When the last of the stilt-walkers amble off-site, and the vendors begin to pack up their wings, body paint and stranger things still, it signals the end of the annual Veneta-based Oregon Country Fair in July. For most people, the otherworldly festival stays behind when its attendees, hippies and non-hippies alike return to civilization. For others, like Saphir Lewis, year-round OCF media coordinator, the fair doesn’t stay behind in Veneta. It simply changes form.
“We have 30 different crews that manage the land,” Lewis said, noting that care-taking the OCF property — an 11,000-year-old Native American ceremony ground and archaeological site — is a huge process that continues all year. Yet, neither archaeology nor the event itself is what the OCF is about.
“The main purpose of the fair is (to do) work in the community,” she said, referring to the fact that the OCF is a registered non-profit organization. “We support emergency services, Planned Parenthood, food banks … a long list of stuff.”
The long list also includes funding schools and 21 senior centers as well as supporting a plethora of community funds and grants.
Philanthropy isn’t the only way the OCF interacts with the community, however. It sponsors events and shows in multiple venues — Eugene’s W.O.W. Hall chief among them — and runs a camp on fair grounds for high school students in August called Culture Jam.
In the opinion of Robin Bernardi, the program coordinator for Culture Jam, the camps are one of the more significant things the OCF does during the off-season.
“The very first fair ever was a fundraiser for an alternative school,” Bernardi said, explaining that Culture Jam arose out of a desire to continue in that tradition. The eight-day program aims to instill core OCF values in the high schoolers who attend it, she said, such as creative expression, activism and learning from diversity.
“We’re spreading the kind of ideals that the fair was built on – working together, making change in the world.” she said.
In addition to Culture Jam, the OCF seeks community participation in a variety of public works as well. According to OCF general manager Charlie Ruff, some of the most humble jobs are the most important and are a good way to get involved.
“We take half a day or so picking up trash on the highway,” Ruff said, referring to the quarterly highway cleanups the fair does that consistently attract people from the general public. “We’ll feed them lunch for a day’s work.”
He points out that coming out and working won’t necessarily guarantee a place on one of the official OCF crews, but it’s definitely a good way to meet people and participate.
“We’re always looking for young folks to come and be involved,” he said.