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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Some friends and co-workers of mine partake of nico-
tine by setting on fire tobacco in paper tubes, and pur-
posely sucking the resulting smoke into their lungs. I find
their habit stifling to my breathing, and I can say this with
a straight-face, as I am a former smoker.
My first experience was when I was around, oh, 9; and
my mom and some relatives were playing poker. I was
fascinated by the process of smoking and kept pestering
my mom to “let me try.” She finally relented; I think just to
get me to shut up so she could concentrate on her cards.
I inhaled like a 12 hp bathroom fan. And cleverly swal-
lowed the smoke.
When I finally stopped gasping, choking and tearing,
my mother gave me a sardonic, but sympathetic look. I
never asked her for another drag. She smoked Pall Mall
brand for years, although she insisted on calling them
Pell Mells.
I never touched another cigarette until I was approxi-
mately 17 and had a job driving a bobtail refrigerator
truck. All the other “truckers” smoked, and so, to make
myself feel like one of the boys, I took up puffing. I didn’t
like it, but I thought that it was required. I also thought
that it made me look older, and perhaps cooler. Ha. Actu-
ally, most of my smokes didn’t get smoked much; I just
held them with two fingers on the hand that was most
prominent on the steering wheel, so everyone could see
how mature I was.
I smoked any cigarettes I could get cheap or free.
Cigarettes were 25-cents a pack most places; sometimes
50-cents.
“EO’s” (everyone else’s) were a favorite. But in my
quest to smoke without hurting myself I also puffed Bel-
Air, Salem, True, Winston, Kent, Marlboro, Benson &
Hedges, Montclair, Lark, Kool: You name it, I probably
smoked it. Stayed away from Pall Mall, Lucky Strike,
Chesterfield and Camel. Way too strong for me.
Although as a copy boy at the former San Diego
“Evening Tribune,” where I mostly stuck with Kent and
Winston, and sometimes Marlboro, an old-timer and I
sometimes shared his packets of imported smokes, the
name of which I cannot recall. But they were strong. I usu-
ally puffed more than I inhaled, just to maintain an image.
This backfired on me, so to speak, during my fresh-
man college year. I was standing in a hall awaiting a pro-
fessor to inflict algebra, and an upper classman offered
me a Lucky Strike. Not wanting to tarnish my supposed
maturity, I took the stick and inhaled the whole thing. I
then spent the entire class with my head on my desk, as
the world spun by, with my stomach and brain trying to
get into synch. It was a yucky situation.
I’m getting dizzy just remembering that time. Suffice it
to say that I stopped smoking a few years later when a co-
worker underwent surgery for lung cancer. After the op-
eration, we awaited word on his condition, which came via
his wife. She made the following statement:
“There’s good news and bad news. The good news is
that they removed one lung and part of another to get the
cancer. The bad news is that they couldn’t get all of it.”
That’s when I quit, because I decided that breathing is
more mature than smoking. Plus, getting cancer doesn’t
sound like a whole lot of fun.
Internet Access - Repairs - Accessories
139 S. Caves Ave. Suite F (inside Caves Mall)
592-4117
Mention this ad and pay just $10 for
your first month of service!
(Regular $15/Monthly)
We have public computers available!
Stop by and use our surf stations to
check out the ‘net or bring down your
laptop and hook up to our high-speed
connections!
www.ValleySurf.Net
Subscribe to the ‘I.V. News’
Illinois Valley News
An Independent Weekly Newspaper Co-owned and published by Robert R. (Bob) and
Jan Rodriguez - Bob Rodriguez, Editor El Jefe
Entered as second class matter June 11, 1937 at Post Office as Official Newspaper for
Josephine County and Josephine County Three Rivers School District, published at 321
S. Redwood Hwy., Cave Junction, OR 97523
Periodicals postage paid at Cave Junction, OR 97523
Post Office Box 1370 USPS 258-820
Telephone (541) 592-2541, FAX (541) 592-4330
Volume 68, No. 17
Staff: Kacy Clement, Michelle Binker,
Becky Loudon, Bryan Harley, Tabitha Jackson, Nina Holm Consulting.
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Bluegrass Fest update
From Pam Cooper,
chairman for Illinois Valley
Chamber of Commerce
The second annual
Siskiyou Bluegrass Festival
is fast approaching, and will
be held Saturday, July 30 at
Lake Selmac.
It’s a benefit fund-raiser
for Illinois Valley Chamber
of Commerce, and was a
great success last year.
This year, 11 bands are
scheduled to perform. Also,
Wild River Brewing &
Pizza Co. and Taylor’s
Country Store will provide
food and beverages along
with the Selma Center sup-
plying great desserts.
Those with a business
who would like to display
their business banner for a
donation of $50 should con-
tact the chamber office at
592-3326, or e-mail me at
nowcoop@yahoo.com.
We also need just a few
more volunteers. We want
people to contact us if they
would like to volunteer.
We hope that everyone
will join us at the festival,
which will run from 10 a.m.
to 10 p.m. Concert-goers
should bring lawn chairs
and be prepared for warm
weather.
This is a great event, and
we know that all who attend
will have a great time.
Growth; quality of life
From Dorothea
Hover-Kramer
Cave Junction
As someone who has
moved here recently, I was
interested to read in your
newspaper about the many
new developments such as
the projected 400 new
homes in our area.
While growth is impor-
tant, we need to remember
that quality of life in our
area is what makes people
want to live here.
I am wondering how
there will be enough water
for these developments.
Many wells in our area run
dry in the summer and dur-
ing drought.
There is no denying that
the entire West Coast is un-
dergoing climate changes
and increased dryness. All
home owners, especially
those on wells, need to be
informed about any plan-
ning that is happening to
prevent possible difficulties
in the future.
I encourage all of us
who care about planning for
adequate water supplies to
attend the town hall meeting
for Illinois Valley residents
on Monday, July 18 at 7
p.m. in Selma Community
Center.
The Josephine County
watermaster and a represen-
tative of I.V. Soil & Water
Conservation District will
be present to give their
views and answer questions.
The meeting would be
more centrally located in
Cave Junction, but we do
not have a facility large
enough for town hall meet-
ings yet.
All of us need to work
together to make sure that
we can continue to enjoy the
beauty and peacefulness that
is around us.
‘Get involved’
From Jennifer Berubee
Cave Junction
I am writing this on
behalf of my entire family.
Last week, my brother
Matthew Berubee’s pickup
truck was burned by some-
one wanting to take revenge
and cover up burglary.
Last night Valley Surf
Internet, the business of my
sister, Mara Carnes, was
broken into after being in
business only a few months.
Both crimes happened in the
same general area.
Anyone reading this
probably is expecting me to
criticize the Josephine
County Sheriff’s office or be
outraged at the sheriff for
not providing enough pa-
trols here.
We all feel as though
there aren’t enough patrols
here -- that is not my issue
this time. Both these crimes
occurred right in residential
areas. Nobody could have
picked up a telephone to
phone the sheriff’s office?
Nobody could stick
their head out a window and
yell, “Hey, what are you
doing there?” When did this
town become a bunch of
strangers to one another,
refusing to get involved?
I always wanted to be-
lieve that neighbors looked
out for one another. My
brother’s pickup was com-
pletely engulfed in flames,
and I don’t buy that nobody
noticed until it was too late;
and the same with my sis-
ter’s business.
Maybe the outcome
would have been the same
had someone bothered to
phone. But someone should
have cared enough to phone
and report these crimes.
Anybody who wit-
nessed these crimes and did
nothing is, in my opinion,
just as guilty as the ones
responsible. I am writing
this to simply say: Enough
is enough.
It is time for everyone to
stop being afraid to get in-
volved, and take more of an
interest in what is going on
around them -- even if it
doesn’t directly affect them.
‘Genocide-suicide’
From William Schneider
Cave Junction
A few weeks ago, I
wrote a letter in which I
questioned our motives in
Iraq in relation to the horrors
occurring 400 or so miles to
the south in Sudan.
I would like to make
very clear that any doubts I
have as to the motives of our
government are in no way
meant to diminish the heart
and integrity of those who
truly wish to free this world
of the tyranny of regimes
like Saddam Hussein’s.
I believe most, if not all,
of the boots-on-the-ground
soldiers, mothers, fathers,
and children of America are
not only doing their job as
ordered, but truly have the
best of intentions for the
Iraq people, and for that
matter the world, in their
sacrifices, often times that
being their lives.
Which brings me to ask,
How does the Government
of the people, by the people
and for the people so cal-
lously send the citizens they
are there to serve -- yes, I
said serve -- to fight and die
for anything less than the
most-honorable of reasons;
how and why is it that we
choose so carefully when
and how to deal with it?
Honor is honor. Terror
is terror. They have no bor-
ders. How then is it that we
can so honorably fight terror
in one place, but turn a blind
eye to terror only a few hun-
dred miles away?
There must be some
reasons, and it is those rea-
sons that cause me to ques-
tion this government’s posi-
tion toward Iraq as opposed
to Sudan, Rwanda, North
Korea, Saudi Arabia etc.,
where terror and oppression
are at least equal to or far
more heinous than little Sad-
dam’s. The contradiction, as
I said before, of Iraq and Su-
dan or Rwanda, is inescap-
able for any honest person.
I note the hacking, the
raping, the indiscriminate
shooting of not just a few
thousand, but of more than a
million, and millions more
displaced by a regime as far
away from Iraq as Cave
Junction is from L.A. In
other words, really close.
How do we claim honor
on one side of the coin and
(Continued on page 3)
IVHS Alumni and Friends say
Thank You…
...to the following businesses and organizations
for generous donations of time and merchandise,
and for the special attention given us -- making
Reunion Weekend 2005 a success. Your support
is truly appreciated!
Bridgeview Winery
Carlos Restaurante
Cave Junction Cares, Lynn Boucher Caves Pharmacy
City of Cave Junction
Crystal Fresh Bottled Water,
Dairy Queen
Walt Farmer
Darn Near Everything
Dillon’s Nursery
Foris Vineyard
IVHS, JoAnn Bethany
It’s A Burl
I.V. Building Supply
I.V. Chamber of Commerce
I.V. Golf Club (Laurel Pines)
Illinois Valley News
Junction Inn
Kerbyville Museum, Dennis Strayer
KUHS Alumni Inc.
Mary Anne’s Catering
Oregon Caves Chevron,
River Valley Village
Jeff Stiles
Select Market
Shop Smart Food Warehouse
Stevereno’s Family Restaurant
Taylor’s Country Store & Deli
True Value Hardware
Wild River Brewery & Pizza Co.
HomeTowne Interiors, Al Hurt
Congratulations to Courtney Christianson, ‘05, our $1,500 Bill Broeffle
Vocational Scholarship recipient and to Patrick DeCelles, ‘05, our
$1,500 Academic Scholarship recipient.