Living Southern Oregon

Welcome to the Living Southern Oregon podcast! Today, we are joined by Blaine Alexander Lindsey, a queer artist and spoken word poet with a stutter. Blaine moved to Ashland from the Bay area in 2013, and in the years since has become deeply involved in the local art and food scenes, hosting the Speakeasy unplugged mic and organizing community-arts events. Blaine has also worked in the mom+pop food industry, as a homecare provider, farmer, event organizer and host, as well as nonprofit development. Blaine is passionate about local art, food and community-building in the service of a healthier planet and society. He also loves the amazing local outdoor recreations and the culture of kind, creative and resilient people of all ages and backgrounds. We are excited to hear more about Blaine's work and experiences in the Rogue Valley. 

Meet Kyle Poling, Field Botanist at The Understory Initiative and owner of Dry Earth Nursery. He is a self-taught botanist, passionate conservationist, and avid gardener. He volunteers with the Pollinator Project Rogue Valley and Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates.

Upcoming Events:

The  PPRV Native Plant Sale, Sunday May 7th 10-4pm at our office in Phoenix. It’s a  “farmers market” style plant sale for small, local, native plant nurseries to sell their plants. Kyle will be there!

FYI:

I’m a fairly introverted lover of plants (like most plant people!) but put myself “out there” because of the importance of teaching people about native plants and how they benefit the local ecosystem. Even in a small backyard garden. This is probably the topic I would be most interested in talking about. I could also talk about my side-hustle nursery DEN and the work that TUI is doing locally to restore the land. Outside of just business, I’m a crazy gardener with over 1000 plants of all different types, cold-hardy cacti, carnivorous species, natives, edibles, houseplants, a little of everything... I’m also an animal lover with lots of pets and a history of working on farms. Lastly, I'm fascinated with native pollinators (not invasive European honeybees although at one point, before I knew what I do now about how they compete with the native species, I did keep a backyard hive but sold it for mason bee boxes). 

If anyone wants to volunteer with TUI they can sign up to be on the email list through the TUI website.

Welcome to the show Lisa, it is an honor to have you here. For those who don’t know, Lisa Manyon is an internationally bestselling author, podcast host, entrepreneur, and the president of Write On Creative®. She is known for her Challenge. Solution. Invitation™ communication framework, and for teaching and transforming marketing with integrity and healing with love. Lisa is also a cancer thriver and offers in-house employee wellness retreats. She currently lives in beautiful Ashland, Oregon, where she has been since 2015. Lisa loves the outdoors, writing and helping others articulate their messages, and is delighted that her love letter to humanity, Spiritual Sugar, is being so well received.

Welcome to the show! Our guest today is Bobby Stricker, a recent transplant to the Applegate Valley in Oregon. Bobby is a father, husband, writer, advertising consultant, and magazine publisher of the 101 Things To Do magazine that promotes travel and tourism throughout Western, Coastal, and Southern Oregon. He is passionate about exploring the variety of people and things to do in Oregon, from home repair fun and homesteading, to food, beer, wine, kids activities, and more. Bobby has been in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest since 2014, when he moved from his longtime home of Scottsdale, Arizona. He's interested in aviation, travel, yoga, hiking, food, the oceans and river adventures, car shows, and festivals of any kind. As a marketing consultant, Bobby loves meeting people and experiencing how they live their lives. 

FYI:

Welcome to this episode of the Living Southern Oregon podcast with Simona Fino! 

I'm so excited to introduce our guest today, Muna Nash. Muna is the owner of Lovejoy's Tea Room of Ashland, a business she's been operating for the last two years. She has been in the tea room business for the last 20 years, and her original tea room in San Francisco was the oldest in the city. Muna has a unique style of tea room that has been described as quirky and whimsical, blending the tradition of tea service with an eclectic and playful charm. She felt that Ashland was the perfect place to bring this concept of tea room to life, and she's been living here semi-permanently since early 2021.

Muna also loves the vibrant food scene here, and some of her favorite places in Ashland include Websters, Vida bakery, and the Oregon Cabaret Theater. And of course, she recommends her own tea room, Lovejoy's, for a unique experience. At Lovejoy's, they have upcoming events like their Witches Tea every October, which has sold out twice in a row.

Welcome, Madeline DeCourcey! We are very excited to have you on our podcast today. Madeline is a true renaissance woman - a production coordinator for Barnstormers Theatre, an active member of the Josephine County Cultural Coalition, a customer support for Hardwood Games, a mobile game company and a social media marketer for C21 JC Jones American Dream. Madeline also holds a BFA in Theatre Arts and has 7 years experience in Los Angeles. Madeline is passionate about theatre, video games, her four cats, and she is expecting her first baby! Madeline is a local to Grant Pass and loves food, comedy, open mics, hiking and traveling. We can’t wait to hear more about your passions and life experiences.

Outdoor educator has been Kyle’s profession through various paths (climbing guide, hiking instructor, ski patroller, ski/snowboard instructor, etc.) In recent years, he worked as a commercial and residential carpenter. Arrowhead operates on the Rogue River, the John Day River, and they hope to start doing a few trips on the Deschutes. They are booking trips for the upcoming 2023 river season. Kyle is most excited about the Decolonizing the Rogue, a 4-day place-based workshop focusing on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. He has run this trip once for the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy and is excited to do it again, and hopefully into the future.

FYI

Being new to the area, we are hoping to meet people, and we have met some folks mostly through preschool, other friends, and the guide community.

I look forward to getting settled and doing some building and woodworking projects again.

This business consumes my thoughts, and I work hard to create space for being with my family and trying to settle into a new place. That sounds negative, but I love what I am doing. It is incredibly hard, but I find it really mentally stimulating.

Danielle is a native of The Bronx and now lives in Talent with their amazing partner, Erika, and their hilarious dog, Sawyer. Danielle enjoys storytelling, art, visiting new cities, roadside attractions, podcasts, Lin Manuel Miranda, theater, card playing, healthy banter, and talking to strangers. They are in love with how stories inspire connections, heal our hurt, soothe our longing, and how sharing our stories can make a vast room full of strangers feel like a familiar front porch with friends.

Danielle is interested in counseling, people, places in Southern Oregon (wineries, venues, what places have been and what they are now, how the valley has changed, organizations such as The Hearth, volunteering at the Jackson County Animal Shelter, queer community, etc. Guilty pleasures: scrolling tik tok, scrolling zillow, and listening to showtunes while they clean. Their interests include Wine, Whiskey, Coffee, Food, Sushi, Animals, Mentoring. Music, Camping and Hiking.

Danielle is outgoing, authentic, curious, straightforward, maybe a tendency to overshare, warm, fun (on a good day). They love telling stories, talking about people, what connects us and inspires us.

Abby McKee is the new-ish (7 months in) President & CEO at Britt Music & Arts Festival. and has a career as a nonprofit arts administrator who specializes in building community spaces through engaging and interesting arts projects. Abby grew up in rural Virginia and traveled across the country studying orchestral flute. She landed on the West Coast in her early 20s. Since then, she has become firmly ensconced in the West Coast lifestyle and loves it here. Abby was living in Portland and Salem for the last 5.5 years and moved to Southern Oregon in April of 2022.

Jacqui is a community builder, Ashland Ambassador and she adores this town. She tells people that this is a place where you can start a project and it will be supported. She has started two bands in this town as well as the Ashland Folk Collective. Jacqui and her family love that there are so many things within walking distance and love going to the Coop as well as La Baguette, enjoying their outdoor cafe & music scene as well as going for walks to the little libraries to find a new favorite book!  Jacqui also enjoys the open Mic at Elder Apothecary and strolling through town bumping into friends. Spontaneous interactions with the community is one of her favorite parts of Ashland.

Ash loves going to shows at OSF and other theaters, trying to find great cheeseburgers, looking for comics and vintage toys and pre-pandemic Britt in the summer. Some of his passions are reading, writing, illustration, movies and collecting weird bits of information/random skills. He also enjoys stories and storytelling. Ash is also passionate about encouraging people to be lifelong learners, he is excited about the cool things happening at ScienceWorks and some of the new(ish) fun technology that can help spark creativity.

ScienceWorks is kind of a waystation for people from all kinds of communities -  from parents with small children and school aged kids to high school and college students all the way up to retirees. They also see pre-service teachers and education Masters students through their professional development workshops and collaborations with SOU.

Chris is a family and work focused person, looking to make the most of my days, all of them. He is excited about the potential of Woodland Charter and the direction it is headed.  It is a positive educational organization with many motivated families and supporters who are helping the school continue to grow and thrive and a vision for beauty, purpose and excellence.  The students at Woodland are so joyful, and excited about the learning and community it provides.  And it is the students that surround us all with such hope and such purpose everyday.  Chris enjoys biking, running, hiking and healthy cooking with local agriculture. He also loves to explore all the county parks for disc golf, playgrounds, hikes, river access and berry picking.  Chris recently connected with Barnstormers Theater to act in The Christmas Story with his middle son Kai.

We play lots of games as a family, love to play, and be together.  Josephine County is a great backdrop for this!  Another great thing about being in Southern Oregon is the fact that I get to spend my work day with my children.  I take them to work each day, and I get to see them being school children, then take them home.  We really love the 3 day weekends, and it does create an amazing work life balance, and allows us to enjoy exploring this lovely region, playing outside and inside.  We do work hard everyday at Woodland Charter School,  I am committed to being a hard working school leader and my children are committed to being hard working students.  Recently I connected Woodland Charter School with Mt. Ashland and we have a Youth Ski Program that takes place on Fridays in January and February. 

Conrad will be telling us about earthen construction, appropriate technology and design. He has been working on this since 2001, through workshops and consulting. He doesn’t believe that there is only one way to build; however, earthen construction, in particular in the form of cob and adobe brick, seem to provide such a universal and beautiful way to shelter ourselves, that in his eyes, has become the "mother of all construction". This motivates Conrad to teach people how to create their own living environment, using clay-soil as the primary ingredient.

In 2014 Conrad compiled most of the things being taught during the workshop into a book called "House of Earth". This is now used as a textbook for most workshops.

When he is not building or teaching he likes to camp, Kayak, and, most of all, make music and sing songs with my guitar and harmonica.

Rebel Heart Books was always intended to be more than a bookstore. It’s a place to connect through story: ours, yours and the books we choose to share space with. The archeress image is the guiding force for our mantra: be brave, be true, leave your mark. Our collection of books is eclectic, intentional and lovingly curated. Since we usually get only one copy of any one book, we like to think that if a book finds you at Rebel Heart, it was meant for you.

Garett is passionate about his work with Troon Vineyard. Since January of 2018, Troon has been reimagined and transformed as a diversified Biodynamic and Regenerative Organic Certified farm, adding chickens, sheep, vegetables, cider apples, and a permaculture-style food forest to an historic vineyard and winery. Garett is also passionate about real, good food, preaching the value of soil, and the interconnectedness of all life. He has lectured on soil health, composting and regenerative farming for individuals, community interest groups, and brands. He has been a participant in A Greater Applegate's Food and Farming planning sessions with the goal of creating tool- and knowledge-sharing networks between producers in Josephine and Jackson Counties. Garett loves the walkability of Jacksonville. He also loves to walk to open mic night - and play drums occasionally!

Garett loves working at the intersection of food, farming, and community development. He has never lived in a place that so seamlessly supports the collaboration between farmers, chefs, winemakers, herbalists, artists, and consumers. He’s especially enjoyed partnering with Chef Carl Krause of Earnest Baking Co. You'll find Troon produce - and next year, lamb! - on the menu of his food truck.

This year, Troon celebrated their 50th anniversary. As of next spring, all 50 acres of vines will have been replanted with grapes borne in the Rhone Valley (France) and Cotes-du-Rhone, where the climate is very similar to that of the Kubli Bench. The Applegate Valley is the PERFECT context to grow wine grapes. A few months ago, Troon was honored as a "Top American Winery of the Year" by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, and the Rogue Valley was nominated as "Emerging Wine Region of the Year". This has brought a lot of buzz to our community of winegrowers and makers that are not as well-known as the Willamette, but doing really interesting things.

Hello everyone and thank you for joining us here at Living Southern Oregon. Today I will be introducing you to Jake Rockwell. Jake is an Oregonian who first came to Medford in 1992. He lives here with his wife, Sherrie, and son, Ethan. Jake has owned several businesses over the years and currently he is the Owner and Team Leader of the Rockwell Group, a local real estate team brokered by eXp Realty, and he is an active real estate investor. Jake is also an avid golfer and you can often find him at the Medford Country Club enjoying the game with friends and family and working hard to not let his son win too often.

Today we will be speaking with the creator and host of this show, Simona Fino. Simona is an active member of the Southern Oregon community, keeping busy with the Living Southern Oregon podcast, buying & selling homes for her clients and participating in all of the fantastic adventures this area has to offer. She has lived in Southern Oregon with her 15 yr old daughter, Sahara since January 2015. Simona enjoys dancing to the house music scene, live music, kayaking and many other activities. She is constantly on the go and loves to bring people and communities together.

Lilly moved here from Arizona specifically to study winemaking to apply to mead-making. While in school, she also helped launch a Meadery in Whales, UK.  Oran Mor Meads in Roseburg was launched in 2015 and they are now one of the top Meaderies in the state producing award-winning mead. They focus on producing Meads and Honey wines from local and varietal honey and farm direct, using local PNW fruit and spices. Lilly is also currently involved in helping teach the Mead Program at UC Davis.

Location: Oran Mor Artisan Mead, 305 Melrose Rd. Roseburg, OR 97471  Tasting Room phone number 505-310-1525 Winery Number 928-600-8138

Ashley has always been drawn to the healing arts, she knew she wanted to be a massage therapist since she was a young teenager. After a few years of practicing massage she realized there were way more people who needed healing than she could ever help with her own two hands. Ashley attended a retreat at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment where she learned about Blu Room technology. An atmosphere of high resonance, UVB light and sound that increases the natural ability we already have to heal ourselves. She told her friend/ future business partner Quchyal as we sat in the audience that day, "Oh we are definitely opening one of these in Grants Pass!" So here they are now going into their 4th year of the blu room being alive in our sweet little hometown.

Don Harriss is a talented composer, recording artist, producer, and audio engineer. Don was the Musical Director for a dozen or more shows at the Craterian and Camelot Theatres. He also occasionally ventures into pop and has performed in Rogue Valley bands. He is currently working on an orchestral composition and building a recording studio.  He has lived in Southern Oregon since 1993. Note: additional music for this episode comes from Don's album A Hero's Welcome.

Audrey feels incredibly privileged to work for Rogue Creamery, a company that shares her values and uses their influence and resources to effect positive changes in the dairy and cheese industry.  She is proud of their long history in Southern Oregon (90yrs next year), the certified organic dairy farm open to the public in Grants Pass, and the  company-wide efforts to continually innovate and refine their sustainable practices, support human and animal health and happiness, and preserve the art and tradition of making the world's finest handmade cheese.

Melynda is the charismatic and down-to-earth tour guide everyone wants! She has lived in Southern Oregon for many years and has watched the local restaurant scene change and grow. She has the natural ability to connect with people. A few hours on a tour with Melynda is sure to be filled with laughter, delicious food and a bit of local history. As founder of the Hungry Hustle Walking Food Tour, she has curated it with her favorite local restaurants to make sure you taste the best of what Southern Oregon has to offer!. Melynda integrates history and public art with visits to local establishments to enjoy locally sourced dishes. You will meet chefs, brew masters, proprietors, farmers, and bakers and learn how their story enhances the area's history. Their goal is to open your mind and palette and recount the rich history Southern Oregon has to offer.

Zoe Alowan - Kauth; Artist, Healer & Community Builder. She is the Creator of Paint, Dance, Sing! workshops as well as Grandma Zoe’s FaceTime Playtime. Co-Creator and facilitator of Time for Tribe Trainings and Co-Author along with Bill Kauth of the book "We Need Each Other”. Zoe is also a certified SoulCollage facilitator. Zoe moved from Nevada City, CA to Ashland, OR in 2006 and has made Southern Oregon her home base for 16 years, she has traveled throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand  and the US giving workshops and training.

Zoe Follows the Thread of Healthy Creativity. For Children -Teaching Art in Ashland Elementary and Middle Schools through the Briscoe Art Wing. She makes it fun and follows their interests. For adults she shares what she has learned that supports the inner artist; the ability to speak/sing with passion and make clear passionate choices. Zoe teaches how simple rituals, authentic movement, song reflexology, body work and how time in nature and a healthy immune system support that aliveness. Her teaching includes how to navigate when things don’t go your way. And of course, the secret to the perfect gluten free pecan cookies and the secret of making a great pie crust!

-Graduated from Oberlin College  in 1973 with an interdisciplinary degree in Art, Education and Child Psychology.

-Lived in the wilderness of the Lost Coast and backpacked for two months throughout the Canadian Rockies.

- Studied Bharata Natyam(Classical Indian Dance) in Chennai, India with Shyamla Mohanraj and other disciples in the USA of  Balasaraswati.

-Performed with The Boulder Mime Troupe at Le Centre du Silence with Samuel Avital

Ben & Lori are the owners of Remotion Winery in Jacksonville Oregon.They love the community around them and their business has been embraced by the Jacksonville community. Ben is an Anesthesiologist and wine maker, and Lori is a Yoga Teacher and volunteer at Jacksonville Elementary.

Brandy works as a Case Manager and JoCo Team Lead with Maslow Project in Grants Pass where the goal is to empower homeless youth and families to engage and thrive independently, in all aspects of life, by providing supports that stabilize and strengthen resiliency. She received her bachelor's degree in Psychology at Portland State. Brandy is also on the leadership team of the Equity Project of Josephine County functioning as the secretary. She was born in California and moved to Southern Oregon when she was 3 years old, moved to CA for a few years and has now found herself back in OR. Brandy enjoys training horses and hanging out with her red heeler dog.

JCEP Mission: *Increase the accessibility and impact of Josephine County-based equity activities *Inspire collaborative action and mutual support *Amplify the voices of marginalized community members *Raise awareness about systemic inequities *Build community and connectivity.

Tish loves teaching kids outdoors, playing music with my ukulele band, SOUP SENSATION. She also cherishes spending time with her family, including her children, grandchildren and husband. Tish is on the Board of Directors of the Multicultural Association of Southern Oregon. She also recently volunteered at our overnight Indigenous Cultural Camp at Lake of the Woods. The mission of MCASO is aligned with the mission of her cultural and environmental work in writing, songwriting, and education. Tish is also affiliated with the Table Rock Foundation, just north of Grants Pass, Their mission statement: Drawing on the wisdom of the past, they empower future generations to live in harmony with each other and the earth.

Tish volunteers on the Cultural Committee of the Applegate Watershed and Partnership Council. Our current project is designing and building a memorial at Cantrall Buckley Park along the Applegate River in honor of Takelma Elder, Agnes Baker Pilgrim, a local legend and founding member of the Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. She passed in November, 2019. We named the memorial site, Dragonfly Place, because the Dragonfly is Grandma Aggie’s totem.

The Happy Alpaca Toy Store focuses on items that transcend pop culture influences and trends. Amy’s family is committed to community service. She served on the Providence Foundation Board for seven years, is a current member of the Craterian Theater’s Board of Directors, and is a Trustee for St. Mary’s School. Her husband has been a volunteer soccer coach for the Rogue Valley Timbers for nine years as well as has coached for the YMCA flag football and basketball programs for eleven years. Amy and her family live on a small farm about a mile from the Happy Alpaca.

Megan Fehrman is the co-Executive Director and Director of Vision Strategy for A Greater Applegate, a nonprofit organization that is sustaining and enhancing local connections that promote the environmental, economic, and social vitality of the Applegate Valley. Megan has been heading up the Applegate Valley Vision process for the past 3 years and has talked to hundreds of Applegate residents, businesses, community leaders, farmers, artists, the elders and the youth, and the spanish-speaking community about their ideas and opportunities for the Applegate.  After months of sorting through the assets, challenges, gaps, and opportunities, the Applegate Valley Vision has recently been released and represents what we heard from our community, and is a cohesive approach to what it will take to achieve a resilient, vibrant, and inclusive rural community, economy, and environment

Daniel describes himself as a fairly typical middle aged man with a great job who could stand to lose 10-15 pounds and wishes he had more hair on his head.  He says he is likely going through some sort of midlife crisis that has landed him on the horticulture of small trees. Daniel finished his masters degree at UNLV after having worked as an RN for 18 years. The west coast offered greater monetary appreciation for nurse practitioners and we had always talked about Oregon as a place to land. His wife grew up in Northern California (Placerville) and his father always referred to himself as a native son having been raised in Salem. Oregon seemed to be in Daniel’s blood and Southern Oregon was as close to his wife’s family as they could get whilst not being in California.

Luke is the Siskiyou Conservation Director for Klamath Forest Alliance, a regional conservation organization working throughout the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains. He also runs Klamath Forest Alliance's Siskiyou Field Office and the Klamath-Siskiyou Fire Reports Program. Luke works to protect, defend, preserve and restore the biodiversity, forests, woodlands, rivers and wildlands of these areas. Luke and his wife, Suzie also run Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds and Siskiyou Ecological Services, where they sell wildcrafted native plant seed including native wildflowers and grasses, as well as some trees and shrubs. They also do ecological consultation work for residents, non-profits and other organizations including vegetation monitoring, native plant surveys, pollinator and native plant gardening, habitat restoration, and environmental advocacy. Luke is the author of a regional hiking and natural history guide titled, "The Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, HIstory & Ecology,"  which covers conservation and ecological issues in the region.

Links:

Veege is the Southern Regional Representative for the Oregon Midwifery Council.  She has a Bachelor's Degree in Women's Reproductive Lives: Biology, Evolution, and Culture from Fairhaven College at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA.. Veege has participated in protests against timber sales, worked with homeless youth, baked bread to deliver to homeless and home bound people, traveled to Guatemala to do a community service project and was previously on the board of directors at the Peace House. Veege loves to garden, see live music, spend time with her kids, cats, and boyfriend.

SPECIAL NOTE:

Veege is passionate about women's reproductive choices and has devoted her life to respectful care to women during childbirth. She would love to talk about the midwifery model of care, normal birth physiology, and how evolutionary perspectives can inform policy around safe care to women during birth.

Juan Santiago is the Co-Director @Gambrelgallery and local artist in Ashland  He is in the art and design business working for himself as a principal artist with ceramics as a primary medium. Juan was previously a lecturer at SOU in the Art department. Since then, he has had a rich studio practice continuing what he started with his students which is harvesting natural/wild clays all round Ashland and beyond!  He has a love for the Oregon landscape as well as a renewed studio practice that allows him to romp around and immerse himself in nature. Juan loves all the food and all the animals here, as well as the hiking and water features in this area, including Jackson Well Springs. He has lived, worked and played in Southern Oregon since 2019!

Today we are excited to welcome Chris Adlam, who came to the Applegate in 2021 as the Regional Fire Specialist at OSU Extension Center.  He works with communities in southwest Oregon to learn how we can live with fire. This includes figuring out ways we can come together to make decisions about our cherished landscapes, learn about fire’s role in ecosystems, and increase our use of prescribed burns. Chris is also committed to learning from Indigenous people about these issues and to support them in their own use of fire to manage their homelands. In his free time he is passionate about botany, birdwatching, and woodworking.

Allan Colley and Dabney Tompkins own and operate Summit Prairie, one of the most popular Airbnb’s in the world in beautiful Tiller Oregon. Surrounded by the Umpqua National Forest in Douglas County Oregon, you can sit atop a 40 acre meadow while staying up in the air in a gorgeous fire lookout on 160 acres of incredible land.

Dot Fisher-Smith is an artist, counselor, group facilitator, community elder, networker, radical, Primitive, hunter-gatherer, social artist. She attempts to follow her conscience as well as she can, by consuming/shopping as little as possible, buying local, not on line, never from Amazon. Being harmless, leaving no trace, inspiring people, being a model of longevity and transparency.  She was also a founder of Peace House in 1982. Dot is an incredible example of how to live a congruent life and to walk one's talk in this ever increasingly corporate dominated world, where money and profit trump the health and well-being of all life on the Earth. Dot has lived in Southern Oregon for 40 years!

Hello everyone and welcome to Living Southern Oregon! I’m looking forward to introducing you all to Michael Dotson. Michael is the Director at the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, a non-profit conservation organization working across southwest Oregon and northwest California's public lands and watersheds. His work is geared towards community organizing, civic engagement, and advocacy on behalf of wildlife, clean water and forests. Michael moved to southern Oregon in 2013, and is going on 9 years living in the region.

Much of his current work is geared more towards community organizing, civic engagement, and advocacy on behalf of wildlife, clean water, and forests.

Michael likes getting out on the trails, hiking/backpacking and rafting rivers in the region. He also helps out a friend from time to time during the grape growing season, helping him manage his small vineyard and wine-making operation. He enjoys the area's wineries and likes to visit local venues and wineries, especially when there's an opportunity to enjoy live local music/musicians.

Shannon Keegan is a Water Relationship Coach at Intrepid Water as well as a wife, mother, endurance swimmer and podcaster. She works with humans of any age to rediscover their innate aquatic abilities and take the first step to improve their experience in the water. She has called Southern Oregon home since March of 2013.

Kimber Parris-Bartman, along with her husband David Bartman, is the co-owner and Co-brewer of mom & pop brewery, Art Bop Beer Co. Kimber is also a volunteer with the Talent Public Arts Committee. She moved to Southern Oregon in 2009 just after graduating with a degree in Philosophy and Ethics and has been living in the Talent / Ashland area for nearly 13 years.

Welcome everyone to another episode of Living Southern Oregon! I'm really excited to introduce you all to Gina DeQuenne – a true community leader! Gina is an Ashland City Council Member, Commissioner at City of Ashland’'s Housing Commission, Senior Sales Manager with Neuman Hotel Group, and is Founder and President of Southern Oregon Pride. She is a human doing, a person that gets things done as well as a visionary who believes in the people. She is a passionate BIPOC and LGBTQ community member and advocate. She has lived in Ashland for 15 years.

Maya Lila di Vento is a web designer, meditation teacher, somatic birth trauma practitioner, human design reader, Nature enthusiast, and co-founder of ROOTS Outdoor School.She is a lover of life, curious, open and multi-passionate. Maya Lila’s main focus through various modalities is to bring more joy to the world through co-creation of beauty and transformation of trauma. She moved to Southern Oregon in 2014 from Maui. Born and raised in Southern California, she also lived in Argentina and Italy before settling here. Since she was 8 years old, she knew she would one day live in Oregon.

I’m excited to introduce everyone to Alexi Lovechio. Alexi is the Forest & Climate Coordinator with KS Wild. Today she is going to speak to us about preparing your home & property for wildfire as we head into fire season here in Southern Oregon. She has spent many summers working for the US Forest Service identifying plants and hiking around the Rocky mountains. Alexi has a deep appreciation for the natural world and how our public lands are managed. Alexi has lived here since 2019 and enjoys spending time outdoors, either hiking, biking, or skiing. For more information regarding wildfire safety, you can email Alexi directly at Alexi@kswild.org

Christina moved to Southern Oregon in 1993 and graduated in 2003 with a journalism degree from University of Oregon. She now writes “Footloose in the Applegate - Stories From a Stay at Home Traveler'' as well as providing writing and other services to her clients. Christina now loves living and writing in Southern Oregon, enjoying and learning all of the things it has to offer.

I am really excited to introduce you all to Murray Fischer, the founder and organizer of the Rushmore Society. Murray came down from Salem in 1997, and graduated from SOU in 1999. He completed a Masters Degree in Education at Willamette University, and moved back to Southern Oregon in 2001.

The purpose of the Rushmore Society is to engage the people involved and hold events that support the community.  He is fascinated by how and where people meet ~ and what makes it easy for some, and difficult for others to connect; how our circle of friends can shrink as we age and how connecting with people leads to a more fulfilled and prosperous life. Rushmore strives to create a spot where people can meet new friends, and discover all that Southern Oregon has to offer.  Murray is an organizer and likes to break free from routines and go a little against the grain. His personal interests include athletics and training, landscaping and gardening, cooking and food, wine and spirits, and spending time with his wife, Chava, his three step kids, and a wonderful group of close friends.