August 7, 2019 Page 11 In the Penal Colony amazing events all sum- – Portland Opera pres- mer long for both kids ents ‘In the Penal Colony,’ and adults, including mov- a play that exposes a nightmarish ies, concerts, free lunch and play machine of executions. Now playing events and more. For details, a guide is through Saturday, Aug. 10 at the Hampton Opera Cen- posted online at portlandoregon.gov/parks. ter, 211 S.E. Caruthers St. For tickets and more infor- Read for Fun and Prizes – Multnomah County en- mation, visit portlandoper.org. courages kids to read for fun and prizes this summer. Courage and Cleverness – Miss Trunchbull hates The annual Summer Reading program is in full swing children and just loves at all branch libraries. To help grow interest, the library thinking up new pun- also offers dozens of free summer reading events, ishments for those camps and classes to keep youth of all ages playing and who don’t abide by her learning. rules. But Matilda, has Norman Sylvester Band – The Norman Sylvester courage and cleverness Band plays Thursday, Aug. 8 at noon in the Franz Can- in equal amounts and cer Center courtyard at Providence Hospital; Saturday, could be the school pu- Aug. 10 at the Spare Room; Sunday, Aug. 11 at the Ele- pils’ saving grace. ‘Matilda, The Musical,’ based on the phant Garlic Festival in North Plains; Saturday, Aug. 17 beloved children’s novel, is now playing through Aug. at 9 p.m. for the Canby Boogie Fest; and Sunday, Aug. 18 at the Lakewood Center for the Arts in Lake Oswe- 18 at 6 p.m. at Millennium Plaza Park in Lake Oswego.. go. Twilight Tuesday – The Oregon Zoo is staying open Beer Auction to End Youth Homelessness – New late for a special Twilight Tuesday extra on Aug. 20 Avenues for Youth, a nonprofit helping prevent and in- featuring animals that are active at dusk, fun activities tervene in youth homelessness invites the community for families, food and beverages from local vendors and to a beer tasting event and live beer auction fundraiser live entertainment. The festivities will begin at 4 p.m. with more than 50 different breweries to support the and last until 8 p.m. group’s mission. The event will be held Saturday, Aug. 10 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Leftbank Annex, 10 Summer at the Square – This month Pioneer Court- N. Weidler and Broadway. For more information, visit house Square, downtown, is offering free weekly sum- mer events, including Noon Tunes concerts on Tues- newavenues.org. days, wellness activities on Wednesdays and Flicks on Summer Free for All – Portland Parks and Recre- the Bricks movies on Friday evenings. ation’s “Summer Free for All” series is back with Vaccines Save Lives C ontinueD froM p age 9 health disparities, and they are one of the greatest successes in pub- lic health and modern medicine. From 1994 to 2016, childhood immunizations prevented an esti- mated 281 million child illnesses, 855,000 child deaths, and nearly $1.65 trillion in health care costs. Every dollar invested in vaccina- tion yields $3 in direct benefits and $10 in benefits when societal costs are included. They also save money for states and localities, which shoulder the often high cost of tracking and treating those who are infected. For instance, measles costs an average of $32,000 per case. Measles is a very good case study in the benefits of vaccines. Before the vaccine was intro- duced in 1963, measles killed approximately 400-500 Ameri- can children every year. Measles can result in severe and lifelong health consequences for those who do survive. It is also high- ly contagious—so much so that an unvaccinated person walking through a room up to two hours after someone with measles has left has about a 90 percent chance of getting sick. The very young face height- ened risk: most infants do not get their first measles vaccine until they are about one year old, and the consequences of infection can be particularly severe in babies and young children. A third of all measles cases in the current U.S. outbreaks occurred in children younger than five, and most were children under age 18 who had not been fully vaccinated. The trend towards vaccine hes- itancy and refusal has grown glob- ally in recent years as misinforma- tion about the safety of vaccines are shared by members of the an- ti-vaccination or “anti-vax” move- ment on the internet and social media have sown seeds of doubt in parents around the world. But we must not allow misinformation and fear to drag a new generation of children backwards into danger. With the start of a new school year around the corner, it’s crit- ical for parents and guardians to make sure their children are up to date on vaccines. The science is clear: vaccines work. Vaccine pre- ventable diseases are dangerous and can be deadly. Quick action must be taken on multiple fronts to slow, halt, or eliminate disease outbreaks in the U.S. and abroad. Our children’s lives depend on it. Marian Wright Edelman is founder and president emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund. 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