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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1981)
Section SANDY O REG ON THURSDAY NOVEMBER 26 JA 1981 TA T _ People Home & Garden Features FC 3 N C W S Little gained by sewage spill investigation The SÉndy Post by MICHAEL P JOSES Post Correspondent The sewer spill at the junction of Fairway and Bright Avenues in Welches was investigated this past week by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and the pieces of the puzzle are falling in to place, although the puzzle is unlikelv to be put together complete ly Dick Wixon, an investigator with the DEQ. visited the dump site w here Lar-v Hoyt rnd Brian Crocket, both employees of Hoodland Thriftw ay, drove through an estimated six in ches of sewage that was dumped along the south side of the road The sewage flowed down a hill and into a storm sewer where it emptied into the Salmon River After close analysis. Wixon iden tified the contents of the sewage, which he described as ' sludge." as being com prised of disposable diapers, condoms, cigarette butts, sanitary napkins, tampons, grease and toilet paper He said that it was apparent that the sewage was dumped by a pumper truck and the A distance of about 25 feet before his truck was empty Wixon said that this method of dumping sewage is typical, and it allows illegal dumpers to get away from the scene quickly, especially when the sewage is flow ing down hill Wixon said that he could not tell how much sewage was dumped on this stretch of road, or how many times it has occurred He said with a sewage came from either a holding tank or a private septic system Wixon said that the pumper truck operator probably tied a rope to the release valve, located at the rear of the truck's tank, and pulled the valve at the beginning of the hill as he drove east (and up' on Fairway Avenue He said the driver went about 100 feet and turned south onto Bright Avenue and continued on for a pumper truck having the ability to dump 3.000 gallons of sewage in eight seconds on a dark, back road, that that doesn't give DEQ much to go on “ I ’m afraid there is not much DEQ or 1 can do in this particular situa tion," said Wixon "There's going to be budget cuts coming that w ill seriously affect what we will be able to do in the future.” Wixon said, “ Unfortunately, all we can do is respond to the spills after the fact and only when we know about it Most of the tune we never know where the sewage is dumped and where it came from W'ixon said that he believes that the same person that illegally dumped into a waterfall just fifteen feet south of the six 5,000-gallon sewage holding tanks at Rippling River this summer is responsible for this dump also He said that the close proxim ity to the other dump site, and the ingre dients in the sewage sludge, clearly indicate this. DEQ notified Clackamas County last Thursday, requesting they shovel the remains of the sewage spill and clean the site, but as of Mon day the sludge still lined the south side of Fairway Avenue and the west side of Bright Avenue Operation REDDI is a ‘war’ on drucken drivers ski weekends Persons can call the toll free number, I 800 452 7888. and report a drunken driver According to Sargent Dan Wolf of the OSP, who is in charge of the Government Camp outpost, REDDI is the result of many months of study by the Oregon Traffic Safety Com mission and the OSP He said statistics show that there is a rela tionship between alcohol use and traffic fatalities in the state. It is estimated that over 50 percent of by MICHAEL P. JONES A new program designed to keep drunken drivers off the roads and get citizens involved, all at the same time, has been instituted by the Oregon State Police (OSP> The program is called "Operation R ED DI.” which stands for "Report Every Drunk D river Immediately REDD I went into effect on Hallo ween night, and could have a major impact on preventing serious ac cidents on holidays and during major highway deaths involve alcohol "We are waging a war on every drunk d rive r because they are responsible for most accidents that occur on Oregon highways,” said W o lf “ D ru n k d riv e rs a ffe c t everyone, so it ’s time that everyone get involved.” The OSP w ill be handing out business cards for people to carry. The car has the toll free number that connects with the main office in Salem That office w ill alert person nel at the closest OSP field station and apprise them of the situation. Wolf said that the program is designed for quick response and that as soon as a drunken driver is spot ted, the REDDI number should be called Callers should give as much information as possible including license number, make and year of the vehicle, and what direction the vehicle is traveling Wolf praised the new program and said that since he has worked on the mountain he has seen enough situa tions involving drunken drivers that he realizes it is a must to get the public involved He said that he feels the REDDI program, in addition to speed control <radar» and saturation patrols, w ill pressure drunken drivers to stay off the road He said that all three enforcement tools are needed "Two years ago we had 20 fatal ac cidents between Government Camp and Sandy.” said Wolf "Since we stepped up our enforcement, we've reduced that figure to three or four fatalities a year " $30,000 cabin destroyed by fire by M ICHA EL P. JONES si ¡iff photo A number of different crafts will be sold at the IXth annual Snowman’s Christmas Bazaar, which will be put on by the Hoodland Women's ( tub Dec. 5 and 6 at the club building in Welches. Standing, from left to right, is Bobbe Pearson, Dave Enna and Lucy Bowman, with Brent. Sitting, from left to right, is Sue Elina. with Alex behind her, and Kathy Forbes The Hoodland Rural Fire Depart ment was busy this past weekend with two auto accidents and a house fire On Nov. 21 the d e p a rtm e n t responded to a two-car head-on co lli sion at the junction of Highway 26 and Sleepy Hollow Road. Fire Chief Don Armintrout said that the accident occurred at 3:57 p m. and that three persons were in jured They were transported to Gresham Community Hospital by Alpine Ambulance Armintrout said that the accident occurred after one of the vehicles, a Datsun four wheel drive pickup, crossed the center line of Highway 26 and collided with a 280Z. The impact hurled the 280Z into a guard ra il and completely destroyed the car Brad Norris of Troutdale, the driver of the 280Z, sustained a con cussion and a broken wrist Gary Foster of Aloha, the driver of the pickup, suffered minor injuries to the mouth after hitting the steering wheel Alice Dunn, also from Aloha and a passenger in the vehicle, suf fered a fractured right foot and an eye injury. That same night at 10:53 p m a car went out of control at the north end of the Brightwood Bridge, where it in tersects with the Barlow Trail Road, and rolled over into an old gravel pit The d rive r was transported to Gresham Community Hospital and treated for minor injuries At 7 a m Sunday morning, a cabin located at 21490 SE Brianwood (just off Lolo Pass Road), caught fire and was completely destroyed Armintrout said that the fire was caused by a malfunctioning car buretor in an oil heater The loss of the cabin is estimated to be around $30,000 with a loss of $2,000 worth of the contents. The cabin is owned by Murray Brown of Portland Four persons were inside the cabin when the fire broke out and were lucky to escape, according to A rm in trout Despite effort United Way may fall short of its goal Carl Halvorson, campaign chair man, announced last week that United Way has received pledges totaling $13,030,153, or 81 4 percent ol its $16 m illion goal "In spite of recent successes, it is doubtful that our $16 million goal w ill be achieved," Iklvorson said The final total is to be released today " I'm extremely proud of the com munity and our 20,000 volunteers for their extraodinary efforts and con trib u tio n s Given our economic climate, without that effort, our 1981 campaign probably would not have equaled our 1980 revenues," Halvor son added He said that the average employee gift is up from $50 to $56. and that total employee contributions are up 12.9 percent, over 1980 Halvorson said, "This is significant considering that dosed employee campaigns have shown that 2.580 fewer people were employed at those places of business over last year's figures " The trend is back to wood and this family’s going for it by SCOTT NEWTON goodness.” The only regret that Jim Buckelew has about being in the wooden toy business is that he didn't get in it sooner " I t ’s going great,” he said. " I t seems like every day somebody orders something The wholesale part should have slowed down by now, but it hasn't." Buckelew, who lives in Sandy but rents a shop in Damascus, added. "We re doing two-thirds again what we were last year We're looking fo r ward to even a better one next year." The Frontier Toy Company sup ports two families, Buckelew and his wife, Corine, and son Wayne, and his wife Becky, and their two children M ilt, and his wife Lori, also help out part-time Asked w hat a ll he m akes, Buckelew responded, “ Oh my The list is long, and it includes ro c k in g horses (a n d ro c k in g elephants and rocking lions), freight trains, three different kinds of cars, frogs, grasshoppers, cobbler's ben ches, bi planes, helicopters, log trucks, animal toys on wheels and animal crayon holders. There are also toys for the bigger kids, including cribbage boards in the shapes of aces, hearts, diamonds or clubs, a game called cheating chess, which includes old m ill and blind man Morris, elimination, tic- tac-toe (which comes in a parlor game or a smaller version for travel ing) and a transpose game, which is described as being extremely d if ficult. Buckelew, who is at the Saturday Market in Portland on Saturdays and Sundays, likes to get people in the booth and challenge them to a game vr ÿ T f m of transpose If they can work the game in the booth, it's theirs If they can't, they're to pay double. One man spent nearly three hours in the booth "He never did get it," Buckelew said, adding that the man bought the game A solution to the puzzle is included in the price. " I f they run out of fingernails they can go to the solution and do it,” Buckelew said No one has worked the game in the booth to date. He said that freight trains and rocking horses are a couple of the more popular items He added, “ We've got a little car that’s kind of different We call it the Love Bug That’s our most popular car. The kids can hang onto it real easy, and, I don't know, they just love it." They've also come out with a trac tor that they expect w ill sell well Thread caddies seem to bring potential customers into their booth, • H ‘ Photo by Scoli Newton Wayne, Corine and Jim Buckelew 1 Buckelew said They also make pasta d r ie r s , re c ip e c a rd h o ld e rs , magazine racks, cooling racks, foot massagers "and on and on and on.” The ideas for the toys and other item > come from a number of d if ferent places His father was a "wood butcher,” in other words a carpenter, and Buckelew made toys for his four boys when they were growing up Some ideas have been taken from books or magazines, and some are original, although not all of the original creations have worked out. Buckelew thought up one game, in cluding a board and instructions. " I flew in there right quick and made about six boards and then I sat down to write ou, the instructions and I'd forgotten how to play it. " I ’ve still got the boards Someday I ’ll remember." The Buckelews’ handiwork can be seen at the Calico Caboose in Wemme, Made In Oregon stores, at the Portland Saturday Market every weekend until Christmas, at Mt Hood Community College’s Scrooge Lives bazaar the first four days of December, or at the Western Forestry Center, 4033 Southwest Ca nyon Road, this Saturday and Sunday at its Wooden Toy Show. Also, the Washington Park Zoo sells the B u c k e le w s ' ro c k in g h orses, elephants and lions A lthough the Buckelews put together a number of toys, there are some they won’t make. " I purposely stay away from noisy toys," Buckelew said He later pointed out that the loudest toy he makes is the cobbler's bench, where a youngster can pound pegs through holes with a wooded hammer, and then can turn the table over and knock the pegs through the other way. "I'v e got a thing about guns, too," Buckelew said " I just don’t feel right making them to sell to the kids " I know I played with guns when I was a kid It just seems to be a part of growing up But our society has got ten to the point where there’s too much killing going on "Let the other guy sell the guns and the destructive things I just want to make things for fun.” The Buckelews also do not put a finish on their products, or paint them, except in certain cases when Becky will fill a special order "They can chew on it till they’ve got their little tummy full of bark,” Buckelew joked He was serious, though, when he pointed out there is nothing toxic on the toys All of the Frontier Toy Company's toys are made out of pine, although when things slow down a fte r Christmas Buckelew is going to ex periment with alder, as it is a prettier and harder wood "There's a definite trend back to wood," Buckelew said, adding that it's amazing what can be done with it. And, he jokes about putting up a sign over their booth that would read "Made in Oregon from Oregon wood by a damned ol' Texan.” The Buckelews lived in Oregon for 24 years before moving to Palm Spr ings because of Jim 's back The warmer, drier climate may or may not have helped his a rth ritis . Regardless, they moved back Their other two sons also live in Oregon Steve is in Beaverton and Jim is in Medford Upon moving back Jim took a job in Ashland teaching in a private school He taught at levels from junior high through high school "That's what forced me into making toys," he said with a laugh He said that he didn’t care much for teaching, and after the toy business got going, and it got too ex pensive to drive back and forth from Portland to Saturday Market, they moved to Sandy Corine added later that they like it here "1've got to the point with this a r th ritis," Jim Buckelew said, "that I can't work for the other man, because the first thing you know I'm crippin' around like I am right now and he says, 'Hey, who needs him '’ ’ "So, I work and do things for myself.” If everything keeps going the way it has Buckelew plans to buy some labor saving euqipment And. a representative has been hired to a t tend trade shows in Texas and California B u cke le w s a ttitu d e may be reflected in what he told a man in terested in the wooden toy business that he met at a trad«' show in San Francisco " I just told him (over the phone), ‘ Hey, man, go for it It's out there and it's for those who go out and get i t . " ’ A few of the most popular items made by the Buckelews Include the rocking horse, the action wagon (bottom left I. the larve Bug. and the biplane I
