The Applegater

2 Winter 2014 Applegater Applegate Food Pantry under new management by ARLENE AND CLAuDE ARON We have been volunteering at the Applegate Food Pantry for about the last eight years—the first three years as helpers and the last five years as managers. It has been challenging at times, but we have met many wonderful, generous people and have been privileged to be able to provide a vital service to members of our community. For personal reasons, we recently decided to move from the beautiful Applegate Valley into town. But before doing that, we wanted to find someone who would be willing to take over the management of the pantry. We were very fortunate to find a lovely woman willing to step up and keep the pantry going. Charlotte Knott, who has been volunteering with us for a while, is easing into the management position. We are sure she will do a great job. We will, of course, be available to her for as long as she needs. Many of our current volunteers will stay on and we thank them for that. We want to give a special thanks to Richard Mikula, our driver, who drives into Medford every week to pick up our food. Food pantry days will continue to be on Mondays (except for the last Monday of each month when the pantry is closed). Fall, winter and spring hours are 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, and summer hours (July, August and September) are 9:00 to 10:30 am. e location will also remain the same: behind Ruch School on the loading dock. Any future donations to the pantry should be sent to Charlotte with checks made payable to "Applegate Pantry." We hope this community will continue to be as generous as you have been in the past. Sadly, the number of clients we service each month has doubled, while the supply of food we receive from ACCESS has been reduced. As a result, we have had to dip into our cash reserves more than in the past. We would love to see a day when no one in our community needs help feeding their families and the Applegate Food Pantry becomes obsolete. In these tough economic times, however, that doesn't seem like a very likely possibility. It has been our pleasure to contribute our time and energy to helping our community, and we thank everyone who has generously contributed their time, financial assistance, food and any other form of aid to the pantry over the years. Arlene and Claude Aron • 541-951-6707 Claude and Arlene Aron (left) are handing over the management of the Applegate Food Pantry to Charlotte Knott (right). Some of us drive by the Logtown Cemeter y every day, some once a week, and some just once in a great while. Very few of us give this historic Applegate landmark much thought at all, even if we live right next door. And yet, there are people who come from near and far to spend a few quiet moments there, to leave flowers or tokens beside a loved one's grave. The Logtown Cemetery has a long history and is a who's who of pioneer names on tombstones scattered throughout the grounds. e first recorded burial was in 1862, a Reverend James Dunlap; however, many burials took place without much in the way of record keeping. In fact, the land now called Logtown Cemetery didn't become an official entity until May 23, 1939, when a few families, with ancestors buried in what was called Laurel Grove, wanted the land preserved as a cemetery for future generations. After filing for incorporation and receiving a certificate under the name Logtown Cemetery Association, the new association board was delighted when landowners Paul E. and Mildred Pearce, along with Walter W. and Edith Bell, donated separate parcels to make one piece of property. Some things you may not know about the cemetery: • It is managed by a nonprofit organization. • It is an Oregon Historical Cemetery. • It has an Oregon State Centennial marker near the front gate and an anodized aluminum marker installed in 1976 by the Applegate Bicentennial Committee and the Southern Oregon Historical Society. This aluminum marker is one of four in the Applegate. e others are at Sterling Cemetery, McKee Bridge, and in Ruch near the Ramsay Realty building. O v e r t h e y e a r s , t h e a l l - volunteer board of directors and the Applegate community have kept the cemetery a hallowed ground for the final resting place of our loved ones. In 1949 a railroad iron arch with a Logtown Cemetery sign was erected; in 1950 a well was drilled and a hand pump put in place; in 1958 Logtown yellow rose slips were planted along the front fence; and in 2009 a beautiful new wrought-iron gate replaced an old and bent wire gate. Looking down the road another 150 years, Logtown Cemetery will require more wonderful volunteers and more community energy to keep this historic landmark an active presence in the Applegate. The Logtown Cemetery Board is looking for someone to help us keep our records up-to-date by becoming the cemetery's sexton. is person would keep the records for burials, assist with the selling of burial plots, be the contact person when a burial is needed, and send the appropriate forms to the State of Oregon. A small money compensation for these ser vices is available. If interested, please contact Janeen Sathre at 541-899-1443 or Patty Eaton at 541-899-7693. Janeen Sathre 541-899-1443 Historic Logtown Cemetery seeks sexton by jANEEN SATHRE Buried at Logtown Cemetery, Joseph McKee was one of the first white settlers in southern Oregon. Along with his wife Almira and children, Joseph arrived in the Applegate in 1860 among a second wave of McKees. His son John M. McKee and family had already arrived in 1853. Joseph was receiving a pension from Frederick County, Virginia, for his service in the war of 1812. He was born in 1793 and died on April 19, 1870. Also buried at Logtown is Almira McKee, who was born around 1809 and died in 1882. BACK IN TIME: Joseph and Almira McKee Photos courtesy of the Evelyn Byrne Williams collection. New Pantry Manager Contact Information Charlotte Knott P.O. Box 1826 Jacksonville, OR 97530 541-899-8381 You warm the Gater's heart with your support and your contributions, large and small. Your interest, opinions, and articles reflect the core of the Applegater: that we're an open voice. Each monetary contribution ($5, $10, $25 or more—they all add up) means a neighbor who cares and who reads the paper. Each ad means a business that supports us, and your support of that business also supports us. We have been able to keep the Applegater alive through the three sources of income that you contribute to: local ads, twice-yearly fund-raisers, and the money you put in our envelopes, enclosed in the Applegater twice a year. So a heartfelt thank you to everyone for your gratefully accepted contributions. Happy Holidays! Board of Directors Applegate Valley Community Newspaper, Inc. We love you, Applegater readers! Thanks for your support!

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