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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2012)
18 Fall 2012 Applegater Tall Tales from the Editor Jan’s flyer or I can’t thank you enough I never know what I might find in the mailbox besides bills. It was no different 20 years ago when I walked out to our mailbox thinking, “Will there be a court summons, hate mail from one of the many jilted fiancées (before my bride Sioux), or a political announcement from yet another politician informing me that if I vote for them my life will be perfect?” What I found that day was a flyer announcing that there was to be a 7 pm meeting in a couple of days at the Ruch Library (at that time, it was located in the basement of the Sunshine Plaza) about some Bureau of Land Management (BLM) timber sales. I remember one of them was called Misty Rocks—such a pretty name for a clear-cut. Now don’t get your panties all knotted up. I’m not antilogging. Why, we live in a 95-year-old log house and burn wood for heat. My guitars are made of wood. My shop teacher from the rumored unaccredited Avon High School, Mr. Moore, had a wooden left leg. Indiana’s greatest rock ’n’ roll drummer, Marty “Chickslayer” Wilson, practiced his short-lived craft of wood- lathe art on Mr. Moore’s wooden leg when he found it in the shop room closet. For some unknown reason, Mr. Moore was rather ticked off when he saw the lathe work on his leg. Luckily for Chickslayer, Mr. Moore never discovered the identity of our Leonardo da Vinci of the wood lathe, but hey, a drummer needs drumsticks. Like Chickslayer, I like wood products, but not these large clear-cuts that were being proposed. So I went to the meeting. The library was standing room only. Leading this meeting was Jan Perttu, who had distributed the flyer. She presented everyone with an overview of the proposed timber sales, which sounded to me like eventually most everything would become a clear-cut here in the Applegate. Jan asked for volunteers to help her write a response to the BLM environmental assessment. I was among five or six folks who volunteered to meet with Jan after that meeting. Right off the bat, I knew that Jan was going to be fun to work with. She had an infectious sense of humor, and over the years we shared some great laughs. After a short while, we decided columns from the Applegater have been to form an official group called The published in a book, but, best of all, I’ve Applegate Watershed Conservancy to met so many wonderful folks from here advocate watershed restoration and a much in the Applegate that I probably wouldn’t lighter touch in logging. We put Jan at have otherwise. That would have been a the helm—she was the huge loss for me. perfect skipper with a As you can see, Jan’s flyer altered my life questionable crew on in a very positive way, deck. and I can never thank A year or so later Jan’s flyer took her enough. when the Applegate this unknown Sadly, Jan Perttu Par tnership was died this past June at formed, Jan was one rock star down the young age of 62. of its organizers. It a road he never After an almost decade- was also Jan who led long struggle with the development of would have Alzheimer’s, her positive the Applegate River traveled. can-do spirit will be Watershed Council greatly missed. ( A RW C ) f o r t h e Sh e w a s a re a l Applegate Partnership. p e rs o n w h o a l w a y s One of the o f f e re d a h a n d . I many projects to never heard her say a come out of ARWC was a newspaper—you know it as the disparaging word about another individual, Applegater—and I became its editor. Now and it made no difference to her if she or you know that you can blame it all on someone else was recognized for the work Jan’s flyer. (Jan discovered that anything done by the ARWC. Jan, thank you for putting that flyer over four letters was a challenge for me, so she edited my responses to the BLM in my mailbox and opening the door that has taken me on countless great environmental assessments.) Jan’s flyer took this unknown rock star adventures. Until our trails cross again… down a road he never would have traveled. Besides being editor of the Applegater for 18 years now, I served on the Jackson County Natural Resource Committee for seven or eight years. I’ve met governors, congressmen and senators. I was involved for awhile with the talk radio program, Southern Oregon Forestry Forum. My Let our advertisers know that you saw their ad in the Applegater.
