Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Slug Queen contender sees benefit in contest
Monday, August 18, 2008 | No comments posted.
EUGENE (AP) - It wasn’t easy, but 25 years after the birth of the Society for the Legitimization of the Ubiquitous Gastropod (SLUG) and the crowning of Queen Bruce, the first Slug Queen, Eugene’s slimy bit of royalty is getting some respect.
Constance Van Flandern, a Eugene freelance graphic designer, loves the whole thing.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am about this,” she said over a latte at one of several businesses she as convinced to take part in the inaugural one-week Slug Trail.
About 20 businesses are offering everything from slug-themed cupcakes to slug banana cocktails.
The Slug Queen will be crowned Sept. 5. So far she’s the only candidate, but a handful usually show up. The Slug Queen Art Exhibition was added this year.
A Wall Street Journal reporter contacted Van Flandern and apparently has a story in the works. A University of Oregon documentary crew is working on a piece.
But she says the main objective is to try to bring the often-fractured city together.
Van Flandern was disappointed last year when voters rejected a $40 million downtown redevelopment initiative.
She says Eugeneans need to unite behind something. Hence the Slug Queen.
The Old Queens who held the throne previously will pick the new one.
Queens’ projects have ranged from collecting food for a food bank to finding homes for pets.
Her husband, Phil Scher, an associate anthropology professor at the University of Oregon, says she may break even the sale of slug-themed T-shirts and a small slice of the profits from blown glass slugs, a slug-shaped coffin, slug balloon-art and more from the art show.
There’s also scepter shaped like a slug created by Eugene sculptor Jeffrey Weitzel, who is working on a bronze slug sculpture that the city’s Public Art Committee somehow decided not to put in a city park.
So Van Flandern is trying to raise $8,000 to put it in a rhododendron garden, where it will enjoy good company. There are slugs galore in the Willamette Valley, where it rains a lot.
The park committee did look at the slug sculpture.
While they thought it was a nice proposal, “they didn’t feel it was at the quality level that we are hoping to embrace over time,” said Laura Niles, the city’s cultural services director.
Constance Van Flandern, a Eugene freelance graphic designer, loves the whole thing.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am about this,” she said over a latte at one of several businesses she as convinced to take part in the inaugural one-week Slug Trail.
About 20 businesses are offering everything from slug-themed cupcakes to slug banana cocktails.
The Slug Queen will be crowned Sept. 5. So far she’s the only candidate, but a handful usually show up. The Slug Queen Art Exhibition was added this year.
A Wall Street Journal reporter contacted Van Flandern and apparently has a story in the works. A University of Oregon documentary crew is working on a piece.
But she says the main objective is to try to bring the often-fractured city together.
Van Flandern was disappointed last year when voters rejected a $40 million downtown redevelopment initiative.
She says Eugeneans need to unite behind something. Hence the Slug Queen.
The Old Queens who held the throne previously will pick the new one.
Queens’ projects have ranged from collecting food for a food bank to finding homes for pets.
Her husband, Phil Scher, an associate anthropology professor at the University of Oregon, says she may break even the sale of slug-themed T-shirts and a small slice of the profits from blown glass slugs, a slug-shaped coffin, slug balloon-art and more from the art show.
There’s also scepter shaped like a slug created by Eugene sculptor Jeffrey Weitzel, who is working on a bronze slug sculpture that the city’s Public Art Committee somehow decided not to put in a city park.
So Van Flandern is trying to raise $8,000 to put it in a rhododendron garden, where it will enjoy good company. There are slugs galore in the Willamette Valley, where it rains a lot.
The park committee did look at the slug sculpture.
While they thought it was a nice proposal, “they didn’t feel it was at the quality level that we are hoping to embrace over time,” said Laura Niles, the city’s cultural services director.
The comments below are from users of theworldlink.com and do not necessarily represent the views of The World or Lee Enterprises. Participation Guidelines
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Not already registered?
The World welcomes your comments about stories, and we encourage a robust dialogue on this site. All comments must meet reasonable standards of decency and civility.
Please follow these basic rules:
- No defamatory comments about individuals or businesses.
- No deliberately false information.
- No obscenity or racially offensive language.
- No harassment, verbal abuse, threats or personal attacks.
- No information that invades another person's privacy.
- No business solicitations or charitable solicitations.
Comments that violate these standards will not be posted. Users with repeated violations may be banned from future posting.Comments will be approved throughout the day during business hours. After hours and weekend comments may not appear until the following business day. It may take a couple of hours before comments are approved.
The World generally does not edit comments, but we reserve the right to edit any comment that does not meet our standards.
Close Guidelines