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illinois-valley-news.com
Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2011, 2 Sections, 12 Pages, Volume 74 No. 04 Published Weekly Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
Thompson Creek blaze still under investigation
Inside :
Lady Cougars
Page B-1
By Darcy Wallace
IVN Staff Writer
Fire officials are still
investigating the exact cause of
a blaze that severely damaged
the McKenzie family’s home
on Thompson Creek Road
Wednesday, March 30.
Illinois
Valley
Fire
Prevention Officer Kamron
Ismaili said 12 Illinois Valley
firefighters and two from Rural
Metro arrived at the scene
Wednesday afternoon. He said
the blaze is believed to have
originated near the kitchen on
the second floor.
According to property
owner Kristin McKenzie, her
son only discovered the blaze
after arriving home and opened
the door to the kitchen when
smoke billowed out towards
him.
“He came up the
driveway, unlocked the door
to the kitchen and was just
bombarded with smoke,”
McKenzie said. “My mom has
an adjoining house and [my
son] ran to her house to get
help.”
No one was believed to be
home when the blaze began and
there were no reported injuries
at the time of the incident,
though McKenzie said she
later took her oon to the doctor
because he developed a cough
from the smoke.
McKenzie said the family
lost several possessions and the
house itself was in bad shape,
but that they are temporarily
living in a motor home and
travel trailer while fire officials
and insurance employees
continue the investigation.
“A lot of people from
the insurance company and
the state fire marshal are out,
trying to determine what the
cause was,” McKenzie said.
“Basically how they’re putting
it is that it’s electrical ¬ but
exactly what electrical is the
question.”
The blaze left the upstairs
of the home, the main living
quarters, mostly destroyed, but
McKenzie said the house and
items within it, in the long run,
are always replaceable.
“Thank
goodness
everybody is safe,” McKenzie
said.
Bird Watching
with Harry
Page A-6
LBMS Musicians
Raise Funds
Page A-3
Local Writer
Publishes New
Children’s Book
Page A-3
My Place Cafe -
A Local Success
Story
Page A-7
Obituaries
Sudoku
Crossword
Classified
Blotter
A-2
A-3
A-7
B-2
A-5
(Photo by Dale Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept)
The Illinois Valley Fire District mixed water with sunshine to create a rainbow during the fire on Thompson Creek Rd. Saturday, April 2.
Vandals sack West Fork Bingo event
By Darcy Wallace
IVN Staff Writer
Sue Williams says she started work
to improve West Fork Park near Kerby
in 2006, enlisting the help of countless
volunteers and a Recreational Trails
Program (RTP) grant.
On Tuesday, March 30, Williams
visited the park to find the map kiosk
overturned and damaged, boulders moved,
a handicapped parking sign missing and
benches and tables gone.
“Anything [in the past] was small
compared to this,” Williams said. “Why
would a few people want to do this kind
of damage?”
Williams estimated at least $1,500
in damages and is setting up a reward
account at a local bank in Cave Junction.
She said people have already pledged
$250 so far.
“Right now we’re just trying to see if
we can salvage the kiosk that was dumped
over and broken,” Williams said.
Williams called the Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office and an official
visited the campsite and took photos.
So far, Williams said the sheriff’s office
hasn’t found any leads.
As a horseback rider herself,
Williams said she felt the West Fork Park
could use additional trails for hikers and
equestrians. In 2007, she said she worked
with the Illinois Valley Community
Development Organization (IVCDO) and
local park ranger Andre Briggs to apply
for a Recreational Trails Program (RTP)
grant.
After the grant was approved,
funding came through in 2009 and
Williams helped build trails with the help
of volunteers, work crews, the Grants
Pass Job Council and a corrections crew
for some heavy lifting.
“We have just another half-mile trail
to complete and two more picnic areas
out by the west fork of the Illinois River,”
Williams said.
The park includes a variety
of dogwood trees, mushrooms and
(Photo by Darcy Wallace, Illinois Valley News)
The kiosk at West Fork Park near Kerby was damaged last week after the
park was believed to be vandalized.
wildflowers along the trails. According
to Williams, the trails are moderate in
difficulty due to the sometimes-steep
terrain, but she says it’s worth it.
“[There are] incredible Madrone
trees up along the ridge that just take
your breath away,” Williams said.
Patrols reportedly drove through
the area last week before damage
occurred, so Williams believes
vandalism happened at some point
over the weekend of March 26.
“They had to have a big truck
since the benches weigh 82 pounds,
and the tables about 75,” Williams
said.
The reward is offered in the
hopes that if people took the missing
equipment, they will return it. Items
can be returned with no questions
asked if they are returned soon,
Williams said.
“I’m posting flyers around town
[and] I’ll have big reward posters
at various places at the trailhead,”
Williams added. “We’re hoping [the
rewards account] will loosen some
lips.”
On Tuesday, April 5, Williams
said a group was going back to the
park to remove the damaged kiosk
to salvage the least damaged pieces,
and replace the kiosk when there are
enough funds.
Williams said Biggs, the local
park ranger, and her trail master
Carol Crawford have been a big
help in her work with the park. She
planned to give them her own plaques
to recognize them on Tuesday.
“I want to thank them because
they’ve bent over backwards to make
these things come true,” Williams
said.
raises funds
for veterans, students
By Darcy Wallace
IVN Staff Writer
More than 70 guests
packed into the Cave
Junction County Building
this past weekend for the
Second Annual Ham Bingo
fund-raiser hosted by Glenn
Morrison American Legion
Post 70.
The Saturday, April 2,
event featured a grand prize
of a full meal with spiral ham
and several gift certificates
to local businesses. Along
with bingo, guests had the
chance to win in a 50/50
drawing, 25-cent hand
cards and a silent auction.
Laurel Warden, one
of the event organizers,
said Sherry Overstreet won
the final bingo round in a
blackout game with the full
meal deal of spiral ham and
“all of the trimmings.”
“I thought everybody
enjoyed
themselves,”
Warden said. “I think
people were impressed with
the spiral hams this year
and we had a lot of nice gift
certificates.”
In the second year
of the annual fund-raiser,
Warden
believed
the
turnout was strong, though
the economy may have
impacted ticket sales for the
50/50 drawing. But playing
bingo, and especially the
prospect of winning, is a strong
draw for many residents.
“Seeing the excitement
of people when they win is my
favorite part,” Warden said.
Proceeds from Ham
Bingo go towards various
programs to support local
veterans and for scholarships
for students. One of the
scholarships, Warden said, is
for a weeklong event in Salem
or Eugene where students
work in a mock government
simulations, giving them a
taste of how local and state
government works.
“[Students] get to meet
congressmen, senators or the
governor,” Warden said. “It’s
really beneficial for them to
learn. Some of them go on to
take political science…and
it gets them interested in
government.”
The
Cave
Junction
American
Legion
and
Auxiliary post also aims to
support veteran programs and
help individual vets and their
families.
“We just enjoy being able
to help our veterans and do
community service,” Warden
said.
