Chiloquin Visions in Progress (CVIP) was officially incorporated on June 14, 1995, as an outgrowth of several community revitalization efforts, marked by countless hours of volunteer dedication from Chuck and Sally Wells, Bill and Faith Wilkins, Tom and Inger Burns, Will Hatcher, and others.
By the late 1990s, both the Chiloquin Branch Library and Two Rivers Village Arts (TRVA) had outgrown their spaces. Recognizing the need for a shared facility, the Friends of the Library, TRVA, and CVIP collaborated on grant applications to construct a building that would house both programs, provide community meeting rooms, and offer space for social services. Six centrally located lots were donated to CVIP as the site for the building.
Fundraising began with library benefit yard sales starting in 1995. By 2000, the event had grown into a community tradition, raising $4,700 that year alone. In 2000, a $200,000 matching grant from a local foundation jump-started a broader fundraising campaign. An architect was hired to design an 11,150-square-foot building, estimated to cost $1 million. Through community donations, events, and grants from 11 private foundations, a total of $1.6 million was ultimately raised.
Robert asked me to write something for the CVIP Quarterly Newsletter, which I find surprisingly difficult. Chiloquin Visions in Progress really began in 1995 on a dark and Stormy late fall night when about 6 of us were invited to attend an informal meeting at the home of Chuck and Sally Wells. After presenting the concept of a Chiloquin community non-profit, we were asked if we would serve on what was to become the CVIP Board.
Without hesitation, I said yes.
In the intervening years, we have sponsored many projects and programs, including building a community center with a home for local artists and a beautiful space for the Chiloquin Library. But sadly, also in those intervening years, the non-profit sector has become plagued with theft and corruption. And it is always the case that when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers, even if that fight is Justice rightly earned.
Thirty years of dedication is a very long time, and most certainly, I did not do this alone. I want to thank every board member who has ever served. I want to thank them for keeping us ethical and on the straight and narrow, so to speak. CVIP has done much in our community and, with grace, will continue to do so.
I am proud of all of us and the incredible hours and dedication it took to keep our doors open with a welcoming smile and helpful assistance. It was never easy, but it is and always was my Vision that this non-profit remains a guiding lantern in these most Stormy of times.
And with that, it seems we have come full circle.
Just so.
Faith Wilkins, Founding and Current Board Member
By Sally Wells, Founding Board Member
The year was 2004, and the construction of the Chiloquin Community Center was nearing completion. The exterior painting had not begun when Chuck and I took a long-scheduled European trip to visit friends in several countries.
Early in the planning and construction of the building, we had appointed a 3-member "Color Committee" to research and choose a color. I was a member of that committee, and we diligently gathered and studied a large collection of paint chips. Eventually, we agreed unanimously on a soft, golden yellow called "Anjou Pear."
When Chuck and I returned from our two-week trip, we drove into town the next morning to check on the status of the building. They had begun the painting, fortunately, on the back of the building, so we saw it as we approached. "There's been a terrible mistake", I said, "that's not the color we chose!"
It was indeed the Anjou Pear, and we had buckets and buckets of it, but it didn't look anything like the chip when applied to a large exterior area. The community was already up in arms, some calling it the color of "baby shit", others comparing it to the petroleum company---was it Conoco?---whose stations and signs were a garish orange.
The contractor said the paint was bought and paid for, and there was no other choice. I said you can't have a community building that the community hates. We descended on the paint store in Klamath Falls, and said what can we do? They said we can mix it down to something more acceptable. Which is what they did, and it is the quiet, appealing color of today's Chiloquin Community Center. Whew!
Construction of the Chiloquin Community Center started with the Groundbreaking on March 31, 2003, and was dedicated in June 2004.
