This month I’m taking a break from the ongoing series of stories about 19th Century life in Jacksonville to pay tribute to a special person—Georgia Curran Scott Lind. On August 20, 2014, Jacksonville lost this 20th Century pioneer three weeks short of her 96th birthday. Georgia experienced almost all of the […]
The Britt season has come to an end, but that doesn’t mean our need for live music has ended. We love live music. In fact, as Woody Allen explained in (Terry’s favorite movie), Annie Hall, “Love is too weak a word.” Well, Woody invented some new ones for us: We […]
I am dedicating this entire column to the Britt Society, the unsung heroes of Britt Festivals. Did you know that the Britt Society is a separate non-profit 501c3 organization with their own Board of Directors and membership made up of 300 fantastic and active people? Established in 1964, its […]
The sweet-faced woman behind the counter turns to you and smiles a friendly welcome. This is Joelle Manning Graves, proprietor of Sterling Creek Antiques, located in the historic Orth Building on South Oregon Street in Jacksonville. Her kindly vibe and deep wealth of knowledge about the things she sells […]
The tapestry of a man’s life is woven with many living threads but only a rare few actually color the soul. True friendship is purified by heat and pressure. The rest is recycled in the wisdom of choosing carefully those with whom we share our time. We’ve heard that […]
As the cooler weather rolls in and the colorful change of autumn arrives, an impressive bounty is being harvested and processed for winter at Hanley Farm. Amidst the harvest, time is made for planting garlic and hardy winter greens, mulching garden beds, shearing sheep, collecting walnuts, and breeding the […]
With Oktoberfest beginning later this month, it seems an appropriate time to celebrate Southern Oregon’s pioneer community of German-speaking settlers. Although comprising only a quarter of the Rogue Valley’s population, first and second-generation immigrants from what are now Germany, Switzerland, and Austria were the dominant ethnic element, contributing significantly to the tenor and scope of […]
Prior to moving to Southern Oregon in 2002, I had just sold eBusiness Design, a web development company that specialized in helping large companies use the internet to market, improve customer service, distribute their product directly to consumers or just to inform their customers. When I arrived in Southern […]
By the time you read this, school will be back in session and I will be doing the happy dance, back in my bliss, working on the next book. But today it is early August, and I am trying to write while entertaining/mollifying/feeding my lovely children without benefit of an entertaining […]
Now there’s a word that can strike fear into the hearts and minds of otherwise stout-hearted men and women. How many times have we all heard someone say, “I wish they’d stop changing things all the time,” or “Why do we need to change… I like things […]
When Pattie Bakke looks customers in the eye at the Mustard Seed Café and asks “How’s breakfast?” she really wants to know, and when they respond, she really listens – looking for a way to lighten hearts and make people happy.
Pattie was born in Hermosa Beach, California in a […]
Farm dinners are one of the hottest dining experiences in Oregon this year, with Portland Monthly magazine devoting a full issue to them in April. Everything from dining in vineyards, to 30-mile bike rides ending at a long farm table, to river trips with farm-fresh meals served. Here in the Rogue Valley we are lucky […]
We can easily recognize something being beyond ordinary outside of ourselves but we often take for granted that our own body/mind system is exquisite. When we connect to the deeper part of ourselves, our higher self, we can feel that we are simply divine! When we experience a moment of beauty, […]
I’ll bet most of you reading this article will have at least one piece of graniteware in your possession. You may have a white dinner plate with red trim under one of your houseplants; perhaps you have a black speckled roasting pan in your garage waiting for Thanksgiving; a large […]
It’s a two-cup morning,” she said, and off for a refill she went. I followed, because indeed it was.
The mornings after those eternal nights of early parenthood can send us into a tailspin, where everything seems a blur and nothing seems easy. They are the mornings you decide all those mamas […]
This month, my “neighbor’s garden” is truly a celebration for me. Not only did I strike it rich with finding a “city chicken garden,” but the gardener, Cindi Hickey, purchased my Blue Door Garden Store on August 12th!
While discussing this column, I naturally thought it would be fun to feature […]
For Father’s Day I received a basket of gifts one of which is a trivia game called Chat Pack, a collection of conversation starters for around the dinner table. One of the questions asked what would be the most common word people use to describe you. Keep in mind […]
As I write this, we have just completed the final weekend of the 2014 Classical Festival. Wow! I do believe Teddy saved the best for last. On closing night, Mahler’s piece was simply breathtaking. I mean that literally; I had to remind myself to breath as I sat mesmerized by the powerfully-moving music.
What a whirlwind […]
The Unfettered Critic – September 2014
Watching TV has never been so easy. Or so hard.
Remember when three networks—CBS, NBC and ABC—scheduled our viewing for us? Today we download favorite shows to “devices” like smart phones, tablets, computers and (insert new tech here!) in order to view them whenever we want. Now dozens of cable networks, […]
On a recent trip to Greece, I was very surprised that everywhere we went we would see homes that were only half-built and looked abandoned. When I asked if the economy was really that bad to justify all these abandoned homes, the response shocked […]
The power of intention is a phenomenon that has been scientifically measured in many studies, like the one Dr. Masaru Emoto did with water: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAvzsjcBtx8
This particular study took water samples infused with spoken and written intentions like peace, love, truth etc. The frozen water revealed beautiful, symmetrical crystal formations. When […]
Every generation of children and parents have experienced some sort of grief based on generalized behavior and chosen parenting style. I imagine the Cave Dwelling Generation told their Hunting & Gathering Generation children that their Stone Age Generation children were doomed dreamers, wasting their time chiseling away, at what, a wheel? […]
On a bright Friday morning in early May, I was standing in-line alongside Joelle Graves surrounded by others waiting to get inside a local estate sale. This time, it was the estate of Marjorie Edens, one of Jacksonville’s most beloved residents who had recently passed away, years before her time.
Bumping […]
Summer is definitely here with temperatures commonly soaring above 100 degrees, making it a challenge to keep our landscaping and lawn looking green and healthy. With current summer conditions, the demand for water can be extreme but there are ways to keep your water use low and your landscape looking […]
Lisa and Josh Carroll have achieved an amazing goal – providing nearly all of their vegetable needs for the year out of their own garden! Simply calling their hoop house and huge vegetable space a “garden” is an understatement, though.
Two years ago, Lisa and Josh made the decision to try […]
The city recently mailed out a notice to all merchants that city personnel can no longer spend any time collecting on slow-paying accounts, specifically business license and parking district participation fees. The fines for late payment will be assessed at or up to a thousand dollars per day as […]
How many of you remember one of the most common commands in the English language appearing in the business community following the end of World War 2? The command was short… one word… and it seemed to be posted wherever one worked, especially in the tabulating department… […]
The past two Pioneer Profiles have partially explored the public persona of Peter Britt, the pioneer Swiss photographer famed for documenting Southern Oregon’s people, activities, and landscapes, and father of the region’s commercial orchard, wine, and ornamental horticulture industries.
Rug Hooking began in America in the New England states as a craft of poverty, a “country craft,” done out of sheer necessity and done in isolation. While wealthy homes had woven carpets from woolen mills, poorer families were using every available scrap of fiber and hooking them into loosely-woven […]
Ordinarily, one’s reason for installing a retaining wall is for pure function, but in many cases, retaining walls can add depth, beauty and interest to a sloped or steeply-graded area.
There are many options when choosing materials for a new retaining wall. The style, color, and texture are all important but […]
There’s a meme going around these days called “Spiritual But Not Religious,”and it’s growing like gangbusters. (There is also the lesser-discussed “Religious But Not Spiritual,” which is a topic for another day.) Like all memes, it hops from one person to the next without great awareness of where it came from […]
We were taken aback last summer when a friend grumbled that George Gershwin’s l925 composition “Concerto in F” shouldn’t have been on a Britt conductor’s playlist. “The piece is one of our favorites,” we countered. “The guest pianist was exceptional and the orchestra delivered a brilliant performance.”
“It’s not classical,” he […]
My hope is that 2014 will be remembered as the year of accessibility: accessible music, accessible venue and accessible Music Director.
Who’s afraid of classical music? Lots of people, apparently. Well, I am here to tell you that classical music is not just for the well-seasoned listener; it’s for everyone! […]
It’s summer. Guests are coming. Trips are being planned. We are busy planning all the exciting events we can fit into our summer. The first thing we compromise because we are too busy is our self-care routines. We skip workouts, yoga class and meditation, and we can end up with high […]
From September to June, we play the part. We diligently go through another school year. We make sure the kids have shining new supplies, presentable clothes, (unless you have teenagers) and healthy snacks, (which is more for us, because we all know they prefer Oreos over homemade anything!) We plan and […]
“Thoroughly unprepared, we take the step into the afternoon of life. Worse still, we take this step with the false presupposition that our truths and our ideals will serve us as hitherto. But we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning, for what was great […]
In the 5+ years I have done this column, this month’s garden is at the top of my favorites list! Judy Hoevet and her husband Ken moved into their home on Laurel Lane three years ago, relocating for the weather and to be closer to family. Although the house was […]
Memorial Day afternoon a man driving down Oregon Street suffered a cardiac arrest then plowed into the face of GoodBean Jacksonville but not before crushing table and chairs just outside the entrance. The one hundred fifty-five year old solid brick pillar absorbed the car’s massive blow. Only by the […]
This June marked the 70th anniversary of “D Day,” when a brave and mighty fleet of soldiers landed on Normandy’s beach, where virtually the entire first wave of Americans, 10,000 in all, was annihilated by enemy fire—one of the most difficult missions ever carried-out by our soldiers […]
In June, Pioneer Profiles highlighted Peter Britt’s renown as photographer, artist, and documenter of pioneer life in Southern Oregon. However, Britt was also an avid gardener and is considered to be the father...
You’ve seen a great food movie or two, right? One that teases your salivary glands the way a romance tugs at your heartstrings? Tampopo (1985) presents a bowl of noodles as more sensuous than sex. Babette’s Feast (1987) tempts with lustful terrapin soup, quail in vol-au-vents and blinis. Like Water […]
The combined projects of the City of Jacksonville’s First Street sidewalk project, the Booster Club’s lighting project and the Britt Festival’s Performance Garden project resulted in over $2 million dollars of improvements to the community. These dollars were invested in Jacksonville because collectively, we believe in the future of our […]
This summer’s Britt season offers a diversity of live performances that create a sense of discovery and community...
I recently heard a local country singer on the radio talking about the difficulty of hitting it big in the music business. He shared how, one day, feeling tired and discouraged, he’d heard his phone ring and decided not to answer it. Later, when he listened to his messages, he discovered that...
Is there a difference in the health benefits between practicing yoga and going to the gym? Yes, there are many, but if your goals are just to keep fit and/or lose weight they can both accomplish that to varying degrees...
Independent, proactive, tenacious, innovative, adventurous, courageous, energetic, creative, spontaneous, curious, confident, persistent; all essential qualities for an entrepreneur or business mogul.
I bet you have something “Britt” in your house, like a poster. Britt posters adorn the walls of the Bella Union going back to the 1960’s. The Jacksonville Inn has collected autographed posters from the days of the Festivals within a Festival—Jazz Festival; Dance Festival and more. Jacksonville Elementary School has several framed posters adorning their...
Ordinarily, my column is about the “style” of a garden. This month, the “style” I encountered was not at all what I expected. It’s amazing to me how gardens “evolve” and how one’s gardening side naturally pops-out. Bonnie Selvitella will be the first to tell you she’s not a gardener.
This month next year, my lovely wife and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. That’s a quarter-century ago. It’s also the same year we started a life and business in Southern Oregon. As we grow older, more and more people ask us how we met, how we got started, how we made it all work.
It’s easy to add splashes of color to empty and challenging spaces on patios, porches and decks. This time of year, with flowers and landscapes in-bloom all around us, open spaces on patios, porches and decks can be challenging to soften due to a lack of color and/or greenery. One of […]