“We need acts of restoration, not only for polluted waters and degraded lands, but also for our relationship to the world. We need to restore honor to the way we live, so that when we walk through the world we don’t have to avert our eyes with shame, so that we can hold our heads up high and receive the respectful acknowledgment of the rest of the earth’s beings.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
Celebrating our Tenth Anniversary in 2025
by Karen Rainsong
When I first started this work it was 2006, and I was living the dream of building my own children’s education center in West Eugene at the home of Willa and John Alvord. They had a lovely working farm with a three room barn where I created a hands-on history and nature museum. For seven years I built and managed a slate of programs and events that families loved, including Baby Farm Animals Day, Salmon Day, Insect Explore Day (live ones!), and history summer camps. My son was six and loved coming to work with me at the farm.
But let’s back up.
I knew from pretty early on that I wanted to work with children. It just fit. I cultivated a strong sense of my own inner child and had a confidence in this area that led to many positions as a nanny, art teacher, and outdoor educator. When I got hired at Dorris Ranch in Springfield, I learned about history interpretation and about the Kalapuya Native people. I was so engaged and motivated I became the coordinator of the program and led a staff of four people. Working mostly outside on the 75 acre filbert farm was so rewarding! This led me to get a Certified Naturalist Certificate from the Siskiyou Field Institute, taking classes like Salmon Snorkeling and a guided Native Ecology raft trip on the South Umpqua River. Those were some amazing times.
I have so many warm memories from that time! And a lifelong friendship with Willa Alvord, who is like an adopted grandmother to me. She is still a supporter of Singing Creek Educational Center.
After 7 years at the Alvord Farm we had to move, due to the bees that had taken up residence in the roof! They had built such a large hive that honey was building up in the roof and causing the ceiling to get moldy. So we packed up the museum and moved to the Hunton Farm in Junction City.
This beautiful, 250 acre working farm was our home for four years. We were given the Granary building to use, which was a historic building built about 1940. It still had the pulley system, belt, wheel, and grain sorting chutes. For four years we held fun and interesting history programs there. We weren’t able to fit all of the natural history specimens and gear into the building, so we decided to focus more on history. Most of the nature items we donated to the Adventure Children’s Museum and other groups.
This farm was unique and special. We were able to walk about 1/4 mile to the pioneer one-room schoolhouse, complete with original bell in the tower, to play school. We enjoyed the large pond and creek, which even had a bridge out to an island, and a foot powered boat. They had chickens and a garden, as well as a wooded area, and we truly loved being out there. Still, it wasn’t perfect and we had to contend with mice and hornets. But it worked well for many years and we started our nonprofit journey there.
After four years at the Hunton’s place, we were well established as a local history nonprofit. But it was time to find a new home and we came to Cottage Grove, occupying the Dr. Snapp House for four years. This lovely historic home was in a park next to the river, an ideal location for us to get to know the town that is so connected to Opal Whiteley.
Opal’s book “The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow,” her childhood journal, was the inspiration for our name. I have always felt a kinship with her and loved her free spirited nature – she is a special friend of my heart. My inner child resonates with her.
At the Snapp House we grew our programs, connected with community in exciting ways, and really took our place as a history nonprofit. Even though we no longer reside in the Snapp House, we still call Cottage Grove home, and it’s the community that has embraced us so well. We are a part of the Partners in History, and participate each year in the BMD festival. We love to do History Pub talks and be featured on the local radio station talk show (KNND.)
For me, this has been my pride and joy- watching Singing Creek grow, see our success and our impact on children and families, and feel like I’m contributing to the world. Lately, I’ve been focusing on indigenous peoples and gotten connected to local tribal members. Working with indigenous people, sharing culture, helping to advance justice and understanding among different groups….this is the heart work.
History, especially of the settlement of the American West, is fraught with difficult discussions and reconciliations. It’s an important story to tell truthfully, and with tact and as much cultural understanding as we can muster. To be honest and yet acknowledge the suffering of non-white people due to colonization is a path I have committed to taking.
I’m proud of my Board of Directors, staff and volunteers who roll up their sleeves and help with this important work of sharing history honestly. And for kids, that means a balance of having truthful discussions that may be a bit uncomfortable, acknowleding the past, and yet finding joy in the good parts of the story, the things that we can all relate to and benefit from. The values of hard work, perseverance, teamwork, respect for nature, respect for elders, and cultural understanding.
After 10 years as a nonprofit we are stronger than ever. We have the most board members we have ever had, our budget is the largest it’s ever been, and our community relationships are strong. I am so grateful for all who have helped us on this path, our donors, our Board, and the vision of Opal Whiteley, who loved nature and children.
The next ten years? I’ll be strengthening our relationships to community partners, indigenous groups, and history organizations, helping promote history that is responsible and thoughtful. And I’ll be looking to hand off the organization when I retire to someone who loves the work as I do. As Robin Kimmerer says, restoring honor. It’s the work of the heart.
