Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2017)
10A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JUNE 7, 2017 Village Continued from A3 one who, sort of, got the river fl owing on this,” she said. “Kar- en ended up in his driveway one day and she was an emotional mess and Don didn’t know what to do so he called me.” Weeldreyer drove to the Vin- tage Inn to meet Williams and Munsell. “I found myself sitting in the restaurant with her and she was pouring out her heart and I said, ‘Hey what about going to church with me?’ So she ended up at church.” The Methodist church in Cot- tage Grove is a long, rectangu- lar building with pews stretch- ing into the back of the room. That’s where Weeldreyer sat. “One of my dearest members was old and couldn’t walk well so I sat in the back with him, he was a widower and when he passed, you know how church- es are, that was now my spot,” Weeldreyer said. “So I invited Karen to join my posse at the back of the church.” Munsell began attending regularly and Weeldreyer says they would text back and forth, some-times on a daily basis. She and Williams would direct her to the webbed network of do-gooders and public offi cials in the city that might have a lead on how to put a stop to the sale of whip its in Cottage Grove. They would also listen to her in her darkest hours and provide a shoulder to cry on. “She said to me, Cindy said, ‘Karen, God has a special place for a mother’s prayer,’” Mun- sell remembers. “So I just kept praying.” MISSED OPPORTUNITIES, NEW STARTS Exactly 18 years ago, on June 7, the Oregon Governor ap- proved legislation that would limit the use of and defi ne the illegal nature of inhalants. The list included acetone, butane, chloroform, nitrous oxide and a dozen others. Under the law, the assistant director for alcohol and drug abuse programs was to create educational material fo- cusing on the problem of inhal- ants and their abuse by minors. Signs, posters, and drawings depicting the abuse and product were scheduled to be part of the standard drug warning system like smoking for pregnant wom- en and drinking by minors. “If the law had been enact- ed the way it was supposed to be, then maybe I would have known. In 1999 my son was a toddler. I would have known 24/7 ACCESS *Local news *Local sports *Local politics *Local features to warn against this. Maybe it would have been in a program like Every 15 Minutes,” Mun- sell said. It was a point she made when she visited the Cottage Grove City Council again in 2016. She spoke about her son and she spoke about the stores that still sold the products in Cottage Grove and she spoke about how cheap they were. The council still couldn’t do anything to help but the city had instituted the Youth Advisory Board. It was made up of civic-minded high school students who sat on the council, heard issues with the council and voted with the council. The youth board repre- sentative there that night heard everything Munsell said and brought it back to the board. had climbed up from rock bot- tom and he was embarrassed. She didn’t want to identify him or steal his story from him to broadcast in public but there were more kids in Cottage Grove, more kids at Cottage Grove High School and Lin- coln Middle School. There were more kids in the village. “Now, we wait,” she said. “They say it’s dead on arrival.” There’s a nervousness in her voice but it’s swept away with the recital of promises she’s col- lected from the community. If the bill doesn’t become law at the state level, there’s hope for it at the county level with Lane County’s new commission- er Gary Williams. He went to school with Graig. He was may- or of Cottage Grove for over a decade. HOUSE BILL 3030 “We took a trip to the cap- itol in Salem and we talked to Cedric Hayden,” said Cottage Grove City Manager Richard Meyers. “He, being a dentist, knew a lot about nitrous oxide and a few months later we get this legislative concept.” House Bill 3030 would raise the age to purchase nitrous ox- ide to 18. Anyone caught selling a whip-it without checking ID would be subject to a year in jail and a $6,250 fi ne. “I got involved with HB 3030 because the Cottage Grove Youth Authority reached out with concerns over nitrous “whip its” use,” Hayden said. “With my background in den- tistry, I am familiar with the ef- fects and hazards of nitrous use. I submitted the bill and the kids from the youth advisory took the lead and did a tremendous job coming to Salem and testi- fying before the House Health Care committee then the Senate Judiciary Committee where it passed both unanimously.” Munsell remembers shaking the morning she testifi ed before the committee in Salem. “They thought it might be harder in the Senate so they asked me to speak,” she said. But it was complicated. Her son VILLAGE KEEPERS Munsell still has breakfast with Williams almost every morning. She sees Weeldryer in church, stops by the police station to chat with Shepherd. She’s exchanged letters with Parent and has stood up at school board meetings to give her two cents on the agenda. On Mother’s Day her son went fi shing. He’s working again and looking at returning to school. “He put on the wad- ers we got him last Christmas. He had never put them on. He got a new boat because his old one was ruined since he wasn’t in a place to help us move a few years ago when everything was going on,” she said. Munsell will continue to collect research in triplicate and hand it to what- ever offi cial she runs across. She’ll swallow her nerves to speak in front of councils and boards and make phone calls to community lobbyists who may be able to help. She has gone to every smoke shop and convenience store in the city begging store owners to pull the canisters. Several have com- plied. Two have not and she will continue to visit them, showing them a photo of her son who lost everything but his life with- 625 N. 9th St. Cottage Grove Issued by Principle Broker Principle Broker Linda Hartness Linda Williamson Ask for help Douglas uglas G. G Maddess, M ad d d ess DMD DM If you or someone you know is in need of support or instruction in dealing with a similar situation as detailed in "We are a Village" please contact South Lane Mental Health at (541) 942-3939 or visit the offi ce at 1345 Birch Ave. in Cottage Grove. If you suspect illegal activity in your home related to the subject in "We are a Village," contact the Cottage Grove Police Department at (541) 942-9145. Present Th is Coupon For Sellers Free Market Analysis On Home We can help you sell or buy a home Call 541- 942-2121 Broker Karen Douglas Broker Richard Morss Family & General Dentistry “Brightening Lives One Smile at a Time” 914 S. 4th Street, Cottage Grove 541-942-1559 www.douglasgmaddessdmd.com Are You Still Paying Too Much For Your Medications? Their Price Crestor TM $ 870.10 Typical US Brand Price for 40mg x 100 Our Price Rosuvastatin * $ 141 Generic equivalent of Crestor TM Generic price for for 40mg x 100 You can save up to 97% when you fi ll your prescriptions with our Canadian and International prescription service. Get An Extra $15 Off & Free Shipping On Your 1st Order! Call the number below and save an additional $15 plus get free shipping on your fi rst prescription order with Canada Drug Center. Expires June 30, 2017. Offer is valid for prescription orders only and can not be used in conjunction with any other offers. Valid for new customers only. One time use per household. Use code 15FREE to receive this special offer. Call Now! 855-781-6462 www.canadadrug.us/oregon Please note that we do not carry controlled substances and a valid prescription is required for all prescription medication orders. WANTED! LIVE Yellow Jacket & Hornet Nests FREE REMOVAL ALK Source Materials freebeenestremoval.com cgsentinel.com in the span of three months and then wallowed and scratched his way back in the subsequent months and year that followed. In the end, she wants to bring legislation to the federal level because she says, there’s no rea- son for a mother to get a phone call at 4 a.m. because their child was able to buy a whip-it and a balloon. She will continue her quest but it’s measured because for her, her son’s health and well-being comes fi rst, a notion she balances with the good of the village. “I got my son back. He’s coming back.” She speaks of a man who walks the length of Main St. He passes the po- lice station and the cafe where her son recently ate breakfast in public for the fi rst time in months. He shouts and talks to himself, his hair long and rag- ged. “He went to school with my son. He’s part of our vil- lage. We are better than this and we’re going to fi x it.” Local Coverage Where You Work, Play & Live 541-510-0191 Insects used for Life Saving Vaccines Birch Avenue Dental Park W. McClung, DDS • Tammy L. McClung, DDS Where dentistry is our profession but people are our focus WELCOMING NEW PATIENTS! Catch up on local news, sports, shopping deals, events, new businesses, politics, job openings, homes for sale, cars for sale and more with your local newspaper! Check out our exclusive Birch Avenue Dental Program that provides all the rewards of dental insurance without the headaches. For more information please call 541-942-2471 or visit us at www.birchavenuedental.com Subscribers Get 1 Year for $37.65!* Call us today to get started. Extend Your Subscription Eran an extra month for every three non- perishable food items you drop off for Community Sharing. (max 3 months = 9 items) All Subscriptions must be paid in advance and are non-refundable. Off er Expires 6/29/17 Cottage Grove Sentinel In Print & Online 541-942-3325 www.cgsentinel.com *This offer is not transferable and the offer is available those who have not subscribed in the last 31 days. Special introductory offers are limited to no more than two special subscriptions in a twelve month period and must be paid in advance to qualify for special rate. Once the above discounted period ends, you will be billed at the regular subscription rates. SUBSCRI BE TODAY & SAVE!