B2
Hood River News, Wednesday, May 20, 2015
ROOTS
A nd B ranches
By MAIJA YASUI
Got this shoe? Make amends
NEW BALANCE orthopedic shoe
belongs to a man who truly needs it.
There are so many great things our students and
young adults do in this community that I hate to
mention a less than sterling moment committed by
one young man. Perhaps it was a prank, or a simple
irresponsible act. Regardless, if I write this article,
and enough folks discuss how seemingly harmless
pranks may inadvertently cause others significant
pain, we can make amends.
In this case, it is all about one individually mold-
ed white leather, New Balance tennis shoe, made to
fit the remains of a left foot,
but holding the key to a
wheelchair bound man’s
spirit, mobility and free-
dom.
This shoe story began fif-
teen years ago when my
cousin Zanne returned to
her home town of Hood
River to care for her aging
mother. She and her hus-
band worked hard to retire
in the community they al-
ways thought of as Par-
adise. Unfortunately the last fifteen years have read
more like “Paradise Lost,” first with the passing of
her mother, and then the continued escalation of
health issues both have had to face.
In spite of partial loss of limb, vision, and mobil-
ity due to surgical, radiation and chemotherapy, the
couple have always considered themselves fortu-
nate. Their spirits seldom flag, in spite of formida-
ble odds. They have supported a variety of good
causes, from pets to people, throughout the years. I
often marveled at their ability to be upbeat while
dealing with ever increasing debilitation.
■
Around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, Zanne and her
husband pulled into Monagon’s Restaurant at 1301
for a bite to eat. They had just received another
dose of demoralization from the doctor who recom-
mended they delay a long planned trip back east to
visit their grandchildren due to some sores that
were not healing properly. Changing travel plans is
a lengthy process for anyone, let alone for a couple
who is facing complications of wounds and lack of
mobility.
Zanne dropped her husband off in front of the
handicap access and parked the car as he wheeled
himself into the restaurant. As Zanne got out of
the car, she noticed a white shoe on the ground and
wondered if it was John’s lost in the dandy shuffle
he does while propelling the wheelchair forward.
As she moved towards the shoe to take a closer
look, a small, bright red, older car pulled up. In one
rapid motion, the driver’s door swung open and a
young man grabbed the shoe and pulled into the
west bound traffic on Belmont. Zanne remembers
feeling relieved that it was someone else’s shoe
given the cost ($900) of replacing the distinctive or-
thopedic pair and the fact that insurance would not
cover the expense for another year.
Dread set in as Zanne approached the booth
where John was seated and saw that he was miss-
ing his left shoe. They talked about what they could
do. John had already lost pieces of his feet. One
would think that the loss of a shoe would be of lit-
tle consequence compared to the loss of parts of
his body. Yet the shoe was in fact a replacement
part for his foot, providing him with a little more
mobility and personal freedom. She hadn’t gotten
the license of the small, older red car, nor was she
able to describe what the person looked like. She
had the distinct impression from the arm that ex-
tended out the driver’s door that it was a young per-
son. But then as Zanne says, everyone seems young
now days.
HR Elks Lodge honors Barry and Ocheskey
Hannah Barry and Stanley
Ocheskey, both students at
Hood River Valley High
School, were chosen as Stu-
dents of the Month for April
by the Hood River Elks
Lodge No. 1507 and were pre-
sented with a
check
for
$100. T hey
will join the
other 16 stu-
dents who
will be in the
running for
the Student
of the Year Hannah Berry
Awards. A
banquet in their honor will
be held at 6 p.m. on May 31 at
the Lodge.
Hannah Berry is extreme-
ly active in her school as well
as volunteering in her com-
munity. As part of Leader-
ship, she helps set up all
school events, speaking at as-
semblies, cleaning up the
school as well as four hours
of community service each
month. She has been a Jr.
Varsity and Winter Cheer-
leader since 2012, working on
team spirit and for competi-
tions. She has worked at
Celilo as a hostess since 2013
and maintains a 3.4 GPA.
As part of her cheerlead-
ing community service, she
worked the open house for
Ace Hardware, making sig-
nage, handing out balloons
and answering questions for
customers; she volunteered
for Rule Rand as a page,
handing out water bottles
and cheering the racers; she
cheered at the middle school
bike race; and she helped put
on a Junior Cheer Clinic for
over 300 second through fifth
graders, making and putting
up flyers and creating their
own dance and cheers for
them, which they presented
at a football fame half-time.
Hannah worked on a
fundraiser for Owen, a stu-
dent at her high school, who
was fighting cancer; she
spent several hours at Hawks
Ridge helping elders eat
their food, clean-up and chat-
ting with them; and she vol-
unteered at Home At Last
Humane Society feeding the
animals, cleaning kennels
and walking them. She also
participated in Young Life, a
religious organization that
help kids stay out of trouble,
organizing the meetings,
making dinners and helping
raise money for kids who
could not afford to go to
camp.
Hannah is the daughter of
Roger Barry and Pamela
Simpson. She will be attend-
ing Oregon State University
in the fall majoring in mer-
chandising management.
ity, he still maintains a 3.96
GPA.
Stanley’s community ser-
vice includes the following:
He was Youth Basketball
Camp Counselor; he partici-
pated in the Wy’East Middle
School Outdoor School as a
Camp Counselor; as a 4-H
Cloverbud Day Camp Coun-
selor; Football Chain Gang
in 2011-12; he volunteered for
the Cross Channel Swim
Safety Line; member of Link
Leaders, helping new stu-
dent getting acclimated to
the high school; he worked at
the Mid Valley Elementary
Carnival; and participated in
Evening of Excellence and
Christmas Basket Project.
As part of FFA, he has
worked the Steak Feed and
Silent Auction since 2011,
Pass the Pig since 2013, and
with cookie sales, catering
and prep for fundraisers. He
participated in the Hood
River County Fair and Ore-
gon State Fair with 4-H and
FFA.
This is one busy young
man and he still has time to
work at Nature’s Finest as a
field hand.
Stanley is the son of Brent
and Emily Ocheskey and he
has been accepted at the
United States Air Force
Academy, where he will be
majoring in management.
Friends of the Library used book sale May 28-30
Craving a few more books
to read? Maybe, say, a whole
bag of books for a dollar?
Then you’re in luck. The up-
coming Friends of the Li-
brary Used Book Sale is just
what you’ve been waiting for.
The “members only” pre-
view sale will be Thursday,
May 28, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in
the Gaulke Meeting Room of
the main library.
Membership in the
Friends can be purchased or
renewed at the door. Current
members should bring their
door passes.
The public sale will be Fri-
day, May 29, from noon to 6
p.m., and Saturday, May 30,
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Regular
prices on Thursday and Fri-
G ARDENS
ing areas, compact Boxwood
hedges will frame the bor-
ders, furnishing structure
and year-round color.
McNew said the design sug-
gests a flowing, soothing pat-
tern, with liberal repetition
and generous groupings of
plants.
Marion McNew is Presi-
dent and principal designer
of Mount Hood Gardens Inc.,
an award-winning landscape
design/build company locat-
ed in Hood River, Oregon.
Mount Hood Gardens has cre-
ated public and private gar-
dens throughout the Mid-Co-
lumbia Region, and is cele-
brating its 30th business an-
niversary this summer.
Continued from Page B1
and long-term needs of the
project.)
McNew and the founda-
tion have re-designed five
planting borders in Smith
Gardens, which suffered
after the closure of the Li-
brary in 2010-11. Planning for
reduced maintenance and a
more contemporary design,
the majority of plants are
shrubs, exhibiting extensive
texture interest, disease-re-
sistance, and long blooming
periods. In three of the plant-
■
She knew they went west on Belmont at 1-ish and
thought perhaps it was a teen heading back to the
high school. So she and one shoed John shuffled
back to the car and drove over to the high school.
She went into the office and asked if an announce-
ment could be made seeking the return of the
trendy “tenni” with no questions asked. Spirits
plummeted as school staff said they were unable to
make the announcement due to several complica-
tions. It was testing time, the act occurred off cam-
pus, and there was no hard evidence that the young
adult was in fact a Hood River Valley High School
Student. She was instructed to file a police report.
Feeling discouraged, they drove through the
parking lot and noted there were at least 20 little
red cars parked around the school. She couldn’t
identify any one of them for sure. Zanne pinned
her hopes on the passing remark of staff. They
would tell the student Leadership classes and activ-
ities director Niko Yasui (who is my son) to be on
the lookout for the shoe. Zanne’s spirit returned.
Yasui was her cousin and she knew first hand of
the many good deeds leadership students had con-
ducted throughout the years. No questions asked.
Leave the shoe in the HRVHS office, or in Niko
Yasui’s classroom.
So I ask you all, students and teachers, newspa-
per readers, joggers, tweeters and twits. We are
looking for a shiny new white leather New Balance
shoe. It is the missing mate to the one pictured
above. It has little value to anyone else as it is built
to replace the missing parts of a man’s foot. And
while it cost $900 to replace, it is invaluable to his
sense of spirit, personal freedom and mobility.
Whether this is a fellow student, or just someone
in the community you might know. Perhaps you are
jogging along Belmont and spot a white leather left
shoe lying in the ditch. Do the right thing. If the
high school is not your comfort zone, drop it off at
1301 Monagon’s. They will reunite these soul mates.
No questions asked. Paradise Found. Spirit Re-
stored.
■
Many of you might re-
member that Stanley
Ocheskey was our Most
Valuable Student in Decem-
ber and that he took second
place at the NE District Con-
test. He is
quite an ac-
complished
young man.
He was an
Ambassador
and Captain
of the 4-H
Water Polo
Stanley
team; he was
a member of
Ocheskey
the basket-
ball team, golf team, water
polo team and the swim
team. He was first team All-
League and 5A Player of the
Year at Mt. Hood Conference
Boys Water Polo, first team
All-Tournament at Oregon
High School State Champi-
onships, and offensive player
of the year in 2013.
Stanley has been Chapter
Secretary, Hood River Valley
FFA District Vice President,
and is currently FFA Chap-
ter President. He attended
the Mt. Hood District Leader-
ship camp 2012, 2013, and
2014. He took third place at
state in Beginning Public
Speaking and was in the top
8 in state in Advance Public
Speaking. With all this activ-
day are $1 for hardback
books and 50 cents for paper-
backs. Saturday is the “bag
sale,” in which you can buy a
bag of books for a dollar.
Thousands of books, rang-
ing from self-help to horror,
children’s fantasy to adult
romance, will be available
for your browsing pleasure.
The books are donated by
community
members
throughout the year, then
sorted and priced by volun-
teers for this sale.
The proceeds support on-
going library activities such
as Hood River Reads, other
reading programs for adults
and children, the purchase of
needed equipment, and spe-
cial staff training.
‘Relay For Life’
on tap July 18
On July 18, Columbia
Gorge residents will join to-
gether at the American Can-
cer Society Relay For Life of
Columbia Gorge to help fin-
ish the fight against cancer.
The event will take place
from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. at the
Hood River County Fair-
grounds.
The Relay For Life pro-
gram is a community-based
event where teams and indi-
viduals set up campsites at a
school, park, or fairground
and take turns walking or
running around a track or
path. Each team has at least
one participant on the track
at all times. Cancer sur-
vivors and caregivers take a
celebratory first lap to start
each event. Four million peo-
ple participated in more than
6,000 events worldwide last
year. The funds raised sup-
port groundbreaking cancer
research, education and pre-
vention programs, and criti-
cal services for people facing
cancer.
It is not too late to for com-
munity members to get in-
volved in the event or make a
donation to the Relay For
Life of Columbia Gorge. For
more infor mation, visit
www.relayforlife.org/columb
iagorgeor or call 1-800-227-
2345.
About the American Can-
cer Society
The American Cancer So-
ciety is a global grassroots
force of nearly three million
volunteers saving lives and
fighting for every birthday
threatened by every cancer
in every community. As the
largest voluntary health or-
ganization, the Society’s ef-
forts have contributed to a 22
percent decline in cancer
death rates in the US during
the past two decades, and a
50 percent drop in smoking
rates.
Thanks in part to our
progress nearly 14.5 million
Americans who have had
cancer and countless more
who have avoided it will cele-
brate more birthdays this
year. We’re determined to
finish the fight against can-
cer. As the nation’s largest
private, not-for-profit in-
vestor in cancer research,
we’re finding cures and en-
suring people facing cancer
have the help they need and
continuing the fight for ac-
cess to quality health care,
lifesaving screenings, clean
air, and more. For more in-
formation, to get help, or to
join the fight, visit can-
cer.org or call us anytime,
day or night, at 1-800-227-
2345.
SPAY/NEUTER!
We can help you.
541-387-DOGS (3647)
www.proddogs.org
SDS Lumber Company
Local Sales Outlet
Visit Our Website
www.sdslumber.com
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
CARNEGIE BUILDING, built in 1913, and the Georgianna Smith
Park commemorative plaque, next to the central patio constructed
in 2005. Three separate patios along with numerous benches –
wooden and stone – give people numerous places to sit and watch
the river, the traffic on Oak, read a book, or enjoy a picnic or ice
cream cone.
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