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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 8, 2009
As a younger man, I used to sing along with the
popular tunes emanating from the AM radio in my
smokin’ vehicle, and sometimes misheard lyrics. One
example: There was a song containing the words,
“Poetry. Poetry in motion.”
What I heard, and sang aloud until the person who
became my wife stopped staring at me with a baffled
look, was: “Oh a tree; oh a tree in motion.” Hey, it made
sense to me. Can’t you see a tree swaying in the
breeze? OK, so I was cuckoo.
Which reminds me of really young children whose
vocabulary and frames of reference provide them truly
interesting lyrics and comments. Example: Our grand-
daughter Natalie, 4, was at the Wild Animal Park in San
Diego County and happily pointed at an animal, identify-
ing it as a “cantaloupe.” Also, after a recent trip to Dis-
neyland, her preschool teacher asked about her favorite
ride. Natalie replied that it was the “Pirates and the
bean.” She also told her mom, Vicki, that the blow dryer
she was using should be called a hair conditioner.
And last week, retired “Noose” co-worker Virginia
Gilliam sent some malapropisms from various sources.
One mom wrote that when her twin daughters were
young she taught them the Lord’s Prayer, only to over-
hear them saying, “Give us this steak and daily bread,
and forgive us our mattresses.” One man noted that
when he was young, he learned the prayer as, “Our Fa-
ther, who are in Heaven, Howard be thy name.” A
woman as a little girl prayed, “Hail Mary, full of grapes.”
Yet another recited, “Our Father, who art in Heaven,
howjda know my name?” Another stated, “Give us this
day our jelly bread.”
Someone recalled hearing a child who, in the
Pledge of Allegiance, said, “I led the pigeons to the
flag.” One boy wondered who was Richard Stands be-
cause in the pledge he heard, “I pledge allegiance to the
flag, and to the republic for Richard Stands.”
One person said that she once knew a child whose
favorite Sunday school hymn was, “Gladly, the cross-
eyed bear.” A girl, 8, had to be shown in the hymnal
that, “Oh, Come All Ye Faithful,” was the title, and not,
“Oh, Connie be Faithful.”
Some folks recalled a song about Noah in which the
words were, “And the rains came down, and the floods
came up.” Two tiny sisters who lived next door were
overheard singing it as, “And the rains came down, and
the spuds came up.”
And there was the boy who, in singing “God Bless
America,” intoned, “Stand beside her and guide her
through the night with a light from a bulb.”
One more: I heard about a guy who mistook the lyr-
ics, “Then I saw her face; now I’m a believer,” as “Then I
saw her face; now I’m gonna’ leave her.”
(Bob's Note: The preceding originally was printed in our
May 31, 2006 issue. Thanks for the memories ... )
Illinois Valley News
www.illinois-valley-news.com
An Independent Weekly Newspaper
Co-publishers: Bob & Jan Rodriguez
Editor-in-Chief: Michelle Binker
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
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Life is an adventure in forgiveness.
~ Norman Cousins ~
(Editor’s Note: Views
and commentary, including
statements made as fact, are
strictly those of the letter-
writers.)
* * *
Typed, double-spaced
letters are considered for
publication. Hand-written
letters that are double-
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be considered. “Thank you”
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cepted as letters.
I.V. Fire District appreciated
From Mayor Don Moore
Cave Junction
On behalf of the city of
Cave Junction, I would like to
express appreciation for the
efforts of the fire district staff
and volunteers during the
Wednesday, June 24 fires.
The response of the crews
to the “arson” fires around the
city and area was outstanding.
Their efforts prevented
the series of fires from becom-
ing a devastating event. With
the wind on that day, the fires
could easily have expanded
and included many homes.
Right to drive
From Christopher Smith
Cave Junction
Recently, George
McElroy, Raymond
Karczewski and I traded let-
ters to the editor regarding the
topic of the “right to drive.” In
my letter I asked that if driv-
ing was a god-given right for
them to please prove it to me.
I was then presented by
McElroy with an envelope of
information of which he
claims supports his belief that
people have the right to drive.
Included was a 21-page brief
printed off the Internet.
McElroy also included a note
in which he expected to see
me submit a retraction to my
original letter. Here is my
“retraction” —
I read all the documenta-
tion that McElroy provided. I
found parts to be humorous
and parts to be obscure. It
included several sites from
legal trials and rulings. I ques-
tion if McElroy researched to
see what those trials were. I
wonder if some of the sites
were actually taken out of
context, and I question their
relevance to the issue at hand.
I also question the accu-
racy of the Website from
which it was printed. Just be-
cause it is on the Web does
not make it true, right or accu-
rate. The documentation basi-
cally did not sway my opinion
toward agreement with theirs.
Oddly enough, it seems that
the majority of the fine folks
in Cave Junction do not share
the sentiment about people
having a right to drive.
Since my letter was
printed I have heard from sev-
eral people who are in agree-
ment with me. Not a single
person has told me that I was
wrong, except for McElroy
and Karczewski.
McElroy did bring up the
right to travel vs. the right to
drive. I do not argue that peo-
ple have a common right to
travel. People have been trav-
eling since the dawn of man. I
could not care less if people
want to walk, run, bike or
whatever to get around.
I do care that people carry
a plastic card called a drivers
license showing that at one
time during their life they were
able to prove that they could
competently operate a 2,000-
pound plus piece of machinery
called a car. A car can do
some serious damage if the
person behind the wheel does
not know how to operate it.
After reading what
McElroy provided me I under-
stand that it is his belief that
people have the right to oper-
ate a car no matter what age,
experience or training. So is
he then saying that it is OK for
my 3-year-old son to drive my
car? I wonder if McElroy
would change his mind if my
son, being an inexperienced
driver and 3 years old, was to
miss the corner where his
store is and drove into the
storefront.
That example is extreme,
but if we follow the evidence
that he provided it could hap-
pen. This could go for some-
one of any age behind the
wheel of a car without training
or experience.
My next point comes
from Jan. 12, 1976. That is the
date of my sister’s birth and
also the date that my grand-
mother died. She was driving
on Redwood Hwy. toward
Grants Pass to see my sister at
a hospital. A drunk driver was
headed toward Cave Junction
on the wrong side of the road.
He struck her and she died.
This occurred prior to my
birth. That drunk driver who
in the eyes of some had a
right to drive took away my
and my sister’s right to a
grandmother and my father’s
right to a mother. My sister
and I never got to even meet a
woman who was described to
us as extraordinary by those
who knew her.
If I am ignorant, as I was
referred to by Karczewski, it is
that I am ignorant in the love
of a grandmother. I know that
there are others in the world
who are also ignorant in the
love of a family member taken
from them by someone who
was driving, but really should
have had no right to drive. Do
McElroy or Karczewski fall
into this category, or are they
ignorant of the feeling of los-
ing a loved one to an auto
wreck?
My final note is that it is
funny that McElroy has li-
cense plates on his autos. For
someone who preaches that
licensing restricts a right he
isn’t following his own be-
liefs. It wouldn’t surprise me
if he even has a current and
valid Oregon driver’s license.
The phrase “practice what you
preach” comes to mind.
Continuing the vision
From Guenter Ambron
Kerby
It was a privilege to help
assemble the team of people
that gave their positive views
(Illinois Valley News, July 1)
for the future of our economy
in Josephine County.
We are in the process of
reaching out to community
members and business here in
Illinois Valley to stage a dis-
cussion on the matter during
the next few months. If any-
one has an interest in support-
ing such dialogue, they
should contact Community
Media & Education of the
Illinois Valley at 23831 Red-
wood Hwy. in Kerby.
Among developments
emerging from dialogues on
the economy is that people
are voicing their intention that
the county consider a resolu-
tion to support three locally
supported projects. They are:
1) Utilizing crops like
hemp, canola and camelina
on county land. 2) Consider
adoption on county-owned
land the “Natural Selection
Alternative” presented by
Selma resident Orville Camp.
3) The arts-and-crafts com-
munity, IVCDO, RCC and
other educational entities are
forming groups to invest in a
regional arts project along the
lines of Jerry Work’s presen-
tation, Lessons From Appa-
lachia.
The need for us to work
together has never been more
apparent.
More information is
available by emailing
jocoeco@frontier.com, phon-
ing 592-4695, or visiting my-
place.frontier.com/~jocoeco.
around the festival and par-
ticipate in the activities that
make up the festival, buying
food, playing games, etc.
The pie-eating contest
was good and should be
brought back. There needs to
be awards (ribbons, plaques)
given to the winners and
maybe a free pie or some-
thing of an incentive. The
baking idea seems good, but I
have an idea about it to throw
your way. Maybe do a “Most
Creative Blackberry Dish.”
If business owners that
were not setting up booths of
their own, a compensation for
allowing a vendor to set up in
front of their store might get a
different tune out of them.
The committee charges ven-
dors to set up their booths in
front of businesses, and keep-
ing all the money angers the
business owners. In this
world you have to give a little
to get a little.
The last and perhaps the
most important piece of ad-
vice I have is advertisements.
To get a great turn-out, pump
it up. The festival needs to be
advertised in newspapers, on
the radio, flyers, etc. But most
importantly it needs to be ad-
vertised widely, from the coast
to Ashland to Eugene. Also, to
get vendors the committee
needs to tell them the plan and
that it is going to be grand,
and that local vendors will be
a huge majority as well.
Tell everyone that we
have go-kart races, pie-eating,
cook-offs, tons of blackberry
homemade goodies, carnival
rides (if the committee can get
them), etc. If well publicized,
many people will be drawn to
the beautiful Illinois Valley
for our legendary Blackberry
Festival. I wish the committee
the best of luck.
Blackberry Festival ideas
From Drake Pernicka
O’Brien
I have lived in the valley
for 13 years and am a 2008
graduate. I recently returned
to the valley from my first
year of college at the Univer-
sity of Oregon.
After reading the article
in the July 1 issue of Illinois
Valley News, I decided to
offer some advice from my
perspective to help the Wild
Blackberry Arts & Crafts
Festival Committee with its
dilemmas.
First thing on the list are
the go-kart races. These are
very important on the turnout
and survival of the Black-
berry Festival. When the
races ended some years ago,
the participation and atten-
dance dropped significantly.
The races bring in a wide
variety of people, young and
old, as well as tourists.
When the kart drivers
aren’t driving and their crews
aren’t working they will have
nothing better to do than walk
In the caption reporting Mike Wilbourn’s hike across
America (Illinois Valley News, July 1, 2009, page 18), it was
incorrectly reported that a $1,800 grant from The Carpenter
Foundation will be used to support his effort. It is not. That
grant can and will be used solely for upgrades to the photo
studio in Southern Oregon Guild's Artists' Center and Gallery
in the RCC building in Kerby.
The only Guild support being provided to Mike is from
private donations from Guild members and from others spe-
cifically for the purpose of sponsoring his trip. No other
Guild funds or Foundation monies are being used for this pur-
pose.
The Illinois Valley News regrets the error.
Parenting
Raising Children to be
Tomorrow’s Leaders
Come join
Bridges to Motherhood
Pregnancy Center
592-6058
319 Caves Hwy., Cave Junction
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Cave Junct ion
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