SEPTEMBER 25, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5
KeizerCommunity
KEIZERTIMES.COM
New GM of McNary Estates
has deep roots in Keizer
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
The McCowans couldn’t
stay away from Keizer.
Alan McCowan was at the
Keizer Police Department for
25 years and retired in the
spring of 2013 as a lieutenant.
He and wife Teri moved to the
Bend area, where McCowan
worked in property manage-
ment on a part-time basis.
But he wasn’t ready to slow
down yet, plus there were fam-
ily considerations.
“We have a third grandchild
coming,” McCowan said. “We
wanted to be closer to family.
Everyone was still over here
and we were over there. On
Christmas Eve, we got into
a head-on collision. We had
minor injuries, but it totaled
the car. On oncoming car lost
control and ripped my car up.”
While there were no seri-
ous injuries, the accident led
to some thinking.
“It was minor injuries, but
we realized going back and
forth was not practical,” Mc-
Cowan said. “So we had a
house built off of Windsor Is-
land Road and came back in
March.”
McCowan took a job
with Keizer Outdoor Power
Equipment and moved back
to Keizer. In late August he
started work as general man-
ager of the McNary Estates
Homeowners Association. The
position became full-time on
Sept. 9.
“This is a management po-
sition where part of duties are
to enforce rules of the HOA,”
McCowan said. “There is also
Former
Keizer Police
offi cer Alan
McCowan
was recently
hired as the
new general
manager of
the McNary
Estates
Homeowners
Association.
KEIZERTIMES/
Craig Murphy
administration work to make
sure documents and paper-
work are done correctly.”
McNary Estates owns in-
frastructure in the neighbor-
hood such as the streets and
lights, which means McCow-
an works on maintenance is-
sues such as one that came up
recently at the gate on Mc-
Clure Street.
“The circuit board blew
up and the parts for it are
not made anymore,” he said.
“We had to get a new system.
Now the gate is functional,
but we’re having to swap out
600 new remotes. I’m meeting
with people, meet with other
neighbors, keep up on street
issues and meet with new resi-
dents if they have questions.”
In the coming months,
McCowan will be getting an
offi ce in the basement of the
McNary Estates Restaurant.
The job may be a far cry
from being a cop, but Mc-
Cowan has found some simi-
larities.
“Just like any job, you need
to learn how they do things,”
he said. “At the KPD I man-
aged the personnel of the
patrol division. The manage-
ment part is the same, but it’s
a different topic. I took what
I learned (at KPD) in dealing
with people and responding
to issues. The same techniques
can still be used.”
An avid golfer who has
been a marshall for the Mc-
Nary Golf Club in the past,
McCowan’s family still has
deep roots in law enforcement.
Don’t expect him to go back
in, however.
“It really wasn’t that hard,”
McCowan said of leaving
law enforcement. “I don’t re-
ally miss it. I don’t miss police
work. There are times it would
be fun to do that, but I put in
a good amount of time. I have
other things that are better for
me know. Would I go back
into it? No, and most retired
cops would tell you that. I had
an opportunity to do some-
thing different. It was my time
to go.”
McCowan was tabbed to
become the full-time manager
in Redmond, but the compa-
ny didn’t grow as anticipated
and he came to a realization.
“It was time to come back,”
he said.
Besides, his brother called
it.
“When I left (in 2013), my
brother told me, ‘I’ll see you
in two years,’” McCowan said
with a chuckle. “He was al-
most exactly right. I like being
here, being close to family and
friends. I always liked Keizer.”
McCowan’s brother Matt
and his wife Traci are McNary
Estates residents, with Traci
serving on the HOA Board.
WMS teacher hits high
notes atop Kilimanjaro
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes’
Whiteaker Middle School
band teacher Sean Turner is
never far from his tuba or, at
the very least, a tuba mouth-
piece. Even when he’s on top
of Africa’s highest peak.
While being interviewed,
Turner produces a plastic
mouthpiece from his pocket
to demonstrate the “buzzing”
that he uses to keep in practice
when he’s traveling.
“It comes with me just
about everywhere,” Turner said.
However, when Turner was
planning a trip to Africa with
his father, John, to summit Mt.
Kilimanjaro, he landed on an
idea of a grander scale.
“The trip came together
and then I heard that one of my
former college professors had
acquired a travel tuba,” Turner
said. “I thought wouldn’t it be
cool to actually play tuba at the
top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Then I
thought to contact the Guin-
ness Book of World records to
see if anyone had done any-
thing like that before. It turned
out they hadn’t.”
While a typical tuba weighs
about 20 pounds, the travel
tuba weighed less than 10. But,
permission to use the instru-
ment came with a caveat: Turn-
er would have to play Mighty
Oregon, the University of Or-
egon fi ght song, at the summit
and capture it on video.
He agreed to the terms and
took off for his monthlong va-
cation last summer.
“When you go through se-
curity, everyone has to see the
tuba because they think you’re
using it to smuggle drugs. At
one airport, one of the security
offi cers offered me the equiva-
lent of about $100 for the in-
strument itself. It costs a couple
of thousand, but she was insis-
tent,” Turner said.
It’s a seven-day hike from
the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro to
its summit and that proved to
be just as interesting as reaching
puzzle answers
Submitted
Sean Turner (right) with his father, John, atop Mt. Kilimanjaro.
The pair trekked to the summit where Turner played the UO
fi ght song on tuba.
the destination.
“In the fi rst day, you’re in
the jungle and you’re passing
by elephant dung and seeing
monkeys. You’re dressed for
warm weather and you’ve got
seven layers of clothing in your
backpack for the summit,”
Turner said.
In the fi rst four days of the
hike, Turner and his father
passed through three different
biomes – jungle, low bush and
high desert – before spend-
ing the fi nal three days hiking
through the rocks that com-
prise the highest points.
“Almost the whole trip up
these awful, deathly, white-
necked ravens are following
you. They don’t go to the sum-
mit, but they follow and scav-
enge the food from hikers,”
Turner said.
About two days from the
summit, Turner realized that
playing tuba at such a high al-
titude might come with unex-
pected complications.
“On the third night I woke
up to use the bathroom. I got
out and looked around and the
mist had frozen. Everything
was like ice and I started to re-
alize this might be an issue. It
was a beautiful sight, though,
and it would crunch under-
foot,” Turner said.
Sure enough, when the
Turners reached the base
camp, the valves on the tuba
had frozen. Blowing hot air
through the instrument loos-
ened them enough to play and
Turner played Somewhere Over
the Rainbow. He saved the fi ght
song for the peak.
Turner and his father spent
the rest of their trip on safari
and relaxing in Zanzibar.
“We literally ended up in
the middle of a zebra migra-
tion. We were parked in the
middle of a heard with thou-
sands of zebras running all
around the car,” Turner said.
Turner, who has traveled
extensively, said the experi-
ences leave him refreshed ev-
ery time.
“It kind of puts everything
in perspective when you see
people who are growing food
and hunting to survive. It
makes me very grateful to live
where I do and work with the
kids I work with,” he said.
For video of Turner playing
at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro,
visit www.keizertimes.com.
Something ’s coming…
WorshipDirectory
These Salem-Keizer houses of worship invite you to visit.
Call to list your church in our Worship Directory: (503) 390-1051
John Knox Presbyterian Church
JOIN US FOR
SUNDAY WORSHIP
8:30 am • 10 am • 11:30 am • 6 pm
PEOPLESCHURCH
4500 LANCASTER DR NE | SALEM
503.304.4000 • www.peopleschurch.com
Celebration
Services
Saturday Evening
6:00 pm
Children’s Programs, Student and Adult Ministries
1755 Lockhaven Dr. NE Keizer
503-390-3900
www.dayspringfellowship.com
Sunday Morning
9:00 am
and
10:45 am
452 Cummings Lane North • 393-0404
Father Gary L. Zerr, Pastor
Saturday Vigil Liturgy: 5:30 p.m.
Sundays: 8:15 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.
La Misa en Español: 12:30 p.m.
Rev. Dr. John Neal, Pastor
Worship - 10:30 a.m.
Education Hour - 10:00 a.m.
Nursery Care Available
www.keizerjkpres.org
Jason Lee UMC
820 Jeff erson St. NE
Salem OR 97301
Dr. Jon F. Langenwalter, Pastor
The church with the purple doors
503-364-2844
Worship at 9:30 am • Child Care Available
Faith Lutheran Church
4505 River Rd N • 393-4507
Sunday Schedule:
9:00 a.m. Children’s Church
9:15 a.m. Adult Bible Study
9:30 a.m. Children’s Activities
Pastor
Virginia Eggert 10:30 a.m. Worship with Communion