Wallowa County Chieftain
Opinion
wallowa.com
Make Halloween safety a priority
With the exception of Christ-
mas, no holiday excites children
more than Halloween. They enjoy
the fun of picking just the right
costume, class celebrations and,
of course, all that candy.
Unlike their parents, though,
safety is the furthest thing from
their minds Halloween night.
For parents, there is a fine line
between fun and the need to keep
their children safe.
Children can have a safe and
fun Halloween, and their parents
can relax by following a few safety
tips that cover traffic, costume
selection, healthy treats, pump-
kin carving and more. The follow-
ing “Ghoulishly Good Practices”
are offered courtesy of the Ameri-
can Academy of Pediatrics and the
National Safety Council.
• Trick or treater visibility is
imperative. Costumes need to be
bright and reflective and fit well to
avoid tripping hazards. When buy-
ing costumes, look for the flame
resistant label. Instead of masks,
which can limit a child’s ability to
see, consider makeup.
If using makeup, check the
makeup on a small patch of skin
to test for allergic reactions.
• Before heading out for trick
or treating, parents should review
safety procedures. Agree on a
time when children will be home.
Instruct children to stick to estab-
lished routes, to never run out into
the road, cut through alleys or
across lawns or dart into the street
EATING
HEALTHY
Ann Bloom
between parked cars.
Children need to use sidewalks
and crosswalks when possible. If
there is no sidewalk, children need
to walk as far from the edge of the
road, facing traffic, as possible.
• Older children need to follow
a route acceptable to parents, and
younger children should always
be accompanied by a responsible
adult. Instruct children to stay in
groups. Review with everyone the
procedure for dialing 9-1-1 in case
there is an emergency; make sure
someone in the group has a cell
phone.
• To increase visibility, carry a
flashlight. Instruct children to only
go to homes with a porch light
on. Children should never enter
a stranger’s car or home to get a
treat. Any suspicious or abnormal
activity should be immediately
reported to law enforcement.
• Pumpkins are a regular part
of Halloween. Children should
never carve pumpkins. They can
draw faces on them, and then
adults can do the carving. Open
flame lighted pumpkins should
be placed on a sturdy surface and
never left unattended.
• Safety is necessary on the part
MEASURE 105
Time to ‘just say ‘no’
to illegal aliens in America
Illegal is illegal and “no” is a complete sen-
tence! Crossing the border illegally is a viola-
tion of the law.
Those who cross illegally are known as ille-
gal aliens. Look up the definitions. Those who
harbor law-breakers are complicit in violating
the law.
I believe in following the law. Most ille-
gal aliens are on the public dole. For those in
Rio Vista, that means you and I are paying for
them.
If that’s OK with you, contact me and help
with my husbands cancer and dialysis treat-
ments. This would be much more rewarding
of the homeowner, too. Obstacles
that could pose a tripping haz-
ard, such as hoses and yard dec-
orations, should be removed. Pets
should be restrained or placed in
another part of the house so they
don’t run out the door.
• Halloween is a time for
extra caution by motorists. Driv-
ers must watch for children walk-
ing on curbs, in medians and on
road ways, and should use caution
when entering or exiting drive-
ways or alleys. Discourage new
and inexperienced drivers from
driving on Halloween.
• A healthy Halloween, or at
least one that limits sugar intake,
is possible. Giving children a
nutritious meal before allowing
them out to trick or treat will dis-
courage youngsters from making
a dinner out of Twix, Skittles and
M&M’s.
A meal with lean protein and
complex carbohydrates such as
whole wheat pasta and vegeta-
bles will help to discourage over-
indulging in sweets. Though tam-
pering is rare, parents should
inspect their children’s “loot” and
treats that are spoiled, unwrapped
or in any way appear suspicious
should be discarded.
Consider rationing children’s
treats for the days and weeks after
Halloween.
Ann Bloom is a nutrition pro-
gram assistant for the OSU Exten-
sion Service in Wallowa County.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
than knowingly letting a law-breaker pick your
pocket.
So, join me in supporting Measure 105, and
just saying “no” to illegal aliens leaching from
our system and being complicit in a losing code-
pendent relationship.
Jennifer Ballard
Joseph
WALDEN
Walden supports reality in
timber industry nationally
I am writing to encourage you to cast your
October 17, 2018
QUALLE
Continued from Page A4
working like my two subordinates.
Greg works at not just an efficient
rate, but at an accelerated pace and was
accomplishing far more than I was com-
fortable with. Somewhat embarrassed
by my lack of progress, I tried working
faster until I noticed a salty liquid on my
skin.
Not being used to a condition referred
to as sweating, I felt pretty uncomfort-
able. By now it was close to 10 a.m. and
what would normally be coffee time for
the Mensa society meeting that occurs at
the bakery each weekday.
I considered offering to see if I could
recruit a few members to help us and
who would probably slow down the
pace to a reasonable rate. My fond-
est hope was to recruit the Mensa mas-
ter who could probably drag things to a
complete halt.
That however would require some
creative trickery, and it better be good.
He can be very evasive about anything
requiring a lot of activity.
Alas, the suggestion was rejected. We
pressed on at what seemed like a furious
pace and by noon we had the demolition
complete and ready for the backhoe to
pull the posts, due in no small part to my
7 percent contribution, okay 5 percent,
Todd graciously offered to buy Greg and
I lunch. I accepted but Greg had some
loose ends to wrap up before the back-
hoe arrived and declined.
Todd has been a politician for only a
short time but seems to be adapting well.
He has secured two $500 donations for
material to rebuild but is way short of the
necessary amount to replace the facility
vote for Greg Walden for Congress. My hus-
band and I have a small business in the natural
resource industry, the timber industry.
We truly appreciate that Greg has been
relentless in the uphill battle to get real change
in the federal timber policies, which include
active and consistent management plans.
The northwest must be allowed to actively
manage our forest resources so that they don’t
continue to go up in smoke each summer and
clog vital fisheries with mud, soot and silt every
spring, not to mention the health consequences
of breathing thick smoke for six months a year.
Active management means jobs and and
pride in community, so what’s not to like!
Please join us in voting for Greg Walden, the
continuing voice of reason and integrity for the
natural resources industry.
Gina Birkmaier
Enterprise
A5
and any additional donations would be
truly appreciated.
The corrals we tore down were not
only functionally shot, they were a real
danger with rotted off posts and broken
boards. Totally unusable.
If the money can be raised for the
completion, we will have a venue for
team ropings, junior rodeo, mule days
events and other competitions. I am
pretty sure there is no minimum amount
for any donations.
FOR THE last several years CJD
has contracted with Dan Ackley to be
the chute boss at the rodeo. Dan suf-
fered a stroke at Pendleton this year and
it proved to be fatal.
A chute boss has a huge responsibil-
ity. He needs to know the rules, barrier
measurements, which side to tie the neck
rope on the cattle and a whole lot of other
minutia that keeps the timed events func-
tioning like a well-oiled machine.
He makes sure the right cowboy gets
the correct steer or calf. It is his responsi-
bility to watch every aspect of every run
and be sure everything is right. If any-
thing malfunctions, he has to know the
alternative and enforce it.
A malfunction sometimes causes con-
flict with a contestant and a big bulldog-
ger can be very intimidating, but there
was no back down in Dan, and every-
one knew it. Dan worked a lot of rodeos
in the northwest and will be missed at
every one of them.
I can’t tell you how much the crew
at the timed event end looked forward to
working with Dan each year. He will be
hard to replace.
Barrie Qualle is a Wallowa Coun-
ty-based cowboy and author.
He has brought sanity to
wildfire policy, management
I want to thank Rep. Greg Walden for the
work that he has done for the people of Oregon.
It seems that much of the good work that he has
accomplished has gone unnoticed.
I spent a good portion of my Forest Ser-
vice career working as a wildland firefighter.
I have seen the benefits of proper forest man-
agement and know from first-hand experi-
ence how important it is to have the tools
and ability to manage our forests before fires
even begin.
Additionally, when fires do start, it is so
important to have the resources to properly and
efficiently suppress them.
Walden has been leading the fight when it
See LETTERS, Page A6
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