4 Spring 2017 Applegater
•••BIZ bits•••
BizBits highlights businesses new to the area, holding special events, or offering new products.
If you are a business owner, let us know when you move into the area or to a different location,
hold a special event, expand your business, or mark a milestone.
Email Shelley Manning at manningshelley@icloud.com.
Advanced Installations. Started two years ago by Tenaia Chavez, Advanced
Installations is an authorized retailer of satellite Internet service Excede. Many of
Tenaia’s clients are residential customers who live outside the service area of other
high-speed Internet providers. Advanced Installations also offers nonstop video
surveillance of legal recreational marijuana grow sites, as state law requires. Owners
of recreational grows who live off-site can check in remotely, and seasonal employees
are happier because they have Wi-Fi access. Wineries are also benefiting from Excede
Internet’s video surveillance. 5113 Table Rock Road, Central Point • 541-879-0473
• • •
Apple Outlaw. Blair Smith and Marcey Kelley’s eight-acre organic apple orchard
supplies most of the apples for production of their Apple
Outlaw hard cider, which is distributed in Washington,
Oregon, and California. Apple Outlaw is focused
on strengthening its local presence and sponsored a
community project where people donated their backyard
apples for a Community Cider that Apple Outlaw
produced. Establishments that served this cider donated their profits to the Ashland
Food Project. Blair gives classes in pruning and cider making, and Apple Outlaw
collaborated with Wooldridge Creek Winery to make a cider-wine hybrid. A tasting
room at Whistling Duck Farm Store will open this spring. appleoutlaw.com
• • •
Applegate River Lodge. Happy anniversary to the Applegate River Lodge
Restaurant! Opened on January 21,1992, the restaurant has been family-run for 25
years. After a hiatus in January 2017, the restaurant reopened on Valentine’s Day,
February 14, and offers a seasonal, locally sourced menu featuring favorites like red
oak-grilled mushrooms, Gorgonzola shrimp, and rib-eye steak. Entrees range from
$16 to $29. Open Wednesday - Sunday, 5 - 9 pm (later on music nights) • 15100
Highway 238, Applegate • 541-846-6082 • applegateriverlodge.com
• • •
Dye Hearts. Tie-dye artist Michelle Ava offers a sure way to brighten your day—
vibrant, colorful tie-dyed clothing! After relocating last fall
from Cleveland, Ohio, Michelle now calls Williams home.
She brings her artist’s background and 30 years of tie-dying
experience to her creations. Her clothing prices are between
$12 and $65, and she guarantees her apparel not to shrink
or fade. Michelle is also open to custom tie-dying items
like furniture slipcovers and duvet covers. Find Dye Hearts in stock in Williams
at Takubeh, 20690 Williams Highway, or the Dye Hearts booth at the Monday
Farmers’ Market. Visit dyehearts.etsy.com to shop online. For custom orders, contact
Michelle at mitch@dyehearts.com or 216-406-7037.
• • •
Forage and Plow Farm. Formerly Black Dog Ranch, Forage and Plow Farm has
moved to the Little Applegate and is excited to announce
its 2017 Free Share CSA (Community Supported
Agriculture). By investing in the season, you share in the
harvest just like with a traditional CSA. The difference with
a free share is that you get to choose what goes into your
basket. Once a week, you visit Forage and Plow Farm’s
produce stand to fill up your basket with fresh, organically grown veggies. This model
saves on time and labor, which provides more affordable prices to CSA members.
The 30-week season costs are: (1) quarter share for $15 per week, (2) half share for
$26 per week, and (3) full share for $45 per week. Visit forageandplowfarm.com or
call Cheyenne and Brock at 541-899-3121.
• • •
Pollinator People. Owned by Rebeca Ramm, Pollinator People offers goods
and services related to pollinators and pollinator gardens and specializes in ethical
honey bee swarm relocation and organic pollinator garden development. Pollinator
People rescues and relocates unwanted honey bees to the Southern Oregon Pollinator
Sanctuary, a remote Applegate forest dwelling that is being developed to provide
safe pesticide- and GMO-free pollinator plant food and organic dwellings for all of
Oregon’s local pollinators. Plans are to open the sanctuary to the public for events and
workshops related to plants, pollinators, and people. Milkweed starts and Mason Bee
cocoons and housing will be for sale to the community this spring. Currently located
at Pickers Paradise, booth No. 329, in Medford, with plans to expand to a larger
retail shop. 541-240-8124 • info@pollinatorpeople.com • pollinatorpeople.com
• • •
Silver Springs Nursery. All plants are grown from seeds and cuttings at this
wholesale nursery specializing in native species. Wanting to promote the use of native
plants in the landscape, James Kraemer, president of Silver Springs Nursery, recently
added nectar plants to his inventory. Because these plants attract pollinators, they
are a great addition to gardens as well as landscapes. Silver Springs Nursery is open
to the public by appointment only for orders of $50 or more. James is passionate
about native plants and will share his enthusiasm and expertise as he helps you select
plants for your project. If you, too, are a native-plant enthusiast and your dream is
native plant propagation, call James at 541-899-1065. You just might find a mentor.
700 Hamilton Road, Applegate • silversprings@q.com • silverspringsnursery.com
From the Editor
Our unsung heroes
“It takes a village.” The Applegater would not exist if it weren’t for the generosity
of our volunteers. Every quarter, they donate their time and energy to everything
from copy editing and proofing to bookkeeping and “webmastering.” They deal with
multiple deadlines, deadline revisions, last-minute submissions, etc., and they remain
cool, calm, and collected in doing what needs to be done. As a gesture of gratitude,
we would like to acknowledge this extraordinary team of dedicated volunteers.
Also part of this village, but not included below, are Karan Dump, our
bookkeeper, and, of course, the Board of Directors. They copy edit, proofread, write
articles, deliver the Applegater to numerous drop-off locations, plan and organize
fundraisers—whatever it takes to produce this newsmagazine every quarter.
Tom Carstens. When Kathy and I moved from Atlanta,
Georgia, to the Applegate Valley in 2004, we discovered the
Applegater and read every issue cover to cover. It was a fun
way to catch up with what was going on in the community.
I enjoy writing and decided to see if I could contribute. As
a volunteer with several Applegate organizations over the
years, I came to know many of our wonderful residents.
This enabled me to gain a pretty good perspective of what was going on in the
valley. Almost four years ago, I thought the paper could use more of a balance in
the opinion pages, and J.D. Rogers, who was the editor at that time, agreed to try
out my column, which is designed to illuminate a more traditional perspective
and, I hope, offer some solace to fellow conservatives. Later, I was asked to join the
Editorial Committee, which is one of my favorite volunteer jobs—what wonderful
people to work with.
Margaret Perrow della Santina. I live in the Applegate
with my husband, my son, and a flock of chickens. I am
associate professor of English and education at Southern
Oregon University and director of the Oregon Writing Project
at SOU. My favorite writing courses to teach emphasize
grammar as rhetorical choices, rather than rules that must
be followed. I appreciate my long and beautiful commute to
work and am always happy to come home to the view of the
Red Buttes. I love the Applegater because it is a vehicle for bringing together many
voices as part of one community.
Kathy Kliewer. I am married with three children and live in
Williams. I have a BA degree in theater and film and also hold
an elementary school teaching credential. I enjoy volunteering at
my children’s school as a SMART reader, a PTSG member, and
a classroom volunteer. I have been a volunteer for the Applegater
for two years—it keeps me active in the community, and I find
it fun, fulfilling, and quite interesting! I like the wide variety of
articles based on local happenings and events—the Applegater is
an excellent resource for letting the community know about new businesses, sharing
current events, and connecting the community as a whole! I especially appreciate
that the people directly involved in the production of this paper are our neighbors
and understand our community the best!
Joe Lavine. My wife, Suzanne, and I moved to Oregon
nearly a decade ago after I retired from a career working with
computers in the San Francisco Bay Area. We found a home on
a hill, with great views, near the northern end of the Applegate
Valley. I took over webmaster duties for the Applegater in 2009,
and I have also served on the Board of Directors. I make sure
that the Applegater is available on our website every quarter.
Ni Aodagain. I have been volunteering with the Applegater
as a copy editor since this past summer. I think the Applegater
rocks, and I love that I can do a small part in making it the high-
quality newspaper that informs our community. I so appreciate
that the Applegater brings together so many diverse voices and
celebrates all the amazing aspects of our valley.
Mikell Nielsen. Having lived in Williams off and on
for a collective 29 years, I really love this beautiful place.
I spent my summers swimming in the Applegate River
and Williams Creek and riding my horse all over East
Fork Road and surrounding areas. And although I swore I
would never live here again, my husband and I returned to
the valley to raise our family because of my idyllic childhood
experiences—we wanted nothing less for our kids. Now I
am a professional photographer and appreciate the beauty of our valley more than
ever. By volunteering as a proofer for the Applegater for the past two years, I am able
to give back to this beautiful community and area that has given so much to me.
Sandy Shaffer. My husband, Don, and I retired to the Applegate Valley in 1999
and built our dream house in the forest. However, two wildfires in our area quickly
got me working with local agencies to obtain grants to help spread the message of
why and how to mitigate hazardous fuels on private properties. I recognized that
the Applegate’s rural setting across three county jurisdictions made consistent and
effective communications a real challenge, especially in an emergency situation. I
See UNSUNG HEROES, page 5
