Matt and Eve Hawkins

“I grew up with animals,” says Eve Hawkins, who spent her childhood years along the McKenzie River east of Eugene. “We had everything from reptiles in the house to horses outside and everything in between. We rescued a litter of skunk babies after the mother was murdered by a dog. It was the start of my love of rescuing animals.” She and her husband, Matt, a North Eugene grad, have five acres on the Pleasant Hill side of Dexter, where they are raising their three children along with three horses, two miniature horses, three cows, five sheep, two goats, many ducks, geese and turkeys, four dogs and four cats. They also foster rescued animals for Lucky Paws Animal Rescue in Springfield. They learned of the Holiday Farm Fire in the nearby McKenzie River Valley on their return from a Labor Day weekend campout. Eve quickly found the Facebook page Holiday Farm Fire Animal Rescue, hosted by former Lane County animal welfare advocate Julie Ohashi, who coordinated rescue efforts from her new home in Michigan, and other local animal lovers. Two days later, when their own threat of evacuation was eased, Matt headed upriver with his Chevy Suburban and horse trailer. “I went up every day for two weeks,” he says. “Most of what I did was to bring food and water to animals sheltering in place.” He also transported animals downriver at the request of owners. Livestock were taken to the Lane County Fairgrounds in Eugene; dogs and cats went to Lucky Paws. Eve, an administrator at an assisted living facility, joined him full-time on weekends and part-time some weekdays. “We were taking care of animals in Leaburg,” she relates, “when we got a call about a place upstream where they needed more resources. It was pretty intense, still burning in hot spots. A friend and I got two kunekune pigs into a trailer while Matt and a team were getting six or eight Jacob sheep loaded. I can’t even tell you how many geese and ducks we loaded up. That was our favorite rescue.”

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!