friday, a family picnic on Saturday, and a dinner dance at the Mill Casino on Saturday night.   

For more information, those interested can call Matt Muenchrath at 396-4529, or e-mail at muenchrathlaw@cs.com, or visit the alumni section of http://www.marshfield.coos-bay.k12.or.us/.

Empire School reunion

Students and teachers from the old Empire Grade School, later known as the Market Street School, can attend the annual potluck reunion will be held on Saturday, Sept. 6, at Simpson Park in North Bend.

For more information, those interested can call Jim and Myrna Cagley at 888-4391, or Jim and Jan Hillar at 888-3394.