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Applegate society celebrates again Snow prompts repeats of Christmas festival SUNNY VALLEY -- After its Country Christmas Gathering was snowed under last weekend, the Applegate Trail Society is digging out and rescheduling. The event for the nonprofit group, which was originally held by candlelight during the Dec. 5 snowstorm and power outage, will be repeated Saturday and again Dec. 19 in the historic Sunny Valley grange hall adjacent to the Applegate Trail Interpretive Center. Saturday's event begins at 6 p.m. with a chili and soup dinner, followed by entertainment featuring cowboy poet Butch Martin and balladeer Skip Bessonette. The dinner begins at noon Dec. 19 with the entertainment beginning at 1 p.m. "We had a great time, but we hardly had any people because of the snow," explained Betty Gaustad, the center's founder. "We want to give more people an opportunity to experience it." The dinner and show, paid in advance, is $10 per person. Tickets are available at the Covered Bridge store and the interpretive center in Sunny Valley. They can also be purchased at The Music Shop in Grants Pass. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for $12 each. For further information, call the center at 472-8545. The center, located on the Applegate Trail first traveled by settlers in 1846, was created by a public-private partnership. It is directed by the Applegate Trail Society. The center itself is a 5,400-square-foot building whose facade resembles the Grave Creek Hotel in 1860. Displays inside the center tell the story of the trappers and pioneers who settled the Northwest. There is also a three-screen theater in which an eight-minute film depicts the struggles faced by the pioneers. Local residents, dressed in period garb, star in the film made in Sunny Valley. There is also a gift shop in which the wares of local residents are sold. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA