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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2017)
2 A SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, MAY 13, 2017 DISASTER PREP B Y D AVE R OBINSON Special to the Siuslaw News E very few days we make a trip to the local grocery store. Under normal circumstances we make our purchases and fill our shopping lists with nary a thought about how all those items came to be so plentifully available for our needs. We want them and there they are! Simple as that. Unbeknownst to most of us, our grocer’s shelves are filled using a technology known as “Just In Time” inventory management. Commonly referred to in the business as, “J.I.T.” Excess inventory is a waste of com- pany resources, (translated: costs go up), while too little inventory is dam- aging to customer confidence. “They NEVER have what I want!” To maintain that delicate balance of inventory, J.I.T. is maintained with a set of precise and delicate shipping schedules from a variety of vendors to keep our stores stocked so we con- sumers always get what we want. At the same time, the razor-thin profit margin is protected by this oh-so-frag- ile system we have taken for granted. So let’s pretend for a moment there is a glitch in the system. A major cata- clysmic event notwithstanding, say an ice storm in a major city which serves our area. Highways are closed, trucks can’t BIRTHS J.I.T. get to the distribution points and our stores don’t get their inventory. Most retailers know if their J.I.T. schedule is interrupted, their shelves would empty in 3 to 5 days. Just pretend you go to the store and notice some bare shelves. Your curios- ity kicks in and you ask an employee what’s going on. “Oh our trucks can’t get here out of Portland due to the ice storm and we don’t know when we’ll get more sup- plies! It may be two weeks or more.” You, being a rational person decide stocking up right now would be a very good idea. That is if there’s anything left to stock up on. As soon as word gets around, panic buying would soon follow! Past experiences show during immi- nent hurricanes, or major snowstorms, the stores clear out within 3 to 4 hours. Now factor in an earthquake in your region and let your imagination run. In case you were wondering, there are no local, government warehouses stocked with emergency supplies set aside for our use during such an event. Even the food banks are dependent on donations from various sources, both public and private, but they are not equipped to provide for the needs of the general populace in an emergency. The only sure source of feeding your family is what you have on hand. If the J.I.T. infrastructure failed, how long before you are in deep trouble? The best thing you can do is begin now by setting aside some of the items your family uses anyway. Watch the sales. “Buy one get one” or BOGO sales are great for setting aside extra groceries. One “coupon” person emailed me several months ago and let me know she had saved over $8,000 on their grocery bill over a year’s time by “coupon-ing,” and a by-product of that was she had accumulated a significant amount of groceries to be used in an emergency. Whichever method you choose to build your food supply, just do it. Before long you will have enough extra that if there indeed is an interrup- tion in the supply chain, it will have minimal effect on you and your family. As always send your questions and comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail. com. ___________________________ Dave Robinson is the postmaster in Bandon, Ore., and author of “Disaster Prep for the Rest of Us.” He may be contacted at disasterprep.dave@ gmail.com. Visit his website for more disaster preparedness tips, www.disas- terprepdave.blogspot.com. WLCF continuing education scholarships being offered Western Lane Community Foundation (WLCF) has announced its third-annual Continuing Education Scholarships program for 2017. These scholarships are awarded annually and are designed for students who use permanent home addresses within the Florence, Dunes City, Mapleton and Deadwood areas and have already graduat- ed from high school, have their diploma, GED or were home schooled and are eligible to enter higher education or a trade school or graduate pro- gram. This includes non-traditional students returning to a program after a career or family change or job loss. Scholarships are available for traditional four year univer- sities, colleges, community colleges and accredited trade schools. While academic achievement is one criteria used in determining recipients, other qualifying characteristics include financial need, outside activities, work history and volunteerism to name a few. The application lists criteria specific to each scholarship. Applications can be obtained at Lane Community College or on the WLCF website at www. wlcfonline.org. Applications packets may be submitted online, or by mail at P.O. Box 1589, Florence, Ore., 97439. BRIGGS-STEMMER- MAN—BraeLynn RoseMarie Briggs-Stemmerman, a girl weighing 8 lbs., 6.5 ozs., was born to Trinity Micah Briggs and Dillon Cole Stemmerman of Reedsport on May 8, 2017, at 11:05 a.m., at PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center. PRECHT—James Alan Precht, a boy weighing 7 lbs., 10.5 ozs., was born to Annmarie Lee Precht of Florence on May 8, 2017, at 11:05 a.m., at PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center. WEATHER DATA Visit us on D ATE May May May May May May May H IGH 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 60 67 59 55 55 57 63 Rainfall Month: 0.83” L OW R AIN 50 52 51 42 38 33 36 0.06 0.00 0.10 0.61 0.03 0.00 0.00 the web T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM Week: 0.80” Year: 62.83” S IUSLAW N EWS Courtesy of Roger Cunningham In loving memory of Jean Marlene Saubert 1 May 1942—14 May 2007 75 years ago Planet Earth was presented an exceptional gift when Jean Marlene Saubert was born to Jack and Lila Mae “Bobbie” Saubert in Roseburg, Oregon. Jean graduated from Lakeview OR high school in 1960 and Oregon State University in 1967, aft er presenting the U.S. with two Olympic medals for skiing slalom and giant slalom in Innsbruck, Austria in 1964. Her 30-year teaching career started as Vale, CO’s fi rst elementary school teacher, followed by 10 years in Salt Lake City and BYU, Utah, before positively infl uencing middle school children and parents in Hillsboro, OR for 20 years. Aft er retirement, she carried the Olympic torch to open the 2002 Olympic Games in Utah before moving to Bigfork, MT where she passed from breast cancer in 2007 and is buried in Florence, OR with her parents, grandparents and great grandparents. Anyone Jean touched during her too- short life on Earth received positive support and energy; and she has been missed dearly these past ten years. Rest in Peace in God’s Arms THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, Terry and Joan Cummings, Rio Verde AZ & Bigfork MT OR CCB #1663 Happy Mother’s Day May 14 th REMODELING 101 WORKSHOP SATURDAY, MAY 20TH Cascade Title Company 713 US Highway 101, Florence, OR 97439 Learn how you can improve the functionality of your home with smart design and elegant details. Enjoy refreshments, meet national award-winning Neil Kelly designer, Matt White and embark on a photo tour of recently completed Neil Kelly remodeling projects. 10:00AM.....Welcome & Refreshments 11:30AM.......Remodeling 101 Workshop: Reinventing Your Home RSVP neilkelly.com/events or call 341.683.6083 OR CCB#1663 | WA L&I #NEILKCI 18702 Dad, need a little help with last minute planning? PeaceHealth.org/mothers-day has you covered, with cards for the kids to color, a recipe for a great wake up smoothie and more.
