Laura joined McKee Bridge Historical Society in 2018, became a Director in 2019, and has served as President since 2020. She curates the Virtual Museum and researches and prepares daily educational posts on Facebook and Instagram. Laura also volunteers with the Southern Oregon Historical Society and Rogue Valley Street Dogs and has served on the Oregon Department of Justice Citizens Review Board overseeing foster care cases since 2019.
Valerie has been a member of the McKee Bridge Historical Society since 2020. She joined the Board in 2023 and currently serves as Vice President. Valerie enjoys organizing the Society’s events, especially the annual Christmas on a Covered Bridge fundraiser. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, backpacking, skiing, gardening, cooking and baking.
Dale was employed by the Jackson County Road Department in the Engineering Division for 36 years, retiring in 2008. While with Jackson County, he participated in several projects on the bridge. Dale became a member of the Board in 2008 as the liaison to the Road Department. He currently serves as the Treasurer.
Barbara is a founding member of the McKee Bridge Historical Society. She has been involved with restoration of the Bridge since 1988 when her US Forest Service boss volunteered her to take on asphalt removal on the bridge. She has been Secretary of MBHS since 2014. Living in the Applegate Valley since 1977 and working at Star Ranger Station for 28 years, she has enjoyed learning about history of the Valley from many old-timers.
Paul walked through McKee Bridge the first time in July of 1972, and he was elected to the Board at the first meeting of McKee Bridge Historical Society he attended in 2009. He helped raise funds for the 2013 restoration of the bridge and is a past president. He fished under the historic Sachs Bridge near Gettysburg PA as a boy, thus a life-long fondness for covered bridges. Now retired, he’s been involved in several local nonprofits.
Dolores joined the McKee Bridge Historical Society in 2010, becoming a Board Member in 2015. She has assisted with the creation of t-shirt and tote bag designs using Evelyn William’s charming drawings of the Bridge. At Christmas she hosts a table displaying how miner Ezra Arnold’s family celebrated Christmas in 1904 in their log cabin. She likes to bake bread, make applesauce with fruit from a 100-year-old tree, and take “historic” hikes.
Shauna joined McKee Bridge Historical Society in 2023 after moving to the Upper Applegate and became a board member in January 2025. She’s passionate about the Christmas on the Bridge event and providing scholarships for high school students. Shauna loves the area’s natural beauty and enjoys hiking, biking, sewing, cooking, crafts and spending time with family and friends.
Maggie and her husband Preston have lived in the Applegate for 25 years. Before moving to the area Maggie worked for 12 years in aerospace but left to train horses and their riders full-time. Now she and Preston are retired, enjoying their animals, the beautiful Valley and their hobbies. She looks forward to serving as a Director and working other member volunteers.
Evelyn, a descendant of the pioneering McKee family, was born June 22, 1926, in Medford Oregon. She has lived in the Upper Applegate since the age of four on an 1870’s homestead acquired by her grandfather in 1906. An accomplished artist in oil paints, pastels, and quilt designs, she was proprietor of the Lamplight Art Gallery in Jacksonville, Oregon, for over 20 years. Evelyn has been active in the Applegate community all her life, as an Upper Applegate Grange member, a founding member of the McKee Bridge Historical Society and the author of ” Back In Time ” stories about growing up in the Applegate.
