B2
Hood River News, Wednesday, May 6, 2015
TALL AND TAN
and Young
and Lovely
S ENIORS:
‘S TAY A CTIVE ’
Lauren Kraemer, OSU Extension Family and Com-
munity Health Coordinator, CPS, MPH, demon-
strates a healthy adult femur Thursday afternoon at
the Hood River Adult Center. Kraemer’s speech en-
couraged senior citizens to stay active in small
doses every day in order to prevent injuries and
maintain bone strength. The event was hosted by
Heart of Hospice, Ashley Manor Care Center and
Hood River Care Center.
By C RAIG JOSEPH DANNER
Part 2: The Girl From Ipanema...
S
tarting in the late 1990s, I endured a stretch
of my life when every single morning of
every single day for five years I woke up
with the same song stuck in my head. The
same song, every morning, for FIVE YEARS.
And I didn’t even like the song. I had never liked the
song. It was a bad song, a pop
song, with stupid lyrics sung
by a very mediocre singer. And
don’t ask what it was; I can’t
tell you because it might come
back again. It would stick in
my head for about a half an
hour or so, just long enough to
thoroughly annoy me while I
showered and ate breakfast. As
other thoughts and problems
entered my head, the song
would fade away for the rest of
the day, but the next morning,
as soon as my eyes would open, it would be back
again. It was like Groundhog Day.
I suffered in this unfortunate state for five
years, but then I discovered a cure. It came from
my brother Peter, to whom I will forever be indebt-
ed. He said it was simple.
“When a song gets stuck in your head, just hum
‘The Girl From Ipanema.’ It works every time. But
just hum the tune. If you sing the lyrics, there are
side effects to the treatment.”
And he was right. The next morning when I
opened my eyes, the accursed song popped into my
head, just as it had every other morning for the
past 1825 days. But this time I was ready. I quickly
started humming “The Girl From Ipanema.” The
horrid song vanished. I was elated. But my mind
seemed to have a mind of its own and wouldn’t be
satisfied with just humming “The Girl From
Ipanema.” It had to break out into the full song,
“Tall and tan and young and lovely, the girl
from…”
The side effect, of course, is that “The Girl
From Ipanema” then gets stuck. But at least I
LIKE “The Girl From Ipanema!” After a few weeks
of doing battle every morning, the old, horrid
tune finally gave up the ghost and stopped tortur-
ing me. Instead, I have since awakened each morn-
ing to some random song I may have heard in the
grocery store the day before or while waiting on
hold on the phone. Stacey knows that whenever
she hears me singing “The Girl From Ipanema” in
the shower, I have awoken to a song I don’t partic-
ularly care for.
And you may be wondering, “Why, Craig, should
I give a damn about what’s stuck in your head?”
Well, bear with me a little longer.
■
Just over a year ago, I started providing med-
ical care for the inmates at NORCOR, our local
jail. Much of what we treat there is pretty mun-
dane, though generally more advanced than what I
would see in the general population: lots of dental
problems and skin abscesses and untreated hyper-
tension. But one of the things I see a lot of at the
jail and not in my regular clinic is a near epidem-
ic of hearing voices.
This is a common complaint of people suffering
from severe mental illness, most commonly schizo-
phrenia. Schizophrenia is a devastating illness if
untreated, but for a large number of patients it can
be well controlled with medication, and many of the
afflicted can lead normal and productive lives … if
they are treated. Unfortunately, the symptoms of
the disease make treatment difficult. Like that song
stuck in my head, the voices people hear are not
usually very nice to listen to. They tell them they
are bad people, that others might be trying to hurt
them, that they should do things they know they
shouldn’t. Schizophrenics have a hard time ignoring
the voices they hear, and often end up getting in
trouble with the law because of them.
If I stop to think about it, I’ve almost always got
a song stuck in my head. It’s like I’ve got a radio
tucked away in my brain that’s always on, some-
times soft, sometimes loud. I don’t think this regis-
ters anywhere on the scale of mental illness. It
may occasionally be annoying, but it doesn’t inter-
fere with my ability to do my job or care for my-
self or my family. I’ve never had a song tell me to
hurt myself or run naked down the middle of the
freeway. But I’ve been wondering recently just how
different my annoying little quirk is from an ill-
ness than could potentially destroy my life.
■
In Part One of this article (April 1) I men-
tioned that working at the jail has allowed me to
see a reason to hope. And this is what I’ve been
seeing. At the jail I see medical staff who are car-
ing and compassionate and dedicated to helping a
desperately needy population. The nurses there
are amazing, working with incredibly difficult pa-
tients with kindness and humor. There is a new
program called “Jail Diversion,” sponsored by
Mid-Columbia Center For Living. Through this
program, inmates with significant mental illness
are now being evaluated within days instead of
weeks or months, their illnesses stabilized and re-
sources identified not only to provide treatment,
but also housing and health care. The program is
offering inmates with mental illnesses the support
they need both to stay out of jail and to stay
healthy after release. I see a willingness to look at
things differently, to explore alternative ways of
doing things, to try to keep the mentally ill out of
jail in the first place.
Because that’s not where they belong.
But for the grace of God, when I wake up in the
morning, I only hear “The Girl From Ipanema.”
Others are less fortunate. It is our duty as a hu-
mane society to help them.
Photo by
Patrick Mulvihill
PARKDALE NEWS
Strong women classes
coming to upper valley
BY TAMARA EMLER BALL
Parkdale Columnist
McGhee and Joanne Ehl.
Women of all ages and
abilities are invited to join in
the fun for a minimal pro-
gram registration fee and do
not need to have prior
strength training experience
to participate.
Accommodations for dis-
abilities may be made by
calling 541-386-3343 x258.
For more information, go
to www.strongwomen.org, or
contact OSU Exten-
sion Strong Women
leader Ann Dow at
503-708-6469 or An-
ndow@me.com.
The Oregon State Univer-
sity Extension office is spon-
soring a new program in the
upper valley with a series of
classes from May 12 through
July 31.
Be ginning next week,
Strong Women will meet
every Tuesday and Friday
mornings from 9:30 – 10:30
a.m. at the Mt. Hood Town
Hall.
This national evi-
dence-based commu-
nity exercise and nu-
trition program tar-
■
gets midlife and older
This Sunday, May
women who want to
10, is Mother’s Day
be able to dig in the
garden all day, pick Tamara Emler a n d t h e P a rk d a l e
Grange will be serv-
up their grandkids,
Ball
ing up their last
or lift their suitcase
community break-
into an overhead bin
fast of the season that day,
by themselves.
The program is based on so bring all the special
research done by Dr. Miriam “moms” in your life out to
Nelson and her colleagues at e n j o y a g r e a t “ h o m e -
Tufts University who have cooked” meal!
A little something special
the vision that Strong
Women are a diverse commu- will be given to moms who
nity of fit, strong, healthy attend.
Breakfast is just $6 for
women, who, once empow-
ered, will become agents of adults and in addition to
change for their families, the regular menu of scram-
bled eggs, sausage, your
communities and beyond.
Classes will be led by Ann choice of biscuits and gravy
Dow with assistance from or pancakes, a choice of
Lauren Kramer, Christina ham and cheese quiche will
C AST
Continued from Page B1
An expensive vase and a
handmade gew-gaw both
play a critical function in
the story; the values placed
on these spectrum-opposite
keepsakes brings real emo-
tion to the forefront.
No spoilers here, but suf-
fice it to say that the mun-
dane domestic setting that
this scenes starts out to be
turns into a far more in-
tense drama as desperation
and defense lock horns and
a marriage faces a severe
test.
The play, directed by
Judie Hanel, is funny, some-
times caustically, and view-
ers should note that there
is some profanity.
Kathleen Morrow plays
Margie, a down-on-her-luck
single mother raising a dis-
abled adult daughter.
Margie may be looking for
more than a job when she
drops into the life of an old
flame, Mike (Garoutte), now
an endocrinologist, and his
wife, Kate, a college profes-
sor (Desiree Amyx-Mackin-
tosh). Jean is played by
Kim Robichaud, and two
CAST newcomers — Rona
Klein as Dottie and Angel
Reyes as Stevie — round
out the cast. They are a re-
minder of the truism that
in theater there are no
small parts.
Through it all, the char-
acters discuss the role luck
has, or does not have, in
success, a process that en-
courages the audience to
rethink our relationships,
assumptions, and our
words, Hanel notes.
“Good People” will be the
final full production direct-
ed by Hanel, who helped
found CAST in 1977 and has
directed, and performed in,
dozens of shows since then.
Hanel will stay involved on
the CAST board and in di-
recting staged readings of
plays, including “Other
Desert Cities,” this fall.
Hanel, Frank Levin and
Jan Axford are the only
charter CAST committee
members who have re-
mained involved in recent
years.
“I want to do other
things, and it’s a lot of
work, and I’m tired. I’ve
been doing this since I was
eight years old,” said
Hanel, whose actor parents
got her involved in summer
stock theater in her home-
town, Denver, and she
gained two degrees in the-
ater and worked for years
as theater director in Cal-
gary. Alberta, Canada. She
came to Hood River in 1977
and helped start CAST
shortly after.
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■
Kindergarten Round-Up
i s g o i n g o n t h i s we e k
through Friday at Parkdale
Elementary School and par-
ents who have a child turn-
ing five by September 1,
2015, should bring their
child’s birth certificate and
cur rent immunization
record to the school to reg-
ister them this week.
On Tuesday, May 19 (time
TBA), the school will hold a
story time to welcome all
incoming Kindergarten stu-
dents and their families.
“This is a good opportu-
nity to meet the teachers,
myself, and lear n a bit
about Parkdale Elementary
School,” said Principal Gus
Hedburg.
For questions, contact the
school office at 541-352-6255.
■
New this summer will be
Open Library Night, hosted
by Parkdale Elementary
School.
Every Thursday night be-
ginning June 18, communi-
ty members and their chil-
dren are welcome to come
to the school library from 5
to 7 p.m.
There will be free book
g ive aw ay s, s n a ck s, a n d
other fun activities and
children can check out
books to read.
For more infor mation
contact the school at 541-
352-6255.
■
The annual OSU Family
and Community Education
Study Groups’ Spring Tour
will be on Thursday, May 21,
and the cost is $55 for FCE
members and $60 for non-
FCE members and includes
transportation, entry fees,
lunch and gratuity.
This year’s bus is heading
out to explore Bob’s Red Mill
to tour their processing facil-
ity and meet founder Bob
Moore, then enjoy a deli-
cious lunch at Bob’s Red Mill
and a chance to stock up on
their products for sale at the
restaurant.
Afterwards, the tour will
head to Oregon’s Museum
of Science and Industry to
wander in wonder and take
in an OMNIMax movie at
the OMSI Theater.
For more information or
to register for this excep-
tional and educational tour,
contact the Hood River
County Extension Office at
541-386-3343.
■
Send items to: uvup-
date@yahoo.com.
B irth
Penelope Elaine
White
A daughter, Penelope
Elaine White, was born April
26, 2015, at Providence Hood
River Memorial Hospital to
Tyler and Lindsey White of
Odell. She weighed 7 pounds,
Art Carroll
HRV Parks District
Board Member
9 ounces and measured 21
inches. She joins a sister,
Jose phine, 34 months.
Grandparents are Don and
Mary Smith of Hood River,
Leonora Repp of Hood River,
Chuck and Barb White of
Kennewick, Wash., and Mary
Lynn Totten of Tulsa, Okla.
✔ Motivated
✔ Productive
✔ Community
Connector
Vote
Art Carroll
Parks District
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