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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
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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
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circulation - Laura Mancuso
laura@illinois-valley-news.com
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Dan Mancuso
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
mailroom - Kimberly Potter
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