Cottage Grove will be mayor central this weekend, as the Oregon Mayor’s Conference brings the leaders of over 60 towns statewide to the Village Green beginning Wednesday evening.

During their stay, the mayors and their guests will partake in a whirlwind of Cottage Grove attractions. Wednesday evening begins with a board of directors dinner meeting at the Village Green. Thursday morning brings a golf tournament at Middlefield Oaks, a tradition at the annual conference. But Cottage Grove has thrown its own wrinkle in the program, staging a disc golf tournament that morning that, according to City Manager Richard Meyers, has thus far drawn more participants than the traditional game.

Guests and spouses of the mayors will tour Cottage Grove’s covered bridges and murals Friday morning, and a lunch will be held at the Dorena Covered Bridge. Prior to that lunch, Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Kitzhaber will address the assembled mayors privately. Republican candidate Chris Dudley will speak to the mayors Friday afternoon; the candidates were none too willing to appear at the same event together, Meyers said.

The mayors will then journey downtown for Cottage Grove’s Art Walk, which is expanded to four hours this Friday and will feature street musicians stationed throughout the downtown area. On Friday evening, a “Night in Bohemia City,” held at the Village Green, will detail the area’s mining history and allow the mayors to do some actual gold panning. The spouses and guests will tour the city’s museums Saturday morning and eat lunch at the aviation museum during this weekend’s Jim Wright Stearman Fly-in.

Meyers said it has been some years since Cottage Grove held the annual conference.