By DOUG BATES/Editor/The Herald — A multi-talented musician and a disc golf pro will headline the Oakridge-Westfir community’s next “Spotlight Project Presents” production on Sunday evening, June 27.
Benny Olson, an Oakridge band leader and solo performer, will be the show’s featured musical guest. Jason Nehmer, designer of the community’s widely praised new disc golf attractions, will be interviewed on the show.
It’s set to begin at 7 p.m., live-streamed on Facebook from the newly refurbished stage in the Willamette Activity Center (WAC) auditorium.
Olson has been a popular figure in the community recently as frontman for a trio called Song Dawgz. He and Oakridge musicians Gary Battles and Keith Dailey perform a mix of classic rock, country, pop and original tunes with Benny on vocals, stringed instruments and harmonica. Sunday night, he’ll treat the Spotlight audience to a solo ukulele show.
Nehmer has become a highly visible figure in the community as a disc golf wizard and designer of championship courses at the former mill sites in both Oakridge and Westfir. An outdoor enthusiast, he is vice president of the Oakridge Westfir Area Chamber of Commerce and a driving force behind the chamber’s fall Headwaters Harvest Festival, which he is expected to discuss with Spotlight host Becky Chamberlain.
Sunday’s production will feature another “Community Corner” segment with interviewer Catrina Davis, as well as another episode of “Mountain Kids Minute.” It’s a short feature hosted by Averi Rhule and her mother Chelsi Rhule, highlighting talented children in the community.
Despite the recent relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, “Spotlight Project Presents” is still not ready to open up the WAC auditorium to live audiences. Like the first two shows, this one will be live-streamed on Facebook. Anyone can view the program at no charge online by going to https://www.facebook.com/Spotlightingtalent and clicking on The Spotlight Project Presents.
The production represents many months of volunteer effort by Loren Christopher Michaels and a cast of many others who completely refurbished the WAC stage and production facilities.
The format of “The Spotlight Project Presents” is part talk show and part variety show with guest interviews and live stage performances. Plans call for a different broadcast every other Sunday at 7 p.m.
Herald Editor Doug Bates is a retired newspaper journalist who lives in Oakridge.
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