VOTE (Value Oregon Trail Education), the political action committee dedicated to getting a new high school built for the Oregon Trail School District, had its kickoff last weekend at the Sandy Mountain Festival starting with a float in the July 12 parade. The booth/float that VOTE used was made to look like a little red schoolhouse after the VOTE's logo. The construction of the booth was taken on by Mark Fritch of Mark Fritch Log Homes and several volunteers.

Following Thursday's parade, VOTE members transformed their float into a booth behind Sandy City Hall, enabling them to spend the weekend passing out informative brochures and buttons while speaking to the public concerning the need for a new high school.

VOTE would like to express their gratitude to the community for the outpouring of support they received over the weekend. VOTE would also like to thank the following individuals and companies for their contributions in helping to get VOTE under way and to help make their debut a success:

• OTEF (Oregon Trail Education Foundation) for a $3,000 donation.
• Mark Fritch of Mark Fritch Log Homes for construction of the VOTE booth.
• Phil Jonsrud and the Sandy Historical Society for the high school photos.
• Bill Miller of Sandy for the carved bear.
• Lars Lundeen of Lundeen Steel for the construction and donation of trailer materials.
• Mike Mendenhall from Mendybing Art for the discounted VOTE T-shirts.
• Steve Dunford of Sherwin-Williams Paint in Gresham for discounted painting supplies.
• Chuck Vance of Sandy for milling the logs used for the booth.

For more information, visit www.ValueOregonTrailEducation.org

This press release was issued on July 17, 2007 and was published as an editorial in the Sandy Post on 7/24/2007 by Elyse Izer.