Port Orford News
Page 4 • April 21, 2010
Centered seniors
By Beverly Dunlap
For the Port Orford News
“If you have heard this story before,
don’t stop me, because I would like to
hear it again.”
— Groucho Marx
It was the Annual Meeting for our
Corporation and was being held at our
plant this time – Sunnyvale, California.
We had been working on the meeting
for months and had tried very hard to
make everything perfect. I had worked
the night before until 8:30 PM and
went home whipped.
So it was the day of our big event
and I had to get my hair done, pick up
all the hot rolls and be at work by 7:30
– before the crowd would be there. Of
course it was raining. That’s how you
know it is winter in California. You
don’t get so cold and sure do get wet.
The girl that was to do my hair was
mad that she had to get up so early, so
she used the Green Hat method. I got
my hair pulled and my neck almost
broken, but oh well – it was passable.
On to the plant just as soon as I
stopped to get the Annual Reports from
the printer and the rolls.
Getting into and out of the car was a
trial with the rain and wind showing
off! I was trying to protect my hair and
my new outfit from becoming wet.
I was successful arriving at the plant
at my office to check in to be sure we
had no changes. I guess it doesn’t
come as a big surprise, that I was nerv-
ous as a “cat on a hot tin roof”! I made
it into my office and gathered the tele-
phone notes and found that there had
been no changes. Great, that gave me
15 minutes to get to the Corporate
Building a block or so away and get
my obligations out of the way, so the
meeting could get started. I ran back
out of the building to my car and
opened the door to get in. A big draft
of wind blew the door back on me and
it hurt. It just stopped me from getting
into the car and so I caught more wind
and rain on my hair, I lost my temper
and got in the car and slammed the
door closed. Then I remembered I had
left my purse inside so I opened the
door to the car and held it open with
my foot while I reached for my rain
hat. |Another blast of wind blew the
car door and it hit my leg very hard. It
hurt like mad and made me mad. I
yelled (even though I was all alone)
“you will stay open”! I said that and
gave the door a good kick.
Just as you thought, I broke the top
hinge of the door and so it was hanging
beside the car and really looked bad. I
ran back into the building to see if any-
one had a car I could borrow, it was
early and there were no cars available.
To deliver the annual; reports and rolls I
would need to drive in front of the cor-
porate building and it was solid glass.
By the time I got there and pulled up in
front of the building I had forgotten
about the goofy door. So I drove up and
opened the door and it fell to the ground,
except the one hinge still worked, so it
did not fall off but it was “cock eyed”!
The attendees at the meeting were
gathering in this main lobby and sitting
inside the building looking out the win-
dows and talked about what bad weather
we were having. No way on earth did
they miss my elegant arrival at the annu-
al meeting with one of my doors hanging
limply at the side of my car? I started to
scoot across the front seat to get out the
passenger door, but the seat was filled
with the annual reports and rolls. It was
plain and simple; I had a major mess on
my hands. The guard came running out
and asked if there was something he
could do! There’s an understatement.
Yes sir, please take the annual reports
into the building and I will follow with
the rolls and then please get someone to
remove my embarrassing car. I will
need to get it fixed this afternoon.
That is what happened, the attendees
were very nice about it and I got sym-
pathy rather than being laughed at.
Thank goodness. The meeting went
well and long. I was late leaving work
and so late getting home. In route to
home it dawned on me that I was going
to need to give my new husband a rea-
son for this calamity. I thought and
though about it, even drove slowly on
the freeway to try and come up with
something – believable! We had just
been married a few months and I didn’t
know how he was going to take my
temper.
I drove in the drive and luckily he
was in the house and didn’t see me
crawl across the car to get out. Went in
the house and just said “Honey, the
wind blew my driver side door off its
hinge today!” He looked me straight in
the eyes and said OK, I better go fix it.
That is all that was said. That was years
ago and we have had a good laugh
about it from time to time. He said he
knew I was lying but felt sorry for me,
especially when I told him all the digni-
taries from my company were watching
my car fall apart.
I learned my lesson that day, you can
kick the door off of a car and it is not
nice to lose your temper and get every-
thing ready the day before a big event.
I earned every penny I made from
that company and even with the bad
scene; they gave me a good recommen-
dation when I left that firm.. I think I
was lucky that I didn’t get fired. Oh
well, that was a long time ago and I
don’t make deliveries in the wind and
rain in Port Orford. Lets all be grateful
-- life could be worse. Stay happy.
SMITH, from page 1
“I come from here,” he
answered, and looked out into a
crowd of people he knew, and
as he stated, has already been
serving in many capacities.
“On the Northern Curry
Chamber of Commerce, the Port
Orford City Council, as a coun-
cil liaison for various commit-
tees and groups, the Curry
County Fair Board, Wild Rivers
Coast and the Curry County
Law Enforcement Blue Ribbon
Committee,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter is we have
a police department in Port
Orford is we don’t have a
District Attorney and Justice
Department,” he added, of his
work to stabilize justice depart-
ment funding in Curry County.
Smith is also a member of the
Redfish Rocks Citizens
Committee.
“We have it (the marine
reserve),” he said. “We wanted
it. Now how do we make
money off it?”
He also is a member of the
Port Orford Rotary.
“And the Port Orford Rotary
is not a check-writing club,” he
said. “We are a hands-on work-
PON photo by Matt Hall
Candidate David Brock
Smith speaks at his recent
Port Orford campaign kick
off. Smith is running for
Curry County Commissioner,
Position No. 1.
ing club,” noting the Port
Orford Rotary had raised over
$300,000 for its local scholar-
ship program.
He has also worked with
Curry County Emergency
authorities.
“We need to be better pre-
pared for a tsunami here,” he
said. “It has to start with us and
be a grassroots campaign.
We’ve got to do it for our-
selves.”
From there Smith went on to
other issues, mostly funding. It’s
a subject on which he is fluent –
he’s done his homework – but
there things change.
He’s got ideas, and he’s dar-
ing enough to share them.
COUNCIL, from page 1
During the meeting various
city reports were presented, a
new ordinance concerning fire
suppression system charges was
passed, a right-of-way was
granted, an appointment was
made to the city planning com-
mission and Steve Donovan of
SHN Engineering made a pres-
entation outlining the needs and
parameters of Port Orford’s
water storage and distribution
system.
In the midst of the session a
brief exchange flared between
Auborn and Clancy, leading to a
threat of “ejection,” and a for-
mal “admonishment,” some
general laughter, and an agree-
ment to disagree between the
pair.
Public works
Wagner opened the meeting
by reporting on public works:
“We cleared the area for the
community garden,” he said.
Police
Next Combs reported on the
police department: “Our meet-
and-greet went really well,” he
said.
“A stabbing was resolved and
an officer suffered a minor
assault by a citizen,” he contin-
ued, including praise for a gen-
eral effort to remove junk cars.
“A lot of cars are being
moved,” said Combs, adding his
thanks for the public’s coopera-
tion.
“You guys are doing a good
job,” said Auborn.
“How is the JUSTICE system
doing?” asked
Smith.
“It’s amaz-
ing,” said
Combs.
“And it has
helped us
out
con-
siderably already … .”
Planning Commission
Dave Holman, chairman of
the city planning commission
reported for the Planning
Commission: “The Battle Rock
sub-division on Deady Street is
a dead deal,” he said. “It’s been
more than a year (since the last
activity).”
“How much is the city down
to these guys for fees?” asked
Auborn.
“A bunch,” replied Murphy,
“but we have a lien … .”
Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber of Commerce
report was given by Smith, who
noted a lot of activity – culmi-
nating in a food fiesta.
“The Chili and BBQ Cookoff
at the P.O. Community Building
will be held on Sunday, April
28,” he said. “There will be a
50-50 raffle, with proceeds
being split between the
See COUNCIL, page 8
Legal notice
REQUEST FOR BIDS
Hospitality 101, a project of Rural Human Services, is
requesting bids for data collection/design of a resource
book to be used by frontline employees in the Hospitality
industry along America’s Wild Rivers Coast.
Complete proposal and product descriptions or additional
information may be obtained from; Hospitality 101, 286
M St, Crescent City, Ca. 707-460-0070 or electronically,
e-mail rick@hospitality101.biz.
Bid process opened April17, 2010 and closes April
30,2010.
He’s not saying these alterna-
tives are the best – he’s asking
for participation in studying the
issues and making the decisions.
“Our funding is dropping
steadily here in the county,” he
warns, citing an upcoming $2
million shortfall. “We’ve got
$3.5 million coming and we
need $5.5 million.”
He wants answers and urges
participation.
“The issues won’t be solved
by three county commissioners
sitting in Gold Beach,” he stat-
ed. “These issues will be solved
here, by us, in this room.”
U Smith called for “jobs to
hold our youth.”
U He cited the need to “create
family-wage jobs.”
U He called for “community
action. For citizen constituents
sending e-mails back to
Washington, D.C.” to create
change.
U He suggested wind energy
as an undeveloped source of
revenue: “The technology is
getting better all the time,” he
said. “We could use that tech-
nology here in Curry County.”
Then he opened the floor up
to questions, which proved to be
surprisingly feisty and candid.
They wanted to talk about tax
increases – a subject that can be
death for a candidate.
But Smith listened. He out-
lined potential plans. He sug-
gested some avenues of
increase, listening carefully to
the crowd’s feedback.
It wasn’t easy. Tax talk, espe-
cially just days after April 15, is
never pleasant – but the candi-
date engaged his audience. He
listened, answered, and didn’t
quibble.
It was here, at the end of a
tough question and answer peri-
od that Smith demonstrated
another good attribute for an
elected representative – the abil-
ity to listen.
It was refreshing.
Smith closed the meeting by
promising to devote himself to
the duties of commissioner
“when elected.”
And just before the buffet was
served he promised to remain
accessible to all – especially
here in the north end of the
county – after all, as he pointed
out at the very beginning, it’s
where he’s from.
Legal notice
NOTICE OF BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING
The Budget Committee of the City of Port Orford will be conducting a
Revenue Sharing Public Hearing at the beginning of the first Budget Meeting on
Wednesday May 5, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. at Port Orford City Hall Gable Chambers at 555 W.
20th St., Port Orford, Oregon, for the Budget Committee to obtain citizens’ views regard-
ing Revenue Sharing for Fiscal Year 2010-2011. Written comments are also welcome and
must be received by May 3, 2009.
Both written and oral comments will be reviewed by the City Council. Written
comments by mail should be sent to PO Box 310, Port Orford, OR 97465; e-mail com-
ments should be sent to djohnson@portorford.org
Publish April 21 & 28, 2010
Published in the Port Orford News April 21& 28, 2010
Legal notice
NOTICE OF BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING
A PUBLIC MEETING OF THE Budget Committee of the Port Orford-Langlois School
District, Curry and Coos Counties, State of Oregon to discuss the budget for the fiscal
year July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011, will be held at Pacific High School Library located at
45525 Hwy 101, Sixes, OR 97476. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 12,
2010, at 7:00 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to receive the budget message and to
receive comment from the public on the budget. A copy of the budget document may be
inspected or obtained on or after May 6, 2010, at the Administration Office, 45525 Hwy
101, Sixes, OR, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
This is a public meeting where deliberation of the Budget Committee will take place.
Any person may appear at the meeting and discuss the proposed programs with the
Budget Committee.
Published in the Port Orford News April 21, 2010
Legal notice
Published in the Port Orford News April 21& 28, 2010
Legal notice
REQUEST FOR BIDS
Hospitality 101, a project of Rural Human Services, is
requesting bids for data collection/design of a resource
book to be used by frontline employees in the Hospitality
industry along America’s Wild Rivers Coast.
Complete proposal and product descriptions or additional
information may be obtained from; Hospitality 101, 286
M St, Crescent City, Ca. 707-460-0070 or electronical-
ly, e-mail rick@hospitality101.biz.
Bid process opened April17, 2010 and closes April
30,2010.
Published in the Port Orford News April 21& 28, 2010
22
Published in the Port Orford News April 7, 14 & 21 2010
Chef David Smith
The Port & Starboard Restaurant
Homemade Desserts
Orders to go ◆ Open until 9 p.m., 7 days a week
The Best Clam Chowder in Curry County
460 Madrona Ave. & Highway 101 ◆ 541-332-4515
Port Orford’s family restaurant
Salads, pizza, pasta, steaks, fresh fish