4 Fall 2012 Applegater
Upper Applegate Grange
Rechartered and revived
bY mAuD POWELL
bY cYnThiA chEnEY
The Grange Chapter
# 8 3 9 a t 3 9 0 1 Up p e r
Applegate Road is being
revived by a diverse group
of Applegate residents who
envision the organization
and its building as an
exciting, vibrant rural
hub for the area. Melissa
Matthewson of Barking
Moon Farm in Applegate
led the effort, gathering
Initial members of the Applegate Valley Community Grange.
interested folks for a series
of meetings beginning in April. While the activities. One of the movement’s great
chapter was previously called the Upper strengths is its democratic nature and
Applegate Grange, the new chapter wants promotion of a fellowship based on mutual
to expressly invite residents from a wider respect.
The Upper Applegate chapter has
area, and the name will be changed to the
been a very active part of the community
Applegate Valley Community Grange.
These meetings, and hard work by for many years with a variety of programs.
officers and committee members, have Many of you might remember that the
taken us through much of the necessary grange sponsored the wonderful Father’s
bureaucratic details. The chapter has been Day barbecues and the St. Patrick’s Day
rechartered by the state and national grange corned beef feasts that the community so
organizations, and the 38 new members enjoyed. In 2002, the building was used
have elected officers who will serve for the as a center for firefighters to stay and to
rest of 2012, with elections in November give information to local residents during
for the coming year. Committees are the Squire’s Peak fire. The grange hosted
working on areas including formulating a thank-you party afterwards for the
a statement of the group’s values and firefighters.
Membership is open to local residents
mission to serve as the basis for activities
and service in the future, framing bylaws, over the age of 13 and the application fee
evaluating fundraising ideas (such as a and dues for the remainder of 2012 are
monthly pancake breakfast), and youth $25. Regular monthly meetings are held
participation. A website for the grange is at the grange hall on the second Sunday of
each month, with a potluck from 6 pm to 7
also under construction.
The chapter’s green cinderblock pm, followed by the meeting for about an
building, for those who haven’t seen the hour. We welcome back any past members
inside, is larger than it seems and includes who wish to join us.
The potlucks have been fun, and
a big kitchen, a dining area seating about
75, and a large room seating perhaps 150 we’re all looking forward to completing the
with a small raised stage at one end. It was start-up work so we can have more varied
the site for the Friends of Ruch Library’s meetings that will include educational
Country Dance in 2010, and will soon presentations relevant to small farmers
be able to provide various community and rural residents, music, and adoption
organizations with meeting space for of community service projects. Providing
reasonable rental fees (as yet to be decided available childcare during the meetings is
by the grange membership). This building high on the agenda, too.
For more information or to become
has a lot of potential in an area with few
public spaces available for events, group a member, please contact Grange Master
Melissa Matthewson (melmatthewson@
meetings, classes, and so on.
Historically, the Grange is a national gmail.com or 541-846-6297) or Secretary
organization that formed in the 19th Janis Mohr-Tipton (janismohrtipton@
century to unite rural residents (mostly jeffnet.org or 541-846-7501).
Cynthia Cheney
farmers) for their growth through social,
akantha@mac.com
educational, cultural, and legislative
Family fun returns to
Applegate’s landmark
swimming hole
bY chRiSTinA DuAnE
We have reopened Wayside Park to
park patrons this summer. Our mission
is to provide a place where the extended
family can gather to create memories and
share the history of the great American
West. Through music, art, and nature, we
will celebrate the woven pasts of all who
built the West, and learn the lessons this
history teaches to foster love, respect and
hope for this and future generations.
Oh Oregon Frontier Park and
Cultural Center is a registered nonprofit
corporation in the process of filing for
501(c)3 status. When this process is
Get yer goat
completed by the end of the year, all
donations will be tax-deductible retroactive
to our filing date of May 30, 2012.
The Frontier Park (Wayside Park
property) is currently in escrow and has
a lease for the summer. We are currently
gathering the capital to complete the
purchase of the property through a
combination of private and corporate
sponsors and our commemorative brick
patron donations. (See wwwfrontierpark.
org for donation information.)
Through our family and several
private donors, the first of the down
Goats represent the fastest growing
species of livestock in the United States.
Why? For one, goats have great personalities
and are very sociable creatures. Other
important reasons include the low start-
up cost of beginning a meat- or dairy-
goat operation, the versatility of goats,
and the fact that they can graze and
browse on marginal pasture, woodlands
and rangeland. The US Department of
Agriculture published a report on the goat
industry in 2005 and cited the changing
demographics of the United States, as
well the increased number of hobby farms
as additional reasons for the increase in
popularity of these ruminants.
Commercial growers, hobby farmers
and homesteaders keep goats for a variety
of reasons. They are most often raised to
produce milk, fiber or meat, but can also be
used to effectively manage weeds or kept as
pets. Common breeds of goats are Alpine,
Lamancha, Oberhasli, Saanen, Angora,
Boer, Nigerian dwarf and Nubian.
Elizabeth Murphy, Oregon State
University (OSU) Extension’s new forage
instructor in the Small Farms program,
offered a class in July on managing meat
goats. Murphy remarked, “Goats represent
a promising livestock opportunity. There is
a growing demand for goat meat in niche
markets, both in traditional ethnic cuisine
and more recently, in nontraditional
American fare. Goat milk and cheese have
been touted for their health benefits and
thus have high value to consumers. In
addition to their market potential, goats
provide additional value-added services,
such as fuels reduction and weed control,
thereby increasing farmers’ production
profit margins.” Murphy’s Extension class
filled up and had a long waiting list, further
demonstrating the popularity surge of
raising goats.
On September 29, the Rogue
Valley Goat Dairy Association and OSU
Extension Small Farms are hosting the
third annual “Get yer Goat” Education
Day from 8 am to 4:30 pm at the Southern
Oregon Research and Extension Center
at 569 Hanley Road in Central Point.
Participants have the option to sign up for
a day of multitrack workshops, including
breeding and kidding, feed and forage,
nutrition, parasites, milking, and soap
making, or for an all-day cheese-making
class with Gianaclis Caldwell of Pholia
Farms. The Goat Dairy Association
sponsors a raffle with prizes, including goat
kids, and brings some of their goats in for
demonstrations.
To learn more about the workshop,
contact Maud Powell at 541-776-7371
ext. 208 or maud.powell@oregonstate.
edu. To register, visit the Southern Oregon
Research and Extension website at http://
extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/farms.
Maud Powell
541-776-7371
Oregon State University Extension
Small Farms
maud.powell@oregonstate.edu
payment and the lease were secured. The
second phase of fundraising, which will
complete the down payment, is coming
from major sponsors and from community
donations that will also provide a base
which, combined with the revenue from
other activities on the property and our
financial commitment to the project, will
cover the mortgage and ongoing park
operating costs to keep it open for families
to enjoy.
We are seeking seven major sponsors
to participate at the level of $7,000 to
$10,000 dollars and asking the community
to continue to become brick patrons.
Brick donations and bench donations have
raised $6,000 to date through our 25 park
patrons who have been enjoying the park.
Many are sending in their donations but
we need a total of about 300 brick patrons
and corporate sponsors to fulfill our goal.
Beverly Mee Reed, known as
“Grandma Bev” by the thousands of
children she mentored, was my “adopted”
grandma and we spent many days last
summer together on the balcony of the
Indian Room at the Applegate Lodge.
Grandma Bev reminisced about her golden
childhood on the Mee farm on Thompson
Creek in the 1930s. She spoke of going to
school in the one-room Applegate School,
the boys catching snakes to hide in the girl’s
desks and scare them, and dipping their
pigtails in the inkwells before school was
out. They spent long summer afternoons
at the nearby swimming hole long before
it became a park.
Melissa Davis spoke of the younger
generation’s love for the majestic, lush
park with its rock walls that form the
deep river pool where Applegate youth
learned to swim, celebrated birthdays,
and where many teens had their first kiss.
This beloved spot transcends time, age and
cultural barriers. Everyone who tells a story
of the park lights up with love of this land.
Those who treasured the park were not
the only ones who came there. In recent
years, some people have been careless,
See SWimminG hOLE, page 21
