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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, December 4, 2002
Taylor’s plan
for liquor OK
by council
During a 22-minute meet-
ing of the Cave Junction City
Council on Monday evening,
Nov. 25, the council voted 4-0
to recommend approval for a
liquor license for Taylor’s
Country Store. Councilman
Sandi Lund was absent.
The recommendation for
approval will be forwarded to
the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission.
November general elec-
tion results showed that
Mayor Ed Faircloth, running
unchallenged, received 284
votes. Dan Fiske, running un-
challenged for Position 1, re-
ceived 283 votes. Tom Green
and Tony Paulson ran for Po-
sition 2, with Paulson win-
ning, 180-143. Rita Dyer ran
unchallenged for Position 3,
with 270 votes.
During the public com-
ment section of the meeting,
business owner Sally Palmer
addressed the council, “I have
lived here many years,” she
said. “This is the first year I
have seen so much construc-
tion. I would like to know
how many homes have ap-
plied for water and sewer?”
She also asked the board
how much money was put into
savings.
After awaiting a reply and
receiving none from the coun-
cil she said, “You can answer
me next time.”
--Sharon Silva
The world is advancing.
Advance with it.
- Giuseppi Mazzini -
Linnie Mae Howard
WALT JUERGENS
Water, water everywhere
By SHARON SILVA
Better not call longtime
Illinois Valley resident Walt
Juergens a witch.
“I prefer to be called a
diviner,” said the Selma resi-
dent.
And he noted that, “The
more you do it the better you
get, if you have the ability to
water divine.”
Juergens, a painter by pro-
fession and owner of Walt
Juergens Painting, found a
long time ago that when it
comes to water divination, he
is a natural.
“Thirty-five years ago an
old timer I knew showed me
how to do it,” said Juergens.
“I knew I could divine the first
time I did it.
Some may recall that when we acquired “Nitro” the cat, I
thought that he might be from Mars, as his mostly white coat was
tinged red. Turned out that the red was not from the sands of the
closest planet to Earth, but some of that outstanding red clay stuff
from O’Brien.
Living with us, “Nitro” became quite affectionate and had the
endearing habit of trying to trip us. This he generally accom-
plished by trying to rub against our legs while we were in motion.
But he’s taught us how to be more careful, and so we stopped
lurching about the house while muttering about “that darn cat.”
“Nitro” enjoys going outside. He also enjoys being inside. He
likes to run out when one door is open; then whine about coming
back in; and then dash out another door first chance he gets. And
he’s quick. He can snatch a morsel of food off your plate faster
than you can say, “Hey, that’s mine, you thieving feline.”
“Nitro” is a cool cat, able to leap tall ladders in a single
bound; faster than a speeding dog in pursuit; and more powerful
than yesterday’s bean burrito.
As of this writing, our buddy “Nitro” is back living in
O’Brien with a new mom. She’s renamed him “Angelo Crook-
shank,” which Jan and I think is highly appropriate. His new
“owner” had just experienced the death of her 4-month-old kitten,
who looked, she said, a lot like the former “Nitro.” So when
Crossroads Animal Hospital phoned to see if we were looking for
a new home for him, we agreed to the change with some reluc-
tance.
Now we’re down to five cats, and we kinda’ miss 7-month-
old “Nitro.” But we hear that he’s doing well, and is happy in his
new surroundings. And no doubt he’s continuing to be affection-
ate, that pesky little guy.
Oops -- I should have told the new mom about his talent for
tripping. Oh well, she probably knows by now.
So long, “Nitro,” be a good boy.
“So I picked the brains of
every water diviner I ran
across. That’s how I learned.
After you do it for a while,
you get a feel for it. You can
feel whether you have five, 10
or 20 gallons per minute of
water beneath you.
“When you are over wa-
ter,” he said, “the divining rod
always pulls straight down.
Depending on the force of the
pull is how I know how many
gallons of water I’m over.
“Artisan wells have a dif-
ferent feel; the stick kind of
bumps. Surface water only
pulls the stick a third of the
way down, and it’s wider than
deep water.”
Juergens works closely
with valley-based well driller
Chuck Gill. Juergens divines,
Gill drills, and then reports
back to Juergens with the re-
sults of the well.
“I really appreciate him
getting back to me with the
results of these wells,” said
Juergens, “Chuck lets me
know the depth, flow and so-
dium content of each well I
divine. This is how I keep my
skills sharp.”
Juergens prefers to use an
elm forked stick to divine
with. He uses a metal welding
rod to determine which way
water flows, a 5-foot straight
limb to determine water depth,
and a spinning ball on a chain
to determine the sodium con-
tent of water.
“This really works,” said
Juergens, “Hey, it’s better
than throwing a rock over
your shoulder.”
Juergens can be contacted
through 597-4136.
Linnie Mae Howard, 92,
of Cave Junction, died on
Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2002 at
Three Rivers Community
Hospital in Grants Pass.
A memorial service will
be held on Thursday, Dec. 5 at
10 a.m. at Fountain of Life
Assembly of God Church in
Cave Junction.
Private inurnment will be
at Hawthorne Memorial Gar-
dens in Grants Pass.
It’s the family’s wish that
memorial contributions be
made to Meals on Wheels
Inc., 110 E. Main St., Ash-
land, OR 97520; or Rogue
Valley Humane Society, 429
N.W. Scenic Drive, Grants
Pass, OR 97526.
Mrs. Howard was born on
July 12, 1910 in Ada, Okla.,
one of 11 children. She lived
in Arizona, Bakersfield and
Redding, Calif., other parts of
Oregon including Merlin, and
moved to Cave Junction in
1974.
In California she operated
restaurants in Cottonwood and
the Redding area. She owned
and operated pet shops in the
Bakersfield area.
She was a member of
Fountain of Life Assembly of
God Church and Illinois Val-
ley Grange 370 in Cave Junc-
tion. She raised birds, Chihua-
huas, poodles, and goats.
When she was younger she
enjoyed fishing and hunting.
Survivors include her
daughter, L. Diane Meyer, of
Dorris, Calif.; 10 grandchil-
dren; 17 great-grandchildren;
and th re e gr e at- gr eat -
grandchildren.
Two husbands, Jim Aber-
nethy and Chuck Howard, a
son, Don Abernethy; and a
daughter, Judy Merrick, died
before her.
Chapel of the Valley Fu-
neral Home is in charge of
arrangements.
Nina M. Seefeldt
Former Illinois Valley
resident Nina Marguerite See-
feldt, 96, of Grants Pass, died
on Wednesday, Nov. 27 ina
Grants Pass convalescent hos-
pital.
A graveside service was
held on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at
Laurel Cemetery in Cave
Junction. Illinois Valley Fu-
neral Home was in charge of
arrangements.
Mrs. Seefeldt was born
Nina Roadruck on June 16,
1906 in Spokane, Wash. In
1926 in Spokane she married
Milton Seefeldt, who died on
June 19, 1981.
She owned and operated
the Christian Supply Center
on G Street in Grants Pass in
the 1960s.
Survivors include two
sons, Milton Seefeldt, of
Silverton, Ore., and Bill See-
feldt, of Reedsport, Ore.; two
daughters, Florence Sackett
(Continued on page 5)
for Valley businesses sponsored by
Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce
Decorations must be ready for judging
by Saturday, Dec. 21
Entry deadline Friday, Dec. 13
Business_________________________________
Address__________________________________
Circle: Indoor or Outdoor
Send or deliver to I.V. Chamber in the I.V. Visitor Center
P.O. Box 312, Cave Junction 97523
Phone: 592-3326
Chain Link Specialist
592-6192
Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. most Saturdays
Evening & weekend appointments available
Custom designs, appraisals & quality repairs
by graduate gemologists