I.V. golf course escrow pending
By MICHELLE BINKER
IVN Staff Writer
Beset by debt and the
collapse of a previous bid to
purchase the property, Illinois
Valley Golf Course Associa-
tion Inc. informed members
in a letter late last week that it
has accepted an offer to pur-
chase the nine-hole course
and related property for
$900,000 in cash.
The offer, the board said,
came from Bridgeview Vine-
yards Winery owner Bob
Kerivan. His stated intent,
following pending escrow, is
to continue to operate the golf
course and club house as a
private, for-profit business.
“Until recently no other
offers were forthcoming,” the
Inside:
Art Walk
Event scheduled
in CJ Friday
Page 5
Pearl Harbor Day, commemorated Sunday, Dec. 7 by Glenn Morri-
son American Legion Post 70 and Auxiliary at Cave Junction City
Hall, was attended by some 30 veterans and others. On the 67th
anniversary of the attack, Cave Junction resident Bob Perkins
(above), who was present during the bombing in 1941, showed a
Honolulu newspaper from the day after. The Illinois Valley High
School band played patriotic music. (Photos by I.V. News )
WOPR roadblock
Governor wants
more BLM study
Page 8
Something fishy
City accused of
stream pollution
Page 9
Volume business
Library group gets
keys from county
Page 13
RCC among
units aiding
businesses
(Continued on page 8)
erty, which was to be the key-
stone in an upscale housing
development, had no buyer.
Kerivan, who describes
himself as a community-
minded person, said that he
feels the golf course is “a
tremendous asset for the com-
munity.”
Although not yet final,
should the deal reach the
close of escrow in mid-
February, the golf course as-
sociation would cease to ex-
ist. However, prior to dissolu-
tion, it would distribute pro-
ceeds from the sale to pay
existing mortgages, out-
standing bills and refund pro-
rated shares of prepaid mem-
berships, according to the
board’s letter.
Copeland disputes CJ denial of $31K
In the face of dogged
insistence that the city of
Cave Junction owes Cope-
land Paving, Sand & Gravel
more than $31,000 for a
driveway at the new Siskiyou
Community Health Center
(SCHC), the city is referring
the matter to City Attorney
Patrick Kelly.
Mayor Tony Paulson
read part of a letter from the
Grants Pass company to the
council Monday night, Dec. 8
in city hall. The letter, dated
Nov. 3, was given to the
mayor on Nov. 21 by Jerry
Reedy of Copeland, with re-
ceipt acknowledgement
signed by the mayor. The
letter includes the statement:
“By the facts,” Reedy
wrote, “payment responsibil-
ity belongs to the city as part
of the contract and we expect
to be paid in full for fulfilling
our duties as the contractor. If
you feel that the money
should come from some-
where else, then you should
pursue that party for payment.
“That responsibility be-
longs to you. We at Copeland
cannot let this matter go unre-
solved.”
Copeland was the suc-
cessful bidder for a $4.5 mil-
lion ODOT expansion and
improvement project on
Hwy. 199 at the north end of
the city. The city adminis-
tered a $440,000 Oregon
Community Development
Block Grant in connection
with extending water and
sewer lines to the new SCHC.
With council permission
during the Oct. 13 meeting,
Paulson was authorized to
send Copeland a letter deny-
ing payment of $31,311 in
connection with realigning a
driveway at the health center.
(Continued on page 13)
Caves, chateau events planned
Miss Congeniality
IVHS student
captures award
Page 14
Thus far during 2008,
Oregon’s 19 Small Business
D e v e l o p me n t C e n t e r s
(SBDC), including the one
operated by Rogue Commu-
nity College (RCC) from
Josephine County, have as-
sisted more than 4,800 small
businesses throughout the
state.
Nearly 1,200 jobs have
resulted from these SBDC-
assisted clients, who also
have obtained more than $43
million in debt and equity
financing.
“We receive these data
directly from the clients
themselves,” said Michael
Lainoff, state director, Ore-
gon Small Business Develop-
ment Center Network
(OSBDCN). “The job crea-
tion numbers include many
sole proprietors and small
family owned ventures.”
In Josephine County,
RCC’s SBDC has served 398
clients to date. A total of 122
jobs and 42 new businesses
have been established by
those clients, noted John Lo-
pez, RCC associate dean.
SBDC provides free
business counseling, business
training, small business man-
agement and training for non-
profits. RCC recently re-
ported the following SBDC
achievements to the Jose-
phine County Board of Com-
missioners:
SBDC Impact on Jose-
phine County during 2007
involved 431 clients served,
1,602 counseling hours, 90
jobs created, and 80 jobs re-
tained. Also, capital forma-
board stated, “and given the
state of the economy, real
estate in general and the
credit markets, we appeared
to have few options left.”
Developer Larry Osborn,
front man for Manor Com-
munities Development of
California, had been attempt-
ing to acquire the golf course
for the past few years. Sale to
Osborn for $75,000 of an
option to buy the property in
mid-2007 helped the strug-
gling facility make payments,
but Osborn did not follow
through, or make a payment
to extend his option, the asso-
ciation said.
The board decided that
Osborn “was no longer a vi-
able purchaser,” and the prop-
Wash your hands, already!
It can prevent sicknesses
The advice is right up there with eating sensibly, getting
plenty of exercise and throwing away your cigarettes -- wash
your hands.
It’s the single biggest step you can take to keep from get-
ting sick and to avoid making other people sick. That’s why
Sunday, Dec. 7 through Saturday, Dec. 13 is Hand-Washing
Awareness Week proclaimed by Gov. Kulongoski.
Hand-washing has been overlooked and undervalued as a
means to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as colds,
flu, intestinal illness and staphylococcus, say experts in the Ore-
gon Dept. of Human Services Public Health Division.
“It’s simple,” says Eric Pippert, manager of the health divi-
sion’s Foodborne Illness Prevention Program.
“You are less likely to get sick -- or make other people sick -- if
you wash your hands and wash them well.”
Pippert says that proper hand washing requires soap and
clean running water.
“You have to make a lather and rub your hands together for
at least 20 seconds,” Pippert said. If you want to time yourself,
20 seconds is about how long it takes to sing the Happy Birth-
day song twice.
Washing your hands with soap and warm water is impor-
tant whenever you use a bathroom or restroom; prepare or eat
food; cough, sneeze or blow your nose; pet animals, change
diapers, handle garbage, tend someone ill or put a dressing on a
cut or other wound.
Studies show that foodborne diseases, which many times
are transmitted by unwashed hands, cause approximately 76
million illnesses a year in the United States with 325,000 hospi-
talizations and 5,000 deaths.
Even if you don’t prepare food, washing your hands can
keep disease at bay. A study of school children in Detroit found
that those who washed their hands four times a day under teach-
ers’ supervision had 24 percent fewer sick days due to respira-
tory illness. And 51 percent fewer lost days because of stomach
upset compared to those who were not encouraged to wash.
Pippert says that if you can’t wash your hands with soap
and water you should use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Ap-
ply a dime-sized dollop of sanitizer to the palm of one hand and
rub them together, covering all surfaces and your fingers, until
dry. It’s not a substitute for proper washing with soap and water,
he says, but it’s better than nothing.
The governor’s proclamation ties in with National Hand-
Washing Awareness Week, begun in 1999.
By LINDA
COREY-WOODWARD
For IVN
Illinois Valley Commu-
nity Development Organiza-
tion (IVCDO) is in a flurry of
planning various events to
celebrate the anniversaries of
the Oregon Caves National
Monument and The Chateau
at the Caves during 2009.
The monument will be
100 years
old, and the
chateau 75
years old.
Addition-
ally, Kerby-
ville Mu-
seum will
mark
50
years.
Many
events are
still in the
planning
stages, ac-
cording to
K e n n y
Houck, fol-
lowing re-
cent IVCDO Board of Direc-
tors meetings and workshops.
The season at the Caves and
Chateau runs from April to
October, giving IVCDO a
six-month “window of oppor-
tunity” to stage these events.
Houck, board chairman,
said that some plans at the
monument during summer
2009 include a family reunion
of the descendents of Oregon
Caves’ discoverer, Elijah
Davidson, concerts and spe-
cial events at the chateau.
There also could be a shuttle
bus for employees and guests.
Ideally it would run from the
I.V. Visitor Center approxi-
mately every two hours.
Expansion of the monu-
ment property will include
more hiking trails and oppor-
tunities to enjoy the beauty of
its 4,000-foot elevation set-
ting on Grayback Mountain.
As concessionaire,
IVCDO operates the chateau
as Oregon Caves Outfitters
through a 10-year contract
with the National Park Ser-
vice (NPS), which owns the
monument property where
the chateau stands. NPS had
been unable to operate the
chateau profitably. It con-
tracted with the Outfitters, as
it has done with the operators
of the great national park
lodges throughout the West.
Such concessionaires are bet-
ter equipped to staff, operate,
market and maintain the
lodges and their amenities.
Oregon Caves Outfitters
began operating the chateau
in 2002 and hopes to expand
its services and attractions. In
2006 it began upgrading lin-
ens, menus, wine list, the gift
gallery, telephone lines and
expanding the I.V. Visitor
Center hours in Cave Junc-
tion. It repaired the chateau
roof in 2007.
IVCDO includes Execu-
tive Director Bob
Schumacher and other staff.
Besides Houck, the board
consists of Vice Chairman
Menno Kraai, Treasurer
Kathaleen Ponder, Secretary
Dennis Strayer, and Jack
Walker, Al Devine, Tom
Dunn, Jack Dwyer, Shirley
Rusk, Bill Waggoner and Sue
Williams. All are pleased
with the upgrades so far.
They are excited about the
events they are working on.
In September, IVCDO
hired consultant Emilie Wolf
Young, a Cave Junction na-
tive, as marketing coordinator
for the chateau. Young is a
1996 graduate of I.V. High
School, who earned a degree
from Pepperdine University
at Malibu, Calif. in 2002. She
worked in Washington, D.C.
as an agricultural aide for
California Congressman
Wally Herger.
Afterward, she returned
to Oregon and worked for an
agricultural lobbying group.
Promotion of the chateau and
coordinating events with
other members of IVCDO
and Friends of the Caves &
Chateau falls to her during
the 2009 anniversaries.
Strayer
will
provide histori-
cal articles to
newspapers in
the region about
the monument,
the
road-
building pro-
jects, construc-
tion of the cha-
teau, and how
access to the
monument has
evolved. His-
torical
re-
enactments are
planned
by
groups such as
Back Country
Horsemen. Reunions and spe-
cial activities will be centered
on the July 5 birthday of the
monument.
Power Point presenta-
tions about the caves and cha-
teau will be offered to groups,
schools and organizations
throughout Josephine County
during ‘09.
Houck noted that state
funding for some of the ac-
tivities has not come through.
They are competing for the
same dollars the state will
allocate to celebrations of
Oregon’s 150th anniversary
observances during ‘09. A
grant application to help pay
costs of caves and chateau
special events is pending.
Additional fund-raising
is being worked on by the
Friends of the Caves & Cha-
teau headed by Sue
Densmore. It is a nonprofit
organization formed in 2008,
and affiliated with IVCDO as
the fund-raiser arm for tourist
and hospitality services.
The group plans to re-
store the 1934 lodge and its
Monterey room furniture, the
(Continued on page 8)