LBCC's Benton Center Acoustic Showcase hosts Cooper Hollow

Left to Right: Jon Franke (bass), Jim Hockenhull (fiddle), Sally Clark (guitar), Paul Scheerer (melody banjo)

 

The halls were alive with the sound of music.

The Benton Center Acoustic Showcase hosted local band Cooper Hollow last Friday, April 22^nd.

Over forty people gathered in the student lounge to dance, eat lunch, or simply sit and enjoy the fine stringwork and good vibes of the local quartet.

Cooper Hollow used their decades of collective experience to please the crowd with cohesive covers of folk and blues classics such as the "Pan Handle Rag," and "Nail that Catfish to a Tree."

Without any amplification, the natural vibrations of their strings reverberated through the open atrium, creating an intimate environment of warm tones.

Described as a "high-energy mix of bluegrass, old-time, country and rags with a bit of Cajun thrown in for spice," this was Cooper Hollow’s fourth time playing at the Benton Center. 

“It’s always a treat to play here, the people are nice and it has great acoustics,” said Sally Clark (guitar, mandolin, vocals).

Clark owns and manages Guthrie Park Community Center near Dallas, OR, where the band was formed in 2006. She has hosted an open acoustic jam at Guthrie Park every Friday night since 1987.

Paul Scheerer (melody banjo, vocals) has
been a biologist for ODFW for 22 years.

Lead vocalist Paul Scheerer (melody banjo, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, vocals) was unable to sing because of a surgery that requires his jaw to be wired shut for 4-6 weeks, the result of a cyst caused by an impacted wisdom tooth.

“It’s been hard because I love to sing everyday,” said Scheerer, “and everyday I’m reminded that I can’t sing.”

Scheerer has also been a biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for the past 22 years, evident in the customized salmon-shaped inlay on his banjo fretboard.

Jim Hockenhull (fiddle, guitar, vocals), joked “it’s hard for (Scheerer) to talk, which makes the rest of us happy, but unfortunately it’s impossible for him to sing.”



Jim Hockenhull is a four-time Oregon
Old-Time Fiddler's Senior Champion

Hockenhull is a four-time Oregon Old-Time Fiddlers’ Senior Champion, who also moonlights as an electric fiddler in a punk rock band.

He holds a BFA and an MFA in sculpture and his wife of 45 years, Jo, stands in on triangle for certain Cajun songs.

Plucking the rhythm was Jon Franke (standup bass), a professional luthier who built the great whale of an instrument that he plays. Franke specializes in building violins, violas, and cellos. (Proviolins.com)

Franke began building violins as a hobby in 1985 and was able to leave his work as a master tool and die maker in 1992 to open his own instrument shop.

Jon Franke is a luthier who
built the bass he plays.

Cooper Hollow also plays weddings and parties, and can be seen at the Best Cellar Coffeehouse on Friday, May 27^th, as well as the Corvallis Saturday Farmer’s Market on July 2^nd.

For more info on Cooper Hollow, visit their website @ http://www.cooperhollowband.com/

The next Benton Center Acoustic Showcase will feature Tom & Ellen Demarest on Friday, May 20th. The event is free and open to the public.



At A Glance:

What you missed: Cooper Hollow at the Benton Center Acoustic Showcase April 22nd
When you can catch them: Friday, May 27th at the Best Cellar Coffeehouse
Next at the Benton Center: Tom & Ellen Demarest on May 20th
Why: Because local music makes life better



LBCC's TNT Club Aids Students on Non-Traditional Career Paths

TNT Club? Are they explosives junkies? An AC/DC tribute band?

Not exactly, but shaking the earth just the same. 

Since January of 2010 the TNT Club (Think Non-Traditional) has been helping break gender barriers in male and female dominated professions. Headquartered in the Diversity Achievement Center, the club offers social support and scholarship information to bold students who challenge tradition by choosing career fields in which their gender occupies a minority of 25% or less.  

"Don't be led by tradition, just do whatever you want to do," says David Ward, who worked nearly twenty years in sheet metal and other various trades before leaving the daily grind to pursue a degree in elementary education.

Elementary school teachers generally require a bachelor's degree and teaching certificate, which varies by state, and can expect a median salary of around $48,000 in Oregon, just below the national average of $51,467, according to Salary.com. But it's not all about dollars and cents, "Money was never an issue, I just want something more fulfilling, I want to help people," explains Ward. 

David Ward dressed as King Tut for children from the Oregon Headstart Program in the Diversity Achievement Center on March 10th, 2011. Photo taken by TNT Club.


 Currently, 18% of elementary and middle school teachers are males, compared to 43% of secondary schooling teachers, according to website menteach.org. Male nurses currently account for 8% of industry positions, up from 6.6% in years prior.

As male students like Ward prepare to change the dynamics of elementary education, female students like Amy Payne, in the Welding Technology program, train for jobs in male-dominated professions. "You learn something new everyday, which makes it interesting, and you end up getting paid well," Payne commented for LBCC's TNT student profile page. Welders earn an average hourly wage of $20.39 in Oregon.

"Women face the harder stigma, while men generally receive praise," admits Ward, "it's tougher to crack into fields like welding and mechanics as a woman than nursing or preadolescent teaching as a man." Women have accounted for 17 of the 20 transient members of the TNT Club since its inception last winter.

Valerie Ziegler, Outreach and Retention Specialist for non-traditional careers at LBCC and founder of the TNT Club, concurs with Ward, "It is probably a little easier for a man to take a non-traditional career path, but they still have to prove themselves," she said, noting that women often encounter barriers like discrimination and harassment in the workplace. She further explained that societal stereotypes are mostly to blame and that "careers have no gender" - a popular catchphrase the TNT Club embraces. 


Ziegler and Ward both agree that the primary motivation in choosing a non-traditional career is and should be passion for the work. However, benefits for men in female-dominated fields may include improved working conditions, less physical stress, and increased job stability;  advantages for women in male-dominated fields may include increased salary, improved benefits, and more opportunity for advancement, according to the TNT Club's promotional pamphlet.

The club is gaining momentum and planning community outreach events at local middle and high schools, but faces challenges in raising awareness and retaining membership.

Members or not, Ziegler extends an open invitation for non-traditional students to become involved or seek assistance from the TNT Club, "the more connected you feel to your program and your school, the higher your chances of following through with your goals," she says.    

For students interested in exploring non-traditional careers, the TNT Club can be a valuable resource to assist your journey. They can be reached by contacting Outreach and Retention Specialist Valerie Zeigler or Advisor Tiffany Castillo, or dropping by the Diversity Achievement Center, open weekdays until 3:00. Also look for a TNT booth at the 33rd Annual LBCC Career Fair on April 14th in the Activities Center. 



AT A GLANCE:

What: TNT Club assists students on non-traditional career paths.
Where: Diversity Achievement Center
Contact: Valerie Ziegler, Outreach and Retention Specialist 541-917-4485; Advisor Tiffany Castillo 541-917-4796.
For more info:  http://www.linnbenton.edu/go/non-traditional
See Also: Documentary "Careers Have No Gender, Success Has No Limits," directed by Ph.D. Charlie Chapin.