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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2005)
Page 3 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, April 20, 2005 (Continued from page 2) COUGAR HYDROSPHERE - A free community water forum, hosted by students in Gary Enoch’s advanced placement composition class at Illinois Valley High School, will be held Thursday, April 21 at beginning at 6 p.m. at IVHS. The students have been studying numerous aspects of water, and have heard from a variety of experts on topics ranging from water rights to the evolution of the valley. The forum will include a gallery of student work; and at 7 p.m. a panel presentation by six experts representing groundwater experts, hydrologists, and municipal waterworks, plus agri- cultural, and fish and wildlife interests. The students chose the 21st for their program in connection with Earth Day on Friday, April 22. ‘SMART’ PIZZA - On Thursday, April 21, Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co. in Cave Junction will donate a portion of its receipts to SMART (Start Making A Reader Today), a book and reading program. All funds raised will go toward books and other costs of bringing SMART to area children. FIERY FIDDLE - Pete Sutherland, known as the Ver- mont musician extraordinaire, will bring his original songs and fiery fiddle tunes to the Selma Community Center (former elementary school) on Friday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. The concert, for which there is an admission fee, will be followed by an old-time jam session. On Saturday morning, April 23, workshops in fiddling, song-writing and “band therapy” are possibilities. Phone 597-2839 for information and workshop registration. MONASTIC VOICES - The Valaam Male Voice Ensemble from the Valaam Monastery in St. Petersburg, Russia will present a program at Immanuel United Method- ist Church in Cave Junction Saturday, April 23. The pro- gram of traditional liturgical and folk music in the ancient Russian tradition will begin at 7 p.m. There is no admission fee, but a free-will offering will be taken to offset the group’s expenses. Refreshments will be served after the performance. The concert, according to an announcement, “will reach deep into the hearts and souls of listeners, and foster a deeper understanding and greater friendship be- tween the people of our great countries.” DRUM BEAT - “Obo Addy and Okropong,” a world- acclaimed drum and dance group, will present a public per- formance at Lorna Byrne Middle School May 7. The group also will work with LBMS students during workshops on May 5, and with Evergreen Elementary School students May 6. The student programs are in conjunction with “Learning Through the Arts,” a project sponsored and con- ducted by Illinois River Valley Arts Council (not Southern Oregon Guild as incorrectly reported last week). AUCTION SPAGHETTI - A silent auction and spa- ghetti feed, open to the public, will be held at Illinois Valley Senior Center on Friday, May 13, with proceeds going to the center’s building expansion fund. “Almost every busi- ness in the valley has donated,” said Laura Brown, chair- man of the Ways & Means Committee. Items including a TV, a just-tuned organ, haircuts and perms, plants, jewelry, clothing, gravel and custom wood products will be auc- tioned. The dinner, “with all the trimmings,” will be avail- able during the auction. Advance payment for the dinner is requested to facilitate planning. Phone 592-6888 for more information. NOTEPAD - Poetry readings by Rob Whitback, a published poet from Fossil, will be featured Wednesday, April 20 at 7 p.m. at Blue Moon Café in Downtown CJ dur- ing the monthly Writers Series. An open mic time will fol- low Whitback’s presentation ... A crab feed of the all-you- can-eat variety (no doggie bags or take-out) will be held Saturday, May 7 at the Illinois Valley Lions Club building at I.V. Airport. Only 300 tickets will be available from per- sons including Steve Lyons at Century 21 Harris & Taylor, and Linda Oncay at Family Tree Garden Center. During the I.V. Lions’ last crab feed, 900 pounds were served in less than three hours … Homeless people will be treated to a free dinner and presentation about services available to them on Tuesday, May 17. The gathering is sponsored by Illinois Valley Family Coalition through efforts of persons including Maureen Goodrich, newly hired rural advocate … A Shining Stars Festival, the fourth annual, is set for June 4-5 at Lake Selmac. There will be live music, food and crafts, and many other attractions ... T-shirt: Way too smart to be modest … Another T: A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge … One more T: Obey gravity … Final T: I’m, retired. Go around me. LAST WORDS - It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. (Sir Winston Churchill) Some fun ..? From Ward L. Winter Cave Junction (Editor’s Note: The fol- lowing, sent to Bret West at the Oregon Dept. of Educa- tion, was submitted for this column.) When does the fun stop? I have friends who now avoid me in town because I am al- ways on a fund-raising cam- paign. I went to school in Ne- braska in a school district that seemed to be able to give all we needed and more. I have fond memories of my home town. I don’t think the same can be said of the schools in rural Oregon. Three Rivers School District is especially hard pressed because most of the high-dollar taxable real estate in this county is in Grants Pass School District 7. If you can’t fund the schools, then send money for a juvenile hall, because that is where a lot of the kids will end up without funding for school and the extracurricular activi- ties. About ALS From Glenda Graham Cave Junction If you are like most people here in Cave Junction, you probably have heard of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclero- sis) but don’t know much about it. Although Lou Gehrig brought ALS to national atten- tion when he abruptly retired from baseball in 1939 after being diagnosed with ALS, the sad truth is that little is known about this devastating disease. ALS is a progressive neuro-degenerative disease that usually attacks the upper and lower motor neurons and causes degeneration throughout the brain and spinal cord. Com- mon first symptoms include painless weakness in a hand, arm, foot, or leg, which affect a person’s balance, causing walking difficulties and fre- quent falls. Later symptoms include declining speech, all-over body weakness, overwhelming fa- tigue from daily living activi- ties, sudden laughing or crying outbursts, swallowing prob- lems, and breathing difficulties, which result in feeding tubes and respirators. Basically the entire body becomes com- pletely paralyzed while the mind stays clear and focused. In essence, ALS victims are trapped inside their own failing bodies. Regardless of the years spent researching this disease, there have been few break- throughs that can be of help to ALS patients and their fami- lies. Scientists know that there are three classifications of ALS: sporadic, familial, and Guamanian. Of these three, sporadic is the most common (90-95%). Yet it remains un- clear exactly what causes ALS, and there is no cure at this time. There is only one medica- tion in use, and it provides little help. This disease reacts differ- ently in each patient, so there is seldom a consistent progres- sion pattern to predict oncom- ing lifestyle changes for pa- tients and their families. The only sure things known about ALS are that it will slowly paralyze a patient’s entire body, and is generally terminal within three to five years. It is impossible to plan the future for people with ALS and their families because of the lack of information available, especially here in Illinois Val- ley, where there are no doctors who specializes in ALS. This absence makes it difficult to get useful information for the day- to-day issues as they come up in the lives of these patients. It is extremely frustrating to the families, who provide in- home health care to ALS pa- tients, to have no immediate resources for answering their daily questions. How can fam- ily members provide adequate care when they do not know the nutrition requirements for their loved ones, let alone any vital actions they should or shouldn’t be doing. Although there is a sup- port group that meets monthly in Medford, the closest ALS Association chapter is in Port- land. There are so many obsta- cles for ALS victims to face while adjusting to the idea of having a terminal illness. There are the necessary exams and tests to be finalized. Then there is the worry and fear the pa- tients have for the families they are leaving behind. Due to the need to stay mobile as long as possible, there are also weekly exhausting exercises and physi- cal therapy. The reality of the situation is brought home to everyone in a family when the patient can no longer walk and is too weak to perform many daily activi- ties that were once normal rou- tine. The necessity of remodel- ing an entire house to accom- modate the wheelchair being used now, as well as the rear- ranging of items to lower shelves for easy access for the patient is a high priority. The eventual need for a respirator and a feeding tube, plus oxy- gen, is a nightmare looming on the horizon for ALS patients and their families. The experiences of being in a wheelchair while trying to do normal shopping and er- rands here in the valley is more sad than funny. As the disease progresses, the speech of ALS patients becomes distorted and slow. It is shocking how many people assume that ALS vic- tims are just drunks, even with the wheelchairs. Acting on this assumption, people are impa- tient, cold, and just downright rude. The layout of most stores make it impossible for a person in a wheelchair to see much of the merchandise on the higher shelves, let alone reach any of it. There is little room within most restaurants and stores to accommodate the handicapped, and not many automatic doors to help make life easier for a wheelchair-bound person. Try wheeling yourself around in a wheelchair and push a grocery cart at the same time. It’s virtually impossible to shop alone under those circum- stances. In a store, those who take a good look at the debit/ ebt machine on the counter will see that there is no way a per- son in a wheelchair could reach the keypad, let alone read the instructions on the screen. More needs to be done for ALS victims and their families. There must be more research so we can find out what causes ALS and how we can defeat it. Until there is a cure, there should be more medication available which slows the pro- gression of the disease, allow- ing more time for ALS patients to live normal lives with their loved ones. Information about ALS needs to be taught to local doc- tors. Resources offering guid- ance and information to the care-giving families should be a priority for the Illinois Valley area. There are families with loved ones going through the heartache and pain of dealing with ALS right here in our community. We need to strike out ALS. 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