Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
B3
Feet: The ‘mirror of health’
Senior
Living
Scott
McKay
W
HO WANTS TO TALK
about feet? That is the
part of my body I don’t
want anyone to see! (Actually, there
are many other parts of my body I
want to hide, but my feet rank near
the top.) But taking care of your
feet is important. According to the
U.S. National Center for Health
Statistics, impairment of the lower
extremities is a leading cause of
activity limitation in older people.
The human foot has been called
the “mirror of health” because you
can find signs of diabetes, arthritis
and circulatory disease, which are
more common in older adults.
If you find in your feet dry skin,
brittle nails, burning and tingling
sensations, feelings of cold, numb-
ness, and discoloration, you should
talk to your primary care provider.
Pain in your feet is never “normal”
and is often easily treatable.
To avoid foot problems, clean
and inspect your feet daily. Are
there unusual changes in color,
cuts or strange bruises, nail distor-
tions, and odd bumps?
Also, wash your lower limbs
with warm water and soap, then
pat them dry. If you struggle with
dry skin as I do, apply moisturizer
except between the toes. Keep your
nails clipped straight across and
not too long.
Make sure your shoes fit correct-
ly. Footwear that is too narrow, too
tight, or not supportive enough can
contribute to lower limb pain. You
need shoes that don’t rub against
your skin or squeeze your toes.
Choose models that have wide toe
boxes, arch support, and sufficient
cushioning.
Our feet are the tires of our body
and although the tread is worn, we
need to care for them so we can
maintain our mobility and keep
moving for many more miles.
•••
Let me get on my creaky soapbox
one last time about vaccines. If
we’re going to stop the pandemic
and get back to “the way it was,”
it’s going to depend on us. Only we
can stop the pandemic — not the
government. You just can’t pass a
law to keep the virus out.
So we should encourage, not
tell, our friends to get vaccinated.
According to the vast majority of
the medical community, the vac-
cines are safe — but not 100 per-
cent safe. As older adults, we know
there are no vaccines or medica-
tions that are 100 percent safe. I
take a blood thinner that reduces
the chance of a stroke but increases
the chance of internal bleeding and
I have chosen to take it because the
benefits outweigh the risks.
Before I step off my soapbox, I
want to share one story. When I
was 10, I remember being told if
you don’t know whether some-
thing is right or wrong, ask yourself
what if everyone did it. Lying. What
if everyone lied? Stealing. What
if everyone stole? So, what about
the vaccine? What would happen
if everyone decided not to get
vaccinated?
Granted, this test of right and
wrong may be too simplistic, but
I believe it holds some truth. And
let me tell you, it worked for a
10-year-old!
•••
“Through the Eyes of an Elder”
shares informative, touching, and
inspiring stories from “elders” in
our communities. This month,
Paul Woolery shares what he has
learned from poetry, including a
wonderful collage of his poems.
I think you’ll find something that
speaks to you.
•••
The cigarette brand with the
tagline “You’ve come a long way,
baby,” seen in the last cigarette ad
on television, was Virginia Slims.
I received correct answers from
Steven Woolpert, Susan Ellis,
Chuck Rice, Tina Castañares,
Katherine Schlick Noe, Barbara
Cadwell, Lana Tepfer, Patty Burnet,
Cindy Winfield, Gene Uczen,
Linda Frizzell, Pat Evenson-Brady,
Rhonda Spies, Rose Schulz, and
Marlene and Keith Clymer, this
week’s winners of a quilt raffle
ticket.
In 1961, Walt Disney produced
the comedy film “The Absent-
Minded Professor” (who was
one of my role models!) starring
Fred MacMurray as Professor
Ned Brainard. For this week’s
“Remember When” question,
what was the name of the sub-
stance Professor Brainard dis-
covered? E-mail your answers to
mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, call
541-296-4788 or send it with a
picture of a flying Model T.
•••
Well, it has been another week
enjoying the great outdoors. Until
we meet again, as our parents told
us before crossing the street, “Stop,
look and listen.”
•••
“I’ve always had a duck person-
ality. Calm above water, feet going
crazy below.”
— K. Flay, musician
•••
Nutritious home-delivered
meals and pick-ups are available
for anyone over 60. For more infor-
mation, you can call the meal site
in your area.
Hood River Valley Adult Center
at 541-386-2060;
The Dalles Meals-on-Wheels at
541-298-8333;
Sherman County Senior
and Community Center at
541-565-3191;
Klickitat County Senior Services
— Goldendale office at 509-773-
3757 or the White Salmon office at
509-493-3068;
Skamania County Senior
Services at 509-427-3990;
Seniors of Mosier Valley at
541-503-5660 or 541-980-1157.
LYLE NEWS
Burn bans for Zone 2 in effect starting May 15
■ By Mildred E. Lykens
District No. 4 (LFD) has
been busy responding
to multiple car accidents
along Highway 14 and Old
Highway 8 Rowland Lake,
along with multiple acci-
dents along Highway 142.
With the great weather we’ve
been having, more people
are venturing out to enjoy
the outdoors. Please pay
attention, watch for turning
cars/motorcycles, and wear
your seat belts.
Patty Elkins from the LVF/
EMS has secured a WSDOT
representative to attend Lyle
Community Council’s next
council meeting (May 13
at 6:30 p.m.) to talk about
accidents and congestion
on Highway 14 and hear
community input.
Correction, sort of, about
the semi-truck wreck a
couple of weeks ago: I drove
by the spot where it left
the highway, went over the
guard rail and into Rowland
Lake — it showed that it was
not near the intersection
that usually
causes the
accidents.
Klickitat
County will
be seeing a
new group
Mildred E.
of EMT’s
Lykens
in the near
future. Always great seeing
more community members
volunteer their time and
hard work supporting emer-
gency services in our county.
The LFD will be signing
the burn ban for Zone 2 at a
county commissioner meet-
ing and will start May 15. The
fire danger has been raised
to moderate. With the warm-
er weather and drying wind,
vegetation and grasses are
drying out quickly. Lyle and
Klickitat County has already
experienced grass fires, most
started from burn piles that
were not fully extinguished
and rekindled. Your fire isn’t
fully out until it is cold down
to the bare ground. Please
do not attempt any burns
when the wind is blowing,
as it can take an innocent
ember and start a wild fire.
For questions about Zone
2 (Lyle Community) burn
ban, you can follow Lyle
Fire on Facebook, or access
Klickitat County Department
of Emergency Management
website.
Kelly Johnson, liaison for
OLESS (Old Lyle Elementary
School Supporters) stated
that the organization is look-
ing for motivated and helpful
board members. If you are
interested in volunteering
and helping the community
in which you abide, please
email lyleactivitycenter@
gmail.com.
The Good Food program
affiliated with Washington
Gorge Action Programs
(WAGAP) now has a suffi-
cient supply of paper bags
and we are going to stop
collecting them until further
notice. But they are now
offering laundry detergent
and dish detergent so are
asking for clean glass jars/
bottles to be donated so that
we can fill them up with
the suds. They are always
looking for extra food to
share with the community.
The best way to donate is to
drop items off during their
hours of operation. They are
continuing with their spring
hours of distribution, 10 a.m.
to 1 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. at Lyle
Activity Center.
Lyle’s awesome birder Bob
Hansen is once more head-
ing up the annual Spring
2021 Klickitat County North
American Migration Count
on Saturday, May 8. Once
again, we will be practicing
appropriate social distanc-
ing, meaning I will not be as-
signing folks together in the
same car to ride around for
five to eight hours. So please
let me know if you would
like to participate, either solo
or with a friend/partner/
spouse of your choosing.
And if you have a favorite
area you would like to count,
let me know that as well. By
the way, this count coin-
cides with the eBird Global
Big Day — ebird.org/news/
global-big-day-8-may-2021.
Results of the Spring 2020
count can be found at
birdingwashing-ton.info/
Klickitat/Spring2020.htm
and the year by year Spring
Count summary which
includes 2020 can be found
at birdingwashington.info/
Klickitat/SpringNAMC.htm.
And last but not least, the
Fall 2020 count is at birding-
washing-ton.info/Klickitat/
Fall2020.htm.
On April 20, Lyle
Community Council’s Chair
Julie Larson and member of
the Access to the Sandbar
and River Subcommittee
Vern Harpole presented the
Council’s Proclamation on
safe and legal access to the
Lyle Sandbar at the Klickitat
County Commissioners
meeting. We are happy to
report the commissioners
unanimously voted to sup-
port the proclamation and
will pass a resolution stating
so in the next two weeks.
As discussed at the
April Lyle Community
Council meeting, the May
13 meeting at 6:30 p.m.
will have an in-person,
COVID-compliant option.
Please attend healthy, wear
a mask and agree to stay
6-feet apart (meeting will be
subject to change based on
Public Health direction). The
council meeting will also be
available via Zoom, and the
link will be posted on the
Lyle Council Facebook page
and the “What’s Happening
in Lyle” email publication.
Save the date; more details
will follow.
The Mary Sorensen family
wishes to thank everyone
for attending the graveside
service on Saturday the 24th.
A life-time family friend,
Dennis Beeks, was gracious
enough to read her obituary
and her grandson Cameron
had the honor of interning
her ashes. Each person had
a chance to speak their per-
sonal memories.
Mildred E. Lykens,
509-365-2273 or
lykensme41@gmail.com.
GLENWOOD NEWS
Staff changes coming to Glenwood School in the fall
■ By Mary Pierce
We are shocked and sad-
dened to hear of the recent,
sudden passing of Mary
Anita Leaton Addington.
Mary Anita was the daughter
of Bill and Sylvia Leaton and
spent her entire life here in
Glenwood. She and her hus-
band, Vern, raised their chil-
dren, Vernadean and Bill, on
the family ranch. Mary Anita
always had a friendly smile
and enjoyed visits when
encountering friends at
stores or yard sales. She was
very hard working and very
devoted to her husband,
children, and grandchildren.
She will be greatly missed
here in our community. Our
deepest condolences go to
Vern, Bill, Vernadean and
Jeff Dean and their sons and
grandson, and sister and
brother-in-law, Claudia and
Carroll Hoffbauer.
With news of a sad loss of
a friend, it’s nice to be able
to also share happy news of
the newest member of our
community. Lavender Ann
Grace was welcomed into
this world by her mama,
Calista Yothers, on April
14. The beautiful little girl
weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces,
and stretched out to 20 ½
inches. Congratulations to
the new mama and to excit-
ed grandparents Nikki and
Dustan.
There are some big chang-
es taking place at Glenwood
School for the 2021-2022
year. Superintendent
Heather Gimlin has sub-
mitted her resignation and
has accepted a teaching
positing at a school in cen-
tral Washington. As much as
we don’t want to have to say
goodbye to Heather, many of
us know teaching in a class-
room is what is she loves
most and we are happy for
her. Heather will continue
as superintendent through
June. Meanwhile, a superin-
tendent search has begun for
the school.
In other school news,
many already know that
Jay Anderson, a long-time
science teacher here, will
be retiring at the end of
this year. Jay has had a very
positive impact on all his
students and will be greatly
missed. The school has hired
former Glenwood resident
Abby Eldred as his replace-
ment. Abby grew up in
Glenwood and went through
the Glenwood schools. She
has many years of teaching
experience and is current-
ly teaching in the Kelso
school district. I think the
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Glenwood
students
are going
to really
enjoy having
another
Eldred on
the teach-
Mary Pierce
ing staff,
following in her dad Tom’s
footsteps.
Charlotte Godon, who
teaches art and Spanish,
is resigning at the end of
the year to pursue other
endeavors. It sounds like
she has some exciting
changes ahead and we
wish her well. Sara McFall,
another Glenwood alum-
nus, has been hired to
replace Charlotte and will
be teaching art, reading,
and science classes. While
working as a permanent
seasonal employee at the
Conboy National Wildlife
Refuge, Sara has also been
a substitute teacher here
when needed as well as the
middle school volleyball
and track coach for many
years. She supervised Youth
Conservation Corps. crews
during summer months at
the refuge. The kids know
her well and are excited
they’ll have her as a full-time
teacher in their school next
fall.
Besides middle school and
high school track currently
taking place, Glenwood kids
are busy with other spring
sports. Several Glenwood
boys are on a combined
Lyle/Wishram/Klickitat/
Trout Lake/Glenwood (Lyle)
high school baseball team.
Liam McLaughlin, Derek
Gimlin, and Ansel and Yadi
Ruiz are all playing on the
combined team. In addition,
Liam plays club baseball
for Northwest Futures in
Vancouver.
In the Lyle combined
team double header versus
Riverside High School in
Boardman, Liam struck
out 18 of the 19 batters he
retired and left the game
with a no-hitter, two outs to
go. Ansel Ruiz finished the
game off for our team, for a
4-2 victory, earning the save.
Derek Gimlin scored one of
the team’s runs and fielded
the only ball Riverside put in
play against Liam, throwing
a batter out at first. Wow,
what amazing pitching! Yadi
Ruiz also pinch hit in the
game. Way to go, Lyle com-
bined team.
More exciting news
regarding Liam is that he
has been asked to pitch for
Whitman College in Walla
Walla next year and has
accepted. Congratulations,
Liam. You have an exciting
college year to look forward
to and we will all be rooting
for the Whitman Blues next
spring.
In addition to high school
baseball, we have several
Glenwood kids playing
Little League baseball and
softball on White Salmon
and Glenwood teams. Jocee
Hoctor and Ariana Jackson
are playing on a girls’ minors
softball team in White
Salmon. Jaecee Hoctor,
straight off of coaching
the high school volleyball
season, is helping to coach
the girls’ team. Blaine Arnold
is playing on a boys’ majors
team and James Bartek and
Myles Jackson are playing on
a boys’ minors team, also all
in White Salmon.
Meanwhile, here in
Glenwood there’s a lot of
fun going on at the school
ballfield. A tee-ball team
coached by Jaecee and spon-
sored by Mt. Adams Angus,
has 10 little kids ranging in
age from 5–8. Their prac-
tices so far have been on
very windy days, but the
ball stays on the tee and the
little kids are having a blast
while learning the basics
of baseball. They had their
first game recently. One fan
reported that, to him, tee ball
is like herding cats, but hav-
ing fun while doing so. And
I just have to add, Jaecee
Hoctor is probably the busi-
est mom in Glenwood right
now. Thank you for all you
do for the kids, Jaecee.
High school and junior
high school Rodeo teams
have begun their spring
competition. Glenwood
kids competing are Joslyn
Arnold in high school rodeo
and Emma Patterson and
Peyton Sanchey in junior
high school rodeo. They will
host a Washington State high
school/junior high school
rodeo here in Glenwood on
May 21-22.
Christina Kuhnhausen
is starting preparation for
the rodeo parade this year
and would like to get the
word out that she is seeking
parade entries. If you would
like to participate in the pa-
rade, please call Christina at
509-364-3326. After having
no rodeo and no parade last
year, this one will be a great
one, for sure.
Please send any news items
for next week’s paper to gmp-
ierce09@gmail.com.
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