Applegater Spring 2013 3
NEW! MOVIE &
BOOK REVIEWS
Community Calendar
AA Meeting There is an open meeting of
Alcoholics Anonymous every Wednesday at
7 am at the Williams Community Church
Fellowship Hall on East Fork Road in
Williams. This meeting is open to those who
have a drinking problem and have a desire to
stop drinking, and also to anyone interested
in the Alcoholics Anonymous program of
recovery from drinking.
American Association of University Women
(AAUW) Grants Pass Branch meets monthly
from September through June. Days, times,
and locations vary. All those who hold
an associate of arts, a baccalaureate or
higher degree from an accredited college
or university are welcome to join. Contact
Connie Johnson at budcon@charter.net or
541-476-2567, or Angie Bifano-Sokol at
angiebifano@hotmail.com or 541-862-8228.
Visit our website at http://aauwgrantspass.
org, and see us on Facebook.
Applegate Christian Fellowship. For service
times, call 541-899-8732 24 hours/day.
Applegate Fire District Board of Directors meets
on the third Wednesday of each month at
Station 1, 18489 N. Applegate Road at 7:30
pm, except for the months of March, April
and May, which are held at Headquarters,
1095 Upper Applegate Road. For more
information, call 541-899-1050.
Grants Pass Nordic Ski Club meets on the first
Thursday of the month, November through
April, at the Newman Methodist Church at
7th and B Streets in Grants Pass at 7 pm. Ski
outings are on Saturdays. Listings are on the
snow phone at 541-592-4977.
Greater Applegate Community Development
Corporation meets the second Wednesday
of January, April, July and October at 6
pm at Applegate Fire District Station 1,
18489 North Applegate Road. For more
information, go to www.gacdc.org.
Josephine County Soil and Water Conservation
District (SWCD) meets Thursdays at 6 pm.
For meeting information, call 541-474-6840.
Ruch 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.)
Sanctuary One is open to the public for farm
tours every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:30
am. Recommended donation is $5. Please
check out our website for details: www.
SanctuaryOne.org and call to reserve a spot.
541-899-8627.
Applegate 4-H Swine Club meets on Tuesdays
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.
Southern Oregon Beekeepers Association meets
the first Monday of each month at 7:30 pm at
the OSU extension. For more information,
please contact sobeekeepers@gmail.com.
Applegate Friends of Fire District #9 meets on
the third Tuesday of each month at the Fire
Station at 1095 Upper Applegate Road at 6
pm. New members are welcome. For more
information, call Bob Fischer 541-846-6218.
T.O.P.S. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets every
Monday 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!
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.)
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.
Applegate Partnership and Watershed Council
meets the 4th Thursday of the month at the
Applegate Library. For more information call
541-899-9982.
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.
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 to 11 am,
followed by the Bluegrass Jam, 11 am to
1 pm. Closed July and August. 20100
Williams Hwy. near Tetherow Rd. For more
information, call 541-846-6844.
Williams Grange #399 Business Meeting,
second Tuesday of each month, 7 pm. 20100
Williams Hwy. near Tetherow Rd. For more
information, call 541-846-6844.
Williams Library Hours
Sunday.........................................................closed
Monday.......................................................closed
Tuesday........................................1:30 pm - 4 pm
Wednesday..................................1:30 pm - 4 pm
Thursday......................................................closed
Friday...........................................................closed
Saturday..........................................12 pm - 4 pm
Williams Rural Fire Protection District
Meetings: fourth Wednesday of the month
at 7 pm at the Williams Fire Department.
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.
Women Helping Other Women (WHOW)
meets the second Tuesday 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.
Friends of Ruch Library Board of Directors
meets on the first Thursday of each month at
6:30 pm at Ruch Library. All are welcome.
541-899-7438.
Send your calendar information to gater@
applegater.org. Be sure to keep the Gater
updated with any changes to these Community
Calendar listings.
Wonder Neighborhood Watch Meetings: second
Tuesday of each month, 6:30 pm, Wonder
Bible Chapel.
— Movie —
The Impossible
Reviewer rating: 5 Apples
(1 Apple—Don’t bother, 5 Apples—Don’t miss)
PG-13; Adventure, Drama; 107 minutes
Opened: December 21, 2012
Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Oaklee Pendergast
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Writer: Sergio G. Sánchez
The Impossible is based on true events. This movie has us sitting on the edge of
our seats as we go on a journey with the Bennett family: Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry
(Ewan McGregor), and their three sons. They decide to spend Christmas vacation in
paradise, a lovely resort in Thailand.
Only minutes into the movie, the deadliest tsunami in human history ravages the
shores of cities across Southeast Asia. The Bennett family is separated from one another
but never give up hope of finding each other. There are so many wounded, dying, and
dead, but while it is a traumatic story, it is also beautiful.
Naomi Watts plays the mother in one of her finest and most physically demanding
performances, and was nominated for Best Actress by the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts & Sciences. This intense and compelling family melodrama from Spanish director
Juan Antonio Bayona sets a new standard for disaster cinema—it is emotionally
exhausting and ultimately uplifting. With the powerful staging of the catastrophe and
the waves seemingly flowing into the theater, it simply takes your breath away. In fact,
the story has an emotional undertow that is sure to sweep you away.
The tidal wave and aftermath scenes are riveting, giving one the feeling of actually
being there. The amazing computer-generated effects bring the tsunami right into the
theater. It is a real roller-coaster ride with a superb cast.
Sharon Thompson • thompsonsharon99@yahoo.com
Ed. Note: The reviewer is an ardent moviegoer—often watching the same movie in the
theater multiple times.
— Books —
Waiting for the Rain and Walking Still
by Zimbabwean author Charles Mungoshi
It’s been a year since my husband and I spent the month of February 2012 in
south-central Africa, where in Zimbabwe we strolled with and petted lions, albeit young,
carefully guarded ones. But a small book that I read while in Zimbabwe is what has
lingered in the edges of my consciousness throughout the past year.
When many of us think of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), we think of short
articles and photos like those in PARADE magazine’s annual ranking of the world’s
worst dictators, which always includes Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president. Or
maybe we remember books and stories and histories about Rhodesia. But is there
any modern literature, any fiction, being written in that sad country? You bet there
is! Charles Mungoshi has won the prestigious PEN Literary Award—twice. His 1975
novel Waiting for the Rain is universal in its evocation of an extended family trying to
deal with a wayward son. Why is this son, provocatively named Lucifer, wayward? He
wants to leave his home, leave his parents, his large family, his village and his culture to
live in the “modern” world. He won’t settle down to work and marry and be the head
of his family as expected; he destroys the gift of sacred medicine lovingly prepared for
his departure.
I do not have my tattered copy of Waiting for the Rain because I gave it to a waiter
in the hotel where we were staying. It was as though I had given him gold and diamonds.
And he did insist that I write a gift inscription inside the book—dated, to him, and from
me—to prove that he had not stolen such a treasure. I do love the animals of Africa,
everything from the industrious dung beetles to the majestic big cats and the elephants,
but reactions by Africans to my gifts of books are my most treasured memories of Africa.
Mungoshi’s more recent book Walking Still is an anthology of short stories. These
nine stories also speak to universal concerns: cultural change, war, family dynamics.
One story is about a working wife who is ultimately more successful than her husband,
another is about a husband who eventually reveals his homosexuality, and the final
story, “Sacrifice,” is about a young daughter whose education is cut short because she
is scheduled to be sacrificed to the gods. Well, perhaps this last story isn’t so universal,
you may say. Is Shirley Jackson’s American classic “The Lottery” universal? I would
assert that Mungoshi’s stories have just that kind of tension and fine clarity of insight
into the human psyche.
If you want a different view of Zimbabwe than that portrayed in the books set in
the former Rhodesia, or in the “Worst Dictators” annual list, give Charles Mungoshi’s
books—including his poetry if that is your bent—a look.
Julia (Helm) Hoskins • 541-899-8470 • julmudgeon@aol.com
Ed. Note: Both of these books by Charles Mungoshi are available on Amazon.com. Julia
Helm is the author of She Caves to Conquer, a novel set in the American Midwest and in
south-central Turkey.
Check these out —
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“Chicken herder or Don’t be a loser” by J.D. Rogers
“In the life of a Sanctuary One intern” by Kirk Stonick
Harris and Stumbo are 2012 Tree Farmers of the Year
Tax tips for forest landowners
