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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2014)
2 Fall 2014 Applegater Thank you to everyone who made our 20th Birthday Bash such a success! Photos by Greeley Wells CANTRALL-BUCKLEY New picnic area restrooms Jackson County Parks will take the lead in designing, funding, and building new restrooms in the picnic area down by the river. Oregon Parks and Recreation will assist with funding. Construction will begin in fall 2015. Cost of the restroom project will be around $200,000. Community support As you all know, our park is funded and supported by the Applegate community. Your user fees and donations have been 100 percent dedicated to park maintenance and improvements. Because of your support, the park has been putting money in the bank. But a lot more will be needed to get these projects off the ground. We’ve already identified several foundations that will work with us. The kicker—they all require some level of community financial and labor involvement before they’ll fork over the big bucks. Target: $30,000 So, we think $30,000 is a reasonable goal for us to raise locally. The remainder ($20,000) will be made up with grants. FROM PAGE 1 Applegate businesses We’re going to start with all of our valley businesses. We’ll be visiting you with a detailed proposal and site design and asking for your help. All businesses that make a contribution of $1,000 or more will be permanently recognized for their contribution in a prominent place at the park entrance. If you’re a business owner and you’d like to get ahead of the curve, feel free to jump in right now. We’ve already started a playground bank account and all funds will be deposited there. All donated monies are tax-deductible. The Greater Applegate Community Development Corporation (GACDC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, will immediately send you an IRS-friendly receipt. Simply mail your check to GACDC, PO Box 3107, Applegate, OR 97530. If you’re in the construction business, you can also expect a call. From you, we’ll be soliciting help with the site preparation, ground material, and construction for the playground. This will come later in the year. Construction contributors also will be properly acknowledged in the park for your good work. A receipt for donated in- kind labor will be immediately sent to you. Citizen contributions A grand raffle is in the works. Some prominent businesses will be offering valuable prizes. You’ll start to see volunteers at several of the local growers’ markets and other public locations around the valley selling chances to win. We’ll be holding a couple of fund- raisers in conjunction with the project. Planning has begun; more on this later. And finally, we’re looking for individual and family donations from our residents. Cantrall-Buckley Park is virtually our only public access to the beautiful Applegate River. Improvements to the park benefit us all. We’d all like to avoid a mail campaign (besides being really annoying, it’s hard work and very expensive), so we’d be just as happy if you could mail in a check to help us get going. Write your check to GACDC and mail it to PO Box 3107, Applegate, OR 97530. We have a special account set up dedicated to the playground Tom Carstens joins the Applegater editorial committee Tom Carstens has been writing articles for the Applegater for ten years, so it seems only fitting that he should join the ranks of the Applegater’s editorial committee. This committee makes the final decisions about whether articles are appropriate for publication, makes sure that no questions are left unanswered, clears up ambiguities, and, when called upon, can fine-tune with the best of them. Tom has volunteered for other organizations in the valley, having served as a volunteer firefighter, a board member of the Greater Applegate Community Development Corporation, a board member of the Applegate Trails Association, and a volunteer with the Britt Music Festival. Tom currently is on the Cantrall- Buckley Park Committee and is vice president of the Northwest Rafting Association. A retired Marine Corps aviator, these days Tom gets his thrills motorcycling, dirt biking, skiing, and white-water kayaking. He is a recent graduate of Southern Oregon University’s Environmental Studies Program and believes that his conservative values are a good fit with the conservation ethic of the Applegate Valley. He and his wife Kathy built their energy-efficient home on Billy Mountain. project, so your money will go directly to this fund. A receipt acknowledging your tax-deductible contribution will be sent to you. We will publicize our fund status so everyone can see how we’re doing. Private donors who contribute $100 to $1,000 will be prominently recognized in the park. Remember: All donations support a nonprofit 501(c)(3) community project and are tax-deductible! Want to join a great team? The Park Committee is really excited about this project. If you like our ideas and think you might be able to help out, we’d love to have you join us. This invitation also goes out to regular park users—you really know what’s needed! If you’re as enthusiastic about this as we are, please go to www.gacdc.org to sign up. What a terrific opportunity to pitch in and give your community a helping hand. Thank you! Tom Carstens • 541-846-1025 Dave Laananen david.laananen@asu.edu Like us on Facebook! Just go to our website at www.applegater.org and click on “Find us on Facebook” or search “Applegater Newspaper on Facebook.”
