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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 15, 2004 Overcoming work of vandals To the citizens of Southern Oregon, Saturday, Oct. 30, while members of the Southwest Oregon Large Scale Trains were busily working on our modules getting ready for the Rogue Valley Railroad Show, (Nov. 27 and 28) when we were notified our garden railway at the Medford Railroad Park had been vandalized and a portion of our track and equipment had been ruined. Several of us went to the park and found the garden area in a most destructive state regarding the track layout and electrical wiring. Over 100 feet of track and four main switches had been ripped out of the ground and thrown over the fence along with handmade tunnel portals made by a club member. Members worked throughout the afternoon and into the evening making repairs. Work to repair one of the main tunnels will have to wait until next spring. The cost in dollars to the club could be as much as $985 and numerous volunteer hours. At first we experienced anger, then sadness. We reminded each other of our agreement with the city of Medford to be there for you on the second and fourth Sundays from April through October to share the joy of Garden Railways. Repairs will be competed and the garden railroad will be up and running when the park opens April 10, 2005, in time for you to come and enjoy for another season. Donation? Contact: [email protected] Eddie Agricola, Jr. club president Waldorf should be welcomed Naturally I want Lincoln to remain open. It feels like a traditional school. The feeling embodied in its two-story facility is a good thing to imprint our youth with because one-story buildings are not proper models of how to use resources. But since the elementary school enrollment declined below 1,050 students, the Ashland School Board will follow through with the closure of Lincoln. In that case, I ask that the facility be leased to the Waldorf group should they still be interested. I understand the teachers union did not favor this proposal when it came before the school board. But with all due respect to the contribution of our teachers and the flexibility of their union in working with what seem to be our new economic realities regarding public services, I believe the community overall will benefit from keeping the Waldorf group in Ashland. In fact the community benefits from all our schools: Head Start; the Montessori Schools; the Waldorf Siskiyou School; the Ashland Academy of Arts; the United Bicycle Institute; the Ashland Institute of Massage; the International School of Traditional Midwifery; and various other schools. Schools are clean industry. Let's not put hurdles in their way by denying them facilities. If the Siskiyou School leaders are still interested in Lincoln, let's lease it to them. Brent Thompson Ashland AAA voice for city is needed I have just received my Oregon Triple AAA VIA Magazine. As always, I like to turn to the section on events just to see what the events are that are taking place in respective cities across the Oregon landscape. After all, this is a free advertisement and the magazine has a readership of more than 3 million, so it can't hurt to publish an event when it is happening in your city. For at least the third or fourth year in a row, I have followed the event columns. This year I couldn't keep quiet any longer. Since I am a business owner, I'm always interested to see if events from Ashland are listed, keeping in mind especially this time of year, when each one of us has difficulty with sales, and attendant customers in our retail establishments have all gone home because Shakespeare has closed down. This year, as always, the events listed are for the months of November and December (a time of year that we should be boasting about our town and the Festival of Lights). Do you think I found anything listed on the Ashland Festival of Lights? Guess again, the answer is no. It now begs the question as to why doesn't the Ashland Chamber of Commerce see fit to advertise in this magazine about the upcoming Festival of Lights? Why is it that I find Medford and Jacksonville events and even Central Point events listed, but nothing for Ashland? Doesn't someone out there find this odd, considering that we have the most outlets for retail and galleries, not to mention a good parade that culminates in a beautifully lighted city and we are eager to do business at this time of year when we are ready to go into the winter slump? Has it not occurred to the chamber that this is the time of year when our businesses really suffer financially after the mad summer rush? Why doesn't the chamber of commerce, since they are the "voice" of the business community, work on this golden opportunity to announce Ashland's events in this magazine to help capture some of this 3-million readership so they will visit our town too? We need business as much as Portland, Bend, Medford, Jacksonville and yes, Central Point too. Sharon Hull The Boudashery DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams