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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2017)
10 Summer 2017 Applegater CANTRALL BUCKLEY COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP WE NEED YOUR HELP! Cantrall Buckley Park news BY JEREMY CRISWELL Let’s start off with a big thank-you to everyone who came out to help with our park cleanup in March. This is a community park, and each of you proved that by showing up, working hard, and making a big difference. The winter snows brought down larger than usual tree debris throughout the park, and the tremendous turnout made short and fun work of a very big job! We had volunteers of all ages who came with shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, and trailers from not only Ruch and Applegate, but also from Williams, Medford, and Ashland, which shows what a large geographic footprint our park serves. Thank you! Campground project final phase is under way. Using funds from a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Title II grant, water and electrical hookups have been brought to three campsites and to our host site. We’ve also begun a major fundraising campaign to fund the rest of the project, which will include expanding our potable water capacity, adding a new group area restroom, and extending power and water to 31 sites, which will allow our park to host RV travelers for extended stays. The funds from RV users will add to our park’s sustainability and will allow us to even better serve community! Fundraising efforts. We will again be raffling off two airline tickets to be used anywhere in the continental United States with no blackout dates! Last year’s tickets made their way to Applegate resident and park lover Carianne Lewis, who along with her two children, Lincoln and Amara, just returned from a trip to visit family in Chicago. Where might you like to go if you had two tickets in your hands? Pick up some raffle tickets at one of our summer events in the Applegate to have your chance! Monarch Waystation at Cantrall Buckley Park is complete! What started out as an idea to help bring more monarch butterflies back to our area has culminated in a wonderful garden that was planned, When: Wednesday, July 5, from 9 -11 am Where: Meet at first parking lot inside the front gate for team assignments Bring: Community Spirit! Gloves, bags, and grabbers provided, along with snacks and water. See you there! For more information, contact organizer Janis Mohr-Tipton at 541-846-7501. Left photo: The LaFave family--Johnny, Arianna, Brennan, and Michelle-- raking debris at Cantrall Buckley Park. Right photo: Tom Carstens with the pile of debris collected by over 80 volunteers. Applegate School field study and service program continues in Cantrall Buckley BY DARRELL ERB JR. Airline raffle winners in action. funded, and implemented in May with the help of Applegate School middle- school students and staff, Applegate Valley Garden Club, US Forest Service and BLM, Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates (SOMA), Grange Co-op, and many individual community members. “The waystation is a very positive project that brings science and learning into a real- life setting, where it becomes a teaching tool for students. It also gives the public a good example of how they can create a small garden project in their own backyards to help meet the basic needs of monarchs and pollinators,” said Janis Mohr-Tipton, who was instrumental in putting this plan together. You can find the waystation close to the entrance of the park. Wander through the garden and see a variety of native nectar plants, milkweed, shelter trees, and a miniature “puddling” pond where monarchs can find water, salts, and minerals. SOMA has provided the park with take-home brochures that can help you get started on your own pollinator garden! We hope to see many monarchs and all of you enjoying Cantrall Buckley Park throughout the spring and summer. Jeremy Criswell • jerr37@jeffnet.org Cantrall Buckley Park campground improvements need funding Park plans call for adding 33 new RV sites with water and power beginning in 2019, as well as new restrooms in the group camping area, a dumping station for RVs, a new water storage and pumping system, and improvements to the roadway. These upgrades would make the campground more self-sustainable financially by increasing occupancy from the current 25 percent. It would also provide much needed lodging in our area for visitors to enjoy the delights of our valley. The total budget for the project is $360,000. The Oregon State Parks County Opportunity Program is expected to provide a grant to match the $180,000 that the community needs to raise by the end of 2018. Park and campground operations are conducted by a partnership between Jackson County and the Greater Applegate Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit corporation that has already provided many improvements to water systems and roads and two new RV sites with water and power at the group campsite. Make a tax-deductible donation: (1) go to cantrallbuckley.org, or (2) mail your check to GACDC Campground Fund, PO Box 335, Jacksonville, OR 97530. Applegate middle-school students are back in the field this spring! Continuing a science field-study program the school started last year, students are working to design and plant pollinator gardens in Cantrall Buckley Park. The field study also includes work in the classroom, where guest speakers joined science teacher Star McAdam to expand student understanding about the importance of pollinators and the critical role of soil, water, and plants in providing habitat for these creatures. Speakers who have presented so far are Tom Landis, retired US Forest Service (USFS) nursery expert, who discussed native plants specific to pollinators, and Jakob Shockey, Applegate Partnership and Watershed Council riparian manager, who shared information about the local watershed and human impacts on it. Additional guest speakers included Joni Brazier, forest soil scientist with USFS, and Bonnie Criswell, landscape designer and community educator, who presented on plans to help students with garden designs and habitat requirements for monarchs. Work in the park started in May, when students began to break ground and plant the native species that support monarchs and other pollinators. “The community’s willingness to get with our students and provide the scientific background needed for this project is fantastic,” said Star. “Our students will have such a rich science background to build upon as they develop these pollinator gardens.” The work expands on efforts to raise, release, and support monarch butterflies, a program at the school headed by staff member Linda Kappen. “Planting pollinator gardens in the Applegate Valley is a great next step in our program,” Linda said. “We have the opportunity to include students in creating habitat-rich spaces where pollinators of all kinds can thrive.” Linda’s work has had an increasingly important impact on the school as more and more teachers are integrating the work she is doing with their own science lessons. It’s a great opportunity for kids to get their hands dirty doing science. We know from research that practical experience increases long-term learning, and we also know that doing work that is beneficial to the community and for the Earth builds students’ citizenship and character. This is a win-win for our kids! Special thanks to Janis Mohr-Tipton, who has been instrumental in designing and coordinating this valuable project at our school. Darrell Erb Jr., Principal Applegate and Williams Schools darrell.erb@threerivers.k12.or.us Applegate School mural will celebrate life in the Applegate Applegate students are working with local artist Jeremy Criswell to create a mural that celebrates the abundant life we enjoy in the Applegate. As part of t h e s c h o o l’s “A r t i s t i n Residence” program, J e r e m y worked with students in all classrooms, from grades K-8, to create images to adorn an outdoor mural featuring a tree full of life. Under Jeremy’s tutelage, students diligently sketched their images, transferred their sketch to clay, then painted their images in glaze. Students crafted tree parts and various animals—fish and four-legged creatures, birds and insects—to decorate the tree. Funds for the program were raised last year at Fred and Jean Hall’s farm at a barn event, where music was played by the Family Carr and Applegate students. Poetry was read by students of Applegate School, and pieces of art by professionals, enthusiasts, and students were auctioned off. Darrell Erb Jr., Principal Applegate and Williams Schools darrell.erb@threerivers.k12.or.us Various life forms will be featured on the mural created by artist Jeremy Criswell with the help of Applegate School students, including Laura Kliewer, Zeyna DiBiasi, Claire Emmons, Kaylee Easley, Owen Elmore, and teacher Linda Kappen.
