Mary Jones Venard, 77, died in her Jacksonville, Oregon, home on June 11, 2018, from the effects of lung cancer. She bore this with serene acceptance, though she never smoked.
Mary was born May 23, 1941 in Mobile, Alabama, the eldest child of Cecilia and Daniel Jones, Jr. She completed her BA in Music at the […]
4/25/47 to 6/21/18
Long time business owner and Jacksonville resident Alice McGee died in her home on the summer solstice eve. She lived a full and vibrant life with few regrets.
Alice was born to Arthur and Rachel Peterson in 1947. She grew up in Jacksonville in the 1950’s, when Jacksonville was the wrong side of the […]
The City of Jacksonville recently created a Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI). Our role is to promote and facilitate the participation of our residents in local governance. While you are welcome to attend our meetings (posted in the City Newsletter and on the City’s website), that is not the only way to contact us.
You may […]
Carefree Buffalo, located in historic, downtown Jacksonville, specializes in the finest American-made hand-crafted products. We are extremely proud to announce our 9th-annual William Henry Premiere Dealer Show, Friday-Sunday, July 20-22, from 10:00am to 6:00pm, featuring the most extensive William Henry collection available anywhere in the world.
William Henry creates heirloom quality pocket knives, money clips, writing […]
Jacksonville’s Dr. Doug Naversen is pleased to announce that the 17th-Annual Britt Woods Firehouse Run will be held on Saturday, July 14. This year, the exhibition 1.9 and 4.3 mile runs start at 7:00am followed by the 100-yard Fun Run for kids at 7:30am. Runners will assemble in the parking area located just above the […]
The next Southern Oregon Climate Action Now monthly general meeting will be a presentation by Siskiyou Velo President, Harlan Bittner, and board member Gary Shaff offering a concise overview of the National Association of City Transportation Officials’ Designing for All Ages and Abilities. The “All Ages and Abilities” design shifts the paradigm of bicycling from the […]
Calling all kids, ages one to 100 to the beloved and innovative three-day event that takes place July 7-9, 2018 at the Britt Gardens in Jacksonville. The festival has brought out the creativity of both the young and the young at heart for generations. This year’s theme is “Telling Tales.”
Children and adults can enjoy participating […]
As my two young sons finished their respective sport seasons this year, I reflected back to my own involvement in different organizations as a child and a thought occurred to me. I no longer play baseball or football. My body and my talents were nowhere near enough for me to be a professional or collegiate […]
The entire community is invited to join Mayor Paul Becker in a July 4th celebration on the Courthouse lawn. The festivities will take place from noon-3:00pm. As in year’s past, plenty of seating and tables will be provided and the city will be serving complimentary hot dogs, water, chips, etc. Families are encourage to bring […]
The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and Business Association Board of Directors strongly opposes any type of meals tax in Jacksonville.
We support the decisions made by our elected officials and the other volunteers who serve on the Budget Committee—all of whom are Jacksonville residents. Funding public safety services is a complex issue and takes a […]
Having lived in Jacksonville for 26 years as a resident and business owner, and having served on the Budget Committee for several years, I feel qualified in addressing the proposed meals tax. Like many, I enjoy having 24/7 police and fire protection and feel that to expect anything else would be ludicrous. Unfortunately, when it […]
Thanks to the efforts of the City Council, residents who earn less than $25,000 may qualify to pay zero for the newly-approved Police Surcharge. At its 6/5 meeting, the City Council voted 6-1 for program designed to assist those on fixed incomes and at lower income levels. The vote came after the Public Safety Committee […]
Be sure and take in the sights and smells of lavender in-bloom this summer and hit the Southern Oregon Lavender Trail. The lavender bloom only lasts six to eight weeks, so get out your calendar and make it a date! This year’s festival dates are Friday, June 22 through Sunday, June 24 and Friday, July […]
Stacey Denton, owner of Flora, a small, woman-run farm and floral design business located in Williams, Oregon is making her seasonal flower creations available in Jacksonville. Stacey notes, “We grow seasonal flowers and foliage in our organically managed fields and have been providing exceptional quality blooms for Southern Oregon weddings, special events, and retail flower […]
Experience an authentic Civil War encampment and tour the […]
Seven years ago, with a vision of establishing a non-motorized trail from Grants Pass to Jacksonville, David Calahan started the Applegate Trails Association. Working with a board of dedicated volunteers, ATA has already accomplished much.
Most notably, of course, we have successfully built and opened the East ART, the first part of the proposed Applegate Ridge […]
A total of eleven metal sculptures by Jacksonville artist Cheryl D. Garcia will be placed in Cantrall Buckley park over the next 2 ½ years, creating Southern Oregon’s first sculpture park. Visitors will experience sculptures of local flora and fauna including a variety of larger-than-life birds, and a gigantic Mock Orange, Shooting Star and a […]
The Rogue Valley Symphony just finished their 50th Anniversary season and is looking forward to the future. The RVS Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Joelle Graves as Executive Director and also the renewal of Music Director Martin Majkut’s contract for another three years. There are many other reasons for the […]
“When Back Porch BBQ opened in Ashland in 1988, it actually had a back porch,” notes Jamie Collins. “Then BT and Sue moved the business to Jacksonville in 1994. No back porch, but they kept the name.” BT and Sue Collins also kept their original menu, which they’d based on Texas barbeque.
Just outside of Jacksonville in the Applegate Valley, the mountains and climate converge to create something truly unique: some of the best conditions for paragliding in North America, if not the entire world. Paragliding is an aerial sport in which pilots launch into the air from mountaintops and navigate the skies under brightly-colored, parachute-like wings. […]
Come to Forty-Five Coffee on Tuesday, June 19th, 2018, to kick off a very special two-day event with Jordan Bubin, a traveling poet and storyteller.
First, from 12 pm – 2 pm, Bubin will run a poetry workshop, where he reveals his tricks and secrets for writing poems that have landed him on the radio, and […]
In January 2017, Jacksonville Town Historian Larry Smith suggested that the City Council bring back some form of a museum to the Courthouse by using historic photographs to adorn the two long walls and display cases holding town artifacts.
Nine months later, City Councilor and professional photographer, Ken Gregg, got to work on the project. “As […]
The Schoolhaus in Jacksonville is pleased to announce exciting changes to their culinary team. After an intensive regional search, they are proud to introduce Chad Smith as Executive Chef for the Schoolhaus Brewhaus’ Food and Beverage department. Smith will have responsibility for overseeing the Schoolhaus’ kitchen and the Bigham Knoll Campus catering department.
Mr. Smith, most […]
Thanks to a new agreement with Vintage Inns, owner of the McCully House Inn, Cricket Hill Winery has opened a new tasting room in Jacksonville. “We know many of our McCully House guests consider the wine experience a major draw of their stay in Jacksonville. To satisfy those needs, we are thrilled to have Cricket […]
JACKSONVILLE, OR – Britt unveiled its 2018 Fine Arts Poster on Tuesday, May 15 at Jacksonville Elementary School in Jacksonville. This year’s work is a beautiful quilt by Jacksonville textile artist Karen Hanken. The poster is the 34th in a series celebrating Britt through the visual arts. The piece, titled “Britt ScRhapsody”, features a mosaic […]
The latest public initiative by three Jacksonville civic-minded citizens, Tom Gorman, Doug Phillips and Michael Sewitsky to implement a meals tax to pay for our police service is a good start but a little short sighted.
Why force only twelve restaurant merchants to pay our safety burden? Let’s not discriminate. Why not the local realtors and […]
FREE Police Protection in Jacksonville?
Yes, that’s correct. How? Just don’t eat out.
Starting this week, a petition will be put before the residents of Jacksonville in support of an initiative to place a tax on restaurants to pay for the town’s police protection.
The residents who say they already do not, or will not if the tax […]
Jville Market owner Ken Snoke and manager Martha Hess welcome everyone to the 2018 season of the Jville Market, opening Sunday, May 27th at 9:00am.
Market days will run 9:00am to 1:30pm and feature live music from 11:30am to 1:00pm, with a wide variety of Rogue Valley talent sharing their tunes. You’ll enjoy 70 booths on […]
Dennis Ellingson has researched the area beneath Lost Creek Lake and will share his expertise on Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at the Medford Library, 205 South Central Avenue, and Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at the Ashland Library, 410 Siskiyou Boulevard, from 12 noon – 1:00 p.m. at both locations.
Not too long ago and not too […]
Britt Music & Arts Festival and the Rogue Gallery & Art Center present Britt Orchestra Music Director and Conductor Teddy Abrams in a free piano performance during the monthly Third Friday art walk in downtown Medford at 6:30 p.m. on May 18. Teddy will perform an hour-long recital of music from his repertoire. The general […]
Jacksonville Cemetery will be closed to vehicular traffic on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, to allow for the removal of the entrance gate and arch. The entire structure will be taken off site for restoration by Bryan Pancheau, Metal Sculpture & Design. It is expected that the project will take approximately four months to complete. A […]
On Sunday, June 3 at noon, the Jacksonville community is invited to attend a BBQ to celebrate the official dedication of a Meditation Path at Jacksonville Presbyterian Church. The church, located at 425 Middle Street, is the site of a recently-created pathway that was envisioned and built by local teen Landon Moir as his Eagle […]
Know a young adult or child with a thirst for theatre? Barnstormers Theatre Summer Camp returns with a full scale production of The Tolstoy Story Play by V. Glasgow Koste, directed by Madeline DeCourcey. Campers get a chance to be on stage as well as explore the technical working of producing a show, designing props, […]
MEDFORD, OR — Britt’s 2018 season goes on sale to the general public starting
10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 11. At this writing, tickets are still available for all concerts in the 2018 lineup, with reserved seating sold out for Chris Isaak and limited on several other shows. Reserved and lawn seating tickets will be available […]
MEDFORD, OR, May 8, 2018 — Britt Education & Engagement is expanding its outdoor summer schedule of free performances by local, regional, and national performing artists. Through our community partnerships with […]
At the 5/3/18 Budget Committee meeting, it was announced that a 5% meals/sales tax measure may appear on the November 2018 ballot. The sales tax is the brainchild of Doug Phillips, a current member of the Budget Committee who is joined by fellow Jacksonville residents Tom Gorman and Michael Sewitsky as the petitioners for the […]
The Jacksonville Garden Club will hold its annual Spring Sale on Saturday, May 12, from 9:00am-3:00pm in the alcove next to the Post Office on Oregon Street.
Get ready for Mother’s Day, or treat yourself, a family member, or a friend to a delightful surprise with beautiful arrangements created from fresh-cut, local flowers. Purchase some perennials […]
Isaac Nichelson, (47), who grew up in Jacksonville and attended Jacksonville Elementary School and McLoughlin Middle School, has made a big impact on the world. The self-described “college dropout turned entrepreneur,” is CEO of Circular Systems S.P.C. (Social Purpose Corporation). Isaac’s extremely proud parents, Candice Nichelson and Greg Billingsley, reside on South 3rd Street in […]
Explore new territory on the 2018 AAUW Garden Tour on June 9, 10:00am-4:00pm, with three gardens in Eagle Point, as well as a stop at the Resort at Eagle Point Golf Club and two additional gardens in Medford.
Of the three Eagle Point gardens, two are situated on the golf course. One is a woodland-themed garden […]
The Home Tour provides our community with a unique opportunity to visit a mixture of historic homes and buildings in Jacksonville. This year we have three historic homes, two gardens and one modern home. Also, but without docents, you can step back in history to tour three historic churches and a historic rectory which have […]
We want to ask our neighbors to take their yard trimmings and debris to the “D” Street parking lot adjacent to the Jacksonville Public Works yard, adjacent to the Library and accessed off of “C” Street.
This should be a great […]
Alice was born October 7, 1938 in Torrance, Pennsylvania. She was the youngest of five siblings. As a child, Alice was bright, an instigator and troublemaker at her multi-grade one room schoolhouse. She graduated from Derry Area High School where she was a drum majorette.
Alice started college at Indiana State Teacher’s College in Pennsylvania but […]
City Council Meeting, April 3, 2018—Administrator Alvis opened the meeting by referring staff and council to a memo drafted by Planning Department Director Ian Foster. In his memo, Foster cited recent comments made during a 3/27/18 council meeting concerning a parcel of land being considered for a dog park, located adjacent to the Pheasant Meadows […]
Climate activists keep telling us that Southern Oregon is warming, that the snowpack is dwindling, and that water shortages and droughts are likely to become more commonplace. Meanwhile, others tell us there’s nothing happening and we don’t need to worry or take action. So, what do the data tell us? Who is correct?
Fortunately, through its […]
Voter Registration Deadline Approaching – Primary Election
The voter registration deadline for the May 15, 2018, Primary Election is April 24, 2018, for people registering to vote in Oregon for the first time or for those that want to change party affiliation.
If you are currently registered to vote in the state of Oregon, but have moved, […]
JACKSONVILLE, OR — Britt Music & Arts Festival has announced the remaining concert schedule for 2018, doubling the number of shows that have previously been announced while bringing big variety and big names. Britt is excited to announce concerts with 80’s sensation Boy George & Culture Club (Sept. 11), rising alt-pop stars Portugal. The Man, […]
How Gray is my Valley: Enlightened Observations About Being Old
For over a decade Rogue Valley (Southern Oregon) retiree Sharon Johnson has written a weekly column (now syndicated nation-wide) titled Healthy Aging in which she shares observations and insights, serious and humorous, about life through a 70+ year lens. How Gray is My Valley captures the […]
Whether we like to ski, hike, bike, boat, fish, hunt, camp, photograph, drink the water, breath the air, or just hang out, for many Southern Oregonians our precious environment is the region’s greatest treasure. But nature and humanity present challenges to the environment we value.
Many of us are concerned about one or more of the […]
The Soroptimist International club will hold their 16th Annual Garden Tour on Saturday, May 19, 2018. This popular, local event is a favorite with gardeners and garden lovers in the Rogue Valley. Each year a variety of beautiful gardens are chosen to highlight the creative ways that outdoor spaces can be utilized. This year, you’ll […]
