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EAGLE POINT Hundreds of locals attend fire sale supporting Butte Creek Mill rebuild Comment By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat MailTribune.com By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat Posted Jan. 23, 2016 at 2:31 PM Updated at 5:40 PM By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat Posted Jan. 23, 2016 at 2:31 PM Updated at 5:40 PM » Social News People from throughout Southern Oregon spent their Saturday morning in Eagle Point filling shopping baskets with singed antiques. By 11 a.m. Saturday, scores of people had already attended a tent fundraiser near the charred remains of Butte Creek Mill to support rebuilding efforts. "I just thought it'd be a quiet day," Butte Creek Mill owner Bob Russell said about overwhelming early turnout while holding a plate of cinnamon rolls with a card. Others in the Eagle Point community offered hugs and condolences with their purchases. "We had a line out the the door before we even opened," Russell's daughter Erica Vitellaro said at the tent's exit. Vitellaro was selling raffle tickets for the last packaged mixes and flours produced by the 144-year-old mill, an idea that came about after most of them quickly sold. "Most of the mill's products were sold in the first five minutes," Erica Vitellaro said. Some attendees were overheard lamenting that it would be a long time before they'd be able to bake cornbread or make pancakes again. Vitellaro said that even after the mill is rebuilt, it won't be easy to make everything the mill produced before the fire. "History's a hard thing to re-create," Vitellaro said. "We're going to do our best." While waiting in line, Katie Wyers of Eagle Point had found an Oregon-shaped cookie cutter, a lightly charred wooden box and a handful of other "random knick-knacky things." "I feel kind of bad," Wyers said, adding that she wished she had found more to support the mill. Heather Mauck carried a plastic shopping basket filled with antique tin containers. She was particularly proud of the Gold Shield Coffee tin she found for her husband, the "coffee drinker" in her household. Mauck said that she always admired how Russell displayed antiques in the mill and said that she planned to display the tins similarly above her kitchen cabinets, but the collection she gathered was bittersweet. "It's kind of more sad than anything," Mauck said. Supporting the mill was important for Mauck, who remembers buying things there Christmas Eve. "I'm hoping they can make it look similar to how it used to," Mauck said. Russell said that before they can look into rebuilding, architects and investigators need to examine what pieces of the mill are structurally sound. "There's a lot of little things we need to find out first," Russell said. "But I have a blue-ribbon group of people." Russell plans to have his rebuilding plan outlined in time for the annual Vintage Faire in May. The fire's cause is still unknown, and Russell said investigators are about two to three weeks away from determining the fire's source. A local involved in the fire cleanup handed Russell a sterling silver World War I "sweetheart pin" found on top of a debris pile. Russell had kept it in a desk drawer before the fire and said he thought he'd never see it again. "Everybody's been so doggone nice," Russell said. Vitellaro said Eagle Point's community support rallying around the mill, which she described as the "heart of the town," is making the rebuilding effort possible. "Without the community, we'd be in trouble," Vitellaro said. Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat. By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat MailTribune.com By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat Posted Jan. 23, 2016 at 2:31 PM Updated at 5:40 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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