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.
