Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
B5
Visit Hood River to open
visitor center in partnership
with history museum
HOOD RIVER — Visit
Hood River opened a visitor
center and office within
common area space at the
History Museum of Hood
River County, located at 300
E. Port Marina Drive, Hood
River, on May 1. The visitor
center reopening is a signif-
icant leap forward for Visit
Hood River, following a year
of contraction and reorgani-
zation required with the ces-
sation of travel and tourism
as a result of the pandemic,
according to a press release.
The economic devastation
realized by many local
businesses took a toll on
Visit Hood River, resulting in
closure of the previous office
and visitor center after Labor
Day 2020.
“The COVID pandemic
has been challenging for
the nation, our community
stakeholders and our orga-
nization,” said Katie Kadlub,
Visit Hood River executive
director. “As Visit Hood River
has envisioned our role in
Hood River’s recovery, we
could not be more optimistic
about this opportunity to
serve both the community
and visitors from our new
office and visitor center
at the History Museum of
Hood River County. We
are grateful for this win-
win partnership with the
Heritage Council, which
brings increased visibility,
engagement and service to
our mutual stakeholders.”
“The History Museum
of Hood River County
is delighted to welcome
Visit Hood River to share
common space at the
museum because our mu-
tual commitment to serve
and educate our community
and visitors,” said Debby
Chenoweth, co-chair of the
Hood River County Heritage
Council. “In co-locating,
our organizations are able
to reduce overhead and ex-
penses, allowing us to more
efficiently deliver programs
and services.”
The Hood River County
Heritage Council is a 501c3
nonprofit who operates the
Hood River County History
Museum. The History
Museum is a public resource
and houses the historic
artifacts, documents, and
photographs of Hood River
County and provides exhib-
its and historic programs
and events for both residents
and tourists.
History Museum of Hood River County is currently featuring Oregon Voices, a visiting exhibition from
the Oregon Historical Society. Photo courtesy of Anna Goodwin, executive director, History Museum
of Hood River County.
The Hood River County
Chamber of Commerce
dba Visit Hood River
is a nonprofit business
association serving tourism
and business stakeholders.
Visit Hood River supports
economic and tourism
development in Hood River,
Cascade Locks, Mosier,
Odell, Parkdale, Pine Grove
and Mt. Hood.
Volunteer Association of the Mosier Fire Department donate two Automatic External Defibrillators on
April 12, one to Kathy Long, meal site coordinator for Mosier Senior Center, and another to Breanna’s
Mosier Market owner Brenna Campbell in downtown Mosier.
Contributed photo
Top row: Kathy Nishimoto and Monica Carson; second row: Judge John A. Wolf, Carol Goter and Tori
Ratcliff; bottom row: Brigitte Barnes.
Contributed photo
Columbia Gorge CASA
welcomes new volunteers
HOOD RIVER —
Columbia Gorge CASA
(Court Appointed Special
Advocates) has installed its
newest child advocates: Tori
Ratliff, Kathy Nishimoto, and
Monica Carson, Hood River;
Carol Goter, Mosier; and
Brigitte Barnes, Stevenson.
After completing more
than 30 hours of professional
training, via Zoom, the group
was sworn into duty (also
via Zoom) by the Honorable
John A. Wolf, on April 13.
Wolf welcomed the newest
advocates and subsequently
described some of his expe-
riences with specific CASAs.
He also listed many of the at-
tributes he feels CASAs bring
to the court and pertinent
information concerning a
child that CASAs bring to the
court’s attention.
Appointed and empow-
ered directly by the courts,
CASA volunteers advocate
for a child’s best interest by
providing critical informa-
tion to judges about the
child’s needs and well-being
to help the judge make the
most well-informed deci-
sion. The CASA model was
created more than 40 years
ago and CASA programs
have established themselves
and their volunteers as
trusted partners with the
courts and child welfare
professionals.
On any given day, there
are nearly 443,000 children
in foster care in the United
States, served by more than
93,000 CASA volunteers. On
average, nationally, children
remain in state care for near-
ly two years and 6 percent of
children in foster care have
languished there for five or
more years.
Among these children,
around 200 are available for
adoption and waiting for
adoptive families in Oregon,
according to AdoptUSKids.
•••
Columbia Gorge CASA
serves children in Hood
River, Wasco and Sherman
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counties with a mission to
advocate for the needs and
well-being of children in fos-
ter care through profession-
ally trained and supported
community volunteers.
New advocate training
sessions will begin in the fall.
If you are interested in learn-
ing more about the CASA
program, contact Michelle
Mayfield or Traci Witkowski,
training coordinators, at 541-
386-3468 or www.gorgecasa.
org .
Mosier Fire Volunteers donate
two lifesaving units to community
The Volunteer
Association of the Mosier
Fire Department donated
two Automatic External
Defibrillators (AEDs) to the
Mosier community on April
12. One will be located at the
Mosier Senior Center and
the other at Brenna’s Mosier
Market.
AEDs are critical to
surviving a heart attack and
research has shown that the
earlier the defibrillation the
better the outcome, said a
press release. These devices,
valued at $900 each, are also
designed to require no train-
ing — the voice directions
tell anyone at the scene what
to do.
“We are thrilled to have
this in the center of town,”
said Brenna Campbell,
owner of the market. “There
is a lot of traffic here in the
summer and we are starting
to see more e-bikes with
older riders.”
Kathy Long, meal site
coordinator for the senior
center, said that the devices
brought peace of mind.
“All of our residents are
over 55 and most are in their
70s and 80s,” she said.
Mosier Fire Board Member
Phil Evans thanked the
volunteers and commented
on how the organization has
grown.
“There are 22 volunteers
now and the training has
really stepped up in the past
few years,” he said.
“A big part of our mission
is prevention,” said Captain
Tom Oswald. He also
encouraged anyone in the
community to contact Chief
Mike Renault to set up a CPR
class.
Both the Mosier Market
and the senior center staff
said they were inspired to
train their staff in CPR.
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