Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 2003)
Page 3 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, November 5, 2003 Veteran firefighter on quest to find friends CLEAN SWEEP - Da Kine Grinds in Downtown Cave Junction received a 95 percent score from Jose- phine County Health Dept. following a Sept. 3 inspec- tion. The restaurant, owned by Kimberly Fujita, serves Japanese and Thai food and coffee. HAPPY HOLIDAYS - Illinois Valley Senior Center will hold its Christmas bazaar and bake sale on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. RED RIBBONS - Josephine County Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) will present this year’s red ribbon kick-off on Saturday, Nov. 8 at Shop Smart Food Warehouse in Cave Junction from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Events will also be held on Satur- day, Nov. 22 at Fred Meyer in Grants Pass and on Fri- day, Dec. 12 at Dutch Bros Coffee on Sixth Street in GP. Also during the events will be opportunities to join MADD for free, although donations will be ac- cepted. FIDDLIN’ FUN - Deer Creek Grange in Selma will host a bluegrass jam on Sunday, Nov. 9 from 2 to 5 p.m. A free banjo workshop will also be offered at noon. For more information phone 592-6832. TAKING ORDERS - To help raise funds for the Lorna Byrne Football Club, members will be accept- ing orders for fresh 25” Christmas wreaths until Sat- urday, Nov. 15. The wreaths will be ready to pick up during the week of Dec. 8-12. To order phone Diane at 596-2968 or Sarah at 592-6142. GOBBLE GOBBLE - The Cave Junction Lions Club will host its second annual turkey bingo event on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Josephine County Bldg. in Downtown CJ. Doors will open at 5 p.m. NOTEPAD - I.V. Bikers will visit area mer- chants and residents for donations to support its 21st annual toy run to be held on Dec. 6 at Junction Inn. Broadway Phil and the Shouters will be the featured entertainment...A Thanksgiving Praise Gathering will be held at I.V. High School on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m...Grants Pass Chamber of Commerce Ex- ecutive Director Dwight Ellis was recently named as the “2003 Oregon Chamber Executive of the Year” at the Oregon Chamber Executives Fall Conference in Medford...Actor Robert Greygrass and a regional teen theater troupe will appear at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Rogue Theatre in Grants Pass...Joan Michaelson of the Oregon Law Center will discuss the Oregon Advance Directive Law, “Steps to under- standing and Filling Out the Form,” on Monday, Nov. 10 from 12 to 1 p.m. at Lovejoy Hospice, 939 S.E. Eighth St., Grants Pass. Participants need to bring their own lunches. RSVP at (541) 474-1193. Illinois Valley Senior Center Christmas Bazaar and Bake Sale Friday & Saturday, November 7 & 8 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Craft Tables Available to make reservations or donate baked goods please contact Lorraine Wilson 592-2795 or 592-6888 Christmas shop and enjoy lunch at the snack bar 520 E. River Street Cave Junction By MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE Illinois Valley resident and historian Harold Teague, who once led mule pack trains into the valley, is looking for a couple of veteran firefight- ers. Very veteran. Teague, 83, hopes to track down those who served with him at the Camp White Fire Dept. near Medford during World War II. Their shoulders may have sagged a bit; their hair grown thinner, and their waists broader, but Teague figures a couple have survived the years. “Surely they ain't all gone,” said Teague. “There sure should be a couple of them left around here someplace.” In a group photograph taken in 1943, the-then 23- year-old Teague is the fel- low without a tie. He did- n’t wear one because he didn’t want to look “like those old codgers,” he said. Raised in the Reese Creek drainage north of Eagle Point, Teague origi- nally joined the Camp White firefighters in 1941. He volunteered for U.S. Navy service in 1942, and was medically dis- charged in spring 1943 after narrowly escaping a fire aboard the USS “Henderson” sailing in the South Pacific. He then went to work at Camp White. Now known as the Dept. of Veterans Affairs Southern Oregon Rehabili- tation Center and Clinics, the site once housed more than 50,000 soldiers train- ing at the U.S. Army base then called Camp White. Teague recalls that there were five fire stations at the base. Firefighters worked a 24 hours on/24 hours off schedule. “We were busy all the time,” he said. “We had some pretty good fires out there. “And we were always going out to the firing ranges or the airport. “We had two plane fires out at the airport,” he added. “We had planes flying supplies in and out all the time. They kept about eight of us at the airport.” Fighting fires and re- sponding to other emer- gencies weren’t their only duties, he recalled. Noting that there were some 2,000 prisoners of Elementary Schools Menu Sponsored by ‘Illinois Valley News’ 321 S. Redwood Hwy. 592-2541 THURSDAY, NOV. 6 *Conference day No classes FRIDAY, NOV. 7 *Conference day No classes MONDAY, NOV. 10 *Chicken nuggets, hamburger, cheese pizza, peanut butter & jelly sandwich, chef salad TUESDAY, NOV. 11 *Veteran’s Day No classes WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12 *Corn dog, hamburger, cheese pizza, tuna salad sandwich, cobb salad Please don’t litter! war at the base, Teague said he and other firefight- ers sometimes worked with the POWs when they were sent on work details. “When they rebuilt the railroad from White City to Medford, the POWs were used to help replace the ties,” he said. “They were the ones that did the work. I learned a little Ger- man then, let me tell you.” After the war, the fa- cility became a domicili- ary, and Teague moved on to other work. He took a job in a lum- ber mill near Coos Bay for a while, then started pack- ing in supplies with mules and working on trails for the U.S. Forest Service in the Siskiyou and Rogue River National forests. “When I worked for the forest service, I had 12 mules and three saddle horses,” he said. “Fifty years later, I was down to one jackass. The helicop- ters replaced me.” He can tell you about the tree that fell on him or the close call with a cougar in the Southwestern Ore- gon mountains. But the firefighters back at Camp White are on his mind now. “We had a real fine fire department out there,” he said. “A couple of ‘em should still be around,” he said. “I'd sure like to talk to some of ‘em.” Anyone who served with Teague, or knows the whereabouts of those who did, can contact him at (541) 592-3226, or write to him at P.O. Box 1756, Cave Junction, OR 97523. Harold Teague Josephine County Public Health Is offering FLU SHOTS! Phone (541) 474-5337 24 hours a day for information on locations dates and times. Cost is $15 Medicare and Oregon Health Plan billing available
