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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2017)
10 Spring 2017 Applegater Dangerous tree felled in the playground Cantrall Buckley Park news BY TOM CARSTENS Campground upgrade begins Restroom renovation delayed We’re starting Phase 3 of our In January, Jackson County Parks decided to delay renovation of the park’s campground renovation project. In day-use restroom. This is disappointing Phase 1, we put in a new state-of-the- for all of us; in its current state the art environmentally friendly wastewater treatment restroom is s y s t e m , difficult to including new maintain and just not very pumps and welcoming. tanks. Phase As you may 2 was the new know, this facility campground has not seen any restroom and improvements shower facility. for over 40 years. A d d i t i o n a l l y, In 2015, Jackson we have put in County Parks new water lines won a grant and paved the from Oregon entrance road. State Parks and All in all, Recreation to w e’v e s p e n t finally address almost $600,000 this sad facility. over the past Plans were put in t e n ye a r s f o r Steve Lambert (left), Jackson County Parks program manager, and Laird Funk, t h e s e n e e d e d place to tear down GACDC board member, improvements. the surrounding discuss the restroom renovation. We can thank deteriorating Photo: Tom Carstens. w o o d e n our local structure, put on contractors, the a new roof, and replace all the fixtures. US Forest Service, Oregon State Parks Your volunteer Park Committee and Recreation, Oregon Housing and has plans to landscape the area around Community Services, Jackson County the restroom to make it a lovely place Roads and Parks Department, and the for family. We also have a beautiful art Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for mosaic mural ready to be placed on the their generous support. exterior walls facing the playground. Now we aim to finally This mural was designed by Applegate complete this project. We will Valley kids, who also made the tiles with bring our campground up to current their parents with support of lead artist recreational vehicle (RV) standards with Jeremy Criswell from Upper Applegate. full electrical, water, and sewer hookups, a Our community donated $20,000 for new restroom for the group campground, this colorful piece of art that honors reconditioned campsites, and a new loop all donors to the mural and to our new road that can accommodate all classes playground. All of these plans, too, will of RVs. These improvements will cost have to be delayed. another $400,000. We’d like to thank In explaining the delayed BLM who got us started on Phase 3 renovation, Jackson County Parks with a $5,000 grant. With this money program manager, Steve Lambert, we have added two RV sites to the group wrote that “the restroom rehabilitation campground and brought electricity project at Cantrall Buckley Park will to our camp host site. We have also be completed in the fall of 2017. The begun receiving individual and group project was originally scheduled to donations. Jackson County Parks plans take place this winter, but due to our on helping us with a matching grant current project load and the active winter from State Parks in August of 2018. weather patterns that have kept our crews This means we have a year busy the past month or so, we think it and a half to raise $200,000. We is best to start the project in September will be calling on many of you to help when weather is more suitable and time us with this terrific project, which allows. The rehabilitation of the facility will bring more tourism dollars to our is of utmost importance to the Park valley. For those who’d like to get a Program, and we are committed to seeing jump on things, you can send a check to the project through to completion as GACDC Campground Fund, PO Box it will be a great addition to the recent 335, Jacksonville, OR 97530. You can playground renovation. Thanks for also donate directly to the campground working with us on this project.” fund using the contribution link on the So, Jackson County Parks told us GACDC website at gacdc.org. that they’ll start work in September and Donations of $1,000 or larger finish by the end of December because will be permanently honored at the that’s when the state grant expires. The campground. Thank you! Park Committee is heartbroken to have Tom Carstens, Chair to ask everyone to undergo yet another Cantrall Buckley Park Committee season with this facility in such disrepair. 541-846-1025 Last year we asked the US Forest Service at Star Ranger Station to take a look at the trees in the park and identify any safety hazards. The dendrology folks did find some problem trees. One in particular caught our attention: a huge old ponderosa pine with a scary lean right over the playground. The tree was over a hundred feet tall and could have caused some real excitement down the road. On a cold Friday in January, Chuck Dahl, owner of Pacific Slope Tree Company in Williams, strapped on his tree-climbing equipment and shinnied to the top of that old pine. Several volunteers below held their breath as massive trunk chunks thudded to the ground with thunderous quakes. Thunk…thunk… thunk! Chuck worked for hours to bring down this granddaddy. We Top photo: Chuck Dahl on his way to the top of a huge are milling some of the ponderosa pine. Bottom photo: Wood from the pine tree downed wood to make is being milled to make new picnic tables. new picnic tables. Photos: Tom Carstens. Free passes for park cleanup on March 11 We would like to invite all of you to a community park cleanup on Saturday, March 11, at 9 am. This was a tough winter for trees, and we have a lot of downed wood to pick up. To sweeten the pot, we’re offering free season passes to everyone who gives us a hand. Bring work gloves. We’ll provide coffee, water, snacks, and bags. If you have a pickup, wheelbarrow, scoop shovel, rake, or chain saw, you can bring those too. See you there! • • • • • Park fees to rise Fees at Cantrall Buckley Park have not been increased in many years, while operating costs have continued to rise, creating a deficit. Therefore, after much discussion, the board of the Greater Applegate Community Development Center (GACDC) has decided to increase the day-use entrance fees to Cantrall Buckley Park effective May 1. These new fees, outlined below, are consistent with state parks fees and those for Applegate Lake. • Day-use vehicle fee increases from $4 to $5. • Season Pass increases from $20 to $25. Season passes can be purchased at Applegate Store, Ruch Country Store, and Tiff’s Trading Post. • Senior Season Pass increases from $10 to $15. Campground fees are unchanged. Thank you for supporting our park! GACDC Board • • • • • To the “civic-minded, community-oriented individuals” who recently removed our large 600-pound barbecue grill from Cantrall Buckley Park Most people would assume that the barbecue was stolen, but we can only hope that you have taken it out to be repaired and refurbished and will return it in better shape than you found it. Because Cantrall Buckley Park operates on a shoestring budget, the generosity of the community is essential to its support. So it would be in keeping with this tradition of this community spirit for you to repair and refurbish our barbecue. As an example, last year we received donations from local citizens to replace 12 pedestal barbecues. We look forward to the return of our refurbished barbecue or a $1,000 tax- deductible donation to replace it before the May 1 season opening. We thank you in advance for your concern for the welfare of the park. If you would like, when you return our barbecue, we will be happy to place your name on a donor plaque, as we have done with many other citizens who have made the park dream real. Sincerely, Rick Barclay, Park Manager
