Save Helvetia welcomes you to the

Welcome
A message from the Save Helvetia Steering Committee
The Save Helvetia Steering Committee would like to welcome you to the 2 nd annual
Helvetia Culture Fest. We are pleased and honored to have you as our guest.
Throughout 2009 and 2010, hundreds of you rallied to support our efforts to preserve
thousands of acres of foundation farmland north of Highway 26 as Rural Reserves. You sat
through hours of tedious hearings, you prepared detailed testimony, you signed petitions,
wrote letters and emails to Washington County and Metro, and you spread the word to your
friends and neighbors. Thanks to your superb efforts, we whittled the number of urban
reserves down from 10,000 acres in Greater Helvetia to about 1,000 acres. It appears we
have preserved over 9,000 acres of farmland for Rural Reserves for 50 years!
These efforts didn’t come for free. We had to engage the services of Carrie Richter, a
respected land use attorney, to combat the high-priced attorneys fielded by the developers as
we slogged through the most technical aspects of the Reserves process. The Save Helvetia
Steering Committee has donated thousands of hours of effort and our own money to pay the
bulk of the attorney’s fees of approximately $10,000.
Was it worth the money? After facing meeting after meeting of Washington County
committees stacked with mayors, our experience was that the lines on the maps didn’t
begin to move until Carrie began submitting testimony. Our answer is “absolutely.”
There are millions of dollars at stake in the reserves process - we were up against deeppocketed developers and Washington lobbyists, and even our own County - who all stand to
profit if more land is designated as Urban Reserves. The developers and lobbyists have not
given up. They have appealed to DLCD (the Department of Land Conservation and Development) at the state level to change many Rural Reserves to Urban Reserves. We have submitted objections to several areas north of Highway 26 that remain unprotected. Over the
next few months, we will be incurring more legal costs to fight this battle at the state level as
we try to retain the Rural Reserves that were designated at the regional level.
We are grateful for your support over the last 16 months. With your participation in the
Culture Fest and with your donations, we hope to retire our legal debt. Looking at it another
way, our goal is to save more than 9,000 acres north of Highway 26 for about $1 an acre.
Each dollar you donate saves 1 acre for 50 years.
How many acres will YOU save?
The Save Helvetia Steering Committee
Cherry Amabisca
Patricia Bailey
Robert Bailey
Brian Beinlich
Elizabeth Furse
Faun Hosey
Lyn Jacobs
James Just
Greg Mecklem
Linda Peters
John Platt
Steve Radtke
Save Helvetia
welcomes you to the
2nd Annual
Helvetia Culture Fest
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2010
Helvetia Alphorns - Gathering Song - 1:00 p.m.
Cherry Amabisca - Welcome
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Siobhan Taylor - Introduction
Flag Posting
Traditional Native Signing of the Lord’s Prayer
Cultural Dance Demonstrations
Traci Mogster - Pie Walk 101
Music - Bob Shoemaker
Music - Jimmy Boyer and Dave Reisch of the
Freak Mountain Ramblers
Closing - 4:00 p.m.
For your enjoyment throughout the afternoon
Pie Judging and Pie Walks
Children’s Clown and Balloons
Helvetia Winery “Rural Reserve” Wines
Helvetia Tavern Meals
Commemorative T-shirt Sales
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Information Table
Swiss Alphorns
We are honored to have Mark Grossen, David Schoch and Gary Zurbrugg
of the Helvetia Alphorns play for us today.
Archeological records of the Alphorn in Switzerland date back nearly two
thousand years. Early instruments in the mountainous regions of the Alps were
used for signaling and to announce daily activities. Since ancient times, the Alphorn has sounded as a part of the daily activities of the shepherds and
cowherds of these mountain people. The Alphorn was used to calm the dairy
cows at milking time. It was the twilight signal for the flocks of sheep to settle in
for the night as the shepherds exchanged rustic melodies across the valleys.
Such melodies became ritual signals for “All is Well in the Valley” and were
passed down through countless generations, from shepherd father to shepherd
son.
The sound of the Alphorn called the people to gather for council and the
men to gather for war. Today the alphorn is not used by herdsmen for signaling,
but primarily by musicians. The horn is about twelve feet long and is carved or
bored in wood and overwound with birch bark or caning. Modern alphorns are
also made with a carbon-fiber composite, making them lightweight and compact.
Sound is produced in a manner similar to brass instruments by the vibration of the performers’ lips. Due to its conical bore, the Alphorn produces a mellow and reverberant sound that can carry for long distances. The instrument has
a four-octave range. A common mistake is to call the instrument the “alpenhorn”
- the correct term is “alphorn”.
Source: http://www.alphorngruppe.com/history.htm
Celebrating the Cultural Heritage of
Greater Helvetia
Native Americans
The Helvetia Culture Fest celebrates the long-lasting cultural diversity of the
Greater Helvetia area. The original inhabitants, the Atfalati people, now represented
by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, used this area during the summer and
fall months when they gathered berries and acorns from the Oregon White Oak trees.
They hunted deer and elk in the Tualatin Mountains and used the sacred feathers of
the Acorn Woodpecker in special ceremonies. The Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde consider the Greater Helvetia area a “remnant cultural landscape”: an area remaining very similar in flora, fauna, and landscape as it was in previous cultural histories. As part of their commitment to preserving the cultural heritage of this area, the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde have contributed generously to the Washington
County Museum at Rock Creek. They also testified before the Washington County
Board of Commissioners urging preservation of cultural sites and remnant landscapes
north of Highway 26. In addition, Tribal Council wrote intergovernmental letters to the
Metro counties and Metro, urging this preservation.
Swiss and German Immigrants
The Helvetia Culture Fest also celebrates the heritage of the Swiss and German
settlers who began arriving in the 1870s to farm the Greater Helvetia area. The topography, climate and soils reminded the immigrants of their native Switzerland, and they
named the area “Helvetia”, which means “Switzerland” in Latin. Descendents of the
original families continue to apply their creative dry land farming techniques and dairy
skills. We applaud their careful stewardship of the fertile soils and sub-surface water
resources, providing premium crops for export as well as for local markets. In more
recent times, others have arrived in the Greater Helvetia area and are bringing added
diversity to the area, working shoulder to shoulder to preserve and protect the special
landscape, the unique community, the rich cultural history and the diversity of rural and
economic uses.
We are privileged to honor Greater Helvetia’s Native American, Swiss and German contributors to our diverse cultural heritage!
2010 Helvetia Culture Fest Volunteers
Webmaster, graphics design . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brian Beinlich
Program booklet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charlie Young
Cherry Amabisca
Logistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patti & Robert Bailey
Talent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Platt
Phone Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Anita Jensen
Children’s Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Donna Prock
Beverage Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Heather Rode
Gary Price
T-Shirt Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Brian Beinlich
T-Shirt Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Anna Becker
Anita Jensen
Hospitality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sharon Beinlich
Prep and Cleanup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Teri Allen
Pam Gates
Allen Amabisca
Steve Radtke
Pie Walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pie Bakers
Sharon Beinlich
Michelle Christenson
Carmen Fletcher
Faun Hosey
Claudia McCarter
Lynn Mogster
Liz Robbs
Kristine Walter
Traci Mogster
Susan Blevins
Alison Confer
Michelle Hascall
Shari Lawrence
Sally Millone
Traci Mogster
Nancy Rountree
Acknowledgements
A special thanks goes to the following people
Diana Yates and Greg Mecklem of Pacific Crest Alpacas for allowing us to
enjoy their barn at Accoyo Norte, overlooking the beautiful Tualatin Valley
Helvetia Tavern for their delicious meals
Helvetia Winery for their special “Rural Reserve” wines
Donna Prock for her delightful clowning
Helvetia Alphorns, Bob Shoemaker and Jimmy Boyer and Dave Reisch of
the Freak Mountain Ramblers for their unique music
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde for sharing their culture
Please patronize the advertisers in this program.
Let them know that you saw their advertisement and appreciate their support.
Congratulations on your success in
saving land for Rural Reserves!
Thank you,
Anita Jensen
Thank you
For saving the land
For our generation
Adrian Amabisca
Allison Amabisca
In the Heart of Helvetia
Open weekends from noon until five.
23269 NW Yungen Rd.
503-647-7596
www.helvetiawinery.com
New Earth Farm
A New Earth through Renewed Soil
Scott Olsen, owner
New Earth Farm supports sustainable agriculture and organic gardening with
bokashi fermentation - a more sustainable alternative than hot compost
residential fermentation systems and agricultural consulting
Vermicomposting
Worm bins, Composting redworms, Vermicompost, Worm Castings
Food scrap recycling
Home, Businesses, Events
To learn more, visit our website, email, call, or stop by and visit.
Web: www.newearthfarm.net Email: [email protected]
Phone: 503-913-2641
Address: 11000 NW Jackson Quarry Rd. Hillsboro, Oregon 97124
Abundant Harvest
farming at New
Earth Farm
& Dos Sequoias Farm
A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) business in Helvetia.
Growing fresh produce, herbs and flowers
for families and restaurants in our community.
971.205.2203
www.abundantharvest.biz
La Finquita del Buho
Sustainably-grown vegetables
April through October
7960 NW Dick Road
Hillsboro, OR 97124
(503) 647-2595
[email protected]
We lost our wonderful local school
district- West Union School District #1
Let's not lose Helvetia. I support
preserving and protecting this beautiful
and historic area.
Tom Woodruff
Past President of the West Union
Community Club and Chairman of the
School Board.
Before Save Helvetia
After Save Helvetia