The Applegater

1 Fall 2020 Applegater Nonprofit Org US Postage PAID Permit #125 Medford OR ECRWSSEDDM Local Postal Customer FALL 2020 Volume 13, No. 3 Serving Jackson and Josephine Counties — Circulation: 13,000 Applegate Valley Community Newsmagazine Celebrating Years Photo by Ann Nguyen • applegater.org ~26~ Community responds to vandalism and theft BY DIANA COOGLE e Applegate community responded with indignation and anger at the recent vandalism at the English Lavender Farm— and with an outpouring of support for the owners, Sue and Derek Owen. Sue's July 13 notice on Jo's List began, "Would the thief/vandal who has stolen our sign…and vandalized the frame that my husband made and ruined the fence, please consider his or her actions and how they might affect others?" is calm but indignant response had immediate effects. "Within minutes we had offers of help and materials," Sue said. "We have received product orders from neighbors wishing to support our business and even checks from individuals who want to help pay for repairs. We have been entirely overwhelmed by the generous and caring nature of our entire community." Over the last few years Sue and Derek have had bags of dog poop left in their mailbox, their signs stolen, and xenophobic notes—"Go back where you came from"— addressed to them. (ey moved here from England in 2011.) It wasn't hatred but, probably, money that motivated someone to steal the Applegate Partnership and Watershed Council's $8,000 water trailer on June 1. "ey had to have been either local or with someone local," said Janelle Dunlevy, executive director at APWC. e equipment could only be seen from a locally known swimming hole in Provolt. "It was premeditated," Janelle said. "at person had to have a battery-powered angle grinder or equipment to get through the locks on the trailer." Pacifica Gardens, in Williams, also experienced a theft by someone familiar with their property. The irrigation equipment —a sprinkler cannon, pipe, adaptors—was hidden between the trees at Pacifica's wedding garden. e thief had to have spotted it while walking through the garden, then snuck in later with a big pick-up to take it. "It was worth a couple thousand dollars," says Ray Pragg, board president. "It is disappointing that someone would do this. We put a lot of trust in people who come to Pacifica for recreation. We assume they value the landscape and the grounds." Pa c i f i c a h a s a l s o e x p e r i e n c e d vandalism. Shortly after they installed new bathrooms, someone tore off the toilet paper dispenser and wrote on the wall with a sharpie. "It is shocking that someone would vandalize such a place as Pacifica," Ray said. See VANDALISM, page 23 Momentum Grant boosts cemetery cleanup BY CATHY RODGERS AND LAURA AHEARN A Greater Applegate (AGA) recently awarded its first 2020 Momentum Grant to the McKee Bridge Historical Society for a monument-cleaning project commencing this fall at Logtown Cemetery. Logtown Cemetery, just off Highway 238 in Ruch, is an important and historical local landmark. Here, among the gravestones and monuments, one takes a walk back in time to the era when the region's first pioneers arrived to settle in this beautiful valley. Here among the Ponderosa pines, Douglas firs, and madrones are the gravesites of those who braved the Oregon Trail, who settled, who met, who married. Logtown is a look back at the descendants of the original pioneer families. Logtown Cemetery is a historic treasure and special place of remembrance for all who made their lives here, to those who are buried here. e lives of the Oregon Trail emigrants buried at Logtown Cemetery tie together places and events throughout the Applegate Valley, including interactions with other groups like Native Americans, Chinese, and Sandwich Islanders, who reached the Applegate by other routes. McKee Bridge Historical Society will use the $500 Momentum Grant from AGA to clean and maintain some of the oldest grave markers in the cemetery. Initial efforts will focus on the graves of the earliest McKee-Dunlap pioneers, who settled in the Applegate Valley in the 1850s-1860s, and of their descendants, including the oldest known marker for James See LOGTOWN, page 4 See THREE RIVERS, page 23 The bucolic English Lavender Farm was struck by vandalism this summer. Photo: Sue Owen. Celebrating a grant for restoration work at the Logtown Cemetery are Laura Ahearn, left, of the McKee Bridge Historical Society, and Cathy Rodgers of A Greater Applegate. Photo: Ryan Pernel. Three Rivers plans onsite and online reopening State mandates mean only K-3 students will go back to school in person for now BY LISA BALDWIN Students in kindergarten through third grades will return to school in person on Tuesday, September 8, while fourth through 12th graders will be online, the ree Rivers School District announced August 12. e revised plan for reopening schools is in compliance with statewide orders issued by Governor Kate Brown on July 29. According to the governor's guidelines, a county must have fewer than 10 new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents for three consecutive weeks for schools to return to on-site learning. e health metrics in Josephine County as of August 12 did not meet these requirements for grades 4-12. e new state requirements do allow onsite learning for kindergarten through grade three in some small and rural school communities. Under these conditions, ree Rivers schools will begin the 2020-2021 school year with a fully online instructional model for grades 4-12 and onsite learning for grades K-3. On Se p t e m b e r 8 , T h re e R i ve r s elementary schools will open their doors to students in kindergarten through third grade with a "staggered start" for the first two weeks. In small groups (about half of the student population on campus at a time), the youngest students will learn and practice new protocols for keeping everyone safe, such as mask wearing and physical distancing. Regular full-time school days begin September 21 for K-3. Parents received details of the reopening plan on August 24. Busing will be provided for K-3 students. New routes and schedules can be found under the "Parent View" tab on the schools' web pages. September 8 is the start date for ree Rivers students in grades 4 through 12, as well, but with distance rather than on-site learning. Distance learning will continue through the first quarter at least. e district expects to know by October 15 if the rate of new infections in the

• Cover