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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2017)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 17 SECTION A JANUARY 27, 2017 $1.00 Chamber honors volunteers with lengthy resumes Sowing HOPE By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The Keizer Chamber of Commerce First Citizen Banquet Saturday, Jan. 21, proved to be a night of unexpected surprises. In the end, four longtime Keizer volunteers received recognition for efforts that span into every corner of the community. The First Citizen Award went to Jim Trett, a former spokesperson and public education offi cer for the Keizer Fire District and continuing volunteer with Keizer youth; Bob Shackelford, a real estate broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, was named Merchant of the Year; Larry Smith, a longtime coach and mentor in Keizer sports received the Service to Education Award; and Dave Walery was honored with the President's Award by Scott White, the outgoing president of the Keizer Chamber board of directors. Trett was introduced by Mark Caillier, the 2015 recipient of the award. “When I received the How homelessness effects taxpayers PAGE A2 FBLA at MHS PAGE A3 Please see CHAMBER, Page A8 Trett honored as First Citizen By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes In introducing Jim Trett as the 2016 Keizer First Citizen, Mark Caillier, the previous recipient of the award, spoke on what volunteering means. “Volunteers instill hope in others, which develops pathways to success and the ability to sustain activity to achieve goals,” Caillier said. “Our 2016 First Citizen honoree has sown the seeds of hopes.” That might seem hyperbolic, but ask the man in his 30s who told Trett that he was likely the reason he hadn't ended up in prison, or the other one who came back to town recently and called up Trett to meet for coffee and said, “Every time I needed somebody, you were there for me.” That's not hyperbole. That's the brass tacks outcome of helping someone fi nd their way back to hope. Trett said calling what he felt “surprise” at the honor of being named First Citizen was an understatement. “I looked at the (other former First Citizens) that were up there and knowing A silver linings playbook Crisis teams visit Keizer schools 3 times since Jan. 1 By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes In 17 years on the Salem- Keizer School District crisis team, Pat Curran, a counselor at Whiteaker Middle School, said he typically responds to one or two student or teacher deaths in the district per school year. This isn't a normal year. In Keizer alone, three students have died since McNary freshman Isaac Garcia was hit by a train on Dec. 30. “There's been a lot of tragedy,” said Curran, who along with responding to two incidents at schools in South Salem was one of four members of the crisis team at McNary on Jan. 3, four days after Garcia's death. “This has been a tough year compared to past.” Coordinated by Darcie Jones, program associate for counseling for the school district, the crisis team is made up of 30 individuals, mostly school counselors. Please see CRISIS, Page A7 WAYS PARENTS CAN HELP GRIEVING CHILDREN 1. Recognize your own feelings and loss issues. 2. Give accurate information about the death, if you have it. Knowing the facts can dispel worry. It's OK to say "I don't know" if that's the case. 3. Be aware of your child's personal issues. (i.e., recent losses, worry about a vulnerable family member, being friends or disliking the person that died). They may be impacted even if they did not know the person. 4. Support your child's stages of grieving. They may express sadness, disbelief, anger, silliness, fear, defi ance, "crankiness", excessive noise or activity, or suff er from nightmares or insomnia. These are all normal responses to loss and need to be validated. 5. Encourage them to talk about their feelings. Then listen! 6. Share your own feelings. It's okay to share tears and hugs. 7. Emphasize that they could not have prevented what happened. 8. REGARDING SUICIDE: Emphasize that suicide is a mistake — a permanent solution to temporary problems, and that other people would have helped ________________ if he/she had been able to ask for help. what they did for the community – and a lot of the time it wasn't the fun stuff that I was doing – and to be included and thought of in that way is tremendously humbling,” Trett said. In light of his history of volunteerism, it actually isn't all that surprising either. Trett found his calling early in life. As a youth, he was frequently sidelined by health concerns and it led him to watching more than the average amount of television. He became a fan of Jerry Lewis and through Lewis learned about the diffi culties of children who battle muscular dystrophy. One day, at age 12, while recovering from an eye injury, he was Please see TRETT, Page A7 08.2 1. 2017 eclipse watch 11:25 PT Eclipse plans off to rocky start The Keizer Festival Advisory Board (KFAB) ramped up discussions regarding the Keizer Eclipse! Totally. event at its meeting Monday, Jan. 23. The board barely had a quorum but managed to dole out some tasks to those in attendance. Board members are taking an active role in helping plan the event that is being sponsored by the Keizer Parks Foundation with the goal of all proceeds being donated to Keizer parks. On Aug. 21, a total solar eclipse will pass overhead blotting out the sun for a little less than two minutes. Current plans call for a weekend full of activities at Keizer Rapids Park with tent and RV camping available at the park. Beyond that many of the details have yet to be hashed out. KFAB member Sherrie Gottfried is heading up the effort, but was unable to attend the meeting Monday. In her absence, City Councilor Marlene Parsons stepped up to take control of the discussion. One of the primary tasks is fi nding sponsors. Parsons suggested that $10,000 could cover the costs of public safety and portable toilets, but it is not yet known what sponsors would get in return. “We need to fi gure out what sponsors get out of it besides banners,” Parsons said. From there the conversation turned to creating a list of possible events and activities leading up to the eclipse. The Keizer Public Art Commission has expressed interest in having a chalk festival associated with the event. Clint Holland, the promoter behind the free summer concert series at the park, is planning a series of concerts for the weekend. KFAB board members left Please see ECLIPSE, Page A2 First Citizen banquet pics PAGE A8 Middle school wrestling PAGE A10