Moving into the future with a look to the past
It is hard for me to reconcile that at age 65 I’ve lived about one third of Oregon’s history since Lewis and Clark visited our north coast in 1805. Yet, it is rather easy to look back 50 years to 1961 when I was a freshman in high school. The Corvette sports car was hot. So was Elvis, although I preferred the Everly Brothers. This issue is about a century of rural — looking back 50 years and looking ahead 50 years. Looking back is easy but looking ahead, things get foggy. That is why our strategy at the Institute is to help communities build their capacity to be responsive — to respond to the future as it unfolds.
More in this Issue:
Community Vitality is a storytelling publication published since 2000. Send article ideas, questions or requests for past issues to communityvitality@tfff.org.
© 2000-2021 The Ford Family Foundation. Anne Kubisch, President; Mandy Elder, Editor; Megan Monson, Assistant Editor
Moving into the future with a look to the past
It is hard for me to reconcile that at age 65 I’ve lived about one third of Oregon’s history since Lewis and Clark visited our north coast in 1805. Yet, it is rather easy to look back 50 years to... Read More
A community celebration in Dorris
When the people of the Butte Valley threw a party in August, they were celebrating more than the grand opening of their new community center. Read More
Collaboration key to successful future
A snapshot of Oregon’s rural communities in the 1960s would have provided a glimpse of an economy based primarily on Oregon’s rich natural resource base. Fifty years later, that picture has... Read More
From reactive to proactive
The Oregon Community Foundation recently announced its participation in a new multi-year initiative to support parenting education programs in Oregon. The parenting education project is a stellar... Read More
Handheld computers, videos, telemedicine
Our world is not the same as it was a half-century ago, and it’s hard to believe that, in another 50 years, our children will be saying the same thing. Here’s just a glimpse of the changes that have... Read More
Technology drives tomorrow’s schools
One-room schoolhouses dotted rural Oregon’s landscape until the early 20th century. Many of Oregon’s smallest school districts still welcome students under one roof, but inside, teachers have traded... Read More
Pioneering charter schools go mainstream
Oregon education is regulated by Division 22, a set of state rules mandating standards such as number of school days, hiring practices and textbook adoption schedules. These requirements can mean a... Read More
Driving on sunshine
With gas around 31 cents a gallon, a growing nation, and the teenage cruise era hitting all cylinders, the 1960s marked the beginning of steadily increasing traffic on U.S. roadways. The trend has... Read More
Recalling his past
Twenty-five years ago, Richard Kitumba was a child living in the midst of a violent civil war. The Springfield resident, now 36, grew up in Democratic Republic of the Congo, a war-torn region of... Read More
‘The best week of my summer’
I recently returned from Paradise Point, a remote campsite in the heart of Northern California at which the youth leadership event Camp Ford is held. This 2-year-old collaboration between The Ford... Read More
Charlie Walker: Reflections from a founding board member
When Dr. Charles Walker served as president of Linfield College in the 1970s, one of his first duties was to visit personally with each of the college’s trustees. In fall 1975, he called on a trustee... Read More
Select Books
Order One of These Books for Free* »Digital Distribution for Community Vitality
We offer both digital and printed editions of this publication. Printed copies are available by individual request only. Please note that we only mail Community Vitality to residents in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. Residents outside of this geography are welcome to download any issues from this website or subscribe to the online version.
If you’re a graduate of the Ford Institute Leadership Program or a recipient of a Ford Family scholarship, you will automatically receive an online subscription. All others? Don’t miss our next issue.
Be sure to sign up at: www.tfff.org/cvsubscribe.
Don't worry. We never share our mailing list, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Community Vitality is produced by Three60 Communications.
©2010 - 2023 The Ford Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Please direct permission to reprint inquiries here.
