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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2021)
Page A-2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021 Life in the Valley of Riches by Dan Mancuso, publisher I had just embarked on my newspaper route to Grants Pass last week, and I began closing in on a white car on Sauers Flat. I thought about passing the vehicle before the merge, but decided not to. This turned out to be a great decision. As I followed the white car into Gold Canyon, a southbound blue car wove into our lane and then back into its own lane. Seeing this scenario, I hit my breaks and slowed down. Next, the blue car came back into our lane and stayed. I slammed on my breaks because the white car in front of me went into the southbound lane to avoid the oncoming blue car. The two cars collided when the oncoming blue car went back to its lane. The white car ahead of me spun and stopped when it hit the guard rail. The oncoming blue car spun in my direction and then stopped about 15 feet from my car. After quickly assessing the cleanliness of my shorts, I got out of my car and went to the blue car as it was closest and the young lady driving appeared to be OK and was trying to get out. I tried to help her but the door was locked and we couldn’t open it. At that point, the lady in the white car started to scream for help, so I ran over to her. I couldn’t call 911 because my cell service was poor in the area, but asked another car that had pulled up to call. The woman in the white car, for obvious reasons, was quite upset and I tried to calm her. From what I could judge, by the way she was holding her chest, she may have had some rib injuries from the seatbelt. Her dog was in the car barking, which added to the confusion on scene. I tried my best to calm her down and went back to the blue car. I kept asking her to unlock the door and she said she had. Little did I know, her car battery went flying, landing near my car and then tumbled down the road making it difficult to unlock the door. You might ask, why didn’t she unlock the door manually? In that moment I assumed the door was jammed, but then again, hindsight is 20/20. Other folks showed up and took over keeping the lady in the white car calm and comfortable, while I continued to talk to the lady in the blue car until the Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) personnel arrived. I tried to stay back and let the pros get to work. Josephine County Sheriff’s Office was on scene quickly and I filled in the deputy about what I saw. Then the incident was turned over to the Oregon State Police when the trooper arrived, so I repeated my version of events. I must say, watching IVFD work was impressive. Chief John Holmes arrived driving a big red fire truck and worked to remove the lady in the blue car and get her safely loaded into the ambulance. While I may have had some issues in the past with the president of the IVFD board and the chief, I cannot take away from the work they do. I plan to vote “Yes!” on the IVFD levy and I hope you do too. But more than that, I hope you never see what I did, nor be in the car that needs them. Thank you for picking up this week’s paper, enjoy! ~ djm From the mayor’s desk: by Meadow Martell Four years ago, I was questioning what I wanted to see in my life. Was Cave Junction and the Illinois Valley really the place where I wanted to live? Even before COVID-19, the number of empty businesses downtown was starting to grow. The Valley was beginning to experience the real impact of the new marijuana laws. Not all of the changes were positive. The cohesiveness, aliveness and vitality of our community seemed to be deteriorating. I knew I wanted to live in a community that was a vibrant, people-centered place. My conclusion was that if I could not make a difference in my community than maybe this wasn’t the place where I needed to be. So, I decided to run for mayor. Crazy, I know. Deep down I truly believe there are great people living here who also want to make a difference and see our community come alive Very early in my first term as mayor, I discovered the Oregon Main Street (OMS) program that was established by the legislature in 2007 and now is in the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. What really attracted me to this program was a proven strategy and approach developed by the National Main Street Center. This was a focused, deliberate path to revitalizing downtown, with a clear process, and guiding principles. There are Main Street programs in all 50 states. Now there are 67 cities of all shapes and sizes in Oregon in the Oregon Main Street program, including Cave Junction. In my first term, I was impressed with the OMS comprehensive, incremental revitalization strategies based on a community’s unique assets, character, and heritage. I made an application for the Oregon Main Street Network Exploring Downtown level and the city of Cave Junction was accepted. Now post COVID and two years later, with the help of Rowan Fairfield, the city’s RARE Americorps member, a downtown Cave Junction, Oregon Main Street revitalization organization may become a reality. If you are ready to help make improvements to our downtown and want more information about using the Oregon Main Street program as a framework, come to our first meeting. If you have any questions or comments, contact: rowan.fairfield@ cavejunctionoregon.us. I hope to see you there with your sleeves rolled-up and ready to dive into a new adventure in making our community a beautiful and exciting place to live. Turner Road structure fire under investigation Obitu arie s Richard “Skip” Sherman, 71, of O’Brien, died Oct. 2, 2021 in Cave Junction. Arrangements by Illinois Valley Funeral Directors. Christopher “Elk” Crittondon, 63 , was born Nov. 20, 1957 in Oakland, Calif., and died peacefully in his sleep in Boise, Idaho Sept. 20, 2021. He was the fourth child of Anita Crittondon and William H. Crittondon, Sr. He graduated from Grants Pass High School and then studied Humanities and Computer Science at Chabot Community College in California. He spent his adult years making friends wherever he went and sharing his love of nature and cooking. He was always willing to lend a hand to someone in need. In his later years he studied the culinary arts at the Western Culinary Institute and was the kitchen coordinator for the Grants Pass Powwow Committee for many years. He participated in countless cooking events for the Takelma Tribe in Oregon, and culinary events in the Boise community. Chris volunteered as a coach with ARC, working with people with developmental disabilities in Grants Pass. He also volunteered as a kitchen coordinator at the Hope Mountain School in Takilma. He enjoyed leather crafts, woodworking, attending Indigenous bartering fairs, online gaming with friends, telling jokes, spending time with loved ones, and participating in the annual salmon ceremony in the Indigenous community. He is survived by his beloved dog Munchkin; his siblings, Dorothy Steele, Wiliam H. Crittondon, Jr. and David Crittondon; nieces, April Woods and Jenn N. Crittondon; grand-niece, Tiffany Webster; great-grand-nieces; great-grand-nephews; and cousins. He was a blessing to all who knew him and he will be missed by his family, friends and co-workers. Instead of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Heart Association in his memory at https://www.heart. org. On Oct. 11, 12:48 p.m. the Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD), responded to a structure fire in the 300 block of Turner Road. A travel trailer appeared to be the first item that was on fire, which sustained heavy loss. The fire and heat radiated to the mobile home, with the fire progression being stopped in the middle of the structure by firefighters. Pacfic Power and Light responded to confirm the electricity was turned off. A sheriff’s deputy also responded. Turner Road was closed down due to the fire apparatus. Fire was mopped up and fire was confirmed to have been extinguished. IVFD continued to check on the structure throughout the night to make sure there was no smoldering. Red Cross was notified to assist the fire victims. Fire is under investigation. Oregon Department of Forestry, Rural Metro Fire Department, and American Medical Response aided on the call. S a ve th e d a te Fridays in October & November Join Earth Scouts!, an edu- cational program of Spiral Living Center, for their 10-week Fall Vir- tual Fermentation Festival featuring local Illinois Valley mentors shar- ing their knowledge on all things fermentation! Learn how to make your own probiotic drinks, kimchi, miso, wine, sourdough, sauces, cheese, and more! Each 30-minute episode will air weekly on the SLC website on Fridays at 4 p.m. PST from Oct. 1-Nov. 26, 2021. The se- Illinois Valley News Published weekly by I.V. News LLC Daniel J. and Laura M. Mancuso, co-publishers ries is $5 per video or $45 for the whole series. SLC members get $10 off! Every pre-recorded video comes with an educational PDF for at-home learning. Watch at your own pace and follow along in your own kitchen. Oct. 1: “Introduction to Fermentation” with Jerry Allen of Thistledown Orchards. Oct. 8: Miso with Midori Uehara. MORE TBA! For more information and to purchase the series, visit www.spi- ralliving.org. Questions? Email us at spirallivingcenter@gmail.com or call 541-450-9886. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to P.O. Box 1370, Cave Junction, OR 97523 Illinois Valley News is published weekly except the first week of January at 219 S. Redwood Hwy., Cave Junction, OR 97523 Telephone 541-592-2541 Since 1937 periodicals postage paid at Cave Junction, OR 97523 P.O. Box 1370 USPS 258-820 **FOOD PANTRy Tues- days 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Cave Junc- tion Adventist/Community Servic- es Food Distribution, 265 S. Old Stage Rd. Volunteers are needed to help stock, date check, sort food, pack boxes and handout food box- es, etc. to volunteer please email cavejunctionacs@gmail.com. Con- tributions can by made out to the CJ Seventh- day Adventist Church and identify that they are in support of the Community Service by writ- ing “CJACS” in the memo section of your check. Mail to: Cave Junc- tion Seventh-day Adventist Church PO Box 330, Cave Junction, OR 97523 ** The Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance after-hours crisis line can be reached at 541-415- 9367. The new local crisis line will be answered any hours the Safe House is closed. The line will be answered by an advocate who will be able to respond locally, also recognizing the barriers that may come up due to our rural location. For more information contact the Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance 541-592-2515. ** HIV Alliance offers services in Cave Junction every Monday from noon – 3 p.m. at Im- manuel United Methodist Church (across from ShopSmart). Services include: Free and confidential HIV and Hep C testing. Needle Ex- change and drop box (all syringes welcome), and overdose response and Naloxone training. editor -Laura Mancuso SUBSCRIPTION RATES One year in Josephine County - $35 One year in Jackson and Douglas counties - $36 One year in all other Oregon counties and out-of-state - $43.00 Illinois Valley News does not refund subscriptions. Remainder of subscription will be donated to the charity of your choice. laura@illinois-valley-news.com copy editor - C.J. Schatza classified ads - Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com circulation - Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com advertising / composition - Dan Mancuso dan@illinois-valley-news.com mailroom - Kimberly Potter DEADLINES: News, Classified and Display Ads, Announcement and Letters 4 P.M. FRIDAYS LETTERS ON A-9 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.
