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MEDFORD Heitkamps return to pioneer home in Medford for family wedding Heitkamps return to former pioneer home for marriage ceremony Comment By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Jun. 4, 2015 at 6:51 PM By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Jun. 4, 2015 at 6:51 PM » Social News A family dynasty began in the 1930s when Martin Heitkamp immigrated from Germany to start a dairy and poultry farm on Bear Creek near Medford, the current site of the city's U.S. Cellular Community Park. Saturday, another Heitkamp, Christina, will return to the property, where she will be married under the giant black walnut trees her ancestors planted. Up to 200 relatives and friends will gather at the Coyote Trails School of Nature in the park to see Christina marry Colton Hahne. They also plan to swap “absolutely good memories” of happy times in what once was a big, rural spread that stretched east to include Barneburg Hill, where Rogue Valley Manor now stands. “We’re very excited,” says Christina, 21. “It’s where my family grew up and my dad (Martin Heitkamp III) grew up. My grandma (Linda Heitkamp) planted almost everything out there. I was born there. It’s a real back-to-the-family thing. I remember being in that house with all my cousins, hanging out and braiding their hair. It makes me really happy.” Christina was invited to have her wedding on the property by Molly Kreuzman, manager of Coyote Trails, which leads nature study classes and hikes there. “It’s a wonderful family circle gathering, with the granddaughter of the original owner as she celebrates a new life with her husband,” says Kreuzman. "It’s a great feeling, and we’ve put a lot of work into restoring it.” Coyote Trails' current home once was a modest farmhouse, but was much degraded by the time the property was sold to the city of Medford, she says. City workers earlier this week were out pruning limbs of the big walnut trees — including Medford's Tree of the Year for 2015 — in preparation for the ceremony. “Having the wedding at that location means a lot to all of us,” says Susan Heitkamp, 51, mother of the bride. "It’s where my husband grew up. We told my mother-in-law about the wedding before she died last December, and she was very happy.” The wedding altar will be where the old ranch hands' bunkhouse used to be. “A lot of our family lived in that house,” Susan recalls. She says the immigrant couple, Martin Heitkamp I and his wife Gertrude, lived in the old bunkhouse or “chicken house,” as it was called. Her memories of her father-in-law, Martin Heitkamp, Jr., include him coming home from work and relaxing by shooting noisy starlings and smelly skunks, to keep the home and yard quiet and fragrant. He and his wife, Linda, had three children, Martin III (Susan’s husband), John and Tina. “It was very rural and quiet,” says Susan. “It seemed like a long drive from Medford. It was kind of natural, with lots of wildlife, even the occasional bobcat. I was a newlywed. I thought we’d stay there and raise all our children. We had Josh, Tyler, Christina and Richard. Christina was there till we sold it when she was about 7.” Interstate 5 cut through the property in the 1960s. The city of Medford purchased the 132-acre Heitkamp ranch in 2002 for $4.8 million, and the property is now valued at $32 million and has 11 all-weather artificial turf sports fields, according to the city's website. The portion of the property containing the farmhouse and nearby creek later became Jefferson Nature Center, which four years ago was assumed by Coyote Trails. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Jun. 4, 2015 at 6:51 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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