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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2017)
Appeal Tribune Wednesday, April 5, 2017 3B Girl Scout brings cuddly comfort to patients JUSTIN MUCH STAYTON MAIL If you asked Girl Scout Ashlee Ellis, she would tell you there’s something im- portant about a snuggly touch of comfort that works wonders in convalescence. The Whiteaker Middle School eighth- grader recalled trips to the hospital and always receiving a stuffed animal to help with her comfort. She said she always thought “that was just what hospitals do.” She discovered otherwise during a family trip to Yellowstone when a trip to the hospital yielded no such touch; the hospital wasn’t budgeted for stuffed ani- mals. That turned the idea light on in Ash- lee’s mind, which in turn led to a unique Silver Award project through the scouts, through which she’s delivered more than 100 comfort items each to Silverton Hos- pital, the emergency room at Salem Hos- pital, the pediatric ward at Salem and on March 28 to Santiam Hospital in Stayton. “I’m just very thankful to everyone who donated,” she related to the more than two dozen folks in the lobby who turned out to show appreciation. “I was in the hospital a lot, so this makes me very happy.” Ashlee dealt the appreciation around, citing her brother Brady Ellis, a junior at McNary High School who helped through his leadership class and con- cocted a website. She thanked her moth- er and father, Melinda and Jason Ellis, and teachers Doreen King, Meredith Sheridan and Lauren Stephenson. She also had a friend and classmate, Michael Austin, along to help with the Santiam delivery. She’s not done. Plans are to bring an- other 100 items to the hospital in Dallas before the project’s finished. Ashlee said the schools and entire community in Keizer have been recep- tive and helpful in her quest to gather more than 500 items. Melinda said the new comfort items her daughter’s gath- ered include stuffed animals, blankets, coloring books, and fuzzy socks, all des- tined for local hospitals pediatric and emergency rooms. “She calls her project ‘creating com- fort.’ She wants to give comfort to every child, teen, or adult who enters the hospi- tal,” said Melinda, who is also an assis- tant troop leader. “Ashlee has an amaz- ing heart and has worked on this project for about a year.” Among the dozens who greeted Ash- lee and her contingent in Stayton were Santiam Hospital CFO/COO Maggie Hudson and Chief Nursing Officer Sher- ri Steele. The hospital presented the scout a certificate of its own. The Silver Award is the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn, and the pursuit of one involves a dedication to- ward improving one’s community. jmuch@StatesmanJournal.com or 503-769-6338, cell 503-508-8157 or follow at twitter.com/justinmuch JUSTIN MUCH | STAYTON MAIL Ashlee Ellis, an 8th-grade student, displays a certificate issued to her by Santiam Hospital. State’s most popular campgrounds may see higher fees ZACH URNESS Fast facts STATESMAN JOURNAL The number of people going camping at Oregon’s state parks has never been higher, and that’s mostly a reason to cele- brate, say parks officials. But one problem is that people are of- ten picking the same cluster of camp- grounds, leading to overcrowding at one park while others sit half-empty. To help spread visitors out, parks offi- cials have introduced legislation allow- ing them to raise prices at popular camp- grounds to fund lower rates at less-vis- ited spots. The legislation — House Bill 2318 — is essentially calling for more “flexible fees.” “We have a lot of parks with capacity that few people visit,” Oregon Parks and Recreation Department director Lisa Sumption said. “We’re just testing this to see if we can encourage people to ex- plore new areas.” Sumption said price increases would only amount to an extra $1or $2 per night at popular parks, and would only apply certain times of year. Any revenue gained would have to be offset on dis- counts somewhere else. “We’re not looking to make extra mon- ey with this,” Sumption said. Currently, state park campgrounds are limited to two pricing tiers — “desti- nation” and “value.” Destination camp- grounds cost $22 per night for a tent site, while value campgrounds cost $17. “The way it is now, it’s a really blunt approach,” OPRD spokesman Chris Ha- vel said. “There are specific sites and dates that can support slightly higher rates. There are specific parks that need much steeper discounts to attract that small group of people who can be enticed by a good deal.” Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon’s most popular campground, is at full ca- pacity 85 percent of the time, Sumption said. It’s booked solid in the summer and Oregon had 2.7 million camper nights at 57 state parks in 2016, a new record. Of that, 1.4 million camper nights — more than half the visits — came at just 10 state parks. Most popular state park campgrounds Fort Stevens: 256,124 camper nights* Nehalem Bay State Park: 170,357 South Beach State Park: 168,010 Beverly Beach State Park: 165,296 Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park: 164,731 Cape Lookout State Park: 124,041 Bullards Beach State Park: 104,022 Valley of the Rogue State Park: 103,022 Harris Beach State Park: 97,075 Detroit Lake State Park: 84,721 * One camper for one night is a camper night. A family of four spending two nights = 8 camper nights. people are often turned away. Humbug Mountain State Park, also on the Oregon Coast but farther south, is just 20 percent of capacity and almost al- ways has multiple sites available. “Maybe somebody who’s having prob- lems getting a night at Fort Stevens would consider Humbug if they got a night of camping for free,” Sumption said. Both Havel and Sumption empha- sized that the legislation was just one tool for a broader issue. “If it doesn’t work at all, we’ll try something else,” Havel said. Zach Urness can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. BRENT DRINKUT/STATESMAN JOURNAL Camping rates could increase slightly at Oregon’s most popular state park campgrounds. Least-visited campgrounds Saddle Mountain State Natural Area: 1,366 camper nights Jackson F. Kimball State Recreation Site: 1,551 Willamette Mission State Park: 1,590 Red Bridge State Wayside: 1,733 Bates State Park: 1,860 North Santiam State Park: 2,277 Hilgard Junction State Park: 2,617 Ukiah-Dale Forest Corridor: 3,092 Catherine Creek State Park: 3,584 Goose Lake State Recreation Area: 4,633