There are Third Act Oregon members all over the state of Oregon. There are large and active communities in both Eugene and Corvallis.
Eugene
Last month, we had a terrific, upbeat meeting of 21 like-minded TAO members and friends at DaRa Cafe in Eugene on March 27th. Finding joy in comradery is one of our radical acts at this time in our nation’s history! We heard from our actions teams and focused on preparing for upcoming eventsand beginning to assemble a team for Sun Day in the fall.
On Saturday, April 5 our TAO Eugene group joined ACES(Activist Coalition of Eugene and Springfield) for the family friendly non-violent Hands Off Mass Mobilization event at City Hall in Eugene. The turnout was fantastic and local news estimated there were over 2,000 people there. Folks completely filled the main arena along the beautiful Willamette river to listen to music and speakers and applaud the wildly creative signs that filled the space. There were kids and teens, families, friends, elders, and other-abled persons with chairs and with walkers. The energy was high and the feelings were so positive! The huge crowd spilled over onto nearby bridges and streets and waved signs and cheered to an orchestra of supportive honks and happy shouts from passing cars. Some of us Third Actors were on the de-escalation and safety team, some of us marched with signs, and some held down the fort at the TAO info table.
A few days later, four members of our group joined other TAO members in Salem on Monday, April for Lobby Day to support of the Climate Superfund Bill to shift some of the enormous costs of extreme heat, droughts and wildfires from Oregonians to the fossil fuel companies.
Our next meeting will be on April 24th at Da Ra Cafe, 5:30 for dinner/socializing and 6:30 – 7:30 meeting. Email debravquayle@gmail.com
Corvallis
March 11: Cyndi and John McAlpine, Third Act organizers for the state of Oregon, spoke at our monthly meeting with updates about what’s happening with TAO groups around the state.
March 16: TAO Corvallis hosted a table at the Interfaith Earth Summit/Climate Safety and Health in Corvallis, an event held both in person and virtually all over the state of Oregon. There, Senator Golden urged a massive people’s movement to spread awareness of two important bills now making their way through the state legislature: (1) OCERA’s (Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment) SJR 28 to guarantee us the right to a healthy environment and (2) Make Polluters Pay, SB 1187.
March 26: Six TAO Corvallis members lobbied legislators, attended the overflow hearing, and demonstrated at the rally in Salem to advance OCERA’s SJR 28, the Environmental Rights Amendment to Oregon’s Constitution. Many hundreds of people joined in the massive effort.
April 5: Third Act Corvallis and Indivisible collaborated to put on the Hands Offnrally. The courthouse grounds were filled and people stretched out for five blocks on both sides of the street holding eclectic signs to show solidarity in their outrage of the policies and actions of this administration. Our local politicians attended, and many community members spoke about their experiences .Third Act members were busy chatting about our organization, gathering lots of names, handing out literature, and helping keep the crowd hydrated. Tables were set up for participants to make signs and to write down their story on how the changes affect them. These will be shared with our legislators and the media.It was a great day building community and making the voices of “the people” heard.
TAO Corvallis meets at 5:30pm every second Tuesday of the month at the Corvallis Community Center. If you arrive at 5pm you can write write postcards with us for the Environmental Voter Project for half an hour before the meeting. To get on our emailing list, click the “join a working group” button.