I grew up in the Midwest, where my mother was the de facto urgent care clinician for the neighborhood—raising five children taught her all about scratchy throats and scraped knees—and my father helped install everyone’s cement driveways, which endure to this day. Community and generosity defined our way of life, be it around our backyard […]
Southern Oregon has become a destination for many mountain biking adventures. At least five areas within 25 miles of Jacksonville have trails dedicated to mountain biking while most hiking trails in the region are also open to two-wheel recreation. Jacksonville is no slouch in this regard with over 40 miles of […]
Preserving an image that the eye sees is indeed a miracle of modern times. How fantastic would it be to have an actual snapshot image of the babe in the manger, or the building of the pyramids?
Fill in the blanks. Thousands of years of human history are left to the […]
Most people don’t know what a Reverse Mortgage is; and, because they are relatively new, there is a lack of understanding. The reality is that Reverse Mortgages (RM) may be an answer to one of the biggest economic problems facing us in the United States, which is that many […]
It’s October, Hanley Farm’s scariest month with Ghosties and Ghoulies and things that go BUMP in the night. And, I must admit, it’s one of my favorite months at the farm!
The 8th-annual Scarecrow Festival is October 6 & 7. You’re invited to join us, create your own scarecrow, and […]
This will be our 12th year of offering these very special, guided Living History tours in Jacksonville’s Pioneer Cemetery. The approximately one-hour tours will depart from the D Street parking lot every 15 minutes starting at 3:30pm and […]
Unless you were there, you probably didn’t know about the Pub Crawl.
After the third rehearsal was smoked out, Teddy decided to hold meetings with musicians who wished to brainstorm alternative performance opportunities. It had become clear that we were unlikely to be able to rehearse anymore at the Hill, […]
October Imaginarium: Bewitched & Beguiled—After a smoky, searing summer, Fall is finally here and the October Imaginarium is back, too! We called to regional artists for art in a “Bewitched & Beguiled” theme and we’re thrilled with the works they have submitted so far! The show opens Friday, October 5 and continues every Friday, Saturday […]
Jacksonville resident, Dave Mills, has a compelling story about how hard work, determination and a supportive spouse will allow anyone to be successful. Dave Mills is proof of this—while in high school, he started as a “lot boy” for the Medford Skinner-Butler Cadillac dealership and just recently retired as the co-owner […]
I thought I’d put the election off till next month. You already know how I feel about this terrible meals tax proposal.
Have you noticed a lack of civil discourse in these times? Of course you have. Just turn on the television news and cable channels and the […]
A Cup of Conversation – October 2018
I loathe local politics. It is counter-intuitive for a small-town merchant to open his mouth on any issue splitting business along two polar extremes. I’ve avoided this stupidity for most of our three decades doing business in Jacksonville.
Having said this, there are times when keeping silent out of self-preservation […]
This month’s “Sensational Seniors” subjects are well-known Jacksonville residents Terry and Paula Block Erdmann. While their monthly Jacksonville Review column “The Unfettered Critic” provides insight into their Hollywood days, it touches only the surface of this intriguing couple. My two-hour interview with them covered their wonderful journey through the backdoor of […]
Dogs are entertainment. Unfettered entertainment, if you will. Life without dogs is possible…but for people like us, it’s far less enjoyable.
Dogs also are a job. We take care of them, 24/7, from the day we let them into our lives to their last passing moments. We’ve written about dogs before, […]
When you poke around a store like Pickety Place, you sometimes find objects that you have no idea what they are or what the purpose for them could possibly be.
Displayed with a pair of unused, vintage, white leather kid gloves, is a wooden scissor-like item. This is called a glove […]
With the close of this year’s 56th Britt Orchestra season, we can now reflect on our successes and challenges. As we all know, our orchestra season evolved and ultimately ended with unprecedented conditions. However, our orchestra, board, and patrons made this season special in extraordinary ways. In spite of […]
I will be blunt. Before I became a real estate broker, I didn’t think all that highly of the profession. I had been working as a city land use planner and had many occasions where buyers and their agents didn’t do their due diligence until after the property […]
2018 started out with a bang and we saw the median price of a home in Jackson County increase to $285,000—up from $194,500 in 2013. This means the average home has seen its value increase $18,000 a year. The number of homes sold has also increased this year by […]
It’s here! The Southern Oregon Historical Society hosts its second annual music festival Saturday, September 8, at Hanley Farm, the “Bluegrass Promenade.” Rainy & the Rattlesnakes, Siskiyou Summit and Waking Hazel perform music that blends Irish, Scotch and English folk traditions—the very best of bluegrass classic and contemporary sounds.
Music […]
On behalf of the Board of Directors for the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery, I would like to thank our wonderful docents for presenting such interesting and informative programs at this year’s History Saturdays and our Tuesday Evening Cemetery Strolls. The time each puts into researching and preparing was sincerely appreciated by all who attended. […]
On September 22, 2018, the Friends of St. Joseph’s are hosting “A Bid for History”—a dinner and auction to support the ongoing care and preservation of Jacksonville’s classical 1868 Catholic Rectory, a significant piece of local history. However, it only became the Catholic Rectory in 1875 when Reverend Francis Xavier Blanchet […]
September 2018 Exhibitions
Jacksonville: People, Places and Things—The member artists of Art Presence Art Center are back after a long hiatus during which local plein air works reveled in the gallery’s spotlight. This month’s display of member artworks focuses on a Jacksonville theme and we look forward to sharing with you their many appealing renditions of […]
The 9th annual Jacksonville-Applegate Rotary Club’s Salmon Bake has become a beloved local event. This year, it will be on September 16 starting at 5:00pm at Hanley Farm…smoke permitting. (There is a back-up location if the smoke continues to linger). The evening includes live music by Danielle Kelly Soul Project, an auction, wine raffle and […]
Before you go camping this summer, stop in to Pickety Place, pick up some vintage items and then go “old school” camping.
Take a 3 or 5-gallon crock instead of a cooler to keep your items cold. It might be heavy, but if you are near a very cold mountain stream, […]
I am sitting in my camper at Lake of the Woods as I write this article, reflecting about life. I usually write about land use or real estate issues, but summer is upon me and I want to talk about this wonderful Rogue Valley we call home. The […]
We’re planning a wedding. Our youngest found her soul-mate. He is one very fortunate young man. It’s a good thing I really like him. It would have been an uphill battle all the way, spoken of course in the narrative of the “father of the bride.”
The toast is being […]
Southern Oregon has attracted retirees for years with its four seasons, culture, wine industry and outdoor activities, all combined with great healthcare and affordable housing. For the last sixteen years, we have been helping hundreds of people find their perfect retirement home and along the way we have learned […]
Summertime and the livin’ is easy…
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high
Those lyrics Ira wrote to his brother George’s music seem very appropriate as we head into August and the heart of summer. Summertime! The mere word brings thoughts of picnics on the lawn, blankets on the beach and boating on the lake. For […]
History Saturday in the Cemetery, August 11, 10:00-11:30am—This month we present, “The History of Orchards and Vineyards in Southern Oregon,” presented by Gail Nicholson and Pam Smith. The lecture will be followed by a short walking tour of gravesites related to the topic.
Tuesday Evening Cemetery Stroll, August 14, […]
The “Sensational Senior” candidate for this month is arguably Jacksonville’s best known and loved citizen, who through 51 years of teaching has positively impacted thousands of young lives. As always, my approach is to start from the beginning, and in Larry’s case, his was on July 3, 1940 when he and […]
This August 25th marks the 100th anniversary of illustrious composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein’s birth.
And this column in the august August Jacksonville Review marks our 100th contribution as your ever-faithful Unfettered Critics. As CE3K’s Roy Neary said to his bewildered family: “This means something.”
Or not. Maybe it’s just mashed potatoes.
We often struggle […]
Everyone loves a love story and this one is so special that we have decided to reprint excerpts from a previously-published story. It began back in 1972 (not long after Britt began), when two Pan Am crew members staying in the same hotel on a stopover in London discovered […]
It was a great day at the farm! Our first open-house Sunday featured the Rusty Relics, who answered questions and explained restoration techniques they used to restore the antique tractors on display. Docents conducted house tours throughout the historic Hanley House while visitors toured the Shakespeare Garden—the newest addition […]
ART PRESENCE IS ON HIATUS THROUGH THE END OF AUGUST 2018
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
~ Thomas Merton
“You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.”
~ George Bernard Shaw
Southern Oregon Plein Air 2018-—We hope you were able to […]
My Sensational Seniors feature for this issue of the Jacksonville Review, Linda Graham, just gets under the wire as a senior, but she had a compelling story to tell. A native Oregonian, her life began on April 7, 1956 at the old Sacred Heart Hospital in Medford. Her parents were Jim […]
The saga began like this: In 1958, actor Peter Lawford shared a story told by a gas station attendant with buddy Frank Sinatra. Lawford thought the fanciful caper about robbing five Las Vegas casinos in one night would make for a fun movie project. Sinatra playfully upped the ante: “Forget […]
Can you imagine a world without art and music? Who would want to? You probably have seen children dancing and bouncing to music or seen toddlers banging on pots and pans. Because children are natural musicians, this musical interest comes easily and can be cultivated. Who will be our […]
With our warm, dry summers and mild winters, lavender (Lavandula) grows well in gardens in Southern Oregon; indeed, some local farmers have made lavender their principle crop. So it is that during the months of June and July, residents and visitors experience the aromatic and visual delights to be found along the Southern Oregon Lavender […]
Our busy lives are full of tension and stressful events. Some are fun, while others are more challenging. Though situations and emotions can cause us to feel stressed, they are not necessarily the cause of stress in and of themselves. How we engage and choose to cope with them is the real cause of stress. It’s not what […]
#1: After careful deliberation in the wake of last fall’s City Council meeting in which only 50% of the councilors showed support for Jacksonville’s Bee City Certification, the Jacksonville Bee City committee has reorganized and changed our name to the Jacksonville Pollinator Society. The team is growing, and we are […]
In this month’s “Sensational Seniors” article, I honor the spirit of two well-known and well-loved Jacksonville ladies, Lou McBride and Donna McNurlen, known by their business name as the “Two Macs.” It’s only fitting that these two long-time friends and self-motivated and hard-working entrepreneurs both passed away in January of 2018. […]
Time after time, we get calls here at the shop from people asking us to sell sets of dishes owned by a relative. While we sometimes buy, a determining factor in doing so is, “what is it you’re trying to sell?” If it’s Nippon, Limoges, Spode, or Noritake, they’re lovely […]
Selling a home is not for sissies. Between the last-minute showings, scurrying to clean up the pile of toys and stuff more junk into the junk drawer, the stress of negotiations when an offer finally does comes in, and wondering what hidden issues the home inspection may bring, […]
The surface of a print can never match the luscious textural variations of a painting. Whether created on canvas, wood, or mottled watercolor paper, original paintings have a touchable quality that sets them apart.
When you choose an original piece of artwork and bring it into your personal space, it becomes a focal point. Whether your […]
Last weekend, we had a great time in Ashland. It was a date night and we had dinner at MAS, a new restaurant serving a pre-fixed, eleven-course dinner with a pairing of Sake or Wine. After that, we stayed the night at the historic Ashland Springs Hotel. When we […]
In my column a couple months back, I mentioned that volunteer John McGlothlin and I came across some small headstones and decorative pieces while cleaning out the storage cabinets in the Sexton’s Tool House. One of those headstones, along with its base, belonged to little Beatrice Breitbarth, who died on January 12, 1869 at the […]
This summer you can again experience the world of 19th Century banking when you step behind the counter of the oldest bank in the Pacific Northwest, preserved intact since its proprietor’s death in 1915. Established by Cornelius C. Beekman as a gold dust office in 1856 and moved to its current […]
Anyone who has been to the Britt Music and Arts Festival knows that it offers an experience like no other. Throughout the region there are different outdoor music venues for both the young and old to attend, which seems to suggest something. Going to outdoor music venues gives us […]
We all know that the Britt hill is steeped in history. As such, every time construction projects are planned, archaeology is an important first step. I had a conversation with Jeff Applen of Sore Foot Archaeology, who served as the archaeologist for the Britt Festivals’ most recent project. After the planning […]
Despite occasional downpours, we had a terrific turnout at our annual Heritage Plant Sale. Intrepid gardeners arrived early each day to find that perfect piece of history to add to their landscape. There were as many as 50 different varieties of plants to choose from, including purple and lavender […]
Frequent visitors to Jacksonville’s Forest Park have been excited by two recent trail improvements: Rail Trail’s rehabilitation and a new Rattlesnake Gulch Trail. Spring is a great time to explore these parts of the park with their endemic wildflowers waxing and waning through their respective seasons. Hot days will soon be […]