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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2019)
Applegater Summer 2019 7 NONPROFIT NEWS AND UPDATES — A Greater Applegate — AGA offers mini-grants for community building A Greater Applegate (AGA) is pleased to announce the launch of two new mini- grant opportunities—Momentum Grants and Fast Grants—for groups helping to build community in the Applegate Valley. The new grant program is made possible by funding through a Capacity for Connection, Visioning, and Action grant from The Ford Family Foundation. Momentum Grants. Grants of up to $2,500 will be awarded for Applegate Valley projects and programs aligned with A Greater Applegate’s mission to “build community by sustaining and enhancing local connections that promote the environmental, economic, and social vitality of the Applegate Valley.” By fostering new ideas and engaging organizations and groups working to benefit the Applegate Valley, AGA hopes to create a stronger, more connected, and more vital Applegate Valley community. Momentum Grant applications are available on our website (agreaterapplegate.org) and will be accepted until the September 1 deadline. While the maximum grant award is $2,500, smaller requests are encouraged to ensure broader disbursement of limited funds. Momentum Grants will be awarded on October 15. Momentum grantees will be required to include A Greater Applegate in their community outreach or in publicity about their funded project or program. Examples might be using the AGA logo in a three- dimensional project or a brief description of AGA’s Momentum Grant program in press releases. Press releases should be sent to info@agreaterapplegate.org for review before release to the public. AGA recently initiated the Momentum Grant program with a $2,500 contribution to Ruch Outdoor Community School (ROCS) to renovate the community track and playfield and create a space for the whole community to gather in a healthy environment. The ROCS Momentum Grant supports one of the three priorities developed in the Applegate Valley Community Vitality Roadmap process: create sustainable, intergenerational, hands-on learning opportunities for youth. The other two Roadmap priorities are (1) create a common Applegate Valley identity that embodies the Applegate quality of life, and (2) provide a system to support and grow Applegate Valley businesses. AGA will address both of these priorities over the coming months. Fast Grants. Fast Grants are available on an ongoing basis throughout the year to meet requests for no more than $250. As the name suggests, these funds are intended to meet more urgent needs for materials and supplies, transportation, and technical support to ensure the success of a community-building activity. We envision these grants being of greater interest to volunteer efforts that need a little funding to bring an activity together. Fast Grant decisions will be made throughout the year by AGA at the monthly board meeting following the request. Neither of these grants is available for personal or family needs, and successful requests must demonstrate the ability to contribute to building community in the Applegate Valley. For more information, go to the AGA website or email info@ agreaterapplegate.org. Nonprofit and business networks In the last two issues of the Applegater, we announced the Nonprofit Network and our intention to launch a Business Network. The Nonprofit Network is well under way—our next quarterly event is scheduled for June 10 at Red Lily Vineyards from 4 to 6 pm. This program will be more informal than recent events to give nonprofit leaders a chance to network with each other and share ideas about how to strengthen local nonprofits and the community we serve. We also have begun planning a Storytelling Workshop for nonprofits and a nonprofit community event in the fall. If you are not yet part of the network and want to be, please contact us at info@agreaterapplegate.org. Businesses in the Applegate should expect a letter from us in the coming month inviting them to participate in the start of the Business Network. We will be seeking their ideas for topics, when to meet, and how to best support the diverse Applegate Valley business community. We have heard strong support for shared marketing and branding, more local events, and a map of Applegate businesses like the one appearing regularly in the Jacksonville Review. We are excited to pursue these and other ideas. If you want to join in the planning, please email info@agreaterapplegate.org. And if you want to become part of A Greater Applegate, please let me know. We are actively recruiting board members for this growing organization and welcome contributions from more Applegaters! Seth Kaplan Chair, A Greater Applegate seth@agreaterapplegate.org Nonprofit organizations in the Applegate Valley are welcome to submit news and event information to the Applegater. Email gater@applegater.org. DON'T MISS ONLINE ARTICLES! VISIT APPLEGATER.ORG. • Chris Bratt tributes in full • Stories on the Land excerpt • Vaccine opinion piece — McKee Bridge Historical Society — This drawing of McKee Bridge, created by McKee family descendant Evelyn Williams, will decorate water bottles sold at McKee Bridge Day on June 8. Don’t miss McKee Bridge Day This year’s gathering for McKee Bridge Day on Saturday, June 8, will feature all the usual activities, but also something new: Doggy World, in coordination with the Friends of the Animal Shelter (FOTAS). See the article on page 3 by Laura Ahearn for more information about Doggy World, and bring your favorite doggy friend to join in on the fun. As is traditional, the Applegate Lions Club will be selling barbecued tri-tip sandwiches and hot dogs. Those, along with salads and root-beer floats from McKee Bridge Historical Society, should satisfy your appetite while you listen to foot-stompin’ music by the Old-time Fiddlers from noon till 2 pm. Also check out customized cars and trucks, displayed by the Stray Cats Car Club, and a working display of antique gas and steam engines from the Early Day Gas Engine and Tractor Association Branch 141. Vendors, artists, and nonprofits will have booths to visit, and crafters and historical displays will be out on the bridge. There’s also a bake sale and a 50-50 raffle, so you might go home richer for spending the day at the bridge. The historical society’s traveling museum will be displaying the McKee Bridge Quilt, and we still have Centennial t-shirts available in all sizes, as well as hats and cups. New this year are water bottles decorated with McKee Bridge artwork (see photo) by McKee family descendant Evelyn Williams. Don’t miss this fun, family-friendly event, or you, and your dog, may be very sad. We’d like to try to avoid that. Contact me for more information. Paul Tipton • 541-846-7501 Chair, McKee Bridge Historical Society mckeebridge1917@gmail.com Sweet corn at Pacifica BY JONATHAN SPERO You may not know that a back corner of Pacifica is being used to develop new open-source, open-pollinated, organic sweet corn varieties, and the first of these is now on the market. Tuxana corn, developed from an Anasazi mother corn crossed with a sugar- enhanced (SE) pollen provider, has had six generations of selection on Pacifica lands. Tuxana is a white corn with large ears and 16 to 18 rows of large kernels. It is rich and creamy and only moderately sweet. It is pledged to open source and is now for sale at Siskiyou Seeds in Williams and Restoration Seeds in Talent. In 2019, Zanadoo f8 (eighth generation) will be growing on the Pacifica field. This one is selected for sweetness, and we hope it will be the sweetest open-pollinated SE corn line out there. In early August a crew of corn tasters will be in the field choosing the plants with the sweetest ears. You, too, can be a corn taster. Being a corn taster involves sampling a great many raw ears of corn in the field and selecting the sweetest ones. Pay is in corn to take home. Tasting involves a shift of two-and-a-half or three hours. If you would like to be a corn taster, contact lupineknollfarm@gmail.com. Thank you to Pacifica for providing a place where tomorrow’s new vegetable crops can be created. If you wish to donate to this project, make the donation to Pacifica (pacificagarden.org) for making this crop-breeding space available. Jonathan Spero lupineknollfarm@gmail.com
