Grants Pass, OR

River Kids - Grants Pass, Oregon

These have been here for a while, but they are so unique they deservce to be mentioned as they are just more gifts for our city from Brady Adams at Evergreen Federal Bank.

These bronze River Kids figures were created to tell of a "simpler time in our history." These River Kids are life-size figures of children engaged in "childrens' adventures" along the Rogue River, set in the 30's to 50's.

This is just another gift from the "Santa Claus of Grants Pass," Brady Adams.

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

A Brief History of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is now a favorite American holiday...but did you know it took awhile to catch on as an annual tradition?

According to scholars, the first known Thanksgiving took place on September 8, 1565 in Saint Augustine, Florida when Spanish settlers held a Mass of Thanksgiving after arriving safely in the New World. English settlers in the Virginia Colony held a similar day of thanks in 1619. Two years after that, the colonists at Plymouth Plantation celebrated the most famous Thanksgiving, during 1621.

It wasn't until October 3, 1789, that it actually became a holiday, when then President George Washington proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving...but just for that year. In 1795, Washington again proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving, and President John Adams also declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799.

After a decade and a half without the celebration taking place at all, President James Madison renewed the tradition in 1814, and even went so far as to declare the holiday twice in 1815!

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving that should take place every year. Years later, President Franklin Roosevelt stated that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month - as opposed to landing on the occasional fifth Thursday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Move To Grants Pass, Oregon

Move to Grants Pass where it's just a short drive to see nature's majesty.

Move to Grants Pass where the mighty Rogue River is just minutes away.

If the Rogue River isn't to your liking, how about the Illinois River?

Or how about the Applegate River?

So you'd rather spend time at the lake rather than on the River?

How about Lake Selmac, where some of the largest Bass can be found?

Or maybe you'd like a more secluded lake?

How about picturesque Baby Foot Lake? Not big enough?

You can always check out Fish Lake, or Lake of the Woods, or Applegate Lake, and the list goes on and on.

Move to Grants Pass where wildlife abound.

You never know who might show up for lunch.

Or who might come to help you pick apples in your yard.

Or who might come to help you gather walnuts.

Or who might just come to take a peek at you.

Move to Grants Pass where it really "is the climate."

McCaleb Ranch Boy Scout Camp

We found the McCaleb Ranch Boy Scout Camp on the Illinois River a few miles out of Selma, Oregon.

The adventure began when we parked at a designated area high up above the Illinois River. This was the trailhead that leads to a magnificent suspension foot bridge that leads across the river to the McCaleb Ranch Boy Scout Camp which is owned by the Boy Scouts of America.

Traversing a series of switchbacks, we arrived at a beautifully constructed 240 foot long railed suspension bridge that crosses the Illinois River at 100 feet above its' rushing waters.

There is another bridge further down that you can drive across, but we chose to forgo that luxury and cross on foot.

As we crossed with our two dogs, I was reminded why dogs aren't allowed on bridges; they set up a certain rhythm that can destroy a bridge. The bridge really started to attain a rather obvious exaggerated movement!

What a great place to just stand and watch the river rushing a hundred feet under you. I could only imagine how many memories a boy scout could have after a week at the McCaleb Ranch Boy Scout Camp, what a perfect place! Scouting was never like this where I grew up!

Christmas in Grants Pass, Oregon

There is always something going on to beautify Grants Pass, and so much of it comes from one source.

Brady Adams at Evergreen Federal Bank seems to be the full-time "beautification manager" of Grants Pass.

Every time you turn around, there are some more things appearing on our streets, brought to us by Evergreen Federal. Here are some of the specially created, lighted Christmas murals that line downtown Grants Pass. They will be pleasing us with their wonderful lighting displays and playing old-time Christmas music throughout the season. They number 18 in all.

These panels weigh about 400 pounds, are five feet wide, 10 feet tall and about a foot thick. They tell a story in lights that takes about 20 seconds for each scene to be completed. Presents appear under Christmas trees, snow builds up on the scenes and it is all just amazing. These murals have between 8,000, up to over 13,000 individual optic points of light.

These murals were created by Fiberoptic Lighting, Inc., the company that just completed a special order for Macy's main store at Herald Square in New York City. They had to rush both orders to get them ready on time to be up by Thanksgiving. The only thing we know about the Macy's signs is that they are in the shape of red Christmas ornaments, everything else is a huge secret, to be unveiled after Thanksgiving.

Congratulations to Fiberoptic Lighting owner, Hyla Lipson. It's great to see with this tough economy that a Grants Pass company can contribute so much to the Christmas season.

I have never seen one company do so much for a community anywhere I've lived. Evergreen was founded in 1934, and my research tells me that they have raised millions of dollars for local non-profit organizations.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas Evergreen and Brady Adams! What you people are doing for this community is wonderful. I don't know who appointed Mr. Adams as our local Santa, but he's doing a better job of it than anyone I could ever imagine.

If you're think about moving to Grants Pass, you won't find a nicer community or a better bunch of people!