1. 58 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | summer 2016 summer 2016 | www.southernoregonmagazine.com 59
neck of the woods | in the biz
All living things need water to live. Water makes up 83
percent of our blood, 70 percent of our brains, and
90 percent of our lungs, making it our most valuable
resource.Yet finding pure drinking water is one of the most dif-
ficult things we humans face.
Ginger Springs, located right here in Southern Oregon, is one
of the world’s finest and purest natural water resources.Located
at the base of Mt. McLoughlin in the Southern Cascade moun-
tain range, the pristine Ginger Springs is well known for its high
quality water beginning as rain and snowmelt that is naturally
filtered by volcanic rock as it absorbs high quality minerals.The
result is a clean, refreshing taste with a perfectly balanced pH.
This pure water bursts from the Earth’s surface not far from
the small town of Butte Falls, a community featured in “Ripley’s
Believe It Or Not” as the only town in the USA that has a fence
completely around it.The fence is to keep the cows out or “the
people in,” as locals often say.When the timber industry dried
up, the town found itself in need of other resources to create
jobs and bring in revenue. Since the area was long known as
the land of “pure water, pure air, sunshine, and health” (seen on
Butte Fall’s welcoming sign), the planning committee came to
an easy decision.
“Let’s bottle the water!” they all agreed.
A BOTTLING
COMMUNITY
Cascade Mountain Spring Water’s
contribution to Butte Falls
Sandy Cathcart
Jerry Clarkson

2. 60 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | summer 2016 summer 2016 | www.southernoregonmagazine.com 61
neck of the woods | in the biz
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“There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet
As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet.”
~Thomas Moore,
The Meeting of the Waters
One of the first steps was approaching Bill and Delora Risser for help.
Delora lived her childhood in Butte Falls before leaving for college
where she met Bill. His degrees in water purification made him the
perfect choice to help out with the proposed bottling plant.
Each time Bill and Delora (along with their son Wyatt) returned to
Butte Falls to visit family, Bill’s heart went out to the community. He
believed the bottling plant would bring great things back to the com-
munity, giving a future and hope to the young people. For over a dec-
ade, he offered his expertise free of charge, until finally he realized the
community was not going to move forward with the project.
“Let me do it,” Bill offered.
It was an exciting day when the City Council voted in favor of the
Cascade Mountain SpringWater bottling plant.
“We finally had the opportunity and passion,” Bill says, “to bring back
jobs to the community and give back to the local schools where Delora
and her brother Curt graduated.”
The way the water was bottled became just as important as the water
itself.Only an elegant glass bottle would do.Glass,so no harmful com-
pounds could leach into the water, and elegance to match the beauty
of the mountain spring. No paper adorns the bottle; instead, each
bottle is embossed with a transparent logo of Mt. McLoughlin and its
well-known angel wings locals have long admired during the spring
snowmelt.
“Glass can be recycled endlessly,” Bill says,“leaving no carbon imprint.”
Eventually their son,Wyatt, became president, fulfilling the dream of
a family business.
“We are real proud of the job we’ve done,”says Bill.“We’ve gotten into
major retailers without brokers, which is very unheard of and opens
a fantastic movement on our product.These are exciting times for us,
and we are proud to have a good product out there.”
Thus begins the story of a community and family coming together to
both solve a problem and leave the world a richer place, all right here
in Southern Oregon.
Today, Cascade Mountain Spring Water goes well beyond the call of
duty. They often donate their product and sponsorship to local and
worthy fund-raising events, such as Cancer Schmancer (a cancer-
battling movement), the Telluride Wine Festival (helping support
the Telluride region’s food-producing community), and Trina’s Kids
Foundation (helping the Boys & Girls Club underprivileged children
during the holidays).
We are also proud to announce Cascade Mountain Spring Water’s
sponsorship of Southern Oregon Magazine’s party of the year, “The
Southern Oregon Classic.”Come join us for a taste of some of Southern
Oregon’s finest bottled water.
Cascade Mountain Spring Water
805-284-7053
www.drinkcascade.com
The Southern Oregon Classic
www.southernoregonclassic.com