Document text
Speaking up for Sams Valley photo by Jim Craven Smoko the cat greets Sams Valley resident Walt Fitzgerald from the hood of the 1928 GMC truck Fitzgerald's father used to haul fruit to market. Residents form committee to preserve rural way of life By PAUL FATTIG Awareness Day event aims to foster sense of community Sams Valley Awareness Day will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. today at the northwest corner of Rainey's Corner Complex, 8565 Highway 234. Organized by the Sams Valley Citizens Advisory Committee with the help of local businesses and service organizations, the event is aimed at creating a feeling of community. In addition to encouraging community bonding, the event will focus on family and community safety, local businesses and service and social organizations. Not only will information about Sams Valley be dispersed, but there will be entertainment, a bake sale, raffles, face painting and other activities. Organizations expected to participate include The American Red Cross, Mercy Flights, Neighborhood Watch/CERT Program, Camp White Historical Association, Antioch Cemetery Board, Jackson County Traffic Safety, Sams Valley PTA, Brownies, Boy Scouts, 4-H, Gold Valley Little League, Table Rock Soccer Club, Jackson County Fire District 3, Horse Soldiers Co. B 1st U.S. Cavalry, Bureau of Land Management, Jackson County OSU Extension Service, Jackson County Emergency Services and Dogs for the Deaf. When Walt Fitzgerald looks south through the gap between Upper and Lower Table Rock, he can see the future. And, while it may be fine for others, he'd prefer it stay south of the Rogue River. "Out beyond the river, it's a rat race," he said. "And there are a lot of rats in the maze. "Out here it's still peaceful," he added. "You can sit down and not be bothered. We'd really like to keep it that way out here." Out here is Sams Valley, a bucolic area where folks like Fitzgerald, 52, a fourth-generation resident who operates the farm his ancestors bought in 1877, have largely found peace with neighbor and nature. But they believe they need a stronger, unified community voice to help protect that peaceful atmosphere while helping to guide the area into the next millennium. The Sams Valley Citizens Advisory Committee, a group of residents offering advice to Jackson County when it comes to local issues, has declared today Sams Valley Awareness Day. Fitzgerald is a member of the SVCAC. It's an event dedicated to creating a greater sense of community for Sams Valley residents. Local residents say they have no desire to incorporate. Rather, they want to remain a rural community, albeit one with a voice that will be heard. Consider this: Sams Valley is split up by three telephone prefixes, often resulting in a long distance call to a neighbor across the road. It is also divided into four different zip codes with residents listed as living in Central Point, Eagle Point, Gold Hill or White City. "But we feel we're really all in one community," said Dave Kizer who, with his wife, Cat, moved to Sams Valley eight years ago. He is also a member of the Sams Valley CAC. "We want to unify ourselves," he added. "We need more ways to get to know each other. The first step is getting to know our neighbors better. "A Sams Valley post office is one of our long-term goals," he added. "We would like to get a unified zip code. It would be nice to have an address that says `Sams Valley."' Yet most folks are hard-pressed to agree on the Sams Valley boundaries. It depends on your perspective and preference. Some would place the southern edge of the valley at the twin Table Rocks. Others say its southern and eastern borders are the Rogue River, with the western edge being the mountain ridge immediately west of Ramsey Road and the northern border roughly along East Evans Creek. The Sams and Snider Creek drainages both flow within Sams Valley, they say. But most agree that the original Sams Valley was the small hamlet once known as Moonville. Before it was named after local Indian leader Chief Sam, it was named for a settler named A.S. Moon. "Even people who live here have a hard time describing it," said Linda Tourville Davis, one of the principal organizers of today's event. She and her husband, Mike, who was raised in Sams Valley, bought property here about 20 years ago. She hails from Medford. "In a rural area like this, it's hard to get a sense of community," she said. "And that's what we want, a sense of community among ourselves. Things like a newsletter or a post office would be nice." Fitzgerald, who was born in Medford and reared on the land of his ancestors, acknowledged that change is inevitable. In fact, he has seen Sams Valley expand from its once tiny area to include the hamlets of Beagle, Antioch and Table Rock. "Sams Valley today is `The Valley,' not just the little spot where the school was, where Skanks old mechanic shop was, where the store was and where the post office used to be," Fitzgerald said. "It's no longer one isolated spot. "Beagle, all the area, would be included in Sams Valley now," he added. "But we can still have a continuation of rural living.'' Fitzgerald, a graduate of Crater High School who later served in the military and attended college, came back to Sams Valley because of his family roots. In 1877, his ancestors purchased the 320-acre farm for $600. Still standing is a barn built in 1911. But a fire in 1966 burned two historic homes on the farm. However, he continues to raise fruit and vegetables on the property in the hamlet where his father was born and his father before him. "My ancestors sold fruit from these trees -- that's how they made their money," he said. `Lots of people came to buy our dry land peaches every summer." The 1928 GMC truck that his father used to haul fruit remains on the property. His father bought it in Central Point, he said. "Things are going to continue to change," he said as he walked away from the truck. "But people want their own identity here. They want this place to be known as Sams Valley. They want their own zip code. They want their own post office. "I'm optimistic that Sams Valley can retain its rural setting," he said. "But we've got to help ourselves, help each other." That was the sense of community his ancestors felt during the early years of Sams Valley, before vehicles and improved roads shortened the trip to Medford, he said. "It's still a good community," he said. "We want to keep it that way." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA