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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2012)
Applegater Winter 2012 1 U.S. Postage Applegate Valley Community Newspaper, Inc. P.O. Box 14 Jacksonville, OR 97530 Paid Non-Profit Permit No. 50 Grants Pass, OR 97526 Log on to our website www.applegater.org Photo by Nansi Myers WINTER 2012 Volume 5, No. 4 Applegate Valley Community Newspaper Postal Patron Serving Jackson and Josephine Counties — Circulation: 9,200 McKee Bridge restoration Dolores Durando: Has $491K, need $49K more An Applegate woman of limitless talents by RObeRt vAN heUit In August 2012, the fed er a l government awarded a grant to Jackson County in the amount of $491,048 to restore the McKee Bridge. The total cost to restore the bridge is estimated at $547,250. The McKee Bridge Historical Society (MBHS) is required to raise matching funds in the amount of $56,202. To date, MBHS has raised over $7,000 toward that goal. However, due to the required grant process, we still need another $5,000 by early January 2013. Members of the MBHS board of directors have met with the Jackson County Road Department and have developed a tentative schedule for the project. In accordance with federal law, the State of Oregon will administer the grant. The first order of business is for the State of Oregon to circulate a request for proposal (RFP) to design the repair. This will be done in January 2013. After receipt of the proposals, the State of Oregon will award the engineering design to the best qualified engineering firm. The firm will then proceed to design the repair program. After completion of the design, the state, county and MBHS will review the plans. After the plan is accepted, the State of Oregon will solicit bids to perform the work. When the contract is awarded to the lowest qualified bidder, the work can commence. In order to receive the grant money, the matching funds will need to be given to the State of Oregon (Oregon Department of Transportation). It is expected that MBHS will need to give about $12,000 to Jackson County, who will forward that amount to the State of Oregon in January 2013. The State can then bill the federal government for the portion of the grant money that will be used for the RFP and engineering design. Because work in the river channel can be conducted only from June through October for environmental reasons, it is expected that the repair work will not be performed until summer of 2014. MBHS will need to give the remaining matching funds (about $44,000) for the project to the county in January 2014. We have an enormous task ahead of us to raise that amount of money. Members of our board of directors have made contact with a number of charitable foundations and hope to have significant financial assistance from them toward accomplishing that goal. We still need financial assistance from all of you. You can make a contribution by sending a check to MBHS, P.O. Box 854, Jacksonville, Oregon 97530. We also have a website on the Internet. Please look it up. The address is www. mckeehistoricalcoveredbridge.org. You can also make a PayPal contribution through the website if that is convenient. We have already received some generous contributions, which are much appreciated. MBHS is a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation—all contributions are tax- deductible. Thank you all for your support. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at 541-899-2927 or rvanh2000@yahoo.com. Robert E. Van Heuit, President McKee Bridge Historical Society 541-899-2927 by bARbARA hOliDAy At 91, one would think she’d done it all and could rest on her laurels. But not Dolores Durando. No, not Dolores. At the age of 90, her first novel, Beyond the Bougainvillea, was published by Bell Bridge Books. Now just 91, she recently held stage at a book-signing event for her second novel, Out of the Darkness, also published by Bell Bridge. And she’s got two more books in the works. Her third book is comprised of short stories that are mostly conversations with her champion miniature donkey, Tennessee Ernie, who is terribly spoiled and has quite the attitude. The fourth is Best-selling author Dolores Durando, a Williams resident, gradually becoming a lengthy proudly presents her second novel, Out of the Darkness, at a manuscript about a young book-signing event at Evergreen Bank in Grants Pass. man’s journey through life (Photo by Barbara Holiday.) during 1960s San Francisco. According to her publisher, Beyond Dolores’ personal and horrific experiences the Bougainvillea was one of the top 100 and observations over 35 years in the Amazon Kindle books last year. The mental health arena. Marty, a young man protagonist, Marge Reagan, escapes a in the 1950s, not only has no hope in life, brutal life on the plains of 1920s North but his alcoholic mother gets rid of him Dakota, and heads for Los Angeles to by locking him up in a mental institution. make her place in the world, ultimately The brutality he endures is shocking. encountering racism, discrimination, Marty is saved by the friendship of an old betrayal and finally redemption. The life man who leads him to love and happiness. of Dolores’ aunt was one of the inspirations Already the reviews on Amazon are terrific: for this story. four and five stars out of five. Out of the Darkness is based on See DURANDO, page 13 Wood sprites and mad hatters turn out for the first annual Enchanted Forest Wine Run Mushroom hat contest winners Bethany LaLonde and Joseph Chick of Ashland. (Photo by Michael Lebowitz, LongRun Pictures.) by ANNette pARSONS Two hundred and seventy runners, including kids, turned out for the first annual Enchanted Forest Wine Run on September 29, starting and finishing at Wooldridge Creek Winery in the middle Applegate Valley. Race directors Timothy and Krista Olson and Marjorie Gosling sure know how to put on one tough but fun half- ATTENTION! If there is an address label on your Applegater, a donation is required to keep the paper coming to you. Please be sure to make an annual donation of at least $10 to cover our expenses. Thank you! marathon, and their 5K and kids’ runs were also huge successes. The course began in the beautiful vineyards of Wooldridge Creek Winery, with commanding views of the middle Applegate and Williams Valleys. The 5K and the quarter mile kids’ run ended there, but the half-marathoners then headed up Slagle Creek Road and into the Enchanted Forest, where forest magic and surprises awaited! The rugged course led runners through the Bureau of Land Management’s Enchanted Forest trail and onto the Felton Memorial trail. From there, runners navigated a network of lovely private trails above and around the Clover Creek vineyard, the highest-elevation vineyard in the Applegate, and known for its gewürztraminer grapes. Fanciful costumes were encouraged and prize categories included “Best Fairy” and “Finders of Magic Mushrooms.” Mad See eNChANteD, page 8 NEW FEATURES They Live Among Us...................................................page 13 Featured Advertiser............................................ ..... page 14 Next Generation: Applegate Valley students........ ... page 23