18 Spring
Spring 2011
2011 Applegater
Applegater
Cantrall-Buckley—
Cantrall-Buckley—
your
your community
community park
park
By
By TOm
TOm CArSTENS
CArSTENS AND
AND DAvID
DAvID LAANANEN
LAANANEN
The Applegate Valley is blessed to
have a truly unique resource: our very
own community park on the banks of the
Applegate River. Cantrall Buckley Park is a
real gem in that it gives us a place for groups
and families to enjoy picnicking, swim-
ming, and camping, with full recreational
access to our river.
Have you ever looked at the park’s
entrance sign? It says: “Managed by your
Neighbors.” A lot of folks think that it’s
operated like other Jackson County parks.
Until three years ago, the County did
provide some money to help with major
maintenance. Now, the park receives some
money from the state tax on RVs; last year
that covered about 40 percent of park op-
erations. The rest is funded entirely by user
fees. That means WE fund the park. How
did this arrangement come about?
Well, back in the summer of 1996,
the county closed the park because of fund-
ing issues (sound familiar?). The plan was
to sell off the land. That would have left
us without a park and without river ac-
cess. A small group of concerned citizens
came together to save the 88-acre park.
Throughout that summer, these dedicated
volunteers kept the lawns mowed and
performed minor maintenance to keep the
park in usable shape. The next year these
folks formed a non-profit organization
that formally took over management of the
park. This group eventually became the
nucleus of the Greater Applegate Commu-
nity Development Corporation (GACDC).
A committee of the GACDC consisting of
five Applegate residents has been running
the park ever since. From user fees, the
park hires a full-time resident caretaker,
Rick Barclay. Rick is assisted in the summer
months by a part-time maintenance man
and by a paid campground host.
down to about $70,000 compared with
$77,000 the year before. Park user fees
taken in over the year added up to a little
less than $42,000. When added to the RV
money from the state, there wasn’t much
left over to keep things running for the
winter. As you can see, there’s not a lot
of leeway there. As Rick says, “ The only
reason we’re still open is because nothing
drastic has occurred.”
Okay,
you ask, “So
how can I
help?” It’s re-
ally very sim-
ple: PLEASE
USE THE
PARK! The
park commit-
tee tries to
keep the user
fees as low as
possible.
•
A day pass
costs $4.00
per vehicle. The park is open all year.
• A season pass costs just $20.00, or
$10.00 for seniors over 65, and is good for
the entire year. These passes go on sale the
first of May. Previous passes are shown in
the accompanying photo. The fun design
is the winning entry from an annual contest
held in art classes at the Applegate and Ruch
Schools.
• The park has four reservable areas
that are ideal for weddings, family reunions,
or organization picnics. These areas come
complete with picnic tables and barbeque
grills. There are also horseshoe pits, vol-
leyball nets, and one area has a covered
pavilion. Reservations are made through
Jackson County Parks, but the reservation
From time to time, the park receives
assistance from grant monies that are chased
down by the park committee. This is how
major improvements to the park are funded.
Recent successes have been the state-of-the
art natural wastewater treatment system,
brand new campground restrooms and
improved water lines. These improvements
were made with support from Oregon Parks
and Recreation, the BLM, the U.S. Forest
Service, and of
course, Jack-
son County.
Last ye ar a
grant from
the Four Way
Community
Fo u n d a t i o n
allowed the
park to buy
new picnic
table frames.
The table tops
were made
by Rick and
his crew. The
committee is currently trying to find a way
to fund RV hookups for a much-needed
campground expansion that would improve
cash flow and attract tourist spending in
the valley.
But there are a lot of other very mun-
dane projects that are begging for funds.
As examples, the park’s road system is de-
teriorating, BBQ grills need replacement,
playground equipment must be brought
up to standard, pavilion roofs require re-
pairs, and the picnic area restrooms require
remodeling.
All of this costs money. Right now,
the park takes in barely enough to stay
viable. Last year, Rick trimmed expenses
for operating the park as much as possible,
money goes straight to our park. Call 541-
774-8183.
• A campground site costs only $12
per night. The group campground can be
rented for $65 for the first night and $50
per night after that. The campground is
open from May 1st to the end of September.
Of course, tax-deductible donations
would also be very much appreciated. If
you’d like to contribute, give one of us a call
or send a check to the following address:
GACDC, P.O. Box 3107, Applegate
OR 97530. We’ll mail you a proper receipt.
You might be able to help in other
ways. Would you be interested in lend-
ing a hand with the park? The GACDC
would love to have additional volunteer
help. We’ll be sponsoring community park
clean-up events this summer. The first
will occur after the 4th of July weekend on
Wednesday, July 6. We’ll meet at the park
gates at 9:00 am.
And, if you’d like to participate
with ideas, you’re welcome to attend our
park committee meetings. If you’d like to
help or comment in any way, or if you’d
like information about the meetings, just
give either of us a call at home or leave a
message at 541-245-4741. Someone willl
get back to you.
We’re especially interested in your
ideas about how we can raise extra funds
to complete major repair projects. If you
have some ideas on how to better run the
park, let us know that too. Let us hear
from you! To make it easier we’ve included
a short form that you can fill out on line or
mail or to us.
THANK YOU!
Tom Carstens 541-846-1025
David Laananen 541-846-0500
Help us with ideas to raise funds and be entered in a drawing for two FrEE annual passes to Cantrall Buckley Park :
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Name ._________________________________________________________________________
Phone or email: __________________________________________________________________
To email ideas go to www.gacdc.org and click on contact us.
or mail to GACDC, P. O. Box 3107, Applegate, OR 97530
“Please send in a few
dollars to support the
APPLEGATER, I love to
read it, chew it and it was
my favorite paper for potty
training.”
Barney McGee
