2 Spring 2018 Applegater
OBITUARY
Arthur Coulton
February 13, 1938 - January 20, 2018
My very dear friend
and neighbor, Arthur
Coulton, died on
Saturday, January 20.
His wife, Kristi Cowles,
and his community of
close friends gathered
to pay their respects and
assist in his burial on the
mountainside above his
home next to his beloved
deceased wife, Linda.
Arthur was born in
Toronto, Canada, on
Fe b r u a r y 1 3 , 1 9 3 8 ,
into a large, close-knit
Latvian Jewish family.
When Arthur was 13,
his parents moved their
immediate family to Palm Springs,
California. After a number of years living
in southern California, where his children
were born, Art moved to the Rogue Valley
with his second wife, Linda. They started a
leatherworking business, Country Spirits,
with a primary focus on handmade shoes,
sandals, and boots. They also designed and
created handbags, belts, pouches, and other
leather goods, and marketed their products
at fairs throughout the western states
for many years. Arthur and Linda were
juried artists at the Oregon Country Fair
beginning in 1978 and were well-known
throughout that venue. Local people who
own their products may still remember Art
and Linda 20 years from now because the
craftsmanship they put into their shoes
ensured that they would last a very long
time. Art often joked that his products had
a lifetime guarantee: his lifetime!
In 1984, Arthur and Linda moved
into a yurt on their property on Humbug
Creek, quickly establishing themselves
deep in the Applegate community while
building their home and leather shop.
When Linda died of cancer in 2006, Art
was so grief-stricken that few thought he
would survive. But the old dog got on
the internet and learned
new tricks, almost
immediately finding
Kristi, a Wisconsinite.
Love blossomed, and, in
October 2007, Kristi sold
her bed-and-breakfast in
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin,
and moved to the
Applegate. During their
first year together, Kristi
surprisingly “took to the
shoe shop,” becoming
a welcome addition to
Country Spirits.
In the last months
of Art’s life, as things
became difficult, their
community came
together to care for both of them. Praise
is due to all those whose selfless efforts
helped to comfort these two elder hippies
through that time.
Because of my own efforts in assisting
Art and Kristi, a good friend referred to
me as “a true mensch.” I do aspire to be
such a person, but I mentored with the one
who personified that description—Arthur
Coulton, a true mensch (“someone to
admire and emulate, someone of noble
character, someone with rectitude, dignity,
and a sense of what is right, responsible,
and decorous”).
Arthur is survived by his loving
wife, Kristi, a brother, three sons, six
grandchildren, and a host of Canadian
cousins. This quote from his son speaks
volumes: “My dad always viewed the world
as what it could be, not what it is, and
sought to live his life in a way that exhibited
those values. His wisdom, perspective, and
insight will be sorely missed.”
Arthur lives on in our hearts and minds
and on our feet, so comfortable in our
Country Spirit shoes.
Paul Tipton, in collaboration
with Kristi Cowles
ptipton@frontier.com
Land Steward students learn about trees and forestry during a field-based class.
Living on Your Land 2018
BY JACK DUGGAN
More than 100 years ago the Agricultural
Extension system was created to spread the
knowledge of land-grant colleges to rural
farms, helping to improve food production.
Soon farmers’ wives wanted to share in the
knowledge, learning how to process those
crops into food for the table. Children
joined in with the establishment of 4-H.
Today the Southern Oregon Research and
Extension Center (SOREC) offers a wide
range of affordable learning—covering
topics like farms, orchards, livestock,
forests, food preservation, and gardening.
In 2009 the local extension began
offering a holistic program to guide
people in managing their land to achieve
environmental and personal goals. The
11-week Land Steward Program covers
everything from pastures to forests,
wildlife, fire, water, and more. Each
year the programs fills up with some 35
students.
But not everyone can afford the time
to take this program, so in 2011 the Land
Steward Program started offering a one-day
conference, Living on Your Land, covering
a range of diverse topics for landowners.
This year’s conference will be held at the
Grants Pass Rogue Community College
An interview with Mary Jacks,
Sunshine Plaza owner
BY DON AND DEBBIE TOLLEFSON
For 41 years, Mary Jacks has owned
and managed the Sunshine Plaza in
Ruch. She has been a fixture in the
Applegate Valley since the 1970s, and
many businesses owe their success
partially to her and her late husband’s
pioneering commercial shopping center
in our valley. Here is her story.
Where and when
were you born?
I was born Mary Estremado on June
6, 1930, in the family home on Galls
Creek Road in Gold Hill. My parents
had two boys and three girls. Two of my
siblings, Jean and James, are still living
in Gold Hill. I was raised on the family
farm and went to school in Gold Hill.
Twelve grades were in the same building
from the basement to the second floor.
I graduated with the class of 1948 and,
in 1952, I married Robert (Bob) Wesley
Jacks.
When did you come to
the Applegate Valley?
Bob was into logging, road-building,
and construction in the area with many
private and federal projects. He had
four years to construct. In 1979, after
the center was completed, Bob died.
When Bob died, you were left
with a daughter, property,
and a business to run.
At that time, and as a woman,
was that a lot on your plate?
It wasn’t easy, but many of the
original businesses are still operating,
though some with different owners.
We still have a grocery store (originally
Ron’s Market, now Ruch Country
Store) and a restaurant (originally
Lumberjack Café, now Honeysuckle
Café).
Current and past businesses
include a real estate office (Applegate
Mary Jacks, long-time owner of Sunshine Plaza
Valley Realty), a resale shop (Born
in Ruch. Photo: Don Tollefson.
Again), a beauty shop (Salon 238),
the opportunity to purchase property in Applegate Christian Fellowship, a movie
Ruch from Hunter & Best, the McDough rental house, an exercise studio (Body
Brothers, Archie Pierce, and Wes Lincoln. and Soul), a chiropractor (Applegate
In 1976 the beginnings of Sunshine Plaza Chiropractic and Wellness), a massage
started with the construction of the grocery therapist (Haley May LMT), a tax
store, now Ruch Country Store. Red accountant (Applegate Tax Service),
Bowman was the contractor. The second and many more over the 41 years of my
phase started in 1977. The shopping center ownership.
was built for the original tenant, Western
Don and Debbie Tollefson
Auto and Hardware, and took a total of
debbie.avrealty@gmail.com
(RCC) campus on Saturday, April 14,
2018. The Land Steward Program has
partnered with the Rogue River Watershed
Council to offer a selection of classes on
How Streams Work, Riparian Restoration,
Water Rights, Fish Biology, Water Quality,
Rainwater, and Springs. The ever-popular
Funding Panel will return with a host of
agencies sharing how you can get help to
accomplish tasks on your land.
Classes on geology, irrigation, native
plants, dehydrating food, citizen science,
fire ecology, weeds, tree diseases and
insects, weed management, and fruit trees
are also included.
There will also be a panel on Neighbors,
the Good, the Bad, the Legal. Panelists
include a real estate broker, a landowner,
law enforcement, and others who deal with
neighbor issues.
Informational materials and a complete
list of classes, with descriptions, are still
being developed as the Applegater goes to
press, but you can get on the list to receive
a mailed brochure by calling SOREC at
541-776-7371. Registration will be online
through RCC.
Jack Duggan
541-899-7310
3rd Annual
Williams
Propagation Fair
The Third Annual Williams Propagation
Fair is coming up soon!
The event will be held on Sunday,
March 11, from 11 am - 4 pm at the
Sugarloaf Community Association park
shelter at 206 Tetherow Road, Williams.
The Williams Grange will hold their seed
swap earlier that morning.
The fair is a free event, with scion of
many different fruit trees provided free to
the public. Grafting scions to rootstock
provided for sale will also be available.
Scion is the fresh year’s wood-growth of
a fruit tree. When trees are pruned in the
winter, scion is collected, labeled, placed
into the refrigerator, and sealed in plastic
until spring, when rootstock becomes
available. The scion (which determines the
variety) is then grafted onto the rootstock
that has the desired size, soil preference,
and disease-resistant characteristics.
There will also be a potluck and
educational opportunities at the fair. This is
your chance to share your own scion as well
as extra food-plant cuttings or divisions.
This propagation fair is 100 percent
volunteer-driven.
Fo r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n , v i s i t
scionexchange.wordpress.com.