You want a jarring reminder of why it's good to know the things you've learned with a bit of time and distance from your past? Try visiting your significant other's old stomping grounds. There's something about Corbett with its crazy wind corridor barreling down on the inhabitants at all times and acres of former farmland. Somehow, it makes the teens take crazy risks with their lives, which is probably the story of teens everywhere in the U.S. But I hear about JB's life as a teenager in Corbett and I'm given a jumble of Dazed and Confused-style antics involving drunk driving, class cutting, and nature walks, not always in that order. You can understand why my outsider's perspective on the small town of Corbett is a little skewed.
So when JB's band had the opportunity to practice in the Columbia Grange Hall in Corbett, it was a bit of a revelation. Beyond providing the setting for countless truant excursions out on Rooster Rock, Corbett contains a simple wooden building just off the main highway where the local citizens organize. The grange once served as the physical space to educate people about family farms as well as lobby for more federal money for local farmers. These days, the Columbia Grange members still do a lot of work with food. They collect food items for some residents in the Sandy River area and pass out lunches to seniors once a week. They also use the space to hold craft fairs and flea markets.
My friend's grandmother volunteers not just her time but her amazing stores of energy and commitment to her hometown. One sticky summer day, she unlocked the entrance and let her grandson's band loose on the small stage. The fledgling band, with JB on the left side with his guitar, looked pretty happy on the stage despite the lack of air flow. They ran through their set several times. As I chugged down one bottle of water after another, I surveyed the wooden planks along the floor, the ancient piano, and the steeple-shaped ceiling. Every structure appeared like an object time-traveled out of Corbett's history. It wasn't my past, which felt kind of odd. But I watched my boyfriend do what he loves on that dusty stage in the place where he went to high school, and it felt like that place could be part of my history, at some point. read more
