Former Country Coach Customer Care Center Repurposed

“Camp Country Coach” Repurposed...
Junction City Building Lives On As A Service Center

 

Feb 28, was a Big Day at Junction City Local Aid. Thanks to the generosity of Bob and Terry Lee, the former Country Coach Customer Care Center at 210 East Sixth Ave in Junction City, OR (remembered fondly by Country Coach owners as Camp Country Coach), was sold to JCLA at an amazing price. The down payment was made and the keys handed over on February 28th.

Shortly thereafter JCLA board members, director, and volunteers met with the Lees at the building to celebrate the signing of the deed. “JCLA is just so excited about the prospect of moving into a much larger space and expanding services…,” board member Karen DeBow shared.  A major fund raising campaign is underway to help the organization underwrite this purchase.
 

As Terry and Bob turned over the keys, they expressed their happiness at seeing this building that served so many Country Coach friends through the years continue to be a service center, now offering assistance to those in need who make their way through its doors.
 

A Junction City Local Aid facility tour is planned during the upcoming CountryCoach Friends Inc’s 3rd Annual Friendship Rally to be held in Albany, Oregon. If you’re registered to attend the rally, be sure to take that tour and see how the former “Camp Country Coach” is being put to great use!  Junction CIty Local Aid serves twenty percent of the population living in Junction City School District's boundaries by providing free food baskets and financial support for utility bills. Only one person on the staff is paid part-time; the rest of the work is done by more than thirty volunteers.

As a longtime RV industry cheerleader I have been a passionate supporter of this organization and serve as a ex officio member of the JCLA board.  



Junction City Local Aid has moved to its new home!

Junction City Local Aid Director Topic of Columnist Bob Welch Column

Lost Cousin Helps Her Find Herself

 By Bob Welch, as seen in the Register-Guard March 7, 2013

JUNCTION CITY — Susan Jones remembers the night that changed everything. June 2006. She and her family were sitting in the drive-through line at the Coburg Road Dairy Queen. And there she was: a homeless woman shuffling across the parking lot, pushing a baby stroller with her life on board. Tall. Gray-haired. Maybe 50. A woman easily recognized by regulars in that area, even without her usual two white dogs. A homeless woman whom I’d written a few columns about.  “I looked at her,” Jones says, “and then just said it: ‘That’s my cousin Jayne!’” Jones bolted from the Jeep and wrapped her in a hug. It had been at least a decade since she’d seen the woman whom she’d once idolized. In Jones’ younger years, her cousin’s many horse-show trophies had given her Scappoose home the feel of an equestrian hall of fame.

But now, as she looked at Jayne, she realized her cousin didn’t recognize her. As Jones talked, she noted one brief connection. “It was like the someone I knew was way back there,” she says. “There was a distant look in her eyes.” She knew that Jayne, like Jones’ now-gone sister, had struggled with mental illness; still, it was frustrating to see her cousin so unnerved by their meeting. Jayne clearly wanted to move on. “I offered her some money, asked her to come home and live with me, asked if there was anything I could do,” Jones says. Her cousin refused any help and pushed her stroller away. Later that night, Jones began looking for her cousin. No luck. The next morning she went to the Eugene Mission and St. Vincent de Paul’s Eugene Service Station on Highway 99. Had they seen her? Nope. Meanwhile, though, Jones was intrigued by St. Vinnie’s. Her two kids were going to be on their own soon; she’d have more time. So, she decided to volunteer. “The side benefit,” Jones says, “was if Jayne showed up, I’d be there.” Jones never would find her cousin; she still doesn’t know where Jayne is today. Instead, she found herself, which led to a connection of a different kind. She changed her e-mail address to: inspiredbycousinjayne@comcast.net. In October, when the church she attended, Eugene Faith Center, started a food pantry, Jones volunteered to head it up.

Six months later, when a Junction City partner agency of FOOD for Lane County was looking for a new director, Jones got the job. A year from the time she’d met Jayne, she was executive director of Junction City Local Aid, which operates out of a 1,600-square-foot nook on Sixth Street. “Some of our clients fit the same profile as my sister and cousin,” Jones says. “I knew I couldn’t reach my sister and Jayne, but I thought ‘I can help other people like them.’ ”  She quickly made her mark. Says Kara Smith, FOOD for Lane County’s agency relations coordinator: “Every time I have a new agency interested in becoming a partner, I show them Susan’s setup. She runs things so smoothly, almost perfectly.” But the Junction City job quickly proved challenging. When the recession hit in 2008, Country Coach, Junction City’s high-end motor home plant that had contributed half of the agency’s $40,000 budget, went bankrupt. Jones didn’t retreat, even in a community where more than 20 percent of the population was getting help from the agency. She began working closely with the Tri-County Tribune and Tri-County Chamber of Commerce to better get the word out — not only for donations but for potential clients. “Every flier we hand out has a ‘donor’ side and a ‘client’ side,” says Jones, 52. “You can’t assume which side of the flier people might be on.” Replacement money started coming in. When a $50,000 bequest arrived out of nowhere, the local aid board decided to use it as a down payment to buy, ironically, an old Country Coach service center offered at a tantalizing price. Perfect, Jones figured, to help fuel her dream of making Junction City’s poor less dependent on Eugene services. The new digs offer five times the space. And the potential, Jones believes, to house other agencies whose focus is helping the poor.  “People in Junction City have a lack of access to programs they need,” Jones says. The building — the plan is to move in before April 1 — could be a catalyst to change that lack of access, she says. “To help us not just throw fish at people, but teach them to fish.” Once, FOOD for Lane County’s Smith was meeting with Jones in the local aid’s cubbyhole office. “Who’s this?” Smith asked when seeing a photograph of a woman and a horse. “That woman,” Jones said, “is the reason I’m here.”

Junction City Local Aid provides food, clothing, utility bill support, prescription drug assistance and related services to low-income individuals and families in the Junction City, Oregon area. The Country Coach Friends Club Friendship Rally, August 21-25, 2013 at Albany, OR will hold a charity auction with monies raised benefitting JCLA and another agency, God’s Storehouse in Harrisburg (the two are unrelated community assistance agencies).

Elvis, Jim Cogley, Mike Denny Trio...what they have in common

What does a local country band and a smooth light jazz trio from Eugene, Oregon have in common? Well, they both share entertainment billing with "Elvis" this Summer at the 3rd Annual Country Coach Friends Inc Friendship Rally August 21-25, 2013! Motorcoachers are already polishing their dancing shoes (and boots) and planning for the trip to the Linn County Fair & Events Center in Albany, Oregon. 200 coaches will gather in this south Willamette Valley premier event center for five busy days of Rally FUN.

Throw in the often duplicated but never matched RALLY SPONSOR PLAYING CARD BINGO, hilariously presented by Premier RV Services, Country Coach Corporation, and Oregon Motorcoach Center one evening and the result is CCFI entertainment to perfectly match the tone of this rally. FUN FUN FUN.

The caterer is no stranger either. Affairs Catering is the company of former Burton's Catering employees, who now fill the shoes left sadly empty when Dawn and Bob Burton opted to retire and enjoy a more leisurely pace a couple years ago. I have visions of Blueberry Buckle and other amazing dishes bouncing in my head as remembered from past rallies I helped coordinate at the facility. The winery of choice is providing outstanding Willamette Valley wines and a favorite local brewery is tempting us with some delightful brews at the social hours.

Add in the great time we'll have reconnecting with Jan Taylor, Randy Porter, Kris and the entire Linn County Fair & Expo staff (and the uncomparable care and attention they provide to a rally experience) and we couldn't be more excited to have 400 of our favorite motorcoachers join in the fun in August!

Running in tandem with the CCFI event, as luck would have it, is the Northwest Arts & Air Festival, literally JUST ACROSS THE STREET from the rally. How lucky is that! If you've not yet been to a NW Arts & Air Festival you are in for a treat. Breathtaking morning launches will be a perfect start to the day with sunset glows in the evening.

A few of our most generous rally sponsors are displaying motorcoaches for sale. Others are setting up a small vendor display. Other rally contributors are presenting technical seminars about your motorcoach and its systems from engine to chassis and audio visual to paint care and interior livability tips....

Don't delay! Get signed up today! All motorcoach owners are invited. ELVIS will be in the building!

The Friendship Rally registration form has JUST been posted at www.countrycoachfriendsincorporated.com 

New Day Dawning on the RV Industry In Junction City, Oregon

We’ve called a big old farmhouse on Powerline Road outside Harrisburg “home” for 20-something years. The Litte Muddy creek runs nearby, with towering trees setting a perimeter. The birds are among my favorite things about living where I live. They perch in the big old trees and start my days with a morning sonata. With coffee in hand I listen to the birds musical decree of a fresh day dawning ripe with possibilities. The RV industry feels just like that these days…I monitor the headlines on the RV business.com news and Greg Gerber’s RV Daily Reports and it all points to a bright future for RV dealers, manufacturers, park owners, and the many cottage industries that support those businesses. With news of expansions, growth, and strong sales projections you sense this industry is right on the cusp of that next step up on a steady recovery course it has been on for a couple of years now.


Right here in Junction City the same is true. You can sense that stability and expansion and upturn in business as motorcoachers are supporting the plethora of RV experts and businesses working their trade right here in Lane County. Countryside Interiors offers one of the largest assortments of interior furnishings in the Northwest; Remains of the Day and Interior Creations on Junction City’s main street is a must-visit for motorcoachers in town for service, maintenance, or renovation projects. Innovative Coachworks report they’re as busy as they could wish to be with renovations, sound system updates, and service work. Premier RV Services can’t seem to keep the pre-owned consignment motorcoaches in stock for more than a few weeks in their highline motorcoach sales division. They are not alone in this recurring message of building momentum. There are many others like Oregon Motorcoach Center, Guaranty RV Center, Carr Industries, Advanced Satellite, Millie’s Draperies, and Davis Cabinets who are strongly optimistic about 2013.


Ron Lee and the entire Country Coach Corporation team are sharing updates in their quarterly Destinations emailed newsletter that big news is on the horizon. Specifically, plans for a 2014 Country Coach motorhome are in the works. The return of a new Country Coach motorcoach to the nation’s highways is certainly a big news event for me and this community. Having invested over 20 years in the Country Coach story, nothing would please me more than to be standing at the curb on First Avenue when that very first 2014 Country Coach pulls out onto the street for its maiden voyage. It will be cause for applause.

 
I am writing this as I prepare to head in to Premier RVServices, a motorcoach sales/service/storage business in Junction City where I assist with anything marketing-related three days a week. With Country Coach Friends Incorporated’s club rallies on my brain...and in particular the summer rally’s menus, agendas, vendor space sales and other details, I find I am eager to “hit it” again today at Premier as well. I wonder which motorcoachers will pull in to Premier for service? Will today bring in special friends like Reg and Molly Baldwin of New Mexico…Steve Abandonato of Medford, or the Epperlys from Junction City?


Every day I invest in this local RV industry, I am heartfully thankful for whatever means by which I am able to be a part of Lane County’s RV industry recovery sonata.  Much like the birds out my morning window, I can’t help but feel excited about the possibilities for this new day and the continuing resurgence of the RV industry right here in Junction City, Oregon.