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Blazing a trail to the falls Photo by Jim Craven Butte Falls High School students Jeremy McKibbin, left, and Charlie McLauchlan want to put Butte Falls' falls back on the map with their project. Butte Falls students make town's namesake more accessible By VICKI GUARINO BUTTE FALLS -- The town is named for it, and at the beginning of the century the waterfall was the very reason for the lumber milling that made the place. Yet today, unless you know where you're going -- first left after the cattle guard -- you can drive all around the small community and never come upon Butte Falls' falls. Maps that pinpoint the falls on South Fork Big Butte Creek don't show even a footpath leading there. Two Butte Falls High School seniors, however, are changing all that. They hope to earn some money for college in the process. For the past several weeks Charlie McLauchlan and Jeremy McKibbin have been spending their free time burning brush and grading a road and parking area for access to the falls. By the time they're done, the team wants to have a sign posted on the main highway into town directing visitors to the falls, a gravel road and parking, and a plaque describing the history of the site. Maybe even a picnic table or two. "That's what started this town, the falls," says Charlie, standing on the creek bank at the crest of the plunge. He points out footings at the edge of the falls that once held the mill's water wheel. Waving his hand across the tree-lined creek bank, he adds, "All these cement footings, they're from the mill." It all burned down decades ago, says Jeremy. The town grew up just a short distance away, abandoning the falls for flatter ground. Time has come, say the students, for the forested creek canyon, plunging water and deep blue pool to be lifted from obscurity. They want the falls to be known by a wider audience than town kids with the fortitude for cold water. "Just to hear the sound of the falls," says Charlie ... "It's nice and relaxing," Jeremy says, completing the thought. Although they are working together to develop the site, Jeremy and Charlie are focusing on separate aspects of the project. And each has his eye on earning a community service scholarship. "I wanted to fix the falls up and have people come down here, and Charlie wanted to make it accessible," Jeremy says. So while Jeremy works on leveling and clearing a parking area, Charlie works on the road. Both are soliciting donations of equipment and helpers to get the job done. Some businesses have even provided lunches. Together, the students convinced land owner Superior Lumber Co., of Glendale, to let them develop the picnic area. "At first, we didn't even know who owned the land," Charlie recalls. Local company representative B.J. Rodgers, a Butte Falls resident long involved in youth activities, says the timber company was glad to help out. "We support anything the students do, and so far, they're really doing a good job," Rodgers says. The scholarship the pair is aiming for was awarded for the first time last year as a memorial to town resident Jim Matthews, who died of cancer. His widow, Linda, wanted to honor a graduating senior for making a significant contribution to the community. Three students won several thousand dollars last year: Lilian Laurence for cleaning up the town cemetery, Amber Hersom for opening a youth center and Danny Krenwinkel for resurfacing the local ball field. A year later, says Jeremy, the cemetery still is in good shape, the youth center remains a popular and safe hangout, "and they're having Little League on Danny's field." That's the sort of lasting mark Charlie and Jeremy have in mind. "The community has benefited the youth for a lot of years," Jeremy says. "It's nice to give something back to it." Residents and visitors alike can enjoy the picnic grounds long after Charlie has gone off to Arizona for commercial pilot training and Jeremy to Southern Oregon University for a business degree. Encouraging more visitors, the students add, would aid the town's economic development efforts. "It's really a pretty site," says Charlie, "and it's important to the town." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA