Page 48 - Southern Oregon Magazine Fall 2018

neck of the woods | sister cities

Ewanua (Face Rock) in repose at dusk The 1936 f ire destroyed the town (courtesy of Bandon Historical Society)
Marjorie Davison -- 1951 Cranberry Festival Queen
I bid Ewanua goodnight and strolled the ten-block section of Old Town (courtesy of Bandon Historical Society)
with its offering of shops, art galleries and restaurants. With a popula-
tion of about 3,000 people, the sleepy hamlet is best known for its
welcoming beaches, and cranberry farms that produce a staggering
30 million pounds annually and 95% of the state’s ruby-colored fruit.
Since 1947, the town has celebrated harvest with a Cranberry Festival
in September, featuring a parade, live music, fresh seafood, a street
dance, and lots of cranberry-infused concoctions.

Another prominent hue, the bright yellow blossoms of Ilux Europaeus,
gorse, dot the landscape. Introduced by Bennett in an attempt to com-
bat sea erosion, the thorny, evergreen shrubs later resulted in tragic
consequences. Gorse flowers emit a pleasant, almond-like fragrance.
They also contain a highly flammable, oily residue, which played a
major role in a devastating fire that destroyed the entire town in 1936.
Undaunted, locals gradually rebuilt their seaside hometown brick-
by-brick, though always trying to control and eradicate the thorny
nuisance.

The next morning, follow-
ing a good night’s rest in
my rental Airstream and
having been serenaded to
sleep by a symphony of
river frogs, I visited the
Bandon Historical Society.
The small, well-curated
museum hosts a treasure
trove of old photographs,
tools and artifacts pre-
serving this chapter of
the Pacific Northwest’s
Ilux Europaeus - better known as gorse,
a thorny issue with locals
46 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | fall 2018