Tilly Jane News from the Cabin
This is a special edition of, “News from the Cabins”, an update on current conditions and what’s going on at the Tilly Jane cabins. Including impacts given the new world we live in, a summary of the SAVE TILLY JANE restoration campaign and a look ahead at planning for some final project work at the cabins.
COVID-19 Update
After consulting with the USDA Forest Service and based on the State of Oregon Emergency directive, we closed the cabins and cancelled reservations March 18th through May 25th. We continue to monitor developments and will update any cabin closures based on State of Oregon/Forest Service direction. If you had or have a reservation during the above timeframe, you have received a FULL REFUND, including service fees. If this isn’t the case, please send a note to, reservations@tillyjanecabins.
While the cabins are closed, please know our goal is to have them open for public use going forward once we get COVID behind us! We continue to work with volunteers and the Forest Service to prepare for volunteer opportunities this summer and the annual wood haul. However, the timing and nature of these events will depend on the cabin opening date and whether or not we can host work parties. It’s possible that next season’s operations may be impacted by CDC/State of Oregon/FS guidance. There are lots of questions to address on this front so please bear with us as we navigate this unsettled time. We’ll keep you posted as things become clearer.
Now for some good news on the Capitol fundraising and Restorations front!
Save Tilly Jane Restoration Campaign Summary
It’s been eight years since the ONC took over operations at the A-Frame and five years since we kicked off the capitol fundraising campaign which culminated in last year’s phase 4 project completion. During this time, we held 11 fundraiser events which brought in $48,473. We received five grants totaling $47,000 and received donations from groups and individuals like you, equaling $24,217. This coupled with cabin rentals, adds another $185,990. Overall, $258,638 dollars have been generated for Tilly Jane restorations during this timeframe!
There has been a total of 4 separate project phases that went into the Save Tilly Jane project.
- Phase 1 cost $6,279
- Phase 2 totaled $927
- Phase 3 was $88,870
- Phase 4 added another $85,409 worth of expenses
- All said, we spent $181,485 to restore the cabins
While this is a ton of cash, it doesn’t tell the whole story. The restorations would have cost WAY MORE DOLLARS without all the volunteer work that went into the past 8 years. Unfortunately, I didn’t track all these hours, but I did track the number of hours when it came to the different project phases. What’s missing are the hours associated with all my organizational work, the volunteer hours associated with planning and holding the fundraisers and finally, all the hours associated with the annual wood hauls which allows us to enjoy the cabins during the winter months. So, for the actual work project phases, we had 252 individual volunteers who donated a total of 2680 hours of labor! This was critical to the success of the four individual projects. I suspect we could have added another $121,000 to the project budget if we didn’t have this level of support and volunteer commitment. We really couldn’t have done it without your support, whether that was donating your time by coming up to help with a project, making a cash donation, purchasing Tilly Jane merchandise or for our local business owners, donating prize giveaways. We could not have done it without you! THANK YOU!
Looking Ahead
There are a few small projects to fully finalize our goals for the cabin restorations. They include replacing some of the interior shiplap walls at the A-Frame and painting the Guard Station garage among other smaller projects. Plus, there’s always on-going maintenance items that will continue to pop up. As I’ve said, the goal is to manage these needs as they come up versus doing nothing and ending up where we started in another 50 years. We will continue to require volunteers like you to help keep the cabins available for public use.
I’ve also shared that Jennifer and I would like to see the Forest Service focus on doing something with the adjacent Tilly Jane Amphitheater and Cook Shed structures, which sit between the A-Frame and Guard Station. While these facilities are NOT part of the ONC operating permit, we would like to see them revitalized and are willing to provide resources to this goal (think $$ and volunteers). We’ve been working with the FS Archeologist on this front and they are currently working to obtain all internal and State approvals to proceed with rehabilitating the Amphitheater. This project will include replacing the log bench seating and stabilizing the flagstone walkways. It will also include opening the original upper mountain site lines by remove a few trees that have grown and blocked the view over the years. The Forest Service is still working through plans to address the Cook Shed and we expect something will be done on this front. The original plan was to complete the project in July and August this year, again, these plans are in flux due to COVID and our new world. So we’re actively planning and in a holding pattern at the same time.
Please be safe out there. We will keep you posted as we learn more, and we hope we get to see you on the mountain sometime soon.
Cheers, Andre’
Oregon Nordic Club