mike mcreynolds

Transplanting Grass Roots The Grass Roos sign looks great in the sun after being thoroughly cleaned, after hanging in the shade collecting moss and mold all these years on Second Street. Moving is never easy. We all have to go through it some time in our lifetime. Why we move ranges from outgrowing the space you're in to just needing a change of scenery. Sometimes we have no choice. The most stressful move is thrust upon you in the form of an eviction. That is what happened to Grass Roots’ owners, Jack Wolcott and Sandy Smith, back in September 2023. That is when a miracle happened. Smith said, "I heard that The Shoe Hutch was closing their doors." Wolcott told her "to call them to make sure what she had heard was correct." It was.  So Wolcott called the building owner to see if they could lease the space. The building owner gave him an enthusiastic yes! But it would take a few months to get the place ready. The new building owner offered to pay for the renovati...

 Calling all Featured Writers, it's Poetry Month. Let's see a poem from you. Either one you wrote or one that means something to you. Here's one I wrote the other day: A Good Heart  I feel that I have a good heart.   I was going to say that I think I have a good heart,  to be modest,  but you don’t think with your heart.   You think with your head based on what you feel in your heart.   A good heart will drive your thinking  to make decisions with empathy and compassion.  A good heart’s empathic voice speaks with compassion.  What makes a good heart?   Is it who likes you?  Maybe.   Is it because you help others?  That depends on your motivation.  Are you doing it to help others or be thanked, making you feel better about yourself?   The answer will tell you a lot about yourself.   It seems to me that putting others first is the only way to show your good heart. ...

  The Day That Changed My Life for Good BANG! What was that?! Oh shit, that was the tube in my front tire.  Thank God I was alone, so I didn’t offend anyone while I bitched out loud about my situation. That meant I had to walk my bike to my mother-in-law's trailer to Meadow Park off Conifer Street in north Corvallis, which was a good mile or two. Little did I know that I wasn’t going to make it.    It was warm and sunny for the first Sunday of November. I made it across Walnut Avenue with no problem.    I took that opportunity to light up a cigarette.  Little did I know it was going to be my last. I had to hold my front tire up. Basically doing a wheelie while walking my bike on the sidewalk heading east past a huge apartment complex.  As I was turning north onto a bike path, I noticed my right foot was slipping like I had stepped in oil. I stopped and didn’t feel anything slippery on my shoe, so I kept walking. My foot kept slipping.  My hea...

Bring on Spring Term      Hope your break left you refreshed. I am now in my third term of journalism. This term I will be writing featured stories and starting my column about the experiences of students with disabilities and the challenges we face just to get to class, doing our homework and what can LB can do to help us get the same education as everyone else. I've been just resting during the break. Cheering the OSU Beaver Women's basketball teams march to the Elite Eight. They soared much higher than pre-season poll said they would go. Picking them to finish tenth in the final Pac-12 season. They finished as one of the top eight teams in the country.     It was a honor to have my first story appear in the February print issue of The Commuter. I also had a story posted on the online version of The Commuter. My major is Creative Writing but my focus is on Journalism.      My three goals for this Spring term: 1) Meet all my deadlines. I didn't m...