Disturbing
addiction
patterns
in Oregon
Inside:
Take a hike
Siskiyou Project
offers outings
Page 5
Kerby event
Art, wine set for
Friday, March 28
Page 5
Meeting postponed
O’Brien fire plan
talk will be reset
Page 10
Back Street Salon
New business
open in CJ
Page 12
In protest against the war in Iraq and armament-industry
corporate control of foreign policy, more than 20 persons
demonstrated in front of the Josephine County Bldg. in
Downtown Cave Junction Wednesday evening, March 19.
Protestors also drew attention to the plight of returning sol-
diers, who “deserve to come and home and get decent
care.” The vigil was orchestrated by MoveOn.org and the
Social Justice Alliance. The number of U.S. military dead in
Iraq has exceeded 4,000 during the five-year occupation.
(Photo by Michelle Binker, I.V. News)
Jim Rich’s experiences show wealth of interests
By LINDA
COREY-WOODWARD
For IVN
Why is that blacksmith playing an oboe and
wearing a pirate outfit?
To know that would be to know Jim Rich.
Some know the rural Cave Junction resident as a
creative blacksmith who forges iron tools, pot hang-
ers and music stands at his blacksmith shop on
Takilma Road. Others know him as artistic director
of the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra, in which he also
plays oboe and sings.
Others know him as an enthusiastic sailor who
spends several weeks a year sailing the West Coast
on the wooden ship, Lady Washington. If you saw
any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, you saw
the Lady Washington and perhaps spied Rich as a
sailor.
His list of vocations and avocations goes on, but
those cover the highlights.
So, which is the “real” Jim Rich? Well, all these
descriptions apply. What is unusual is how he ac-
quired these endeavors, particularly music. He re-
lated that as a child in Kansas City, Mo., he had little
interest in sports or music or any one topic. He en-
rolled in college as a pre-med major at Northwestern
University in Chicago, but only to please his mother.
He was just discovering his classical music interest.
In the late 1960s in New York City, a young Jim
Rich worked one summer between college semesters
for The Musical Heritage Society, a classical record
producer. He translated liner notes from Italian,
French or German into English. He hoped to be a
record producer for the society after graduation from
college. However, his wish was delayed for two
years.
The only musical instrument he played was the
flute-like recorder. He sang in choirs and played re-
corder for some years, and thought he was “too old”
to learn a new instrument in college. He says he
thought, “It’s too late to learn anything else.”
Years later, he would prove himself wrong. In
college, his love of early classical music grew, so he
changed his major to music.
Rich arrived in Manhattan with his music degree
and worked for G. Schermer, a sheet music pub-
lisher. He was the music rental librarian for orches-
tras and other performers. In 1969, The Musical
Heritage Society hired him. He began by acquiring
recordings from other countries to fill gaps in its
catalog of classical recordings, and advanced to re-
cord producer.
As a record producer, he happily plied his trade,
making vinyl records for several years. During the
Jim Rich (Photo by Illinois Valley News)
1972-73 oil embargo, no one could make high-quality
records because vinyl was a petroleum product. Un-
able to work, he moved to rural New Jersey where he
discovered crafts and blacksmithing. He enrolled in
blacksmithing school and discovered his talent for
making iron tools in a forge, and found himself in
quite a different kind of business.
In 1973, he moved to Petaluma, Calif., and ap-
prenticed to the top horseshoe maker. In exchange,
he taught the horseshoer to make hand-forged tools
and hardware.
Rich married Nancy, and they had a son and
daughter. The marriage did not last, but he remains in
close contact with his former wife, his children and
grandchildren. He is especially proud of his grand-
daughter, Suzanne. She is “a gutsy young woman”
who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq, and is now fin-
ishing her hitch in Southern California.
Rich recently joined relatives in Kansas City to
celebrate his father’s 94 th birthday. He is close to his
family and enjoys trips to visit.
Years ago, Rich moved to the Illinois Valley
community of Takilma when it was still a town, and
fell in love with it. He lived at the Sun Star commune
and worked as a blacksmith. In 1982, he built his
landmark blacksmith shop at 9350 Takilma Road,
where he earned a reputation for custom-made horse
shoes and horse-logging equipment.
One of his customers was Delbert Kauffman,
who was then a horse-logger.
Additionally, Rich continued his love of Ba-
roque and other early forms of music with fellow
musicians in the area. They enjoyed playing early
music, which is based on a different music scale than
modern music. It requires musical instruments that
can play in the Pythagorean, or mathematically pure,
equal note scale.
Rich began going through his boxes of sheet
music, pulling out pieces for friends to try. They be-
gan playing Renaissance music as well. Eventually,
he formed the Siskiyou Baroque Chamber Ensemble,
which performed in Grants Pass during the 1980s.
Rich built a harpsichord for a pianist member of
his music group. He made several during the years
and still owns one that has a lid painted with a sailing
ships scene. Occasionally, it is played in public, such
as during a Kerby Evening of Art & Wine, sponsored
by Southern Oregon Guild.
Rich helped found the Jefferson Baroque Or-
chestra in 1994 in Grants Pass. He is the artistic di-
rector and an active participant, performing concerts
in Grants Pass and Ashland.
He said, “It was easy to gather enough musicians
for the orchestra. The challenge was to find a violin-
ist to conduct them.” They found just the person in
Humboldt, Calif., a man who had studied music in
Europe and knew Baroque music.
Most of the orchestra members are working peo-
ple; many are in the medical profession in the region.
Their jobs limit the time available to practice or per-
form, which is why most concerts are held in Grants
Pass or Ashland.
As artistic director, Rich hopes to attract more
people to the world of Baroque music, which he
finds so pure and direct. He is devoted to keeping the
orchestra music fresh and alive for audiences today.
He commented that many people are surprised and
(Continued on page 8)
Smith addresses wildfires
American Legion Auxiliary’s national presi-
dent, Jan Pulvermacher-Ryan (center), was a
guest of the Glenn Morrison Post 70 Auxiliary
Unit on Wednesday, March 19. She was ac-
companied by Phyllis Parent (right), national
executive committeewoman for Oregon; and
hosted by Cave Junction resident Ellie Buell
(left), state of Oregon Dept. president. Pulver-
macher-Ryan was guest of honor during a
Post 70 and Auxiliary dinner at the Legion
Hall on Caves Hwy. An interview with her will
be in next week’s issue. (Photo by I.V. News)
Advertising in
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Reducing dangerous fire
fuels to protect Oregon’s fed-
eral forestland and spotted
owl habitat from rampant
wildfire is urged by Sen.
Gordon Smith (R-Ore).
According to the U.S.
Forest Service, more than
100,000 acres of old-growth
habitat have been severely
burned in Western Oregon
during the past 10 years.
Speaking to Congress,
Smith stated, “Despite putting
older trees off limits to timber
harvest, wildfire has proven
to be a far greater danger to
their existence. After 15 years
of not logging in old-growth;
growing new old-growth; and
burning ‘protected’ old-
growth -- the federal govern-
ment really isn’t sure what to
do for the spotted owl.”
During a congressional
hearing, Smith highlighted
the importance of managing
forests to reduce the severity
of wildfire. He cited the
2002 Biscuit Fire in S.W.
Oregon that threatened Illi-
nois Valley, and which
burned nearly 500,000 acres
and incinerated 65,000 acres
of spotted owl habitat.
That fire cost in excess of
$150 million to fight. Smith
called on Congress to address
the risks of fire to older forest
habitat, as well as the need to
regenerate forest habitat after
fires by replanting.
The purpose of the hear-
ing was to examine the effect
of “old-growth” in the Pacific
Northwest.
Several Oregon wit-
nesses testified. They in-
cluded Paul Beck, a timber
manager at Herbert Lumber
Co. in Riddle, Dr. David
Perry and Dr. John Tappeiner
of Oregon State University’s
Dept. of Forest Science, and
Marvin Brown of the Oregon
Dept. of Forestry.
Cigarette and marijuana
smoking are down among
Oregon middle and high
school students, and alcohol
use remains the same for
11th-graders, but has in-
creased 28 percent for eighth-
graders.
That’s according to the
Oregon Dept. of Human Ser-
vices (DHS) Addictions &
Mental Health Division in the
agency’s recently released
reports for each of Oregon’s
36 counties covering 2000-
2006 consumption of alcohol,
illicit drugs and tobacco.
The epidemiological
profiles are used by planners
to develop customized pre-
vention programs. The re-
ports are available at
www.oregon.gov/DHS/
addiction/ad/main.shtml.
According to DHS re-
searchers, one in five young
adults 18 to 25; 9 percent of
youth age 12 to 17; and 7
percent of adults 26 or older
abuse or are dependent on
alcohol or other drugs. Many
require treatment to kick the
habit. More than 40 percent
of children taken into protec-
(Continued on page 8)
Smoke tax
for health
possible
Raising cigarette taxes to
fund health care for children
is among plans Gov. Kulon-
goski proposed last week
during his sixth annual State-
of-the-State address.
It also includes an ambi-
tious plan to invest in Ore-
gon’s greatest assets: its peo-
ple and a shared confidence
that Oregon will be a national
leader in innovation and sus-
tainability.
“I offer a vision for Ore-
gon's future that is not just
about where we’re going: it’s
also about who we are as a
people,” said the governor. “I
believe Oregon is on the right
track. We can show the na-
tion that it is possible to have
prosperity and livability.”
He noted that the fiscally
responsible choice made last
year to create a rainy day
fund is the reason why Ore-
gon is standing firm in the
current economic dip and
why Oregon stands ready to
invest new funding in educa-
tion, health care, transporta-
tion and sustainable develop-
ment. He also committed to
growing the rainy day fund to
further secure Oregon’s eco-
nomic future.
“For the first time in dec-
ades,” he said, “we have fi-
nancial stability and integrity.
And with these resources we
can answer the Oregon Chal-
lenge: to become the best by
investing in our future and
compete with any state, at
any time, in any market-
place.”
On education, the gover-
nor began by saying, “If you
want to know what the state
of our state will be in five, 10
or even 20 years down the
road, tell me what the state of
our commitment to education
is right now. This will make
all the difference.”
He is committed to build-
ing upon the reinvestments in
(Continued on page 8)