Freeman Rowe Memorial Bench

The Cascade Mycological Society (CMS) and Mount Pisgah Arboretum (MPA) are raising funds to place a Memorial Bench at the Arboretum in honor of Freeman Rowe. Funds will be used for: building a hand-crafted wooden bench, placement of the bench at the Arboretum, and upkeep of the bench for the next 20 years. This GoFundMe effort is managed by the Cascade Mycological Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
 
If we are not able to raise the required funds, all funds that have been donated will be given to the Freeman Rowe Scholarship Fund. Likewise, any excess funds will also go to the Freeman Rowe Scholarship Fund.
 
Why Freeman Rowe, and why a bench at Mount Pisgah Arboretum?
Have you ever enjoyed attending the MPA Mushroom Festival or Wildflower Festival? If so, you have Freeman Rowe to thank! In fact, Freeman’s actions in initiating these two festivals helped stabilize the finances of the Arboretum in its early years. To this day, the Mushroom Festival is still the most significant single annual fundraiser for the Arboretum.
 
The memorial bench will be placed in front of the White Oak Pavilion, where people can sit and enjoy the beauty of the Arboretum that Freeman had a great love and passion for. Of course, some MPA-approved creative bench decorating may be done during festival times, as the bench will be located in the center of the festivities. Pictured below is an example of an existing memorial bench at the Arboretum and MPA Director Brad van Appel “sitting” in the planned location of the bench.
View current memorial benches at MPA 
View MPA Memorial Bench policies 

Why are we doing this now? On October 7, 2020, Freeman passed away just nine days after his 90th birthday and two weeks before the 49th annual MPA Mushroom Festival. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 Mushroom Festival was virtual. And we have been unable to have any meaningful gatherings or memorials in honor of Freeman.

 

Many of Freeman’s former Lane Community College (LCC) students and long-time friends have wanted to do something and have talked among themselves since his passing. In October 2021, CMS members Marcia Peeters and Cheshire Mayrsohn formally approached MPA and CMS with the idea of a Memorial Bench. The details of the type of bench, placement, and funding needs were worked out, and MPA agreed to collect funds for the bench through its normal donation process.

 

Thus far, just under $3000 has been donated through MPA. The total amount of those donations has been added to this GoFundMe effort as offline donations. If you would like to donate through MPA, you may still do so here. If you are uncomfortable making an online donation, you can mail a check to the Cascade Mycological Society, PMB 142, 1292 High Street, Eugene, OR 97401. Please write Freeman Rowe Memorial Bench in the note line.

This GoFundMe page was created to bring more visibility and transparency to the project. This way, everyone can easily monitor its progress.