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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2025

Brookings, Oregon

Brookings Gears Up for Free Gaming Extravaganza:

Harbor Game Con 2025 Returns

Elks Lodge: This year’s Game Con will be held at the Brookings Elks Lodge

BY LINDA LEE

Curry Coastal Pilot

Get ready to roll the dice and shufﬂe the deck! Harbor Game Con, Brookings' premier gaming convention, is set to return for its third year on Saturday, March 29th, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., promising a day packed with fun. The Brookings Elks Lodge will transform into a haven for gamers of all stripes, offering a diverse array of activities. Attendees can immerse themselves in tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, engage in strategic card battles with Magic: The Gathering and

Game Con 2024: Last year’s Game Con was packed with participants.

explore a vast, open board game library. "We're thrilled to bring Harbor Game Con back to the community," said Ian Crocker, organizer of the event. "This is a completely free event, designed to provide a fun and inclusive space for gamers of all experience levels." The convention will feature a comprehensive schedule of tabletop and board games, with signups available in advance from March 1st to 15th at HarborGameCon.com. Day-of sign-ups will also be available for those who prefer spontaneity. Highlights of Harbor Game Con 2025 include: Please see GAME CON Page 4

Achieving the Dream bestows highest honor to Southwestern Oregon Community College for improved student success

Achieving the Dream (ATD), a national organization committed to advancing community colleges as accessible hubs of learning, credentialing, and economic mobility, today awarded the Leah Meyer Austin Award, its highest recognition, to Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC). The award, given annually, signiﬁes a college’s adoption of practices and strategies leading to a student-focused culture, notable increases in student outcomes, and a reduction of equity gaps. The announcement was made at ATD’s annual DREAM conference, which brought over 2,000 community college leaders, faculty, student affairs staff, and other higher education practitioners to the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. “Selection for the Leah

Meyer Austin Award is a highly competitive process,” noted ATD President and CEO Dr. Karen A. Stout. “Winners of this award do not just demonstrate pockets of excellence; they employ a holistic approach to student success that permeates their entire institution and results in whole-college transformation. Southwestern Oregon Community College has the bold leadership and the across-the-board commitment of faculty and staff that make them true standouts in their student success efforts. I congratulate them wholeheartedly on their achievements.” SWOCC has been an ATD institution since 2012, when it joined the network as one in a group of nine rural Oregon community colleges. The institution achieved Leader College status

Worth the Effort: Krystal Hopper Meyers, STEAM Pathways Assistant; Dr. Alisha Lund, Director of Institutional Effectiveness; Dr. Ali Mageehon, Vice President of Instruction and Student Services; Dr. Patty Scott, College President are committed to adapting to higher learning.

Please see DREAM Page 3

Brookings Activity Center: From Humble Beginnings to Vital Community Hub BY LINDA LEE

Curry Coastal Pilot

Much Appreciated: Carol Akin, Vice President of Tri City Duplicate Bridge Club, donates $1,000 to the Chetco Activity Center.

INDEX

What began as casual gatherings around a kitchen table in the mid-1970s has blossomed into the vital Chetco Community Center, a cornerstone of the Brookings-Harbor community. The center was born from the vision of Theora and George Humphries. The center's roots trace back to a simple need: a place for local seniors to gather for companionship, activities and shared meals. Initially, volunteers served homemade soup and bread in a rented "Little Green Building," occasionally delighting patrons with Ruth Dalton's renowned shortbread. The demand quickly out-

grew the small space, prompting a major fundraising drive. A pivotal moment arrived with a generous land donation from Virginia Manley, enabling the construction of the current facility at 550 Chetco Lane. Countless community members contributed funds, labor and materials to bring the vision to life. Today, the center serves hundreds of meals monthly, both in its dining room and through its Meals on Wheels program, which delivers hot and frozen meals to approximately 62 homebound individuals daily within Brookings and Harbor. The center also provides a vibrant social hub, offering games, puzzles, books and current magazines. Activities range from Tri-City Bridge to

bingo to English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and Tai Chi. "We want to continue serving meals, hosting fun events, displaying art, holding educational classes, introducing friends to one another," said Carol Owens, Programs Administrator and Assistant General Manager of the Chetco Activity Center. "The community of Brookings invested money and hard work to make this facility a friendly, warm place to be." Owens emphasized the center's reliance on volunteers, who are crucial to its daily operations, alongside a small paid kitchen and janitorial staff. The meals are prepared on site and delivered by volunPlease see BAC Page 3

Phone Number: 541-813-1717 • Address: 519 Chetco Avenue, Unit 7, Brookings, OR 97415 • Email: Circulation@CountryMedia.net

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