Welcome to Monmouth monthly, a peek into the heart of the Willamette Valley. Each month we will bring you updates of the things happening in and around town, brought to you by the people who help make it happen. I am your host. Sabra Jewell,
Thank you. Thanks for having us.
All right. Great. We are here today to talk to these two guys because November we are celebrating Veterans Week, and Veterans Week is happening on campus the week of November 8 through the 16th, and there's several events that we're going to talk about. And we have Logan here to talk about the Veterans Resource Center, and Zach to talk about campus recreation, and how those things are kind of meeting in the middle during the annual ruck and run. So fellas, we're going to start over here with Logan. Logan, many folks have already listened to the podcast episode where you talked about a little bit about your history and your road to Western if you haven't listed that episode, folks, I highly recommend you do, because Logan had a great story about how he made his way over into the Western family and the military family and Logan, what's been going on with you and Veterans Resource Center since the last time we talked? I mean, any new updates?
Well, number one that pops up is we got flooded out of our location. Totally an accident. Had a pipe bust, you know, just some, just some clean water came on down through, but it did go into the building, directly into our office. Be back in there over winter break. They're currently doing carpet paint, and we're gonna mix it up a little bit, and we'll be back in there in about a term.
So where are you housed right now? Where can students find you if they need you?
Good question. We are currently across the road in Todd Hall. 116 and 137
110 year old building might be haunted,
definitely haunted. Variables when you walk through those doors, you better, you better mention Jessica Todd's name with kindness when you walk into Todd Hall.
100%
Yeah. So well, it's great that you have a building location to go in, because I know that you're serving so many students. How many students do you think you're serving this year through veteran services?
Currently, we have about 85 veterans on campus. We're up about 10 over last year, but the total population we served, being anyone in the military community is about 145 150 this year.
Welcome back to Monmouth monthly, and we are here in the month of November. The leaves are falling off the trees big thanks to public works for their leaf pickup program. And I am here today with Logan doerfler and Zach hammerle from Campus Recreation. And you may remember Logan, Logan joined me last year. He is the director of the Veteran Resource Center, and I'm welcoming them both to the podcast today. Welcome fellows.
Yeah, because, as Logan mentioned last year, it's not just serving the veteran that goes to school at Western it's also serving the family and making sure the family has the support they need while that student is in the classroom, whether that's through activities or through resources, right? You're there for that entire family. Because what we know is to keep a student in school, you have to wrap your arms around that whole family. What other major things have been going on, other than having to kind of do all of your work inside of a new building? What else has been going on?
Yeah, since last year, we were super fortunate to acquire another ODVA Oregon Department of Veteran Affairs grants. So we're doing a whole bunch work through that, sending a whole bunch of students in the Student Veterans Club to a national leadership conference coming in January. That's that's a pretty big thing, something we couldn't do without that support.
Where is that conference
this year is going to be in Colorado Springs, Colorado,
to go take a day trip over to the Garden of the Gods.
Oh yeah. And that is something, have you spent some time in Colorado? Zach, oh yeah, yeah. Did you live there?
No, I did not live there. I spent a lot of time climbing there. Yeah.
So did you do the flat irons?
Yeah, of course, yeah. Flat Irons, a few fourteeners.
What were you doing in Colorado,
spending my time in college
Oh, did you go to CU?
No, no. University of North Texas, okay, and so a part of our little outdoor group, we'd always drive the 16 hours into town in Colorado and just hit it up. Weekends, long, weekends, long weeks, two or three weeks at a time. Sometimes cars break down. You just keep climbing.
Sounds great. That's amazing. That sounds like a great experience. And Zach, we'll get more into you, don't you've now piqued her listener's interest. All about Zach. More about Zach coming up. All right, so Logan, I know that you've got Veterans Week, and that week is action packed with not only activities for students and student veterans, but for the community as well. I think you guys do a really great job of opening up things to the community. Now, I know we're going to talk more about the ruck and run, but is there any are there any other kind of programs going on that you want to highlight that are going on the week of the eighth through the 16th?
Yeah, absolutely. And I know, you know, the eighth of the 16th is kind of a weird date range. It's a Friday through the following Thursday. That's just when we're doing it this year. So that whole period we have a VFW Veterans of Foreign Wars uniform showcase happening in the Hammersley Library. Lobby. Definitely come check it out. Super cool. We prioritized Oregon veterans and their stories. And that's going to be really, really sweet. We have the Military Appreciation football game the Saturday, the ninth, and we would love to see anyone in the community you know, that supports our military, folks, local veterans, people in the guard, etc. Come on out. We're doing a tailgate. It's gonna be myself and the Student Veterans of America putting that on. Just look for the obviously military tailgate with camo nets and a whole bunch of shenanigans going on that says, Come on out, have a burger and hang out and talk some student vets. I'm excited to hear about said shenanigans.
This is very exciting military shenanigans.
Yeah, you know, I don't want to spoil too much, okay, no, no. Spoilers. People to find out, yeah, oh yeah.
So to get into the tailgate area, it's free, right? You don't have to pay to get into the tailgate area. You do have to pay to get into the football game, but if you did just want to show up, we do recommend that people do not try to drive into the tailgating area, because all of those spots have been purchased this year, but there are plenty of street parking spots available. And I believe on football game days, can you park in that H lot?
So since it's a Saturday, you can park anywhere on campus.
Yeah, that's a good thing too. Like you don't have to look for just the street parking even though there's plethora of it, you can also Park in that. I believe it's the H lot that's right behind the football stadium, so please come on down and check that out. All football games during that are home games are a lot of fun. You I think the cost for the tickets is super, super affordable for the entire family. And it sounds like you guys will have shenanigans that'll be available for phones today.
Yeah, in any community, veterans, anyone who has a military ID, VA, ID, etc, gets in free.
Get some free to the game
Correct.
Okay, and we are going to be doing any halftime celebrations for veterans that day. I remember last year they had a veteran of the game. Is that still kind of going on during this football season that you know of?
We will definitely be doing some things during this game. I'm still kind of in dialog about the other games.
Okay, great. Sounds perfect. Because we do love to honor we have so so many student vets that are coming through and so many student graduates, right, right. That's it. What else do you want to talk about for that week?
I think the last thing I would want to mention outside of the rock and run, of course, would be the show of green. It's an annual photo that we take showcasing just like the spirit of support behind the veteran and military community at Western. It's open to anyone in the community. Of course, you want our staff, faculty and students come out, but anyone who supports the military is welcome to this. That's gonna be at 830 on Thursday the 14th, and that's gonna be right outside the Llewellyn administration building under the giant American flag, okay?
And that's 8:30am folks, not PM, and that's gonna be right on the main strip of campus. So be on the lookout for that. And folks can just show up Park. Any parking on campus during that day of the week is going to be limited to student parking, so please look for street parking and walk on into campus that day. But there's plenty of opportunities for that excellent so I don't want to make people wait for the ruck and run information. Zach, let's talk all about you so we know that you're quite the mountain climber. Are you from Texas originally? No, I am military family. Okay, lived all over the place. How many places have you lived? You know, off the top of your head, like numbers guys?
No,
No,I have no idea. I was in Texas for the longest amount of time. Had a lot of friends from college. We lived in a military community. My dad actually retired from active duty and started working for Bell Helicopter. So at some point in time, we were freelance free market folks, and met all my friends there. And so after my parents actually started working both under military contracts overseas, doing some administrative stuff. And then I came back to Texas for college after a sweet tour in Europe as a part of their dependent program, which is why we support the military, because they do great things for the families. Appreciate Absolutely. Yeah, yeah.
Okay, so you spent some time in Texas, and now how long have you been in Oregon?
Oh gosh, since 2016
What brought you here?
Yeah, family connections, yeah, yeah. Technically, I don't want to sound weird, but I'm like six generation by default, active duty babies get to claim their parents residency. So I claim Oregon as my residency because my father was born in Vail, Oregon,
yeah. Where is Vail, Oregon?
Vale is near Ontario. It's basically Idaho, yeah, basically, yeah, Jordan Valley region. Lot of good climbing out there too.
Yeah, and road onions. I imagine the onion industry is next level. I just found out about road onions. Can I say? I read an Oregonian report about road onions, and then I went on a trip, a road trip a couple weeks ago, and there were road onions and road carrots. As soon as the words, Hey, I wonder if we're gonna see any road onions popped out of my mouth. Alas, there was a road onion.
Did you see any road asparagus?
No, but a friend of mine mentioned sugar beets as something that she saw on the road. Road a good bit. And then a friend of mine also mentioned there was road salad after you kind of got it together.
You're never telling me that on a road trip, you can just pull over and rip some veggies out of the ground.
Okay, so that's different. The road, asparagus is a growing thing, yeah, okay. The road, onions are not a growing thing.
Okay, learning today I'm catching up. Yeah, this is good. So, yeah, there's a bountiful source of nutrition on the highways in Oregon, and this has been interstate vegetation. Highway 22 Yeah.
So yeah, if you're ever on 84 this time of year, Be on the lookout for the harvest. Thank you, Oregonian for your coverage on road onions. Back to it. Campus Recreation. You you're in that Campus Recreation world. Has that been your background is doing this kind of work, or did you end up here by chance? Tell me more about that.
Oh yeah, it's kind of funny. I so I have a graduate degree in recreation, sports management, so that's the field I wanted to pursue. And actually, my grandparents were out here, and I just I moved out here to be a park ranger. So my first job was being a park ranger for the state, and it was fun oprd represent. And then this opportunity came up, and in graduate school, I did a lot of work. I was full time at a college called Texas Women's University, where I met my beautiful wife, got the job at Western and now I support the recreation center, its climbing wall, the Outdoor Program, our rental program, and the Aquatic Center. So the historic 1954 Wolverton Memorial Pool is in carrying hands right now, and we're taking care of that. But yeah, it's it's been an absolute pleasure, and wherever we can support across campus, part of my job is doing programs and working with other groups on campus. And so when the opportunity came up to work with the veterans. Of course, I dove right into that,
yeah, because Campus Recreation. I mean, you help all of the club teams, right? Like the rugby teams and all those club sports, there are other other intramural sports that you interact with.
Yeah. Shout out to Andy main. He does a lot of the club sport programs. Actually, he does all of them. He's kind of a one man band back there. I think we have about 13 active clubs, kind of a couple that are that are really highlighting. They went to Nationals last year. So we've had some soccer teams go to Nationals. And then, of course, our woo rugby program, both women's rugby, plus and our men's rugby, is quite an event. If you ever want to go watch a game, they're out there on Saturdays.
The asparagus will grow in those, those irrigation ditches.
And I don't know the total history, but I know the men's soccer program, before it became a sport inside the university, was a club sport, right?
And it grew from there, yeah, we've, we have always, for as long as I can remember, how to men's club program. You know, good programs are contagious. So the school caught on to that, and they have an awesome soccer game
nationally ranked, right? I believe, so they were 25th in the nation, I believe, for the two programs last year or last week, and then I believe we won over the weekends. This is all in ancient history. Now, we could be ranked a lot higher, but, yeah, but the nationally ranked program, so that's pretty awesome.
Yeah, Coach Mike has been doing fantastic with them.
Okay, so Rec and run is something that you guys are working on together. Then Logan, is that something that you've always worked with Campus Recreation on when you've done the Rec and run? Has there always been a connection? There? Is this a new thing?
No, it they're in the trucks, and the trucks are taking the veggies out to the farm, from the farms to the stores, and they pop out of the trucks and they roll on the road. I'm not making this up. No, this is real. Is real.
Yeah, I've been doing it four years, but it's only been branded as the rock and run for three Yep. Zach, did we work on it the first year? Well, I think we, we started this actually, right by Thanksgiving, over six years ago, before we had, yeah, we had a rock and run happen. It wasn't called the ruck and run. It was just a veterans 5k I think. And we kind of carried the torch forward, and it is better than it has ever been.
Now, the branding of rock and run is actually really cool, cool play on a 5k right? Because, you know, participants get to actually come in and actually have a backpack. So they get to feel kind of a little bit you can weight it down, you can walk, you can run, you can have a stroller. I know my family will be out there with our stroller, but yeah, you kind of get to feel what it's like in the day of a of a grunt or whatever you want to call them now, but yeah, yeah.
And if you really want to commit to that, you can bring out a 40 pound backpack and a rough and a ruck at four miles an hour the whole way through. Normally it's 12 miles. But I'm not telling anyone. Protect your knees. We keep it short. We keep it doable for the whole family.
Has it been growing every year? Have you noticed that more and more people are getting involved?
It's been growing substantially, I think, and that's a lot to do with the veterans and their team, because campus directory influence on on marketing is only so much. We keep it kind of local to the campus community, but these guys get out there and they're putting posters all over the place. And over the past three years, I think we probably doubled in participation. I couldn't give you the exact numbers from last year, but it was pretty big to where the. The city and the county has asked us to let them know when we're doing the event.
Now, registration for this can you register up to the day of the event? Yes, okay, so people do not have to. We do recommend that you pre register, just to make your entry go quicker, right? Because once you show up, if you're registered, you can say, Hi, I'm here, and just kind of move on. Exactly. Okay, and how much is it to participate?
It is a free registration. There is also a t shirt available for participating in the event. We would love and recommend a $20 donation, but it's certainly not required to do the event. And we're also ending at dry town tap station, which is one of our main sponsors throughout the year. They do a lot of donations and support for us, so definitely come on out with us and join us thereafter. Perfect.
And do you need volunteers for this? Still, people are listening to this, and it's November 1 and the event is coming up. Are you still going to need volunteers? Or should people just show up and support the runners? Can they stand on the sidelines and clap for folks like, is this?
This one of those situations in our programming budget with Campus Recreation, we support a lot of the volunteer efforts, and we have staff out there in their red Campus Recreation jackets that kind of lead the way on where to turn and all those kind of details. And then, of course, shout out to Western Oregon ROTC program, because they provide a handful of eager student volunteers that I think are told to do this, but they are very happy about it, and they participate as well.
so
And so really, you just really want the community to just show up and enjoy themselves, either by participating in the actual run, or encouraging the other runners along the route, just kind of giving them that encouragement. Now, the route you can find online, but for our listeners who may just be curious, what is that route?
So you we're actually, we're starting at the HWC this year. So the Health and Wellness Center campus recreations, main building, which is right off Jackson Street, right in fact, you are encouraged to park on Jackson Street. Lot are really anywhere you can find parking. Just make sure to be at the front doors of the HWC on the football stadium side. We'll take off hit Church Street right away. Take a left at Church Street, and then we'll take a right on stadium. Take a left on Monmouth, and then head north to riddle road. Riddle road will take that right. And then once, riddle road terminates at 99 we take the pedestrian path all the way back to the neighborhood area, and I believe that right turn, if I'm not mistaken, is back on Jackson Street. But please look at the map. We'll have students out there, and they'll direct you on what street that is. We did want to make sure that we ran through the neighborhood a little bit, keep it on campus, and then we're actually the route ends at Main Street Park. And we'll be we partnered with dry town this year, which is fantastic. So we'll actually go to dry town and hopefully have a Western Oregon beverage, which those proceeds go to support Wou athletics.
That's perfect. And just a reminder for folks driving around town that day, I know that y'all are not going to be closing roads. Y'all are going to just be kind of sharing the road with folks and maybe having some enforcement around around crosswalks. But for our drivers that are driving on that day, around 830 to maybe 11, maybe be on the lookout for some folks running out there,
yeah, probably, uh, do that, yes, and then pay special attention from about 11 to three, because that's when the event starts. Is 11:30am
Oh, 1130 gotcha, which is a little different than in the past.
But with our partnership with dry town, we wanted to make sure people have got, you know, the appropriate time to consume.
No, that is good.
Yes, yes, we thought it would work a little bit better. And you know, the event, it's so fun that midday seems to get students out a little bit more. So if we let the student population sleep in and show up, then we hope to get more students out there this year.
That is a fact. You know, what I think is interesting about Campus Recreation is a lot of people think, and then this just gives for Western in general. A lot of folks think that the things there are just for the students there, but there are so many things that Western Oregon University provides for the community. As far as Campus Recreation is concerned, what are some of those things that you guys provide?
Yeah, absolutely. So we serve as kind of the, I would say, a fixture on campus for community. We have a huge swim lesson program, and it's growing really faster than I would expect, right? It's huge. We have a new sign up platform as well. Swim lessons is one of our main kind of community programs, but the pool has always been open to community when that facility is open, so anytime any member of the community, just check our hours online, and you can come in and swim in the facility. The rock climbing wall is also community kind of fixture. We have the chemeken rock climbing group.Come in. They're kind of a cool club around town. We have a rock climbing club, and we also have youth lessons as well. So our climbing instructors, which are all CWI certified climbing instructors, they actually teach youth climbing. And you know, right now, we have a partnership with the gate Community Center, and those kiddos like to come out on Wednesdays at four o'clock and climb on their own, which is a pretty cool club program. Shout out to Ben over at the gate community center. He's a great guy. He's been working with us for quite some time on that and you know, anything we can do to provide what outlets we can to the community is what we like to what we like to do now.
How can people find out about that? Do they need to visit just the website, or is there social media channels that will connect them to like opportunities for that.
Yeah, our website is a great stopping point to kind of see what's going on. There's a lot of links on our website that takes you to other pages that are even more, I would say, fulfilling to the quest of knowledge, where it links back to our Sign Up program, and you can sign up for things like that. But also at Wu, Campus Recreation is our flagship Instagram, and that you can find all sorts of programs on there. And what's the web address for you guys? Ooh, it is www.woo.edu/campusRec.
Campus Rec.
All right, so you heard that, folks we oftentimes, I know right now we're in constant conversations about the teaching our young people how to swim in the pools around here. And just know that there are swimming lessons over at Western. I know a barrier for intuitive to many folks when it comes to things at Western is parking. Concerns around parking. Please know I believe it's after 6pm you can park on campus or after 5pm It's pretty reasonable, and we live in such an incredible community where there is off street parking so close and convenient, so I don't want that to ever dissuade folks from using the services at Western and I hear that so much from people who are intimidated A little bit by driving to a college campus. But as someone who has lived in college towns for the last 25 years, this is the easiest one to access for the community, and the one that's the most open I have found offering so much to the community at little to no charge. So I want to echo what Zach is saying, please use what we have here in this great community, great facility.
I mean, it's a I would equate it to any d1 facility, and it's kind of a cool, cool program area on campus. And to add to the parking, they actually put out new pay stations, so it's actually kind of affordable compared to our neighbors to the south. I was down there the other day, and quite a bit of parking fees there, but ours are cheaper.
You know, Logan last year, we asked you, we gave you a little call to action, and we asked, you know, what did you need? And you said, supplies and monetary donations are always welcome. Is that still the case for you guys? Are you still? Is that still so something that would help keep funding this program. Have you found any other partners who have stepped up to the plate to help serve you in that way?
Yeah, great question. So we have had some community support following up on that. We've had donations go directly from our online platform into our foundation, which has been very helpful. Chapter 3203 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in particular, they're out of Dallas. They made a large coffee and snack donation recently, fairly recently, that was a massive help. The you know, the amount we churn through for these vets and family members that come in. I mean, donations like that, even in smaller size, are very helpful. And our student veterans are super grateful because hey,
I do want to remind folks, if they did not listen to that last pod is this is a place where people can come and hang out and spend time and relax and just decompress and ask questions and be around folks that make them feel comfortable and guide them through the process. And so having those things there, it just adds to the level of hospitality that you all are able to provide. So again, special thanks to the VFW for what they gave to the Veteran Resource Resource Center. That is huge. But again, it never ends right. The need for these things never ends. So if you are interested in giving to that group, reach out to Logan at the Veterans Resource Center or just the basic email address that's associated with the Veterans Resource Center at Western Oregon University, and that information will get to Logan, because, as he said, he's serving over 80 folks and their families, and that that need will continue to grow. Because I know Western Oregon University is a great place for student veterans to end up just because you, you guys offer such tremendous support and major, major applause for that. Again, I want to thank my two guests today to talk about all the incredible things happening over at Western Oregon University for Veterans Week, and not just veterans week, but all of the stuff that's happening at Campus Recreation. I think we all learned a little bit today about the things. Are available for families in our community, if they would just check out wou.edu/campus Rec, and you will find out more about all the programs happening there. But in the meantime, just remember November 8 through 16th, that is going to be the Veterans Week activities with the ruck and run happening on November 16 at 11:30am remember, that is a free event. Registration is open currently, and please, even if you're not going to run any event, show up and enjoy it. November 14 is another opportunity to come to campus at 8:30am for the show of green. And again, the tailgating event that's happening on November 9, and that is a military appreciation football game. It's a tailgate. Tailgating starts at 11am Kickoff is at 1:05pm there will be raffles, there will be games. It'll be fun for the entire community. Also, in November, the Monmouth Public Library is going to start their season of giving, and need to be on the lookout for flyers in our newsletter about this, because they're going to have several different opportunities to give. They're going to have the Casa Giving Tree, where you can drop off new and unwrapped gifts from kids ages birth to 18th. And you can give those at the Monmouth Public Library. And those will go to support Polk County foster care, and also Windermere. There's going to be share the warmth the coat and blanket drive. The mama Public Library is also going to be a drop off location for that. And as always, we are going to have a food drive. And those food food supplies are going to go to support the woo food pantry that we were just speaking of, and that woo Food Pantry, again, a reminder is not just for the students at Western but for the entire community. Please remember that as a resource, especially this time of year, help get your friends and neighbors and folks to those resources if they need it. It is truly a pleasure to bring you this podcast every month. I am thankful for you, Monmouth, in the meantime, Till we meet again, please don't forget to rate review. Subscribe, tell a friend. We will see you next time
thank you for joining us for Monmouth monthly. My name is Sabra Jewell. Our music is catching up by chill study and we recorded Indy Commons, which is a co working community independence organ. Please find us wherever you find podcasts, rate review, tell the friend, and we will see you next month. You.