Port Orford News
Page 10 • April 21, 2010
The back page
PortOrfordRotary.org
By Matt Hall
Photos by Lois Miller
PON staff writer
RIGHT: An auction in
progress. FAR RIGHT: Ollie
Jones speaks. BELOW
RIGHT: The PHS Varsity
Basketball team served at
the recent Rotary dinner.
The Port Orford Rotary cele-
brated the very successful “Day
At The Races,” dinner/dance at
its latest meeting by announcing
that over $11,000 was raised at
the affair, according to P.O.
Rotary Treasurer Frank Smith,
who added that “more was still
coming in.”
Following the meeting a
impromptu auction was again
CU
held for a few remaining items,
with even more funds being
raised, including a joint-bid by
Smith, who purchased a one-
week trial at the Bandon Fitness
Center for P.O. Rotary President
Y
R
R
Shilo McKenzie, CNMNP
Growing up on a sheep and cattle ranch on the Southern Oregon Coast provided
me with a joy for the birthing process. My favorite time of year is the spring, watch-
ing the sheep and cattle give birth and assisting many in times of need.
My mother and her friends used a midwife for their births. They would share their
experiences and talk of how wonderful it was to have a midwife care for them.
During and after high school I job shadowed our local midwife (Alice Taylor, CNM).
My pursuits of midwifery lead me to attend nursing school at the University of
Portland. In my freshman year at the University of Portland I gave birth to my son.
The same midwife (Alice Taylor, CNM) who delivered me, also delivered my son.
In 2005, I eagerly returned to my home town of Langlois, OR, with a Bachelors in
Science and Nursing, and worked at Bay Area Hospital, in the Labor and Delivery
Unit. I then attended the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing and
became a Certified Nurse Midwife. It is an honor to now be working alongside
Alice Taylor and the staff at Curry General Hospital. I will be accepting patients soon.
I will educate women, support families,
We’re All About Caring and share in the joys of life with my
clients, family, and friends. I currently reside
in Langlois with my husband, Tomas
Hernandez, a local rancher and our two
sons Esequiel (Zeke) 8 years and Santiago
For appointments, please
2 months.
73217m
CURRY
call 541-332-3861
A big payoff at ‘the races,’ and getting to know Ollie Jones better ...
Dave Holman, and another joint-
purchase by Bob Webber and
Holman for a set of golf balls
(seems neither really needs any,
since they say they never lose
any … hmmm.)
Emily Francona presented the
P.O. Rotary with a banner from
the Roseburg Morning Rotary
Club – she also noted that we
need some more room to post
such banners as well.
Ollie Jones
Then came the “main event” of
the luncheon, as Karen Auborn
introduced new Rotarian Ollie
Jones of the North Curry Family
and Children’s Center, who was
to be the speaker for the day.
Jones, who in real life is the
friend and facilitator for nearly
20 North Curry County non-prof-
its and human service organiza-
tions, launched smoothly into her
address.
“I'm from the serene green
building; some people have
referred to it as ‘The Green
Turtle,’” she quipped.
“I’m a product of the
Northwest,” she continued, her
dark eyes intent behind her rim-
less glasses. Occasionally she
would peer at her notes, but
mostly she just spoke, becoming
more comfortable as she contin-
ued.
“A woman of the West, and
proud of it,” she said. “My par-
ents were members of the local
grange and I was a 4-Her.”
She grew up in a small com-
munity, where everyone had a
place, and in emergency, a pur-
pose as well.
“If the (emergency) siren
didn’t go off (at the fire station) I
knew where the switch was and I
could turn it on,” said Jones. “I
was raised in the Puget Sound
area and I worked in the halibut
industry as a ‘bait girl.’
“To this day I do not eat any
small, slimy fish,” she added.
“I graduated from ‘bait girl,’ to
‘boat girl,’ she continued,
explaining how she “lived to
cross the Columbia bar, daily if
possible.
This love affair with the sea
continued until “a couple of
large, sneaker waves and a Coast
Guard rescue boat that rolled
over on its way out to rescue us
changed my mind.”
From there Jones went to the
University of Washington, then
worked in natural resources as a
forest entomologist in New
Mexico, until “after a couple of
years I realized that I didn’t really
like bugs … .”
Still, she spent 25 years work-
ing for the U.S. Forest Service
where she “became interested in
federal programs relating to rural
communities.
“From there I grew my interest
in non-profits,” she said, “and I
was fortunate enough to come
here.
“I’ve been here for one-and-a-
half years now, and I’ve learned a
lot – it’s an exciting challenge,”
she said.
Jones works with lots of folks.
The list includes, but isn’t limited
to; North Curry Family &
Children’s Center, the Veterans,
public health agencies, Curry
Home Health & Hospice,
SWOCC, SBEC, South Coast
Food Share, credit counseling
agencies and programs, direct
service programs such as health
and nutrition at the school dis-
trict, and more.
Lots more.
In fact, it turns out that there is
a lot more to Ollie and her work
that helps us all – which is part of
what interested her in becoming a
Rotarian.
“I’d been around Rotary,” said
Jones, whose observations about
Rotary included “community
service and networking, which
are all a part of what led me to it.
“There are 19 non-profits serv-
ing Northern Curry County,” she
continued. “I want to know how
we can help each other out to be
more effective – how do we link
up and work together more effi-
ciently.”
Jones closed to a warm round
of applause, telling her audience,
“we’re more than just a building
down the street, and I look for-
ward to working with each of
you.”
WED,
from page 1
CURRY BREAST HEALTH NETWORK 541-425-0074
Vineyard in Dallas, OR.
Kerr is the daughter of
Thomas and Joye Kerr of
Brookings, granddaughter of
Robert and Phyliss Kerr of
Brookings, Joyce Price of
Centalia, Wash., and the late
Stan Price. She is a 2001 grad-
uate of Brookings-Harbor High
School. She graduated Western
Oregon University (WOU) in
2006, where she earned a
Bachelor of Science degree in
Health and a minor in Biology.
She is employed as a admis-
sions counselor at WOU,
recruiting in Alaska, Oregon and
Hawaii.
Compton is the son of Greg
and Roxanne Gibbs of Port
Orford, grandson of Maxine
Compton of Benicia, Ca and the
late Paul Wilber Compton, and
Carl and Arlene Gibbs of
Middlefield, OH. He graduated
from Pacific High School, class
of 2000, he also graduated from
WOU in 2005, where he earned
a Bachelor of Science degree in
Health and a minor in Physical
Education. He is employed at
WOU as assistant director of
admissions, responsible for
coordinating college fairs and
overseeing recruitment.