Lorna Byrne home project:
LBMS students, others spruce up site
From our weekly issue dated November 26, 2008
Phase 2 of a grass-roots clean-up project was held Nov. 18 at the former home of 103-year-old retired teacher Lorna Byrne in rural Cave Junction by 22 Lorna Byrne Middle School (LBMS) students.
Huge overgrowths of shrubs, vines, bamboo, and weeds were cut down and pulled from the house by members of the LBMS Chapter of National Junior Honor Society.
The LBMS crew. (Photo by Linda Corey-Woodward for Illinois Valley News)
The students were overseen and helped by adviser Charlotte Baker, Illinois Valley Family Coalition’s Karen Yanase, neighbors Mark & Judy Russo and Gary Manfull. Yanase, Manfull and the Russos also were there on behalf of the Wild Blackberry Festival Committee.
LBMS provided transportation and lunches for the students. Illinois Valley Lions Club provided a portable outhouse, and Outback Septic Service will pump it for free. Enthusiastic community volunteers are helping to move along the clean-up project this fall.
Dead trees and branches were cut during an Oct. 25 workday by I.V. High School students and volunteers, including I.V. Youth Wrestling members. More vegetation have to be cut during the next workday by members of the high school wrestling team and other volunteers.
The purpose of the inaugural project is to honor former teacher Lorna Byrne, who taught generations of Illinois Valley students in her career from 1924 to 1974.
Baker said that Cooper Chapman recarved the original wooden house number sign in his LBMS woodshop class. The sign will be installed on a new post near the home on Caves Hwy., which currently does not have a house number posted.
Lorna Byrne taught at Holland School, White and Payne rural schools, and Kerby Elementary School until it closed in 1967. She last taught at Evergreen Elementary until her retirement in June 1974. During her career, she taught thousands of students, spanning multiple generations.
The results of the two workdays are spectacular. Visually, the property has come a long way. It looked like a jungle when they started, according to the
Russos. Now one can see and navigate the sidewalk, walk into the backyard, and see the cute red-and-white house amid the trees. The old house is where Lorna Byrne and her husband lived throughout her teaching career.
“This clean-up also will lessen fire danger around her house,” said Mark Russo.
And it will give community members an opportunity to give something back to a woman who gave so much in educating and mentoring numerous children during her lifetime. Baker said that it will provide needed community service hours for middle school and high school students.
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The Russos are principal organizers of the Wild Blackberry Festival, held each August in Cave Junction. This year the Russos partnered with I.V. Family Coalition to stage the festival. The coalition was responsible for free children’s activities in Jubilee Park. It gathered several organizations which had booths offering arts, crafts, games, school supplies, and refreshments. Plans are under way to expand the children’s activities and improve other festival features next August.
Mark Russo was a friend and neighbor of Lorna Byrne. When she moved to a Grants Pass assisted-living facility a few years ago, he did occasional clean-ups on her property. Another neighbor also looks after the site.
Russo saw the need to remove dead trees, overgrown vegetation and clear away weeds. He thought of enlisting help from the community. One thing led to another in discussions with I.V. Family Coalition and LBMS staff, and the idea bloomed into what’s hoped will be an annual Lorna Byrne Day.
A project will be selected each year for Lorna Byrne Day, according to Yanase and Baker. This will provide an opportunity for students to fulfill their community service obligations and benefit a retired teacher or other elderly person in Illinois Valley.
The final phase of this project will be to bring Lorna Byrne to see her former home all spruced up. Further details will be coming soon. Adults who want to help complete this project can phone LBMS at 592-2163.
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