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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: All's well that ends well ... Jeffrey Gillespie: A landmark in the history of love ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Duke, Roof and us ... Our View: All's well that ends well ... Jeffrey Gillespie: A landmark in the history of love ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Duke, Roof and us ... 2015 RAGLAND AWARD Ashland honors volunteers Park tour leader, homeless advocates to be saluted tonight Comment By Sam Wheeler For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Sam Wheeler For the Tidings Posted Jan. 26, 2015 at 7:49 PM Updated Jan 27, 2015 at 4:22 PM By Sam Wheeler For the Tidings Posted Jan. 26, 2015 at 7:49 PM Updated Jan 27, 2015 at 4:22 PM » Social News Tom Foster knows every nook and cranny, bush, critter and tree Lithia Park has to offer. The 84-year-old Ashlander and group of about a dozen other volunteers lead anyone who shows up on nature walks through the park each Sunday, something he’s done since helping initiate the program in 1989. Foster, along with Ashland-St. Vincent DePaul advocates Charlotte Dorsey and Alice Nagel, will be presented with the 2015 Ragland Award for community volunteerism this evening during the first State of the City address celebration. The affair begins inside the Ashland Community Center, 59 Winburn Way, at 5:30 p.m. with a 30-minute appetizer and social time before the program begins. The public is welcome to attend. The three recipients were selected by Mayor John Stromberg and city councilors from a field of 11 nominations. Dorsey has volunteered in Ashland and Talent for the last 12 years, and Nagel for the last eight, as advocates for the needy and homeless. The pair visit homes and campsites and connect those in need with local resources and emergency support through St. Vincent DePaul’s Home Visit program. Neither Dorsey nor Nagel could be reached for this story. Established in 1994 and formally known as the Volunteer Spirit Community Service Award, the honor is a tribute to James M. Ragland, a former Ashland city councilor and planning commissioner who was known for his commitment to community involvement and volunteerism. Fisher said he was flattered and pleased last week upon opening a letter from Stromberg announcing him as one of this year’s recipients of the award. “I don’t know if I deserve an award,” Foster said, meandering up the park toward the Japanese garden. “There are a lot of us out here.” Foster said he and the group take “great satisfaction,” in showing people the history, wildlife and botanical intricacies of the park. “It’s our central park, it’s just a great place for a lot of different pursuits. A quiet walk or picnic, it’s a park which is important to people for many, I guess you could say, personal reasons,” Foster said. “I think the more people know about the park the more they’ll enjoy it, the more they’ll respect it,” he said, pointing out the original take-out canal that pulled water from the creek for powering the mill race of Ashland’s historic flour mill. Sharing that beauty with visitors was the goal of Foster and other organizers who started the nature walks more than a decade ago, and there is beauty in every aspect of the park, Foster said. The walks began as an outreach program of the now-defunct Pacific Northwest Museum of Natural History and have continued ever since under sponsorship of the parks department. The walks help tourists and residents alike leave the park knowing a little more about the 100-acre jewel in the heart of the city, Foster said. Since the walks were established in 1989, 19,234 people have participated in 1,626 walks, according to a report to the Director of the Ashland Parks and Recreation Department in October 2014. For more information about tonight’s first State of the City address celebration, call 541-488-6002 or visit http://www.ashland.or.us. Reach freelance reporter Sam Wheeler at [email protected]. By Sam Wheeler For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Sam Wheeler For the Tidings Posted Jan. 26, 2015 at 7:49 PM Updated Jan 27, 2015 at 4:22 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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