Football team huddles
to earn pay for coaches
Aerial photo of Daisy Hill Fire showing the damage and scope of the blaze on Sunday, June 29.
(Photo courtesy of LeRoy Clouser)
With loss
Pruners
find hope
By BRITT FAIRCHILD
Staff Writer
Donna and James
Pruner heard the Daisy
Hill Fire coming.
They just didn’t think
it would reach the out-
building they had lived in
for four years on West
River Road.
The June 29 100-acre
wildfire destroyed the cou-
ple’s home and all their
belongings.
Indeed, Donna has
mourned what was lost
that day. However, in the
days since the fire, she’s
found herself over-
whelmed with gratitude.
“We’re in awe over
how well we are blessed,”
Donna said. “We couldn’t
be anything more than
thankful.”
And not just because
she and James, and their
two dogs, “Oslo” and
“Lizzy,” evacuated the
property injury-free (they
were sitting in a trailer
near the outbuilding when
they began to smell
smoke) before the out-
building caught fire.
“We have had an ex-
cellent response (from the
community),” she said.
And their faith in God
has been strengthened as a
result of the experience.
Donna noted that the
American Red Cross ar-
ranged for them to stay
three nights following the
fire at an area motel, fed
them and gave them a
store voucher for clothing.
The couple is tempo-
rarily staying in a trailer on
the same property as the
outbuilding.
While thankful to and
comforted by those who
have shown their support,
financially and spiritually,
Donna said that she wants
the community to know
that she and her husband
(Continued on page 5)
By BRITT FAIRCHILD
Staff Writer
With a strong pack of
seniors returning in the
fall, the Illinois Valley
High School football team
has a prime chance of
making it to the Skyline
Conference playoffs.
They just might have
to get there with less help
on the sidelines.
A tight Three Rivers
School District budget for
next year maintained funds
to cover the sport -- as well
as other athletics and ex-
tracurricular activities --
albeit with fewer dollars to
pay for coaches.
Three of the five paid
football coaching positions
IVHS had last year have
been eliminated.
But Lorna Byrne Mid-
dle School faces an even
bigger threat -- no football
program at all.
“(Funding for) the
middle school is totally
gone,” said IVHS football
coach Bob Thornhill, not-
ing that there is a lot of
interest in the sport on the
middle school level.
“I don’t want to have
to cut kids,” he said.
To help tackle the
problem, high school foot-
ball players, their parents
and Thornhill are trying to
raise approximately
$10,000 to cover salaries
for three coaches at IVHS
and two at LBMS.
Football coaches at
other high schools in the
district are also holding
fund-raisers this summer.
On the bright side, all
transportation costs have
IVHS football coach
Bob Thornhill
been covered by Laidlaw
Transit.
A meeting regarding
the situation at IVHS and
LBMS will be held on Fri-
day, July 11 at 7 p.m. in
the Josephine County
Bldg. in Cave Junction.
The football team will
hold a car wash Saturday,
July 19 on the Radio
Shack/CJ Video Mart
parking lot to earn funds.
Having area businesses
sponsor game quarters dur-
ing the season for $100 is
among several other ideas
being discussed.
Jannie Heller, whose
son, Nic Heller, is a senior
on the team, said that ini-
tial response to the idea
has been well received
among those she’s ap-
proached.
(Continued on page 7)
Two valley pilots rising
into world competition
Donna Pruner and ‘Oslo’ in front of their burned residence. (Photo by Britt Fairchild)
More photos of Reunionmania on page 8
sponsored by valley merchants.
MANY MEMORIES - For
the hundreds attending
Reunionmania during the
July 4 weekend, it was a
time for reminiscing and
greeting friends from
yesteryear. A large num-
ber of people (top)
toured Lorna Byrne Mid-
dle School, which origi-
nally served as Illinois
Valley High School. The
tour was sponsored by
the IVHS Class of ‘78, the
last class to attend there
before it became the
middle school. With new
construction, part of the
old school will be demol-
ished. Many at the Cave
Junction Cares breakfast
(left) enjoyed visiting.
By STEVE FAIRCHILD
Staff Writer
Two Illinois Valley
pilots will be packing up
an airplane like a piece of
carry-on luggage and head-
ing to England in August
to compete in the Ninth
World Microlight Champi-
onships.
Jack McCornack, 55, a
businessman in Cave Junc-
tion, will be part of a five-
person U.S. contingent. It
includes team-leader and
area pilot Sharon Westcott
of Selma for competition
in the championship at
Long Marstin Airfield at
Stratford-Upon-Avon in
Warwickshire, England.
More than 160 com-
petitors will show off their
aerial talent. World cham-
pionships are held biannu-
ally.
This is the fifth time
McCornack has competed
in a world microlight
championship, but only his
third competing as a pilot.
He has won two national
microlight championships
in 1993 and 94. The best
he has done in world com-
petitions was fifth place,
he said.
Westcott will act as the
team’s liaison with the
organizers. This is West-
cott’s second trip to the
worlds, as she went with
the team to Spain in 2001.
“I was very proud to
be voted as the team
leader,” Westcott said.
McCornack will be
flying a Pteradactyl As-
cender in the competition.
The plane is small enough
that he can disassemble it
and fold it small enough to
get it on a commercial air-
plane for the same cost as
a passenger with skis or a
surfboard.
He said that the intense
week of competition is an
excellent way to improve
his flying skills. The con-
tests will include mixed
tasks to show the capabili-
ties of the pilots in travel-
ing long distances, naviga-
tion, and landing on a
dime.
McCornack will need
to navigate an aerial course
using compass and maps
without the aid of guidance
from a global positioning
(Continued on page 7)
Fund-raiser bingo
For Blackberry Festival
Friday, July 11 - 6 p.m.
I.V. Grange Hall
3781 Holland Loop