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Blackberry ‘mini-Jam’ festivities taking shape for July 24-25 celebration in the center of Lowell

by Doug Bates | Jul 18, 2021 | Arts, Entertainment and Events, Communities, Front Page, Lowell/Jasper/Fall Creek

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Pine Needlers who helped create the ‘Diamond in the Rough’ quilt are (back row, from left) Mari Jones, Diane Stephens, Teri Harter, Lisa Bee-Wilson, Gerry Burr, Robyn Newell, Lora Seale and (front row) Joyce Weaver, Virginia Galvin and Martha Nelson. Others who have helped with the quilt were Marlene Kindorf, Julie Redner and Sheila Sinclair Sny.

By DEAN REA/Correspondent/The Herald — A miniature replica of the popular Blackberry Jam is rising from the ashes created by the COVID-19 pandemic and is creating a sense of hope and excitement that the Lowell community expects to share next weekend.

Kristen Prenevost, George Wild, Lisa Bee-Wilson and members of the Pine Needlers quilting group weren’t about to permit the annual festivities to disappear after Oregon found itself freed from many restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 virus.

Kristen Prenevost

Kristen Prenevost, Lowell coffee shop owner

As a result, the festivities will take place July 24-25, Saturday and Sunday, in downtown Lowell. “The Blackberry Jam was canceled for the second year in a row, and the community was feeling disappointed,” Prenevost said during an interview.

As the high school volleyball coach and an owner of the downtown Stomping Grounds Coffee Shop, she thought “it would be a great time for the community to create its own ‘jam’ until the city-sponsored Blackberry Jam is back.”

The quilters had scheduled their annual event, and Wild had organized a Saturday morning car parade and show. Prenevost then helped organize an area garage sale, a car wash, a small vendor’s fair and a concert by a headliner vocal artist. Volleyball team members will sell T-shirts.

Football team members will serve blackberry cobbler for $5 and ice cream for a dollar. Softball team members will sell hamburgers and hot dogs from noon to 7:30 p.m. A map of nearly two dozen locations of a three-day garage sale starting next Friday in Lowell, Dexter, Jasper and Fall Creek will be available at the coffee shop and will be published late next week in the Highway 58 Herald.

The Saturday festivities will conclude with a free concert by Eugene vocal artist McKayla Marie, who is scheduled to perform earlier that day during the Lane County Fair.

lowell,stomping grounds,coffee shopDean Rea/The Herald

The scene of several mini-jam activities will take place near the Stomping Grounds Coffee Shop, which manager Kristen Prenevost and her husband Jason had built and opened in September 2019.

Meanwhile, the local quilting club will stage its 17th annual show Saturday, July 24 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Sunday, July 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission will be free but donations will be accepted. The show featuring more than 100 quilts has been moved to the new gymnasium where more parking is available.

Raffle tickets for the 74- by 100-inch “Diamond in the Rough” quilt are $1 each or $5 for six, and a raffle will be held for five themed baskets. Tickets for the basket raffle will be available for a dollar. The winning ticket for the “Diamond in the Rough” quilt will be drawn on Sunday. The winner need not be present.

Bee-Wilson founded Pine Needlers and created the quilt show after moving to Lowell in 2003. “This is our 17th annual show,” she said. “We haven’t missed a beat, even during COVID. Last year we had a one-day drive-through in a parking lot that raised $1,500.”

The club normally raises about $3,000, which has been shared with the fire hall, food pantry, library, elementary school clothes closet and has provided scholarships for Lowell High School students. The 25th annual Blackberry Jam was conducted two years ago before being interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an official city function headed by a committee.

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Written by Doug Bates

July 18, 2021

Alpine Stream Construction Highway 58 Oakridge Oregon

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