August sesquicentennial celebrations to begin with historic stage road tour
From our weekly issue dated August 05, 2009
Eleven area nonprofit groups, coordinated by Cory Allen and the Cave Junction Lions Club, have organized three weekends of “low-cost, family friendly” activities to celebrate Oregon’s “Past, Present and Future.”
Among participating groups making the August “Sesqua-celebration” possible, to mark 150 years of statehood, are the Crescent City and Redwood Lions clubs, Illinois Valley Senior Center, I.V. Family Coalition, Glenn Morrison American Legion Post 70 & Auxiliary, Illinois Valley Section of the Boys & Girls Club, and Illinois Valley-based Southern Oregon Guild.
The initial leg of the free event on Saturday, Aug. 22 will be a car tour showcasing Oregon’s past. The tour will wind along Old Redwood Stage Road from Crescent City, Calif. to Illinois Valley’s Kerby, with interpretive stops and safety checkpoints.
The route, beginning at Elk Valley Casino parking lot, is 60 miles long – approximately half on maintained gravel roads. The route will open at 8 a.m. and the last vehicle will roll no later than 10 a.m. The maximum number of vehicles permitted is 75, and registration is required.
Visit highway199.org for more information and to register at no charge.
The trip into the past will continue in “Kerbyville,” where antique cars will be displayed at Kerbyville Museum. History demonstrations will include quilting, spinning, sewing, canning and cheese-making. And there will be presentations by the Josephine County Historical Society Living History Players.
Also, works by area artists will be displayed at the Southern Oregon Guild Gallery, and there will be bingo games. Lunch will be available from Western Star Order of the Eastern Star from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The menu: fried chicken, salad, watermelon, and lemonade.
Historic Kerbyville activities will continue on Sunday, Aug. 23.
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On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 29 and 30, the focus will shift to Oregon’s present and the location to Cave Junction’s Jubilee Park. There will be games for youngsters including a watermelon seed-spitting contest, frog races (BYO frog), water balloon relay race, newspaper and duct tape fashion show, and egg races.
There also will be face-painting, a puppet show and 50-cent pony rides. Pony walkers are needed, and there is room for more food vendors. Phone Allen at 592-4301.
The Cave Junction Lions Club will serve breakfast and lunch, and the American Legion will have bingo games from noon to 4 p.m.
The third weekend, Sept. 5, 6 and 7, will coincide with the Illinois Valley Lions Club annual Labor Day Festival. A baseball tournament will take place during the entire weekend, as will Tuff-Truck races, watermelon seed-spitting contests, talent shows and evening concerts.
The grand finale will be the “See the Past, Hear the Future”-themed Labor Day Parade on Monday, Sept. 7 in Downtown Cave Junction.
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