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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2016)
16 Winter 2016 Applegater NONPROFIT NEWS AND UPDATES — Applegate ACCESS Pantry — We are frequently asked if our hours will change during winter. No, our hours will remain the same: Mondays from 9:30 to 11:00 am. No sign-ins after 11:00 am. The pantry is closed the last Monday of every month. It is located behind the Ruch School cafeteria at 156 Upper Applegate Road in Ruch. I would like to thank everyone who volunteers and makes it possible for me to run our local pantry so smoothly. Sometimes we can use extra help, so if you are available on short notice, please provide us with your name and number. I would also like to thank Ruch Country Store for their weekly donations and the community for their donations through the green bag program. As we get closer to the end of the year, if you would like to make a donation, please be sure to put “Applegate Pantry” in the memo so that your donation is credited to our pantry. You can either mail your checks to me or ACCESS. Here are the addresses: Charlotte Knott, PO Box 1826, Jacksonville, OR 97530 or ACCESS, PO Box 4666, Medford, OR 97504. Please remember to drive slowly through Ruch School property. There is no smoking on school grounds at any time. If you bring a dog, please keep it on a leash or in your vehicle (with your windows open). Children are to stay with their parents; they are not allowed to wander around the school. For more information, contact pantry manager Charlotte Knott at 541- 899-8381. — SMART — SMART seeks volunteers in the Applegate Valley Are you looking to make a difference in the life of a child? SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) has the volunteer role for you! We are seeking volunteers for the 2016-17 school year at Applegate, Ruch, and Williams Elementary schools. SMART volunteer readers spend an hour per week reading one-on-one with PreK through third-grade children, helping them build vital reading skills and develop a lifelong love of reading. One hour per week is all it takes to make a lifetime of difference in a child’s life. S M A RT s i t e c o o r d i n a t o r s run SMART programs at a school, synchronizing reading sessions with teachers and volunteers. SMART is a statewide nonprofit organization that envisions an Oregon where every child can read and is empowered to succeed. It partners with schools across the state and engages community volunteers to read one- on-one with PreK through third-grade children, helping strengthen literacy skills and encourage a love of reading. Since 1992, SMART has steadily grown to become Oregon’s largest volunteer literacy program, having served more than 188,000 children with the help of 125,000 volunteers and given away more than 2,435,000 books. Children in the program receive 14 new books throughout the school year to keep and read with their families. Together, with support from communities and schools around the state, SMART is improving the reading capacity of Oregon’s children. It would literally be impossible for SMART to provide critical reading support for Oregon’s children without our dedicated volunteers. More volunteers means we’re able to reach more children at risk of falling behind with valuable one-on-one reading support, mentorship, and books. To learn more about this fun and rewarding experience, please contact the local SMART office at 541-734-5628 or visit getSMARToregon.org. — Williams Grange — Current activities at Williams Grange include: • Mondays, Yoga with Abby from 9:15 - 10:45 am • Tuesdays, Zumba 9 - 10 am; Men’s Circle 7-10 pm (second and fourth Tuesdays of the month) • Wednesdays, Yoga with Cassidy 6 - 7:30 pm • Thursdays, Zumba 9 - 10 am; Aikido from 2:45 – 5 pm; Williams World Music Choir from 6 - 8 pm, December 1 - 15, 2016, and February 2 - 23, 2017 • Fridays, Yoga with Cassidy 9 - 10:30 am • Sundays, Ecstatic Dance 11 am - 1 pm (7 - 9 pm on the second Sunday of the month) • Second Sunday of each month is Pancake Breakfast from 8:30 - 11 am, followed by Bluegrass Jam from 11 am - 1 pm. For more information or to reserve a date, contact Cassidy Geppert at williamsgrangerentals@gmail.com or 707-391-6964. 20100 Williams Highway, Williams, Oregon. — Applegate Grange — Final report from the Applegate Grange Four and a half years ago, a large group of community-minded people assembled on the grounds of the closed Applegate Grange in Ruch and decided to reopen the Grange with the idea of creating a community center in the Applegate to serve a variety of needs and interests. We did that and more. We’ve hosted meals, fairs, music events and literary readings. We’ve provided a meeting place for community and nonprofits groups, made dinners for Britt performers, held religious meals, and been the venue for fire-information meetings, weddings, reunions, and birthdays. We provided a valuable service, as we set out to do. But with dwindling attendance and participation over the past year or more, we have regretfully closed our doors. There have simply not been enough people involved to keep us going, and quite a few of the main “doers” are worn out. No officers were nominated for election at our recent meetings. Thank you to all of you for your part in what we did accomplish. Grange members (especially our staunch corps of officers), our many volunteers and community partners, and the community-at-large who attended our events, rented the space, and made donations all helped maintain the Grange and keep the doors open. It couldn’t have happened without all of you. Perhaps the greatest benefit has been providing a venue for the interconnection of folks throughout the valley, bringing us closer as friends and neighbors. Like many older social organizations, the Grange model may be outdated and may not resonate with the younger generations. Hopefully, we can find a new model to keep us connected and involved for the benefit of all. Paul Tipton • ptipton@frontier.com — Pacifica — Pacifica’s mobile science and nature center needs a new Caterpillar! The Caterpillar’s educational programs have been presented to thousands of schoolchildren in Josephine and Jackson counties over the past 16 years, drawing rave reviews from teachers and students alike. It is a “field trip” that brings science and nature to schools, saving the schools time and money. Schools are charged only one-third of the actual cost; donations support the rest. But there isn’t money in the budget for a new Caterpillar trailer, so we’re asking you, alumni and friends of the program, to help. Our current Caterpillar Program trailer has serious issues—20 years old and definitely feeling its age, substantial dry rot in the wooden wall structure (see photo at right), and weakening of the integrity of the unit that compromises its roadworthiness. Please help to continue this wonderful program that has enriched the lives of so many students through the years. Contributions toward school visits are also welcome! Tax-deductible donations may be made to Pacifica, PO Box 1, Williams, OR 97544 (please note “New Caterpillar” on check) or through PayPal on Pacifica’s website at pacificagarden.org. Business sponsorships will be recognized with a highly visible decal on the Caterpillar. Sincere thanks in advance. For more information, call 541-846-1100.
