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KLCC reporters are gathering stories for the 2018 Oregon Country Fair. Reports will appear on this page.Do you and a friend have a Fair story to share? Stop by the KLCC booth on Friday July 13 between 11 am and 2 pm and we will record your story. "Fair Shares" will appear on this page after the Fair!

White Bird Clinic And Oregon Country Fair Nearing Half-Century Mark

Brian Bull
/
KLCC

The Oregon Country Fair turns 50 next year.  Organizers are mum about what they’ll do to celebrate the event’s golden anniversary. Meanwhile, another local fixture also marks half a century in 2019, as KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.

Wren Arrington is Rock Medicine Coordinator for the White Bird Clinic, which has two tents on the fairgrounds. There’s one called Little Wing, and another called Big Bird which is near the main stage.

Arrington explains White Bird clinic’s overall mission and purpose.

“We’re a collectively-run human service agency.  We have a brick-and-mortar presence in Eugene, and nine or ten programs that service the folks in Lane County, all the people that work out here at the Oregon Country Fair volunteer their services, and the money that the fair pays us goes to support our free services in town.”

That includes people who can’t afford insurance or lack access to health care.  Many clients are homeless.   Arrington says both White Bird Clinic sites at the fair can render medical services equivalent to a small rural hospital, save for x-rays or labs.  The clinic marks 50 years in 2019, just like the fair.

Copyright 2018, KLCC.

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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