Tow service for drivers who drink in the holidays
By Katy Soto
Oregon C\<uly f. met8X1
Every year. they offer their services,
mid every year people ignore them. They
are trying once again this year, and
maybe people should listen and hear
their plea
Last year, Oregon Life Tow provided
102 tows home to people who were bright
enough to realize they were incapacitated
by alcohol and could not drive home
They will begin to service inebriated
patrons at midnight Wednesday and the
service will continue through New Year's
Day.
Oregon Life Tow is sponsored by
Atlantic Richfield Co. in conjunction
with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and
Oregon Tow Truck Association. The idea
is that if you are going to drink during the
holidays you're going to need a ride
home. Of course, as the sponsors urged,
the best choice would lie not to drink at
all during the holiday season.
At the annual Oregon Life Tow kickoff,
representatives from all of the orx'inina
tions involved showed up to speak their
piece. Tim Curtis, a sales representative
for ARCO AM/PM was on hand to do
some corporate well wishing.
"ARCO is proud to sponsor Oregon
Life Tow for the fifth year.” he said "We
are committed to safety."
Nest. Bill Rice, who lost a son to a
drunken driver seven years ago. shared
his testimony and pleaded with people to
bo cautious during the holidays.
“I think that Oregon t.ife Tow is anoth
er way to get home safe and sober The
first is not to drink and drive." he said
On Dec. 1ft, Rice's son Michael was
delivering pizza when he was hit from
the rear by a drunk driver, and the impact
forced his car into an intersection and the
path of another car.
Michael lived for It days, and "it was
the worst time of my life I am just now
getting back I plead with everyone,
please do not drink and drive If you do
drink during the holidays (.all Oregon
Li fa Tow.” Rice said.
Lt. Richard Waits of the Springfield
office of the Oregon Slate Polit e was very
optimistic about the upcoming holiday
season
"The Oregon State Police support and
applaud the efforts of Oregon Life Tow
Stopping drunk driving has always fawn
a high priority l-nst year HO people were
arrested during the holiday season. We
had no fatalities in Lane County from
drunken driving, though Kvery available
jrerson will bo used for patrol during the
holidays Pm sure most people would
rather ride home in a tow truck than in an
Oregon State Police vehicle,” Weiss said.
Finally. Lee Dannerick spoke on behalf
of the Oregon Tow Truck Asso< iation.
"You can now be towed (if you are
intoxicated) without charge providing
that you live within a 25-miie radius Last
year, there were 200 fatalities in Oregon
due to drunk driving, we'd like to make
that zero," he said.
Kvery year about 40 tow- truck opera
tors partii ipato in Oregon Life Tow Since
then, the program lias provided for more
than t>40 tows during the holiday season
"There are more than fi40 men and
women alive today to enjoy this holiday
season with their families and friends,
because they made the right decision to
use Oregon Life Tow sometime during
the past four years.” said Jeff Kuhn,
ARCO AM/PM's district sales manager
The chairwoman of MAIM) Oregon said
Oregon Life Tow’s holiday service is
invaluable.
"Five years ago. before Oregon Life
Tow began, the winter holiday period
from Thanksgiving to Now Year’s was
much more deadly for motorists than the
summer holiday period. Alcohol-related
fatalities were much higher and drinking
drivers did not have the range of support
that is now available." Jeanne Canfield
said.
If you nre feeling a little too much of
the holiday spirit(s), you may call 1-800
243-4450
(M/UNDERLAND - *
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Working miracles with disabled children
SI’OKANF (API Dawn Frederick had
hold many sick and dying < hildren This
was one she couldn 't put down
She i amid (lit* tiny blue-eyed baby during
her duties »t Sa< red Heart Medical Center,
sometimes laying her on a blanket on the
floor next to tier as she worked as a pediatru
nurse
The child, who had slipped beneath her
bathwater at 11 months, had been declared
legally dead. Revived, she was so damaged
by the near-drowning that doctors saw little
hope she would ever walk, talk or see
The dnv Frederick reported for work and
found the infant had been sent to Interlake
School, she thought, well, tomorrow will
bring another child
Then she drove to Medical lake
Today, the "vegetative" infant has grown
into a giggling sixth-grader who dawdles
after school and loves llismn and dumb
jokus At school, she reads books aloud to
first-graders. At home, she leans over the laid
of a foster sister and i oos like a mother dove
The only thing brighter than her smile is
the one on her adopted mother's face
"This kid is my miracle." Frederick said
from her Spokane home I am looking lor
others "
Frederii k was single. 50 year* older than
her i barge and working full time when she
legally adopted Cinnamon Dawn Frederick
The afternoon she drove to the state hos
pital at Med it al Lake, the tiny girl, trapped
inside herself, gave a clear indie ation of how
she felt about being separated from Freder
ick.
A single tear rolled down her cheek
'Cod knows which children need mothers
and which mothers need children.” Freder
ick said.
With her own children grown and away.
‘God knows which children
need mothers and which
mothers need children.’
Dawn Frederick
Foster mother for disabled children
Frederick began visiting Cinnamon on week
ends. holidays. Christmas Dav. She talked to
the bahv constantly. carried her everywhere
and put herexjKH tatioiis as high as possible
Cinnamon rose to meet them By the time
Frederick brought her home as a foster child
at 2. she could mimic for her adopted moth
er a clo< k. "tii k tock, tick took." By the time
she was legally adopted at -tl. the child that
doctors believed would never walk got out
of her wheelchair and crossed the living
room
Todav. she strides from room to room
ponytail bobbing She loves the mall and
.McDonald's, rollercoasters and the Spokane
Interstate Fair.
And she loves her foster sisters Five vears
ago. F rodent k quit her job as an assistant
nursing supervisor to become a foster moth
er lor other children with severe handicaps
Now she also cares lor three girls who can
not walk and talk
A team of nurses and caregivers stream in
and out of Frederick's snug home School
buses come and go. Frederick keeps a si lied
ule that would rival any corporate execu
tive's.
"I could never do this if I had a husband."
she says with a laugh, standing in a dining
room that has been converted to a bedroom
"It's a fishbowl existence.”
But children do better at home. Frederick
maintains. When Cinnamon moved in, she
couldn't stop looking at the photographs and
art on the wall. Institutional walls are bare.
Turning tier home into a 24-hour-a-dav
foster home was more natural than even
Frederii k could have imagined Her own
parents had cared for H(> foster children in
addition to raising her and her sister
Although 34 of the 3.r>0 foster homes in
Spokane County take children with disabil
ities. Frederii.k is one ofnliout four that takes
medically fragile children who do not walk,
said Mvrah Swim, a social worker with the
state Department of Social and Health Ser
vices.
Children with such needs often have lov
ing families, but those families are ill
equipped to tare for them.
Other foster children come from homes
that are neither clean nor safe Frederick's
home is both Outfitted with special beds, a
hot tub and two kitchens, the home is divid
ed into two wings of spotless, well-lit rooms
Frederick, who has a bachelor's degree in
nursing administration, runs a tight ship
It s the Cadillac of foster homes." said
t vonne Bovvers, a licensed practical nurse
who specializes in pediatric home care.
"She expel ts near perfection.”
Toward that end. she has butted heads
with teachers, doctors and caregivers Fred
erick has fired attendants who did not meet
her expectations and argued with doctors
who think children should be institutional
ized She has pulled children out of schools
they did not apjiear to thrive in.
"If they don't do right by my children. I
come out roaring.” Frederick admits "1 have
non-verbal children; they cannot speak for
themselves.”
f.ast vear, Frederick waged an 11-month
battle with the state over funding.
"It's been difficult and time-consuming,
but we appreciate that she cares," said
Swim, who licenses foster homes for the
state. "We know she does. She's very, vers
strong and a strong advocate for the children
in her home "
IP* *
r K’S your turn to set the table
Send the FTD Autumn
Harvest Bouquet
This bounty of seasonal color
adds to the cclebration
jy— especially when you can't be
U there
Nrrvtng thr Unwnitt why t*B
Eugene s Flower Home
THE UNIVERSITY FLORIST
610 E. 13th at Patterson • 485-3655
Owners are l of O alumni
ENROLL YOUR
CHILD NOW
in Eugene Creative Care's before and after
school day care program.
Thirteen 4-J in school locations for your
convenience.
Lowest sliding rates . Flexible hours
call 683-7291
or register at
1350 Chambers
■ | (back stairs of the Scmler Optical Bldg.)