This past, week, I received two newsletters. The first, from writer Maria Popova, shared an excerpt from author Katherine May’s book Wintering, about the quiet, difficult seasons of life and how to allow them. The second, from Eileen at Rebel Heart Books, described the loss of her husband’s parents to COVID-19 […]
If you are in the process of buying a house, you will see there are a variety of factors that make up a home’s level of affordability; it’s not just the purchase price, but also interest rate, taxes, maintenance costs and any other expenses associated with purchasing and […]
In the last few years, we have seen housing demand explode in Southern Oregon and far exceed the available supply. It only seems to be getting worse. Currently, there is less than a month’s supply of homes for sale and less than a 1% vacancy rate for rental homes. […]
This month, I want to address something that several citizens have commented on—which may be an uncomfortable subject for some. I tried several approaches to this subject, but this subject is hard to write about for some reason. I tried scientific, humorous, dead-pan and folksy… none seemed […]
I recently came across a March 1862 letter that Cornelius Beekman wrote to his parents in New York. After talking about how tough the winter had been locally, he wrote, “I must have a girl some way and can not get one in this Country to suit me…. I would like […]
Thank You!—On behalf of the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery, I want to sincerely thank everyone who turned out for our Community Clean-up Day on Saturday, March 27. The event allowed us to get into areas of the cemetery grounds that do not always receive regular attention. You made a big difference and please know […]
Hanley Farm’s 2021 signature spring event, the Annual Heritage Plant Sale, will be held LIVE at Hanley Farm! Admission is free. The sale will be setup much in the manner as the 2020 Wreath-Making event—tables will be safely distanced from one another, COVID-19 protocols will be observed and you […]
It’s been a while since I have shared the story of how Britt began. In case you’re not familiar with the history of the Peter Britt Gardens Music & Arts Festival, it all started with a dream in the summer of 1962.
Two friends—Sam McKinney and John Trudeau—had a dream […]
The financial response to this ongoing (and hopefully soon subsiding) pandemic has been enormous. And while that has helped to stabilize at-risk households and to boost many stock indexes to record highs, it has also led to increasing concerns about prospects for inflation. Total Covid-related Federal expenditures are approaching […]
Quietly, they came to feed and potentially nest and raise their young. One day, the old city reservoir in Forest Park was bone dry. The next day, after a bit of rain fell on the parched uplands, it filled, and water flowed quietly through the boulders in the old spillway beneath […]
The following is from the ‘Soul Matters’ archives, back when we went places and saw people.
I was out with a friend the other evening enjoying a real Manhattan in a real bar. In the course of conversation my friend said, in a rather Eeyorish way (i.e. witty, humorous and severely cynical), […]
Oregon has a long history of land use planning to protect farm and forest lands. Oregon’s economic dependence on agricultural and timber production combined with concerns over loss of these valuable resource lands and the potential for conflicts with incompatible uses led the Legislature to protect agricultural lands […]
This April 24 & 25 is Hanley Farm’s signature spring event—the Annual Heritage Plant Sale. The last group plant sale was in 2019. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we needed to consider another, safer approach to the 2020 plant sale. In 2020, the Hanley Farm Event Planning Committee […]
Adopt-A-Block Kick-Off March 2021—This new program being co-sponsored by the Jacksonville Boosters Club and the Friends of Jacksonville Historic Cemetery, has had an amazing response from residents of Jacksonville, Ashland, Medford and Central Point. Needless to say, with a cemetery the size of Jacksonville’s, we still have blocks available to be adopted and cared for. […]
Jacksonville is “celebrating the Shamrock” this month so Historic Jacksonville, Inc. is going Irish by highlighting one of our early settlers, Patrick J. Ryan.
In the 1840s, over half of the immigrants coming to America were Irish. Patrick J. Ryan, a 13-year-old native of County Tipperary, Ireland, was one of them. He […]
The pandemic has been an agent of change; years of change have happened in just a few months. We have seen the change in behaviors and habits that have affected many industries short term and long term. Travel, eating out and live events have all but disappeared. E-commerce grew […]
A long time ago in a memory far, far away, when the word “pandemic” likely triggered blank stares, your diligent Unfettered duo wrote an annual column related to the year’s Academy Award nominations. This year, as we write this, the nominations have yet to be announced, while the awards ceremony, […]
“In life, expect many transformations,” is a quote from an author I enjoy. Art Presence Art Center has put this into practice many times of late. Our expectations of change are filled with hope as we are open for another month to share the art of many fine artists and craftsmen. The experience of seeing […]
We have been lucky to have fire protection in Jacksonville for many decades. Organized in 1883, Jacksonville’s original volunteer fire department, Engine Company #1, responded to the call of the Jacksonville Fire Hall bell well into the 1950s. Eventually, it was re-organized into a professional department with […]
When our state shut down in late March of last year, all in-person Residency classroom visits, BrittKids Koncerts, and Britt Festival Orchestra Fellowships were cancelled. To try to replace these live programs, we created several video series: BrittVids, BrittKids Koncert Video Series, Britt Bridge Series, and Scout’s Sing-a-long Songs. […]
Passion is any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, an outburst of strong desire…the dictionary has twelve answers to define this word. We are all now in the throes of intense and fervid feelings as we have faced this pandemic and political strife. Art Presence Art Center has given us all a place to enjoy […]
When I was giving birth to my daughter, there came a point—about twelve hours into my unmedicated odyssey—where I was done. I looked at my midwife, bleary and exhausted, and said, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
I think a whole lot of us are feeling something akin to that level […]
There is a time when the tumult and chaos of life in a 24/7 news cycle breaks the spirit of the bravest consumer. Overwhelmed by the cantankerous rantings of so many talking heads, the appeal of a timeout spent in the musty cold fog of our mid-winter world becomes undeniable. The […]
Perhaps no state in our country is cited as often as Oregon in urban planning literature for its progressive transportation and land use policies and purported success in containing urban sprawl. One of the most significant parts of this effort is formation of Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs) around […]
We have all been through quite a stretch since last winter. Life as we knew it is different and not by choice. Some days it seems we have given up much that we will never regain. We miss our freedom of travel; dining out; the movies; […]
When home prices increase in an area, the highest percentage increases happen for the lowest-priced homes. The greatest demand in any market is for the most affordable homes. For example, 711 Nobility in Southwest Medford sold for $223,000 in December 2015 and then sold again five years later in […]
During the pandemic, the cemetery grounds not only provided plenty of space for people to get out and safely enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise, it also allowed our volunteers to continue important work.
A breakdown of volunteer hours for 2020 is as follows—Volunteers contributed 211:30 hours cleaning head stones and monuments in the […]
Many of Jacksonville’s early merchants were Jewish, fleeing wars and persecution in their homelands by immigrating to the United States. Most of the town’s Jewish merchants moved on to Medford, San Francisco, New York, and other cosmopolitan centers when the railroad bypassed Jacksonville in the 1880s in favor of the flat […]
One evening in 1972, a folk singer ran over a skunk. When he got home, he spent fifteen minutes jotting down a tune about the accident, calling it, Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road. The singer’s name was Loudon Wainwright III.
The early ‘70s was a musically transitional time. […]
Performing arts venues are still shuttered with no earned income and fixed overhead. Over the fall of last year, ninety percent of venues reported they could be forced to close forever without meaningful federal relief; hundreds have already permanently shuttered, never to return.
Since April 2020, Britt Music and Arts […]
By the time you read this, I hope we’re seeing some moisture in our fall skies. I can’t complain about the balmy fall weather that kept my jacket, raincoat, and boots in storage. Working/walking in our forest lands has been quite pleasant. The chilly mornings have warmed rapidly with the […]
Well, we’re almost there my friends. We’re at the finish line of 2020: the craziest, weirdest, most tumultuous, contentious, painful, scary, exhausting years most of us have ever seen. The year that we stopped asking, “Anything else?” because the answer was always, “Why, yes, as a matter of fact: Here!” […]
Most property owners can understand why they should get a building permit for new construction or maybe even a home addition. But what about smaller remodeling projects? Do you need a permit to reroof your home or build a backyard deck? What if you want to do […]
UPDATE at press-time—Because of a freeze imposed on Oregon due to a surge in Coronavirus, Art Presence Art Center will be closed through December 2nd. You may enjoy a Virtual Tour of the exhibit by accessing it through the Jacksonville Review website, where all the donated artwork is highlighted for Artist victims of the fires. […]
Back in April (hard to believe that was this year), our column revealed that we’d completed another book, titled The Art of Star Trek: Discovery.
The timing was less than propitious. The world had just been smacked by a pandemic. No one, as yet, realized how far-reaching an impact it […]
I just reviewed the 2020 Jackson County Real Estate Forecast we ran in the Review one year ago. In it, we predicted that in 2020 would see over 4,000 homes selling, with the median price surpassing the $300,000 mark. As I write this article, it looks like we […]
Well, here it is… my last column as Mayor. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to write. I mean, what do I say at the end of a ten-year run? “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” What drivel! When is sorrow sweet? If you’re sorrowful you’re not […]
Buon Natale! Happy Hanukkah! Feliz Navidad! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever your nationality, whatever your beliefs, we wish you all health, peace and happiness—not only for this year, but all the years to come. Peace be with you.
This year we’ve struggled together […]
This year the COVID-19 pandemic systematically shut down the entire live music economy and ecosystem. Live music venues were the first to close and will be the last to reopen. Iconic assembly spaces like Britt Music and Arts Festival now face an unknown future. This summer the I-5 […]
2020 is not only a seminal election year, it also marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which gave women full voting rights. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee tipped the balance, becoming the 36th state to ratify the Amendment. Their […]
It seems absolutely impossible that three communities so close to us have been decimated to such a horrific degree. Taking a drive down Hwy 99, I found myself weeping and totally shocked by the devastation. I tried to put myself in the place of someone having to evacuate or, God forbid, lose their home. For […]
Fall finally comes to our woodland areas. Crunchy leaves give way to damp blankets of color beneath the naked stems, branches, and trunks of our deciduous brethren. Fungi again bravely venture forth, reclaiming a world denied them during the harsh summer’s drought. The forests are quieter now, beginning the long slumber […]
Shelley Bone China is simply lovely and was made to be used… and used often. Its mixture has a high concentration of beef bone with clay and stone to make it delicate and strong. Shelley is beautiful to look at and pleasant to the touch. Detailed artists spent many hours […]
In 2019, House Bill (HB) 2001 was adopted and gained national attention as the first state in the nation to ban the century-old practice of reserving land for a single type of residential development. HB 2001 requires larger cities with populations over 25,000 such as Medford to allow […]
The U.S. economy is a mess. The continuing coronavirus pandemic has led to scores of business closures, the worst unemployment since the Great Depression and the steepest economic contraction on record.
Yet, despite it all, the U.S. housing market has been spared and is experiencing a record year. In our […]
Recognize this song title? It’s the song of every immigrant who ever came to America after leaving home, family and friends behind seeking a better life. Immigrants like Irving Berlin who wrote it, a Russian Jew escaping Russian tyranny… Einstein escaping German genocide… or Gloria Estefan whose […]
Just when we thought things couldn’t get worse… bam, they did with the terrible wildfires in early September. Our hearts and prayers go out to our neighbors and friends who lost so much. I am currently trying to determine what cemeteries may have been damaged by the fires to see if any help is needed.
We […]
In 2009, Sue Miler and her, husband, Dave Doi, moved across country from Washington, D.C. to an active retirement life in Jacksonville. Like all featured Sensational Seniors, she has a compelling life story that began on October 27, 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was born into a large Catholic family, and […]
You’re drifting…warm…cozy…comfortable…
Peaceful.
And then something blasts from the radio on your nightstand—the one too close to your ear.
Maybe it’s Sonny & Cher, singing “I Got You Babe.” Maybe it’s Eric Teel saying something about a virtual pledge drive.
Instinct arm-wrestles with common sense…and wins! You manage to lash out, smack that bloody […]
Without question, Covid-19 has posed new and previously unimaginable challenges for Britt Music and Arts Festival. However, within every challenge is perhaps an even greater opportunity. We are inspired by how the community of Jacksonville has adapted and moved forward. This global pandemic has made it difficult for many […]