Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 5, 2017
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Members of the I.V. Fire District
and our local Community Emergency
Response Team (CERT) also assisted the
operations.
Summer X training was coordinated
by Deputy Cory Krauss, who has been the
county’s SAR coordinator for over five
years. Prior to that, he was the sheriff’s
office search manager for 12 years.
His position keeps him on-call
virtually around the clock and he states
he couldn’t keep up with the work if
he didn’t have a dedicated team of
volunteers.
“SAR currently has 85 members
with a core team of about 20 people I can
count on to respond at any given time,”
Krauss said.
Local members handled 35 call-outs
in 2015 and even more in 2016, including
last year’s ocean search for three local
victims of a small plane crash July 4.
The pilot, John Belnap, his 17 year
old son Maxel, and his Grants Pass High
School track and field teammate Ryan
Merker all died in the crash and it took
many days to find and recover the bodies.
The recovery mission was
particularly difficult because John Belnap
was a SAR member.
“We all had an emotional connection
with that situation,” Krauss said.
SAR members range in age from
young adult to mid-80s. They include
people who work full-time in various
professions as well as retirees. All are
drawn to community service.
The county SAR team also has
Emergency Medical Responders, a
certification just below Emergency
Medical Technician (EMT) level.
To become a SAR member,
volunteers must complete a three-
weekend training academy held
each spring. The academy included
classroom and field sessions in
rescue and survival skills taught by
experienced SAR members.
Volunteers are expected to attend
at least six membership meetings a
year and help with community events
and fundraisers.
The county doesn’t financially
support SAR, so the non-profit Friends
of SAR does fundraising throughout
the year to pay for equipment and
training.
Volunteers pay a $25 fee for
academy materials and must provide
their own backpack of essentials to
sustain them on an overnight search.
To avoid becoming a victim,
Krauss stressed that outdoor
enthusiasts wear proper clothing
and carry extra to prepare for “the
unexpected night out” as well as
adequate provisions of food and water.
He also recommended that people
“make a plan, express that plan to
friends and family and then stick with
that plan so SAR has a better chance of
locating you” in case of emergency.
To learn more about SAR, email
Krauss at CKrauss@co.josephine.or.us.
CITY ...
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Dalegowski holds that creating a system which
automatically records content in-house might be
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Welcome Friends: by Robert Hirning
It is really refreshing to see so many new
faces here in our beautiful valley and a big
welcome goes out to all of you. After decades of
decline, the moribund timber industry is finally
being replaced by a new economic base. The
last time a large influx of youth moved into the
Illinois Valley was over 40 years ago with the
“back-to-the-land” hippy migration and now
that generation is grey haired and aging. Many
of their kids moved away long ago with so little
to do here and the local economy spiraled down.
But the cannabis industry has infused huge
amounts of capital into the valley and, along
with tourism and retirement, our economic base
has been revitalized. So welcome friends and
maybe take a few minutes to hear a few tips
from the old timers. Many of our ways are rural
and quaint but as you gain time depth you will
appreciate them too.
This community is a small one where
personal relationships are highly valued and
provoking conflicts with your neighbors is
really bad karma. We’re not big on lawsuits and
enforcements around here but simple empathy
for your neighbor’s feelings is very important.
If your lights and fans are disturbing to others
nearby, try to mitigate the problem with
meaningful alternatives. Remember you are now
farmers and, despite climate change, the weather
is unpredictable here. Fall rains and winter
storms may ravage your crops and greenhouses.
You may need your neighbor’s tractor to dig you
out of the snow or help you move your stuff in a
forest fire evacuation. Love thy neighbor.
Another major difference out here is how
to drive these rural roads. First, and of foremost
importance, is that staying on your side of the
yellow line is not optional. Furthermore, being
in a hurry is not an excuse for catching up on
your calls or texting as you careen down the
highway. Pull over for that kind of thing, not
a challenge but is confident that either himself
or a volunteer can handle setting it up at a very
low resource cost to the city. “What it provides is
enhanced communication,” Dalegowski said, giving
the same explanation as Gillette in saying that none
of the content would be exclusive to Facebook
because it’s the law but because your neighbor’s
life is at stake. Also the roads here are largely
narrow two lane affairs and driving at a high
rate of speed endangers wildlife, bicyclists,
pets, pedestrians, as well as other motorists.
Our roads are used by more than the late model
sedans and pickups you may be accustomed to
on urban expressways. There are slow moving
farm tractors and hay bailers, young women
pushing strollers, old folks with their pets going
out to the mail, lost tourists trying to find the
road to Happy Camp, and a whole lot of old rigs
that just can’t go any faster. So don’t tailgate or
go roaring past on a double line; these are your
neighbors and your new friends, keep them out
of harm’s way.
This is a beautiful, sacred place and
you will be touched by the magic and the old
timers will look forward to your community
participation too. There are so many wonderful
non-profit organizations you may want to
join: the Garden Club, the Grange, Chamber
of Commerce, the new KXCJ radio station,
the Law Enforcement Task Force, the I.V. Fire
Department, to name a few. Even if you are
here only seasonally this year, it won’t be long
before you may want to stay on. In the fall the
“trimigrants” will be arriving in droves; clue
them in on our country ways and welcome their
respect for this land. Coming into this valley
from a very different social environment, they
also may need a few words about community
ethics and putting back a little of what they take
out.
In short, the Illinois Valley offers our
greetings to you all who have just arrived. This
community welcomes you as our new friends
and neighbors and knows that you will come
to feel the love and respect that is such an
important part of our lives together here.
alone, “If it became financially burdensome it
would pretty quickly not seem like a good idea.”
The page is predicted to be launched in about a
month but Dalegowski admitted that that timeframe
was a very rough estimate and that a firm deadline
has yet to become apparent.
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Friday
Serving
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Get Any Iced
Tea for
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Try It with a
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Free!
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Tea Party
B A
JOSEPHINE COU NTY
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C an ’ t wait to see
and hear all of you