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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2014)
Page A-2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, August 20, 2014 Life in the Valley of Riches By DAN MANCUSO, Publisher Josephine County held its annual fair last week and it caught me a little off guard. Back in the beginning of July, I stopped in to the fair office to talk about advertising. I was referred to the Medford-based advertising agency that was hired. I talked to the representative at the firm and sent along our newspaper’s information along with past ad spends for the fair. I never heard another thing about the fair until I was in Grants Pass August 13 and saw that the fair had started. Fair Manager Mary Graves has done a great job turning the fair around. I suppose working with the area papers and other media outlets can be time consuming. Hiring an advertising agency would take a huge weight off and allow her to spend time doing what she does best, run a fair. The end result was the paper did not receive any information about the schedule of events. The paper did not receive advertisements, asking the Valley residents to come over the hill and enjoy the events the fair organizers spent so much time preparing for. This left me wondering why. People in the city are not what I would call traditional fair participants. I as- sume it’s against the law to keep a pig in the city limits. I could be wrong, though. Maybe the City of Grants Pass is full of bovine and swine. Some good news has come to my attention. In the Best Grange Booth category, the Valley came out on top. Congrats to first place winner, The Illinois Valley Grange in Cave Junction. Right on the heels of the IV Grange was the Deer Creek Grange, in Selma The People’s Choice Award this year also went to the Illinois Valley Grange. So, we have the top two Granges in the county, but apparently Valley residents were not encouraged to attend this year. Maybe we just fell between the cracks. Maybe a Medford-based advertising agency doesn’t understand the Illinois Valley is the rural epicenter of Josephine County. Thank you for picking up this week’s paper, enjoy! ~ djm Letters to the Editor Illinois Valley News welcomes Letters to the Editor. Please e-mail them to dan@illinois-valley-news.com POLICY ON LETTERS: ‘Illinois Valley News’ encourages letters to the editor provided they are legible and not libelous or scurrilous. All letters must be signed, including name, address and telephone number. The latter need not be published, but will be used to verify authenticity. The “News” reserves the right to edit letters. Letters are used at the discretion of the publisher. *** (Editor’s Note: Views and commentary, including statements made as fact are strictly those of the letter writers) Reader says no to nickel Dear Editor, I have lived in Southern Oregon for 30 years now. Please, please protect our Partial Pristine Wilderness, No to Nickel mining. We are so lucky to live in such an area with clean air and water and old growth to explore. Respect – 7 generations- You know what I mean. Mary Raby Cave Junction Reader need volunteers for vets My name is De and I coordinate the two vans that transport veterans to their VA appointments, free of charge, we have transported about 1,700 souls that are now friends. WE NEED HELP we have 2 drivers and 2 vans and average 60 to 70 vets a month. This is a volunteer position, but the rewards are many. We transport 5 days a week and transport to Grants Pass, White City, Medford and Ashland, if it’s ordered by the VA. We provide transport to Grants Pass for trips north with D.A.V. transportation 330 and pick up in p.m. If I could find four more drivers - two for Eagle 1 and two for Eagle 2 than this program can keep helping the vets here in the Valley. It has made a positive impact on our community and shows our vets that WE DO HONOR AND RESPECT OUR VETS. It’s not just a sign on the county line. There is nothing but casualties in war, so wouldn’t you just like to be a smiling face to greet them coming and going from their appointment and just care how they are doing? We also transport for special things like Stand Down, a program to help homeless vets with no income or low income, benefited from military surplus. Additionally, we transport to the Native American area in White City for Talking Circle and Sweet Lodge. What we do is try to help in whatever way works for our service men and women. So, if this sounds like something you would enjoy or if you are looking for a way to say, “Thanks,” to a vet, how can I help you? If you’re interested call De at 541-944-3741 and please leave a message, as I am probably driving. De Spellman, CJ Reader thankful for firefighters This letter is a huge thank you to all the firefighters who have done such a wonderful job on the Reeves Creek Fire in Selma. The firefighters who worked so hard and long to pro- tect our home and property were unbelievably dedicated and skilled. They were conscious of our property and concerned for our safety. Everything that mattered to us also mattered to them. They were here 24 hours a day for nearly 4 days and were vigi- lant in finding and extinguishing any and all hot spots in a very steep and difficult area of our property. The bulldozer crew that was based in our large field cre- ated a very impressive fire break on the north end of the prop- erty and was instrumental in preventing the spread of the flames to our northern neighbors property. Our neighbor to the southeast had major damage to the forested portion of their property as did we to our trees, but again the firefighters were diligent in preventing damage to all of the structures on their land as they did on our land. Everyone living in this section of Reeves Creek Road owes a huge amount of gratitude to the following fire depart- ments and foresters that participated in the fighting of this wild fire: Illinois Valley Volunteer Fire Dept.; Rural Metro Fire Dept. - #1,#3,#7; Medford Hot Shots; Grants Pass Emergency Rescue; Jacksonville Fire Dept.; North Pacific Forestry; Indian Hill LLC; Oregon Dept. of Forestry, Medford & Eugene; Coos Forest Protective Assoc.; Knight Forest Management & Log- ging; Forestry Based H B Co. INC Wild Land Firefighting Di- vision; Grants Pass local dozer crews; the helicopter and fixed wing water and retardant dropping aircraft crews; and everyone who’s name and organization that I may have missed. We will be eternally grateful for your skill and dedication. Reader requests action There is something wrong with the water in the Illinios River. It’s been a month since I brought my dogs to the river, because the last time we were there, they got sick and had diar- hea for 4 days. Brought them to Dr. Joe and he stated that there have been a lot of dogs coming in, because they got sick from playing in the river. There is less algae in the river this year then in the last 3 years. Also, where are the crawdads, insects and baby fish? Poisoned to death or just a lack of oxygen in the water. Between the over thinning of our public forest lands and the clear cuts and chemical warfare on private timber land, we have destroyed our forests ability to create the rain clouds that used to fill up our water ways with fresh water. Our forests used to be capable of protecting themselves from fires, because they were thick with trees, nuts, berries, ferns and mushrooms. In other words they used to be very moist forests. Now they are so thinned out that our wells are running dry in January. How many of you have had to drill new wells this year? Think about the fact that your neighbors sewage waste is ending up in your well water, let alone, what’s draining into what’s left of our riv- ers, streams and lakes. The state of California and both Jackson and Klamath County of Oregon, all declared a state of emergency due to the drought, to help their farmers to be able to get financial relief due to their inability to water their crops this year. Yet Jose- phine County Commissioners must not realize that we get the majority of our water from the Rogue River and have failed to do their jobs again. But don’t worry, if Wyden’s new O&C act goes thru we won’t have to worry about any of this. Because private timber- land owners who have been clear cutting their lands in anticipa- tion of getting to swap their poisoned dead lands for what’s left of our public forest lands, will turn all of Southern Oregon and Northern California into desert lands. So then the mining in- dustry will come and mine all this area into a toxic waste dump site. Think your property values suck now? Just sit back with your head up your Ipad, and do nothing until it’s too late and do what we all do best...Nothing but bitch and complain. It’s time to stand together to fight for our and our children’s children’s lives. Unless you don’t care about yourself or anyone else. Nina Horsley Cave Junction Pat and Cedric Schieber Selma From the mayor’s desk: by Cave Junction Mayor Carl Jacobnson It’s almost Labor Day again, please sign up for the Parade on Monday, Sept. 1 and get your Harley tickets! It’s also election time of the year. There are two positions open on the City Council and the Mayor’s Job is open. All you have to do is get a petition and get 20 voter signatures from Cave Junction. The deadline to turn in your petition is August 22. So, if you want your voice to be heard and want to learn about how things are ac- complished on the council, please make the effort to let people know how you would like the City to be run. I have had the privilege to work with Mo, Stacey and all the others that have helped with donating money, time and tal- ent to the people of Cave Junction. They have come forward and made a big differ- ence here in the Valley. I don’t care what people say when you tell them you live in the Valley, it’s still the best place in which to live, work and play. With all our prob- lems or whatever, we are no worse off then any other small community, even in some of the larger cities too. So, get involved and show people you have the talent to furnish our life with a way to do things. It’s only taken about two years to accomplish what we have done so far as a community. Carl Jacobson Mayor I llInoIs V alley F uneral D Irectors www.since1928Hull.com Save The Date Aug. 21 Thursday, August 21 for Nelson Family Farm: Pressure Canner Gauge test- ing for accuracy by Jose- phine County Master Food Preserver, Hazel Griffith. Aug. 23 Saturday, August 23, 10 a.m. to Noon. Unique painting class, “Draw- ing with Imagination.” If you’ve ever looked up at the clouds and imagined things you see, you can learn how to create those images on Illinois Valley News Published weekly by W.H. Alltheway, LLC Daniel J. Mancuso, Publisher paper with oil and paint. Info. and register at south- ernoregonguild.org or call 541-592-5019. Aug. 23 & 24 Do your kids have those end-of-summer blahs? Take them to the Forks State Park this weekend! On Sun- day, August 23 & 24, Or- egon Parks and Recreation Department will be offering a fun workshop for ages 6 to 12 titled: “Hiking 101” on Saturday, August 23 and “Make your Own Bird POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to P.O. Box 1370, Cave Junction, OR 97523 Illinois Valley News is published at 221 S. Redwood Hwy. Cave Junction, OR 97523 Telephone (541) 592-2541 FAX (541) 592-4330 Since 1937 periodicals postage paid at Cave Junction, OR 97523 P.O. Box 1370 USPS 258-820 541-592-4110 For more listings go to www.ivcalendar.org Feeders” on Sunday, Au- gust 24. Each session lasts about an hour and parents or guardians are welcome to join in. Meet at the park pavilion at 1 p.m. all three days. There’s a great swim- ming hole, shaded picnic tables and easy nature trails for a fun family stay-cation, too! For further information, visit www.oregon.gov/oprd I.V. Lions Club Labor Day Festival will again host a TALENT SHOW (amateurs only) and cash prizes will be awarded the winners of each age group. Don’t forget to sign up by August 27. For more information and/or to sign up, please call Donna at (541) 596-2719 or Sue at (541) 592-2252. Aug. 27 TIME FOR TALENT! The TALENT SHOW is just around the corner. The Aug. 30 Janie Pope Run/Walk Benefit. The 5K Run/Walk, Janie Pope Benefit will be held on Saturday, August 30 SUBSCRIPTION RATES News - Dan Mancuso dan@illinois-valley-news.com One year in Josephine County - $30.50 One year in Jackson and Douglas counties - $32.50 One year in all other Oregon counties and out-of-state - $39.00 Illinois Valley News does not refund subscriptions. Remainder of subscription will be donated to the charity of your choice. Circulation - Kimberly Potter office@illinois-valley-news.com Advertising / Composition Dan Mancuso dan@illinois-valley-news.com Mailroom - Millie Watkins Office Manager-Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com at 9 a.m. in Jubilee Park dur- ing the Labor Day Festivi- ties. Janie is fighting liver cancer and working her way to being cancer free. She needs help with her medical costs and treatments. Sign- ups start at 8 a.m. The cost is $30.00. Please come join us to help Janie! Sept. 6 Saturday, September 6, Kerbyville Natural Farms, Dehydration Demo and Pressure Canner Gauge test- ing for accuracy by Jose- phine County Master Food DEADLINES: News, Classified and Display Ads, Announce- ments and Letters 4 P.M. FRIDAYS Preserver, Jennie Reed. Sept. 7 Join Oregon Poet Lau- reate, Peter Sears on Sep- tember 7, 2014 for a poet- ry workshop at 2 p.m. and a reading at 7 p.m. at the Historic Chateau at Oregon Caves. Both the workshop and reading are free to the public. Please call the Cha- teau for reservations for the workshop and lodging at 541-592-3400. We ask that reservations be made by September 5, 2014. POLICY ON LETTERS: ‘Illinois Valley News’ encour- ages letters to the editor pro- vided they are legible and not libelous or scurrilous. All let- ters must be signed, including name, address and telephone number. The latter need not be published, but will be used to verify authenticity. The ‘News’ reserves the right to edit letters. Letters are used at the discre- tion of the publisher.
