Community Calendar

Come experience the history, flora and fauna of Lithia park in a guided tour led by knowledgeable and passionate volunteers.

Walks run every Saturday and Sunday morning at 10:00am, May through September. Sunday walks begin July 5.

Walks last 90 minutes, are FREE of charge, and are open to locals and visitors alike. Please meet your guide at the front entrance of Lithia Park across from the Plaza.

This program has been running since 1989, and is a fantastic way to immerse yourself in Ashland’s crown jewel.

The Victorian Era was a time when doctors still lacked formal medical education; hospitals were virtually non-existent; germs were unknown; “quacks” peddled “cure-alls”; and narcotics, opiates, alcohol, and poisons were the base of most medicines. From 12n through 3pm costumed docents will lead 1-hour tours at the 1870s Beekman House Museum, discussing the local health care available in the late 1800s, sharing stories of Beekman family health issues and “cures,” and pointing out sanitation measures the family adopted. Although the Beekmans were one of Southern Oregon’s wealthiest and most prominent pioneer families, fame and fortune could not buy health care that did not exist or insulate the family from the many epidemics that raged throughout the country.

Yoga classes for beginners and 50+
Stretching and breathwork

Come experience the history, flora and fauna of Lithia park in a guided tour led by knowledgeable and passionate volunteers.

Walks run every Saturday and Sunday morning at 10:00am, May through September. Sunday walks begin July 5.

Walks last 90 minutes, are FREE of charge, and are open to locals and visitors alike. Please meet your guide at the front entrance of Lithia Park across from the Plaza.

This program has been running since 1989, and is a fantastic way to immerse yourself in Ashland’s crown jewel.

We invite you to celebrate our shared public lands for KS Wild & Rogue Riverkeeper's biggest fundraiser and party of the year: our 2026 Annual Dinner!

This is an event where generations of environmental advocates come together to share stories, see old friends, make new friends, and connect to this place we love—the Klamath-Siskiyou region.

We will kick off the evening at 5pm with a happy hour featuring live music by Bekkah McAlvage, an open bar with a great local drink selection, and an appetizer spread. You will be served a healthy, locally-sourced four course meal prepared by Marion Heinz of Heart Full Catering and will have the opportunity to win BIG win our live auction. We will offer a short but powerful program to provide you with special updates to our current work and exactly where your support will be the most impactful for the future of our public lands.

Tickets for this event are limited. We typically sell out of all available tickets for this event, so don't wait to secure your spot at the conservation party of the year!

Yoga classes for beginners and 50+
Stretching and breathwork

Learn all about what goes into training service dogs and hear first hand accounts on how they impact the lives of those who need and love them.

Yoga classes for beginners and 50+
Stretching and breathwork

The Rogue Valley is famous for its fertile farmland and abundant natural resources. So why is so much of what residents eat shipped in from far away? In this Big Ideas conversation, Alison Hensley Sexauer, Executive Director of the Rogue Valley Food Systems Network, and Maud Powell, Professor of Practice with the OSU Extension Service Small Farms Program, will give some insights into what it takes to shift our diet and habits to grow and eat locally.

Alison Sexauer is the Executive Director of the Rogue Valley Food System Network (RVFSN), a backbone nonprofit coordinating food systems work across Jackson and Josephine counties in Southern Oregon. With over twenty years of experience in food systems work, she leads a network of 50+ partner organizations working across food access, local food economy, soil and water health, and food waste reduction. Alison is deeply committed to building the connections and cross-sector relationships that help rural Rogue Valley communities create a local food system that serves all. She currently serves as Board President of A Greater Applegate and as a board member of Project Beaver.

Maud Powell is a Professor of Practice for OSU’s Small Farms program at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center in Central Point, Ore. She and her husband have owned and operated Wolf Gulch Farm, a small diversified vegetable and seed farm in the Applegate Valley for 27 years. She is the current president of the Rogue Valley Food Systems Network and serves on the boards of Our Family Farms and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands.

The monthly Big Ideas discussion series features prominent local experts speaking on relevant and timely issues affecting our community. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Library, Ashland Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and Jackson County Library Services.

In 1978, Alan Venetsky invited around 150 locals to his farm in Williams, Oregon to trade crops at harvest time. This became an annual event with the skunk as its mascot and "Dedicated to the Cultural and Religious Integrity of Natural Peoples Everywhere" as its motto. By 1995, the Barter Fair had exploded into a counter-culture festival spanning three days, drawing over 10,000 people to the historic 156-acre Buckley farm in Ruch ... and also drawing the scrutiny of Jackson County's commissioners and sheriff. In 1996, a new $18,000 fee imposed by the county, and the presence of almost 100 sheriff's deputies with vans ready for mass arrests, caused a significant drop in attendance and led to the demise of the Fair as well as to federal civil rights litigation. Jackson County was found guilty of violating First Amendment rights and paid $60,000 to the Barter Fair organizers.

Three participants in the Fair from its early years through the 1990s will share their memories and memorabilia. Jessie Spero recently sold her farm in Williams to move to Phoenix. Maya Reames remains a resident of Williams, as does Michelle Scherer who continues to grow and sell organic produce locally

The monthly Windows in Time lunchtime lectures feature well-known writers and historians and bring alive the people, values, and events that shaped our Southern Oregon heritage. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society (SOHS) and Jackson County Library Services. Programs are presented in Medford (first Wednesdays) and again in Ashland (second Wednesdays). Recordings of Medford presentations are available on the JCLS Beyond YouTube channel.