Abigail Leeder

Abigail Leeder talks about commune living with large groups of people, Country Fair, personal growth, and more Eugene experiences, while at Oakshire Brewing Company. Her interview partner for the evening was in the previous episode, and they were strangers getting to know one another.

You can read more about the project, about Wordcrafters in Eugene, about our sponsors and community partners, and send in your own Lane County, Oregon stories at StoryHelix.Wordcrafters.Org.

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

 1
 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:14.560
 You're listening to StoryHelix: intertwining
 stories past, present, and not yet
 
 2
 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:19.920
 Imagined in Lane County, Oregon.
 What's up, earthlings? I'm Leah Velez and
 
 3
 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:24.679
 I'll be your host. The story
 we're about to hear was recorded at Oakshire
 
 4
 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:28.920
 Brewing Company in the Whiteaker neighborhood of
 Eugene, Oregon, in early 2022.
 
 5
 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:32.880
 Let's open up
 our ear nuggets and give it a listen.
 
 6
 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:44.640
 You think it's going to be like
 Drunk History? All right,
 
 7
 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:49.799
 How has Eugene shaped me? I
 am from Ithaca, New York. I
 
 8
 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.390
 moved to Lane County in 2000,
 and then I left for a few years
 
 9
 00:00:55.790 --> 00:00:57.679
 to go to graduate school and then
 I moved back in 2005.
 
 10
 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:02.200
 Hey, you know when I 
 first came to Eugene, I came to do a
 
 11
 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:07.359
 personal growth work... I came to Lane
 County to do a personal growth workshop at
 
 12
 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:11.400
 Lost Valley Educational Center, which is
 out in Dexter, which was an intentional
 
 13
 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:19.790
 community, and I came to take
 this personal growth workshop, and it changed my
 
 14
 00:01:19.790 --> 00:01:26.879
 whole life and I decided to move
 here with my partner, and we basically moved
 
 15
 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:33.719
 to a commune and lived there for a
 a couple of years. You know,
 
 16
 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:38.480
 we were doing a lot of like
 personal growth and like being really super vulnerable
 
 17
 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:42.480
 with each other, and there were
 like thirty people and we would have these
 
 18
 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:49.920
 weekly well-being meetings where we would stare
 into each other's eyes for long periods of
 
 19
 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:56.159
 time and share what was true for
 us in the moment. Like what brings
 
 20
 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:59.719
 us joy, what are we irritated
 about in the moment... Yeah, it
 
 21
 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:05.640
 was really powerful. It really actually
 helped me become a lot more vulnerable and
 
 22
 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:10.759
 be willing to share more personal stories
 with with people, and it totally gave
 
 23
 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:16.520
 me a lot of confidence. It
 helped me feel like there was more work
 
 24
 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:20.360
 that I wanted to do in the
 world. Yeah, it gave me an
 
 25
 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:25.800
 amazing launching pad. I feel like
 it's kept me down to Earth. I
 
 26
 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:35.759
 don't know that much about here.  I
 know that the Kalapuya lived here, and would spend
 
 27
 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:44.479
 time harvesting kanna in this valley.
 I know about the Hoedads who used to plant trees
 
 28
 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:49.360
 around here and I know about Ken Kesey, but as far as like Eugene
 
 29
 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:55.240
 history, I don't really know that
 much. I feel grateful that I was
 
 30
 00:02:55.400 --> 00:03:01.759
 able to, afford to buy a
 house back in the day, and was able
 
 31
 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:08.680
 to invest in a local business that
 did okay, and gave me enough to put
 
 32
 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:15.390
 a down payment on a house, and
 I feel like it's shaped me by helping me
 
 33
 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:22.520
 be more comfortable.  I feel like
 Country Fair is like my favorite place in
 
 34
 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:27.439
 Lane County. All the people that
 I've known for the last twenty two years
 
 35
 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:32.360
 are all usually there. And I get
 to run around the eight and run into
 
 36
 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:38.120
 my friends and stay out late at
 night dancing. And I love The Ritz,
 
 37
 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:42.120
 which is like, do you know
 about The Ritz? The Ritz Is
 
 38
 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:46.120
 the most amazing music venue on the
 planet, but it only happens during fair
 
 39
 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:54.439
 and it is a couple of huge
 saunas and then there's like fifty outdoor
 
 40
 00:03:54.479 --> 00:04:04.199
 showers and there is a stage and
 there's a fire pit and it's super fun
 
 41
 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:12.800
 because where else in the world can
 you be standing outside on a July night,
 
 42
 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:16.800
 getting showered, hearing like world class
 music and be hanging out with all
 
 43
 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:26.800
 your friends naked? I'm really not
 into sports culture at all. So when I'm around
 
 44
 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:32.000
 a bunch of Ducks fans, I'm
 feeling... I don't necessarily feel a sense of
 
 45
 00:04:32.400 --> 00:04:36.319
 belonging, but I think it's awesome
 that people do have a sense of belonging.
 
 46
 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:40.720
 I just kind of have a little
 bit of judgment, that I wish it
 
 47
 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:44.319
 was around something other than sports.
 I feel like there are a lot of
 
 48
 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:48.879
 places in this country that I wouldn't
 feel comfortable living. And I feel like Eugene
 
 49
 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:58.279
 is probably one of the few places... After the experience of
 living at Lost Valley, and being in community there,
 
 50
 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.480
 but also now working at the U of O, I feel like being a
 
 51
 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:06.680
 part of place, having connections,
 having people that know me and know me
 
 52
 00:05:08.790 --> 00:05:15.400
 intimately and deeply and care about
 my wellbeing and I feel... I didn't have
 
 53
 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:16.879
 that...I mean I had
 community, but I didn't really have that
 
 54
 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:25.240
 until I moved to Lane County. And
 I really appreciate the authenticity and depth that
 
 55
 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:35.920
 I feel like can happen in this
 community. I hope that folks would be
 
 56
 00:05:36.400 --> 00:05:42.759
 interested in each other here, and that
 there could be a sense of community and
 
 57
 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:46.439
 belonging for anybody that wanted to
 be here. One of the things that
 
 58
 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:54.120
 I love about Eugene is like how
 many wonderful grocery stores that there are.
 
 59
 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:59.800
 The small independent grocers. My hope is
 that we would still have places like Sundance
 
 60
 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:05.790
 and Cappella, Red Barn and other
 places. I get scared that we're going
 
 61
 00:06:05.790 --> 00:06:14.000
 to lose some of the magic of
 this place and become more corporatized or more
 
 62
 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:19.360
 sprawl. Yeah, so I hope
 that people get... I want to get more
 
 63
 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:24.720
 educated on the history of Eugene.
 I want it to be a place where 
 
 64
 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:30.279
 more folks of color feel included.
 I feel like that's a thing that Eugene
 
 65
 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:38.639
 doesn't do well. I think there's
 a lot of stratifying and that people aren't
 
 66
 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:42.120
 curious about each other. I would
 like to think that some of the things
 
 67
 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:48.560
 that I've contributed and done over the
 years have created a nicer place for people to be.
 
 68
 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:05.279
 Thanks for listening. You can find
 us wherever you listen to your podcasts.
 
 69
 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:09.439
 If you've got your own Lane County
 story to tell, we'd love to
 
 70
 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:13.399
 hear it at StoryHelix.Wordcrafters.org.