Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards include South Coast Couple, April 13

Individuals, organizations and projects that have made outstanding contributions to preserving Oregon heritage will receive Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards April 23 in North Bend. The public is invited to attend the presentation with pre-ticketing required. “The award recipients represent the diversity of efforts to preserve Oregon’s heritage,” said Kyle Jansson, coordinator for the Oregon Heritage Commission. “They also serve as models for others for how to make the most out of available resources.” The recipients will be: — Whilamut Passage Bridge Project, Eugene and Springfield, for the Oregon Department of Transportation’s community heritage approach to design and naming. — Balch Gulch Bridge Project, in recognition of the dedication and work by the Portland Bureau of Transportation to restore this historic 1905 bridge. — Morrow County, for the creative and important restoration of its historic courthouse tower and clock in Heppner. — Gayle Caldarazzo-Doty, Doug Doty and others for their vision, dedication and success in rehabilitating the Roth-McGilchrist Building in Salem. — Pop Up Museum Poster Project, for the creative and cooperative approach to making history publicly available by the Lane County Historical Society and the Shelton McMurphey Johnson House in Eugene. — Oregon Shakespeare Festival Archives, for its outstanding work to digitize and place online its audiovisual collections. — Shirley and Milt Nelson, in recognition of their 20 years of developing heritage resources on the South Coast. — Rosemary Johnson, for more than 25 years of outstanding work in preserving and developing heritage resources in Astoria and Clatsop County. The Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards are a project of Oregon Heritage, part of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. This year’s awards are being presented in conjunction with the Oregon Heritage Conference. Tickets for the awards presentation are available by completing the registration form at www.oregon.gov/oprd/HCD/OHC/Pages/conference.aspx. For more information, contact Kyle Jansson at 503-986-0673 or kyle.jansson@oregon.gov