Our meeting place is at the Family Coalition offices at 535 East River Street, Cave Junction. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, June 17th, at 7:00 PM. The following meeting is tentively scheduled for Wednesday, July 1st.

If you would like to help us with the planning for next year, please join us at our planning meetings Wednesday evenings. Watch here for notification of times and places of official meetings. Don't be bashful. Just walk right in and introduce yourself to a friendly group who will welcome whatever contribution you might like to offer.

Download the free "Fruit 'n' Berry" game from Pinebrush!

Breaking News:

Dear Festival Supporters,

After careful consideration, the Festival Board has elected to suspend the 2009 I.V. Wild Blackberry Arts and Crafts Festival. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you. This difficult decision was made due to the current condition of the economy, the poor attendance to last year's festival, and the current lack of necessary commitment and support from merchants and vendors.

In the meantime, the Festival Board requests that you please support the other community organizations and events slated for this summer, including the 150th birthday celebration of the state of Oregon.

We, as a non-profit organization will continue to have a presence in the community, and hope that with your support we can return for the 2010 Festival season.

Best wishes,

Mark Russo Pres.
I.V. Wild Blackberry
Arts and Crafts Festival

• Lorna Byrne's yard gets a thorough cleanup...

  

  Click pic for more.
  This photo by I V News.)

  On October 25th and 26th, work crews sponsored by the Illinois Valley Wild Blackberry Festival performed a major cleanup job on the rural Cave Junction home of 103 year old retired teacher Lorna Byrne. I.V. Wrestling Club members and coaches, including Jay Miller and Matt Miller, plus Ted Orndoff, worked on the project Saturday.

  Four cords of oak wood are available to benefit the festival committee and its community projects. Pledges of $175 per cord can be phoned to 592-6509. The grassroots, snowballing effort will continue as honor roll students from the middle school named after Lorna Byrne are slated to add their elbow grease, though the initial date of Saturday, November 1st, was rained out.

• Officers elected for the 2009 Illinois Valley Wild Blackberry Festival season...

  New officers were elected at our October 15th meeting. They are:

  • President: Mark Russo
  • Vice-President: Gary Manfull
  • Secretary: Kathy Manfull
  • Treasurer: Judy Russo
  • Member-At-Large: Lee Eschen
  
  

• The 2008 Illinois Valley Wild Blackberry Festival was a complete success...

  

  Click pic for more.
  (Photos by Festival Committee)

  Well, the 2008 Illinois Valley Wild Blackberry festival is now history. Despite lower numbers of vendors participating, presumably due to high gasoline prices, the festival was a success and everyone had a great time.

• The schedule for the 2008 Illinois Valley Wild Blackberry Festival is here...

  We have a stellar program for you this year! From local music talent to street artists to a full kids' program in Jubilee Park, and much, much more, we got'cha covered!

• Our blog is online and recent posts are awaiting your reading pleasure .....

  The rules are simple: the authors, the Blackberry Board members, are set up and can log in and post as they have been advised by the webmaster. Readers may comment on those posts, but will have to register (it's free, but you must provide a valid email address) before they can do so. The first few comments will be reviewed by the webmaster for appropriate manners (not actual content) before being displayed.

• Take a stroll through our new photo gallery with lots of photos from the 2007 Illinois Valley Wild Blackberry Festival .....

  Almost 100 photographs are now available for your viewing enjoyment. Subjects include the IVHS Cheerleaders' dunk tank, The Goldman Family singers, Nicole Navarro and the Rowdy River Gang, The Frankie Hernandez Band, and our headliners, Broadway Phil and the Shouters. We hope you enjoy browsing this album of memories.

  An album of photos from last year's Wild Blackberry Festival is also included.

• The Wild Blackberry Commitee President's post Festival report on the 2007 Illinois Valley Wild Blackberry Festival is available here...

  In spite of some small setbacks and lower vendor turnout, the festival was very successful, especially for the local merchants who showed up in force and filled in what could have been some gaps in the downtown area. We actually put on a bigger festival than last year, covering more area and including more businesses than previously. [continued ...]

Wild Blackberry Pie

If you would like to bake blackberry pies and other yummy stuff, here is a great web site to look for recipes:

Held in Cave Junction, Oregon, in early-August, just as the native Oregon wild blackberries ripen, many food items for sale at the festival feature the blackberry as a primary ingredient. Blackberry themes are also evident on many of the visual art and craft items sold.

The next Blackberry Festival occurs on Saturday and Sunday, August 9th & 10th of 2008. (For more info, see our Calendar of Events on the menu at left.)