Ashland, OR

There is an International Affordable Housing Program being supported by The Rotary Club of Ashland to promote affordable housing internationally. This is the Guanajuato Housing Project, a project that like Habitat for Humanity, requires an investment by the home's recipient.

The homeowner must own their own land and build their own home, a home which will cost $2,600 US to build.

The Rotary Club of Ashland raises $650 per home, the City of Guanajuato also contributes $650 per home, then the State of Guanajuato matched that $1,300 each per home. The Mayor of the City of Guanajuato and the president of the Club Rotario de Guanajuato, Alejandro Navarro and his wife Samantha, attended a celebration for the completion of the first 50 homes in this village that will be a Rotary International Village. Samantha Navarro gave an impassioned speech encouraging the homeowners to continue this positive improvement in their lives by keeping their families moving forward in success.

Kudos to the Ashland residents and Rotary Club members who have worked so hard to support this project!

See you out there!

Karen Cooper - OR/CA Mortgage Consultant - www.Quality4Loans.com

The City of Ashland and Developer Doug Irvine have been in discussions over the possible trade of land. Doug Irvine is interested in acquiring a 2 acre parcel of land within Westwood Park plus three residential lots on Strawberry Lane, for which he will in return trade 10 acres of land he owns on Clay Street.

The City of Ashland has been great proponents of affordable housing for its residents, and they are looking to build 60 homes on 5 acres if this parcel of land on Clay Street with soccer fields on the other 5 acres. Doug Irvine is looking to build 4 luxury homes on the 2 acre Westwood Park parcel.

A new group, Friends of Westwood Park, has formed in order to oppose this impending transaction. Their 60 members, which include prominent environmentalists as well as a former Mayor of Ashland, plan to attend the Parks and Recreation Commission and Housing Commission hearings to put forward their position against this proposed land swap.

If this project does indeed develop, it will be time for Ashland to consider participating in the Mortgage Credit Certificate Program to further assist homeowners. Stay tuned to see if Ashland, Oregon will have 60 more much needed affordable homes on the agenda!

See you out there!

Today was Opening Day for Trout Fishing on three Southern Oregon Lakes, Diamond Lake, Hyatt Lake and Howard Prairie Lake. And a BEAUTIFUL day it was! Diamond Lake and Hyatt Lakes were both still covered in ice, so anglers were going to be drilling holes in the ice to enjoy opening day on those lakes. Although they were just battling snow last week, anglers found gorgeous Spring conditions at Howard Prairie Lake today.

New owner Joel LeGrande spent most of last week breaking ice still on the lake, so Southern Oregon Anglers could enjoy this annual tradition. Today, Joel described the bubbles that formed under the ice due to warming temperatures having popped, resulting in a sudden dropping of the ice on the lake. My first thought was, "what about the fish?",but Joel explained it was a sudden, but slow, descension, with plenty of time for the fish to get out of the way.

Terry told us that they had over 26 feet of snow here this past winter, and he and Dan on one of their snow shoeing adventures to check on the resort found seven feet of snow on the roof of the Marina hut, sinking it. This February, they found 3 feet of ice inside the hut, with the hut sitting on the bottom of the lake. Terry lives in the area during the Winter, too, and checks on the resort throughout the winter. Terry has pictures of nothing but white out the windows of his home, which he saw frequently this winter. He said the snow started out with low water content in November and December, but by January, the water content had picked up dramatically, and they are expecting Howard Prairie Lake to be nice and full this year, giving us what we hope will be a nice long season at this gorgeous Resort full of friendly people.

We moor our boat at Howard Prairie Lake every season, and it was good to see Joel, Terry, Ron and Dan today, when we went up to see how the fishing was going. Terry told us "some big ones" were being pulled out of the lake today, with a lot of them coming from the shore fishing anglers were doing off the jetty. Mrs. LeGrande was busy manning the cash register in the Store when we stopped in to enjoy our first (of many!) soft serves of the season.

It will be a couple of weeks before Howard Prairie Lake will be ready for us to get our boat out of winter storage to bring it up to the lake for mooring, as the moorings are still encased in ice. It was wonderful to touch base with our friends at Howard Prairie Lake again today. Will be back again soon!

See you out there!

Run by the YMCA for many years, now being operated by Table Rock Fellowship (TRF), Camp Apserkaha is a sixty-six acre camp located on the southern shore of Howard Prairie Lake. Amenities at Camp Apserkaha include a dining shelter, commercial kitchen, twelve cabins, and almost a half-mile of lake frontage. Just steps away from the Pacific Crest Trail, this camp lies in a beautiful setting in the Southern Oregon woods with incredible views of Mt. McLoughlin.

Camp Apserkaha is available for day use as well as overnight camps, and is being used by several Southern Oregon groups such as YMCA, 4-H, Future Farmers of America, Jackson County Youth Authority, and TRF's Youth Programs.

Camp Apserkahahas seen quite the face lift since TRF took over January 2007. Great efforts have been made by Southern Oregonian groups and individuals who have participated in the enclosing and heating and running of electricity to the 12 overnight cabins whose bunks can accommodate up to 120 guests, the installation of tables and chairs in the soon to be enclosed dining shelter donated by one of our Jackson County restaurants as well as commercial kitchen equipment to be installed soon, and the general cleanup and maintenance that have enhanced the views of this spectacular area. Also new are deep-vault toilets, showers, and improved picnic and BBQ areas, and 10 RV pads.

Many more amenity improvements are in the works. Come to Camp Apserkaha for your non-profit organization's next function and experience her beauty.

For more information on booking Camp Apserkaha , contact Tim Case .

See you out there!

Karen Cooper - OR/CA Mortgage Consultant - www.Quality4Loans.com