SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2021 | 7A
Editor’s Note: Community Voices is a
monthly feature in the Siuslaw News. It
consists of viewpoints from people in the
Siuslaw region. Siuslaw News welcomes
these opinions as part of its goal to encour-
age community discussion and exchange of
perspectives, but they should not be inter-
preted as the views of the News or its staff.
By Karen D. Nichols
Author and Artist
Special to Siuslaw News
R
ats! Something is
wrong with the car!
Sputtering and dying, the
car rolled to Tony’s Ga-
rage, barely making it into
the parking lot. The initial
trauma was mitigated by
the fact that the catastrophe
occurred in this locale and
not out in the sticks. We
rented a Chevy Silverado
pickup truck for a day while
the battery was replaced.
Community Voices
Moral of the Story — Oh, Well
With very different rami-
fications, there was another
time when the alternator
malfunctioned, and we
coasted into Tony’s garage.
It was late Friday, so we’d
need to wait until Monday
to order the part. The re-
pair would then take two
days, making it necessary to
rent a car, as we own only
one car. With renting a car
for four or five days and a
rather expensive repair, the
budget would take a heavy
hit.
After calling the only
vehicle rental agency on
Florence, U-Haul, we were
told no cars or pickups were
available. There was, how-
ever, a small truck.
“Could you pick us up at
Tony’s garage?”
“Sorry, I am the only per-
son here.”
Tony was too busy to take
us.
Oh, well. (Mom once ad-
vised me to accept adversi-
ty gracefully with an, “Oh,
Well.”)
We called a taxi. No
luck. What about a friend?
Slump shouldered, shuf-
fling, wringing our hands
and gnashing our teeth, we
bolstered our aged bodies,
realizing there would be
a two-mile walk ahead. I
glanced at my feet shoved
into super tight tennis
shoes and pictured the
blisters burgeoning. May-
be we could stop at Fred-
dies for Band-Aids, but it’s
across from U-Haul.
Oh, well.
Then the angel arrived
in the form of an “elderly”
man — about the same age
as Ralph and I! “Could I of-
fer you a ride?”
Mouths agape, we grate-
fully accepted. He was pick-
ing up his car, the same
model and color as ours.
After a short, pleasant con-
versation, he delivered us to
U-Haul.
There it was, tower-
ing next to us, our “small”
moving truck, a Chevy Box
truck, with full U-Haul ad
painted huge across the
sides!
Oh, well.
Hoisting ourselves, in
slow motion, we climbed
in. Viewing our world from
new heights, we looked
down on the rest of the traf-
fic as we drove home.
For two days, we sa-
shayed around town in
our “limo.” With dropped
jaw or wide-eyes, friends
caught a glimpse of us tour-
ing in the truck.
Happy ending: The parts
came on Monday, our car
restored the following day,
thus saving two days’ rental.
Rats! We had to return
the moving truck!
Moral of the Story: Oh,
well. When you’re riding
high, keep on truckin’!
Us TOO Florence — My Prostate Cancer Journey Continues ...
By Bob Horney
Prostate Cancer Survivor
Us Too Chapter Leader
Special to Siuslaw News
C
ontinuing my prostate
cancer journey with
Botox injection in the blad-
der, I arrived at Oregon
Urology Institute (OUI)
just before 11 a.m. on June
23, 2021. I luckily found
a shady spot to park since
my wife, Marianne, would
be reading and waiting in
the car (in accordance with
OUI’s COVID precautions
that only the patient enters
the building — unless the
patient was a child).
Upon making sure she
had the cell phone handy
in case someone needed to
reach her, following a good
luck kiss and masking up, I
was on my way across the
parking lot to the OUI Med-
ical Center and, upon enter-
ing, took an immediate left
into OUI’s SurgiCenter.
After the necessary pa-
perwork, I was led into “the
room.” First on the list was
the urine sample. As I was
finishing that, Dr. McK-
immy’s excellent assistant,
Lauren, called out my first
instructions (I paraphrase):
“When finished in there,
come out to the seat here,
drop your pants (and she
meant both pants) and sit
down.” After being seated,
she alternately raised the
foot and lowered the back of
the table until I was flat on
my back.
Once she had me proper-
ly positioned for Dr. McK-
immy, she told me how I
would be prepped: First, she
would use an iodine wash
to make sure the area (you
know where) was clean,
then inject some Lidocaine
into the urethra and, finally,
flood the bladder with iced
2% Lidocaine. Flooding the
bladder means that the en-
tire bladder is available for
Dr. McKimmy to inject with
Botox.
After the iced 2% Lido-
caine was placed in the blad-
der, I would be laying there
for upwards of 30 minutes
while the Lidocaine was
numbing the walls (mus-
cles) of the bladder. That
sense of numbness is much
appreciated when Dr. McK-
immy proceeds with the Bo-
tox injections. I was totally
surprised when Lauren told
me she was all done with the
prepping — I simply hadn’t
felt any discomfort while
she was doing her business.
I’m thinking our constant
chatting kept my mind off
what she was doing
Of course, time marched
on and, before long, Dr.
McKimmy entered the
room. Now we were getting
down to business.
Following a quick re-
view of what would happen
during the procedure, Dr.
McKimmy showed me the
needle that would be used
in the injections. It was very
short since it was designed
to remain within the con-
fines of the bladder wall.
With that behind us, we
moved ahead with the Bo-
tox Injection procedure. As
Dr. McKimmy guided his
necessary instruments (with
camera) through the urethra
to the bladder, he stopped to
view and take note of my re-
maining sphincter (lost one
when my prostate gland was
removed in 2002) and the
fact that it looked to be in
fairly good shape although
was showing its (my) age. I
confirmed that it was not as
effective at stopping leakage
of urine from the bladder as
during the earlier years fol-
lowing the surgery (prosta-
tectomy).
Onward into the bladder,
where he said it looked bet-
ter than before I underwent
the 60 hours of Hyperbaric
Oxygen Therapy treatments.
He also confirmed that the
remaining radiation damage
was mostly confined to the
area near the urethra. I com-
mented that his finding con-
firmed my self-assessment,
since my bladder would be-
come very irritated when-
ever I stood up, demanding
that I promptly get that urine
out of there (before it does it
for me).
Getting now to the Bo-
tox Injection procedure, Dr.
McKimmy chose a spot for
his first injection. First, he
inserted the needle into the
bladder wall. Once the nee-
dle was in place, he told me
he would now make a little
bubble at that site. That was
the Botox being injected
into the bladder wall. He did
that by holding the needle in
place with his right hand and
taking a syringe containing
the Botox in his left hand
and injecting the Botox into
the injection site through the
needle. And, lo, a small bub-
ble appeared.
This process was repeated
15 times at various locations
within the bladder.
The journey will continue
in this series.
Military Heritage Chronicles — Veteran Profile — Alan Knoblock
By Cal Applebee
Military and Vehicle
Historian
Special to Siuslaw News
W
hen I first ap-
proached US Army
veteran Alan Knoblock at
Band of Brothers coffee here
in Florence to be the subject
of a Veteran Profile, he was
at first hesitant, because he
had not served in combat.
That’s a response I receive
often from Veterans, but I
quickly remind them that
they still put on the uniform
and served their country.
Service in the US Army
is a deep tradition in Alan’s
family, with his father, sister
and brother-in-law also vet-
erans of that branch, dating
clear back to Korea.
Like a lot of us in our
youth at Alan’s high school
age, he had no idea what he
wanted to do as an adult —
other than just get out of De-
troit Michigan. He began his
20-year Army career in 1982
as a Tank Systems Mechan-
ic on M45 and M63 Main
Battle Tanks, but eventually
moved into recruiting.
Alan told me about his life
altering experience:
“One single day is burned
into my memory bank. The
day was 9/11/2001. I was
serving as the First Ser-
geant (1SG) for a Recruiting
Company in Sacramento,
Calif. That morning at 7
a.m., when the Twin Tow-
ers were hit, my cell phone
rang off the hook. Just about
every soldier and NCO in
my company called me. Not
just asking; almost begging
to leave immediately. They
were ready to defend our
nation.
“Our role that day was not
one for deployment, but to
be the face of the military
in the local community. We
opened every recruiting sta-
tion, and turned on the TV.
All day long, people from
the community came in to
volunteer. WW2, Korean
War, Vietnam vets, school-
teachers, you name it. They
all came in volunteering
to do whatever they could.
Wash dishes, drive a truck;
it did not matter to them.
“We didn’t recruit anyone
that day; it wasn’t the right
thing to do. But on that day,
I saw the patriotism in this
county come to life like I
had never seen it before.
Over the coming months
and years, most of the sol-
diers and NCOs in my com-
pany deployed to Afghani-
stan and IRAQ. All of them
served with honor, and most
of them returned.”
Like many veterans, Alan
maintained life-long friend-
ships with his brothers-in-
arms. He described that
close friendship with one
fellow veteran.
“Dennis and I met during
our service in the Army. He
was a platoon sergeant un-
der me, later replacing me
as 1SG after I retired. Den-
nis and I have been close
since the first time we met.
We have maintained that re-
lationship ever since.”
After his 20-year US
Army career, Alan enjoyed a
successful career with New
York Life Insurance com-
pany and credits his Army
leadership training and ex-
perience for that success.
Now actively engaged in
the Band of Brothers here
in Florence, he told me,
“Having been away from
the military for 18 years, my
No. one priority in retire-
ment was to join whatever
military associations existed
here in Florence. It was time
to ‘Give Back!’ I wake up ev-
ery day with the attitude of
serving others, and giving
back as my No. one priori-
ty. I have been blessed in so
many ways during my two
careers, it’s important for me
to pay it forward.”
The Band of Brothers
meets for coffee each Mon-
day morning at 11 a.m. at
the Florence Elks Lodge and
is open to any veteran.
I have made the state-
ment before in articles and
speeches that it doesn’t mat-
ter whether a veteran served
in the snow-cold trench-
es of Korea, or in a missile
silo in Nebraska during the
Cold War; or whether in the
brown-water Navy in Viet-
nam, or the recruiting sta-
tion in Sacramento — you
still served, your service was
needed, and is appreciated.
Thank you Alan, for your
service, both then and now.
For more military heri-
tage, visit the Oregon Coast
Military Museum located on
Kingwood Street adjacent to
the Florence Municipal Air-
port, open from noon to 4
p.m. Thursday thru Sunday,
or by visiting the Museum’s
website at www.oregon-
coastmilitarymuseum.com.
Threads of Activism — Time to Turn Up the Heat
By Michael Allen
Activist
Special to Siuslaw News
I
n my earlier “Threads of
Activism,” I described
tipping points that triggered
my activism. What follows is
another tipping point right
here in Florence that stems
from my outrage at the Flor-
ence City Council meeting
on July 19, 2021.
Was it a tipping point for
others in the community to
take action as well?
I attended the city council
meeting with the intention
of verbally introducing our
climate petition for the third
time, then with 453 signa-
tories, and reading as many
names into the verbal record
as I had time for in my allot-
ted three minutes.
I should have known
something was off as soon
as I entered the meeting
room, since it was packed
with about 30 people.
While waiting for the
meeting to start, I seated
myself between Bruce Jar-
vis and Sam Spayd, then
unknown to me. Both were
scheduled to speak. Little
did I know that what they
would say would trigger
outrage and concern for our
democracy and our planet.
In his comment, Mr. Jar-
vis stated, “I’m calling on
this body to adopt what is
known as a ‘Stand for Free-
dom’ resolution.”
He explained the resolu-
tion would call on the city
to not enforce any law, man-
date or edict that they deem
unconstitutional, implying
the mayor and city council
should make that determi-
nation.
Mr. Spayd supported
Mr. Jarvis by calling on the
council to deal with “draco-
nian edicts” from our state
government. He further
asked the council not to pla-
cate those who wish to take
actions to save the world,
calling those actions insane
and esoteric.
Following the council
meeting, I had a chance to
speak directly with Mayor
Joe Henry. I asked him to
honor our request to meet
with us, or send a designee,
to explore ways to create a
climate action plan. He said
NO, and further said he
doesn’t want his staff to talk
to us. I asked if he would
work with Lane County in
developing and implement-
ing a county wide climate
action plan. He answered,
“only if mandated.”
How did our community
respond to counter those
outrageous assaults on our
democracy and our ability
to address the climate crisis
and the non-responsiveness
by the mayor?
Eighteen activists attend-
ed a “Save Our Democracy
and Planet” rally prior to the
city council meeting on Aug.
6, sponsored by the Florence
Climate Emergency Cam-
paign and Florence Indivis-
ible. Fourteen activists sub-
mitted written testimonies
in support of our climate
campaign and to rebuke Jar-
vis and Spayd. Four speak-
ers gave verbal testimony at
public comment regarding
the same issues; including
Joshua Greene, who received
a rousing applause after he
called for a comprehensive
climate action plan. Twen-
ty-five more people signed
our climate petition. In ad-
dition, there were lots of
comments on social media
and coverage in the Siuslaw
News.
Mark Brennan, lead re-
porter at the Siuslaw News,
captured the current state
of affairs both locally and
internationally in his com-
pressive article, “Friday Cli-
mate Strikes Hit 100 Weeks,”
(Aug. 11). He appropriately
described the recent find-
ings of the Intergovernmen-
tal Panel on Climate Change,
which has been described as
“a code red for humanity.”
Next steps for activism
would be to join our Flor-
ence Climate Emergency
Campaign, attend Friday
Climate Strikes, gather pe-
tition signatures beyond the
475 already collected, be-
come better educated, join
the Elders Climate Action
national organization and its
Oregon Chapter, join other
like-minded climate groups,
and take action. Look for
progressive candidates to
run for mayor and city
council and the Lane Coun-
ty Board of Commissioners.
Apply for city committees
like EMAC and Transpor-
tation and Planning. Write
letters to the editor and city
leaders, the chamber, busi-
ness and faith leaders, ex-
horting them to take action.
Encourage our school board
and teachers to institute
K-12 climate curriculum
and training for green tech-
nology occupations in col-
laboration with Lane Com-
munity College.
I could go on, but these
actions I’ve mentioned need
lots of passionate and per-
sistent activists that believe
as I do — that we are in
the midst of an existential
climate emergency that re-
quires urgent, immediate ac-
tion from everyone, includ-
ing our City of Florence.
Many other cities across
the country have met the
challenge; let’s make our city
and community also rise to
the occasion. The future for
our children and grandchil-
dren depends on us taking
action now to save our city
and planet.
I personally felt the need
to respond to the threats to
our planet and democracy.
Did our community rise to
the occasion with activism?
Yes, we did. Will the mayor
and city council heed our
collective calls to move for-
ward with a climate action
plan?
Turn up the heat and find
out. Stay tuned to this col-
umn for further updates.
The videos for the Flor-
ence City Council meetings
can be watched on Vimeo
through ci.florence.or.us.
Editor’s Note: Community Voices
continues on A8 and A9, with
“Conservative Corner,” “Closing
The Loop” and “Pastor’s Corner.”