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