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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2016)
Applegater Winter 2016 ■ VITALITY ROADMAP Continued from page 4 limited, so we must bring our jobs with us,” and “It’s poverty with a view.” Maybe most important, RDI reported that they heard from numerous sources that Applegate residents respect each other and try to find common ground. After hearing RDI’s findings, the 25 or so attendees (from Upper Applegate to Williams) provided their input on priorities for action. It Focus group meetings were held in October to help develop priorities for an Applegate Valley Economic Vitality Roadmap. quickly became clear that there is an overarching desire to support existing farms and businesses without harming our environment or lifestyle. Education, housing, travel accommodations, branding Applegate as “organic,” and numerous other ideas were added to the list of priorities. Over the next two meetings, the list of priorities will be further discussed and refined. Once a final “roadmap” is produced in January, action groups will be formed to pursue the priorities. RDI will assist us in identifying potential funding sources and other resources to help us make real progress. Please attend one of the upcoming meetings to be a part of this process. Important things can happen when we proactively engage in creating our community’s future. Your input is critical to guiding the future of the Applegate! The next meeting will be held on Thursday, December 1, at 6 pm at Williams Grange, 20100 Williams Highway, Williams. Details about January’s meeting will be posted on the GACDC website at gacdc.org. Look for the “AV Roadmap Project” tab. Also on the website will be the November 3 presentation and a link to provide input via a short survey. 5 If you can’t attend a meeting, please arrange an interview with Amanda Close (aclose@rdiinc.org or 206-919-0186). Bonnie Rinaldi Chair, GACDC bonnie@rinaldinet.com — CORRECTION — The statement in Diana Coogle’s article, “What’s Behind the Fence?” (Fall 2016) that “big companies like FutureLand and Dicot Partners are buying land here” was inaccurate. Dicot Partners (DP) has not purchased land in the Applegate, according to Richard Gaxiola, corporate counsel, Dicot Partners Corporation, Phoenix, Arizona. In addition, Gaxiola is under the impression that the sentence (in its entirety: “Although rumor has it that many of the owners behind the fences are not local, and although big companies like FutureLand and Dicot Partners are buying land here, many marijuana growers are local farmers who joined the gold rush.”) implicates DP’s owner, Alan Kamben, as having a “gold rush mentality” (Gaxiola’s phrase). Kamben, Gaxiola says, “has been growing and producing organic cannabis in Oregon for the past ten years and formulated Dicot Partners in an effort to protect his chemistry, organic methodology and overall business internal structure.” The sentence in the Applegater was not meant to impugn Kamben. It clearly contrasts companies like Dicot Partners (not local to the Applegate) with local farmers “who joined the gold rush,” a term phrased by one of the local farmers quoted in the article. BOOKS & MOVIES — Book — Under a Flaming Sky Daniel James Brown Under a Flaming Sky is a true story about the horrors of an unrelenting forest fire that consumed a corner of northern Minnesota on the last day of August 1894. The Great Hinckley Firestorm was a fire of unimaginable consequences. The smoke turned day to a moonless night, and its hurricane-strength winds carried flames over 200 feet high. Ahead of the main fire were huge flaming bubbles of gas that floated over the town of Hinckley and exploded over the heads of the 1,200 or so terrified townsfolks, raining fire down on both Hinckley and its inhabitants. Families ran in a panic of terror, screaming and begging for mercy. Many of their tortured cries evaporated into a heat so intense it melted steel. This is an intense read—I was gripping the book so tightly that I thought my fingers might rip through all the pages. One of the heroes in this story is train engineer William Bennet Best, who worked for the Eastern Minnesota Railroad. Best held his train at the Hinckley train station as folks ran from their burning town and scrambled aboard the train. The heat was so unbearably intense that Best didn’t know how long he could hold the train. From his engine, he watched a little boy trying to run to the train while carrying his dog that was bigger than him and a man running toward the train pushing a wheelchair with another man in it. As he waited for folks to board, Best witnessed the horrific sight of people exploding into flames and incinerating before his eyes. Another hero, Ed Boyle, a general store proprietor from the little burg of Mission Creek, directed the residents to the center of a two-acre potato field as the fire from hell devoured their little town and ordered his employees to bring barrels of water on a wagon. People flung themselves into the furrows of the potato field, burying their faces into the scorching soil, gasping for cool air that was not to be found; some covered themselves with wet blankets and shawls. Over the roar of the all-devouring fire that was louder than a tornado, they could hear the screams of their children. The heavens above were raining blazing branches, cinders, and flaming pinecones down on their backs. They all survived. Under a Flaming Sky is one adrenaline-pumping, sweaty, exhausting ride into the teeth of terror. Brown researched and wrote this book because his grandfather was a nine-year-old survivor of this Armageddon of a fire. His grandfather was plagued with nightmares about the fire for the rest of his life. I found this book so riveting that I could hardly put it down. This review barely touches the tip of the flames that burn through this spellbinding book. Be sure to read this one! J.D. Rogers 541-846-7736 — Movie — Sully the heroic measures 1 Apple—Don’t bother Reviewer rating: 4 Apples of Captain 5 Apples—Don’t miss Genre: Biography/Drama Sully and his PG-13 co-pilot, Jeff Opened: September 2016 Skiles (Aaron Eckhart), Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, but centers largely on Laura Linney what happens after the Director: Clint Eastwood passengers and crew Sully, directed and produced by are plucked from the Clint Eastwood and starring Tom f re e z i n g r i ve r a n d Hanks, is based on the true story of how Captain Sully has to veteran pilot Captain Chesley “Sully” defend his actions Sullenberger became a national hero t o t h e N a t i o n a l when he made a successful emergency Transportation Safety landing in New York’s Hudson River on Board (NTSB). As tension-filled as the January 15, 2009, after his plane struck actual emergency landing was, the post a flock of geese, disabling both engines. inquiry, on Sully’s decision to land in the The lives of all 155 passengers and crew Hudson instead of trying to make it to a members aboard were saved. nearby airport, was even more so. Although this story was big news, I think the average person watching and I think it’s safe to say that all of this part of the movie would question if America—and most of the world for the NTSB inquiry was even necessary! that matter—knows the story, it is still a The reality is that 155 people owe their movie not to be missed. It is not just about lives to Sully’s accurate under-pressure decision, so why aren’t they throwing him a parade instead? Well, every good story has to have an antagonist, of course, and in this story, it’s the NTSB that seems bound and determined to prove that Sully was in error. I found this part of the movie to be quite interesting, engrossing, and inspiring, but there also was a level of heartbreak about what Sully had to endure when both his reputation and career were on the line as he was being investigated. And the truth of the matter, which was soon discovered, is that quick judgments based on computer reenactments often do not match up to real human experience. There are too many factors involved, and this movie proved just that! All in all, I found this movie to be a powerful story with a strong sense of realism from the actors. Tom Hanks, as always, was captivating, and his co-star, Aaron Eckhart, offered just enough edge to Hanks’s calm and quiet confidence to make them a great team, both on-screen and “in the air.” Clint Eastwood did a masterful job at depicting this true-life rescue drama—by putting the audience right in the cockpit during those tense moments with Captain Sully—and in creating the imagery of Sully’s conception of what could have happened if he hadn’t make a successful landing. Overall, my opinion is that this is a well-done movie that not only honors the actual hero, but also offers a story with a whole lot of heart. And, as I mentioned, even though you already know how the story ends, it’s still worth watching for good edge-of-your-seat entertainment. Kathy Kliewer kkliewer19@gmail.com
