Caves, chateau events planned
From our weekly issue dated December 10, 2008
Illinois Valley Community Development Organization (IVCDO) is in a flurry of planning various events to celebrate the anniversaries of the Oregon Caves National Monument and The Chateau at the Caves during 2009.
The monument will be 100 years old, and the chateau 75 years old. Additionally, Kerbyville Museum will mark 50 years.
Many events are still in the planning stages, according to Kenny Houck, following recent IVCDO Board of Directors meetings and workshops. The season at the Caves and Chateau runs from April to October, giving IVCDO a six-month “window of opportunity” to stage these events.
Houck, board chairman, said that some plans at the monument during summer 2009 include a family reunion of the descendents of Oregon Caves’ discoverer, Elijah Davidson, concerts and special events at the chateau. There also could be a shuttle bus for employees and guests. Ideally it would run from the I.V. Visitor Center approximately every two hours.
Expansion of the monument property will include more hiking trails and opportunities to enjoy the beauty of its 4,000-foot elevation setting on Grayback Mountain.
As concessionaire, IVCDO operates the chateau as Oregon Caves Outfitters through a 10-year contract with the National Park Service (NPS), which owns the monument property where the chateau stands. NPS had been unable to operate the chateau profitably. It contracted with the Outfitters, as it has done with the operators of the great national park lodges throughout the West. Such concessionaires are better equipped to staff, operate, market and maintain the lodges and their amenities.
Oregon Caves Outfitters began operating the chateau in 2002 and hopes to expand its services and attractions. In 2006 it began upgrading linens, menus, wine list, the gift gallery, telephone lines and expanding the I.V. Visitor Center hours in Cave Junction. It repaired the chateau roof in 2007.
IVCDO includes Executive Director Bob Schumacher and other staff. Besides Houck, the board consists of Vice Chairman Menno Kraai, Treasurer Kathaleen Ponder, Secretary Dennis Strayer, and Jack Walker, Al Devine, Tom Dunn, Jack Dwyer, Shirley Rusk, Bill Waggoner and Sue Williams. All are pleased with the upgrades so far. They are excited about the events they are working on.
In September, IVCDO hired consultant Emilie Wolf Young, a Cave Junction native, as marketing coordinator for the chateau. Young is a 1996 graduate of I.V. High School, who earned a degree from Pepperdine University at Malibu, Calif. in 2002. She worked in Washington, D.C. as an agricultural aide for California Congressman Wally Herger.
Afterward, she returned to Oregon and worked for an agricultural lobbying group. Promotion of the chateau and coordinating events with other members of IVCDO and Friends of the Caves & Chateau falls to her during the 2009 anniversaries.
Strayer will provide historical articles to newspapers in the region about the monument, the road-building projects, construction of the chateau, and how access to the monument has evolved. Historical re-enactments are planned by groups such as Back Country Horsemen. Reunions and special activities will be centered on the July 5 birthday of the monument.
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Power Point presentations about the caves and chateau will be offered to groups, schools and organizations throughout Josephine County during ‘09.
Houck noted that state funding for some of the activities has not come through. They are competing for the same dollars the state will allocate to celebrations of Oregon’s 150th anniversary observances during ‘09. A grant application to help pay costs of caves and chateau special events is pending.
Additional fund-raising is being worked on by the Friends of the Caves & Chateau headed by Sue Densmore. It is a nonprofit organization formed in 2008, and affiliated with IVCDO as the fund-raiser arm for tourist and hospitality services.
The group plans to restore the 1934 lodge and its Monterey room furniture, the historic caves guide dormitory, and educate the public on the historical significance of the site. Densmore also plans to bring government officials and other dignitaries for the celebrations.
The friends organization is comprised of supporters throughout Southern Oregon. It is a hard-working team with a sense of urgency for the needed repairs and restoration of the chateau to modern standards.
Members particularly want to accomplish some of their goals in time for the summer ‘09 celebrations. For more information visit friendssocac.org/home.
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