Applegater May-June 2008 3
Community Calendar
Applegate Valley Garden Club meets at 1:30
pm on the third Wednesday of the month
from September through May. For meeting
locations and programs call Sandra King at
541-899-9027 or Betty Lou Smith at 541-
846-6817.
Applegate 4-H Swine Club meets on Tuesday
following the third Wednesday of every
month at 7 pm. For more information contact
Charles Elmore at 541-846-6528 or Barbara
Niedermeyer at 541-846-7635.
Applegate Christian Fellowship. For service times,
call 541-899-8732, 24 hours/day.
Applegate Friends of Fire District #9 meets on
the third Tuesday of each month at the Fire
Station—1095 Upper Applegate Road—at
7:00 pm. New members are welcome. For
more information, call Bob Fischer 541-846-
6218.
T.O.P.S. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets every
Tuesday morning at Applegate Church, 18960
North Applegate Road (at the corner of Hwy.
238 and N. Applegate Road). Weigh-in starts
at 8:30 am; the meeting starts at 9:00 am.
Come join us!
Josephine County Soil and Water Conservation
District (SWCD). Meets Thursdays at 6 pm.
For meeting information, call Connie Young
at 541-846-6051.
Applegate Valley Community Forum (AVCF) meets
the third Thursday of each month, location
alternating between Applegate and Ruch.
For more information, call Pat Gordon at
541-899-7655.
Greater Applegate Community Development
Corporation meets the second Wednesday of
each month at 6:00 pm at the Applegate Library
on North Applegate Road in downtown
Applegate. For more information, call toll-free
at 866-289-1638.
American Association of University Women
(AAUW) Grants Pass area meets monthly from
September to June. College degree required for
membership. Days and locations vary. Contact
Ann Kistler 541-471-1963 or Kathy Kirchen
541-846-9039.
AA Meetings Tuesday nights at 7 pm in Williams.
Upstairs at the American Legion Hall. Contact
Stan at 541-846-0734.
Applegate Library Hours
Sunday ............................................ closed
Monday .......................................... closed
Tuesday ............................... 2 pm - 6 pm
Wednesday ............................................closed
Thursday ........................................ closed
Friday ................................... 2 pm - 6 pm
Saturday ..............................10 am - 2 pm
(Storytime will be held Tuesdays at 2:30 pm.)
Ruch Branch Library Hours
Sunday ............................................ closed
Monday .......................................... closed
Tuesday ..............................11 am - 5 pm
Wednesday ............................................closed
Thursday ............................. 1 pm - 7 pm
Friday .............................................. closed
Saturday ............................. 12 pm - 4 pm
(Storytime will be held Tuesdays at 11 am.)
Friends of Ruch Library Board of Directors meets
monthly. Check with the Ruch Library for
schedule. 541-899-7438.
Food & Friends. Senior Nutrition Program invites
local 60+ seniors to enjoy a nutritious, hot
meal served at 11:30 am Monday through
Friday at the Jacksonville IOOF Hall located
at the corner of Main and Oregon Streets.
A donation is suggested and appreciated.
Volunteers help serve meals or deliver meals
to homebound seniors. For information about
volunteering (it takes 40 volunteers to keep
the Jacksonville program going) or receiving
meals, call Food & Friends at 541-664-6674,
x246 or x208.
Williams Library Hours
Sunday ............................................ closed
Monday .......................................... closed
Tuesday .......................................... closed
Wednesday ............................................closed
Thursday ........................................ closed
Friday .............................................. closed
Saturday .......................................... closed
Josephine County Farm Bureau For meeting
information, call Connie Young at 541-846-
6051.
Upper Applegate Grange #839 Business meetings:
fi rst Thursday at 7:30 pm. Potluck/Social
meetings: fourth Friday at 7:30 pm, open to
the public. Join us for informative meetings,
fun and involvement in community service.
Sponsors of Boy Scout Pack #18. Call 541-
899-6987.
Williams Rural Fire Protection District Meetings:
fourth Wednesday of the month at 7 pm at
the Williams Fire Department.
Williams Creek Watershed Council Meetings:
fourth Wednesday of the month at 7 pm at
the Williams Creek Fire Station. The Public
is welcome. For more information, call 541-
846-9175.
Williams Grange Pancake Breakfast, second
Sunday of each month, 8:30 am to 11:00 am.
Closed July and August. Bring the whole family!
20100 Williams Hwy, corner of Tetherow Road
near the Williams General Store. For more
information, call 541-846-6844.
Wonder Neighborhood Watch Meetings, second
Tuesday of each month, 6:30 pm, Wonder
Bible Chapel.
Applegate Fire District Board of Directors meets
on the third Wednesday of each month at
Station 1 – 18489 N. Applegate Rd. at 7:30 pm.
Except for the months of March, April and
May, which are held at Headquarters – 1095
Upper Applegate Rd. For more information,
call 541-899-1050.
Library News
Applegate Branch
The Friends of the Applegate Branch Library are looking for new members
to keep our library alive. We have worked so hard these past few months to open
the doors of our library, even though the hours have been shortened. Now we need
enough support from our membership to keep those doors open.
Carol Karvis, who works at the library desk on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm,
is eager to have a book sale to raise money for the Friends of the Applegate Library
(FOAL), but we still need more books. If you have any to contribute (now is a good
time to clean off your library shelves at home!), please bring them to the Applegate
Library during the hours that the library is open (Tuesday and Friday from 2 to 6 pm,
and Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm) and leave them with the librarian at the desk.
FOAL is sponsoring a program at the Applegate Branch Library on June
8 at 3 pm that you won’t want to miss. Jeni Foster will be presenting her Oregon
Chautauqua program entitled: “Birdsong: Birds as Metaphor in American Folk
Music.” Jeni weaves both traditional and contemporary folk songs throughout her
narrative to expand upon the stories of everyday Americans and well-known moments
in our country’s history. She will invite members of the audience to sing along on
the choruses of songs chosen to illustrate her program. Please come and have an
enjoyable afternoon at the Applegate Library on Sunday, June 8.
Joan Peterson • 541-846-6988
Ruch Branch
Many thanks to all the supporters of Ruch Branch Library for the expanded
service hours. The campaign to raise money for two years of extended hours for the
branch was a success. Thanks also to the patrons who are utilizing the hours and fi lling
the library with people of all ages on Tuesdays from 11 am to 5 pm, Thursdays from
1 pm to 7 pm, and Saturdays 12 noon to 4 pm. Storytime is Tuesday at 11 am.
In March, the Friends of Ruch Library had their annual meeting and had good
community response with ideas for future programs and events for the community
to enjoy. Thanks to the offering of a generous local webmaster, the Friends will
have a website (www.FORL.org) where you can keep updated about happenings at
the library. You also can follow library activities throughout Jackson County at www.
JCLS.org and link to your local library.
Storyteller and author Thomas Doty kept the audience entertained with “Doty
& Coyote: Stories from the Native West.” Doty has kept the old stories alive and
presented newly created ones, which he says “keeps his storytelling art vibrant and
healthy.” Following this great program, we celebrated our community with potluck
foods and fl ute music presented by Loren Trottmann, a local homeschooled youth,
who is very involved at the library.
The Jackson County libraries are thriving and the statistics show the open hours
are being well-utilized, with high circulation of materials, programs well-attended,
and people getting the reference help they need. Each library has a suggestion box,
so please let us know how we are doing to meet your needs. It takes a community
to support the library, and the library is there to support the community.
Applegate Neighborhood Network (ANN) meets on
the last Wednesday of every month at the Ruch
Library. All interested persons are welcome to
attend. ANN is a community organization
dedicated to protecting, preserving, and
restoring the Applegate watershed. For more
information about ANN, call Duane Bowman,
541-899- 7264.
Women Helping Other Women (WHOW) meets
the second Thursday of the month at 10036
Hwy 238 (Gyda Lane) at 6:30 pm for a potluck
meeting to plan work parties at each other’s
homes. New members are welcome. For
more information, call Thalia Truesdell at 541-
899-8741 or Sioux Rogers at 541-846-7736.
Email calendar information to
gater@applegater.org.
What's Inside the Gater
Applegate Outback: Th e extermination of the horsefl y ..................................p. 20
Back in Time: Ruffl ed feathers .....................................................................p. 20
Behind the Green Door: More to worry about ..............................................p. 9
Dirty Fingernails and All: Ride a ‘real’ gator ...............................................p. 5
Is your defensible space alarm clock ringing? ................................................p. 12
Letters to the Editor ....................................................................................p. 17
Opinion: Krouse/Hill river mining again? ...................................................p. 18
Opinion: Roles and responsibilities in the WUI ............................................p. 17
Porcini-ing..................................................................................................p. 8
Spring fever or mosquito bite? ......................................................................p. 6
Tall Tales from the Editor: Twitching or Praise the Lord ...............................p. 16
Th e Starry Side: Stargazing in the dim spring sky .........................................p. 19
Trends: When not to buy gold ......................................................................p. 4
Williams Creek Watershed Council hosts fi sh traps on Williams Creek ..........p. 23
Coming soon will be “Summer Reading” in Jackson County Libraries, a three-
part program serving children and youth from 0 to 16 years of age. This summer
0 to 12-year-olds can “Catch the Reading Bug” at their local library. There will be
reading folders, activities, prizes and incentives, and programming at each branch
in Jackson County. Twelve- to 16-year-olds also will have an exciting program with
the theme “Metamorphosis @ Your Library,” with reading folders and prizes, too.
Sooooo, check it out! The programs will start as soon as your school lets out for
the summer. Come in at that time and fi nd out the schedule of special events and
activities offered at your library.
Summer reading is designed to motivate children and teens to read during
the summer to prevent loss of valuable reading skills and to become regular library
users. It also supports early literacy with the Read-to-Me program for children 0
to 3 years. The real reward for families is discovering the many informational and
recreational services that the libraries offer. Also, the connections, socialization, and
networking help establish community.
So come to your local library and catch that reading bug! And if you are
an adult, perhaps you’d like to get involved as a volunteer and help make it your
program, too.
Janis Mohr-Tipton • 541-899-7438
Babies in the Library
Join us on Thursday afternoons at the Ruch Branch Library for reading, rhymes,
songs, and FUN!
The Babies in the Library class is for pre-walking babies and a caring adult. Classes
will be held every Thursday at 12:00 pm from April 24 to June 12 at the Ruch Branch
Library, 7919 Highway 238.
For more information or to pre-register, please call the Ruch Branch Library
at 541-899-7438 or contact Margie Cicerrella, project coordinator, at 541-774-6995 or
email margicic@jcls.org.