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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2018)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • OCTOBER 17, 2018 • New dispatcher has old ties to Cottage Grove By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com Becky Erbes lives in Creswell but Cottage Grove is her home. And now, she’s back. Erbes joins fi ve other new faces at the Cottage Grove Po- lice Department has part of a hiring spring that took place earlier this year. “We feel fortunate to have hired all of these individuals, who we believe will represent and serve our community in a positive and professional man- ner,” said Cottage Grove Police Chief Scott Shepherd. “We be- lieve all of these new employ- ees will be good for our town and the community.” And while Erbes may be a part of a fl ood of new hires, she’s anything but new to CGPD. “My dad retired from here about two years ago aft er 26 years,” she said. Ken Erbes was also a dispatcher and his daughter says she remembers nights bringing him dinner at the station. “He liked the night shift more and so we’d sit with him for a while,” she said. “He liked it, I guess because the phones offi cer and the now Captain Conrad Gagner who is still with CGPD. “I worked in re- cords part time and because it was part time, I ended up moving to Spring- fi eld PD which is a diff erent beast,” she said. Not long aft er, Erbes began raising a family and now with her children all in their teens, she’s returned to the beginning. CAITLYN MAY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL “When I walked in, I was home,” Cottage Grove Police dispatcher Becky she said. Erbes comes from a long line of law en- Erbes will at- forcement-related careers in her family. tend the state's were quiet and fewer people basic telecommu- came in.” nications and emergency med- It’s something he passed ical dispatch later this month down to his daughter who says to make her stay in Cottage the night shift is also her favor- Grove offi cial. She joins new ite because, “Th e phones are hire Gabriela Iboa Pierce, who quiet and fewer people come will take Erbes preferred night in.” shift on the dispatch desk. Erbes started her career as “She was hired in May of a dispatcher in Cottage Grove this year,” Shepherd said. “She in the ‘90s alongside Shepherd, is a recent graduate of the De- who at the time was a street partment of Public Safety and Michili Monroi, LCSW Counseling Services 541-255-8822 1450 Birch Ave Cottage Grove, OR 97424 • Individual and Family Counseling • Insurance and Sliding Scale • Accepting New Clients • Weekend and Weekday Appointments Available GET UP TO FOUR-COURSE SAVINGS OCTOBER $ 1600 Standards and Training… and was released from training in September.” Th e new dispatchers are joined by two new offi cers; Wendie Jackson and Harry Sullivan. Jackson was previ- ously a dispatcher for the Lane County Sheriff ’s Department and told the Cottage Grove City Council that she wanted to see what the other side of the job was and so opted to be- come a reserve offi cer and was hired full-time on Sept. 10. According to Shepherd, Jackson has previous ties to CGPD, “In fact,” he said, “she was hired to replaced Ken Er- bes when he retired.” Sullivan tested for the posi- tion of police offi cer in March and was hired in September. “He was inspired to become a police offi cer by several family members in law enforcement,” Shepherd said. “He felt com- pelled to be a contributor to a safe community and chose our department over the others he was testing with.” Nate Bryce rounds out the latest wave of new hires as a re- serve offi cer aft er he spent fi ve years with the Eugene Police Department as a patrol offi cer. Cottage Grove Garden Club to host Gardening Forum Nov. 6 Many people have ques- tions about gardening, whether they are new to gardening or have been gardening for decades. At the aem time, garden- ers have answers and expe- riences to share. On Tuesday, Nov. 6, the Cottage Grove Garden Club will be hosting a Gar- dening Forum. Th e Garden Club encourages anyone with questions to attend. Th is will be a round-table discussion where attendees will be answering eachoth- er’s gardening questions. Th is gardening forum is perfect for people new to gardening or new to the Cottage Grove area. It is also perfect for seasoned gardeners who have more specifi c questions. Th e Cottage Grove Gar- den Club’s informal busi- ness meeting begins at 6 p.m. and the gardening fo- rum runs from 7 to 8 p.m. All guests and visitors welcome, light refresh- ments provided. Th e forum will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South Th ird St. (at the corner of Th ird and Adams streets). Enter off the garden on Adams Street. 5A Pet tips ‘N’ tales By Mary Ellen “Angel Scribe” French doors and Persian cats O ur two Silver Persian cats, Myster E. and Whyspurr, are 16-years-old. You would think by now that the siblings couldn’t outsmart each other. Th ere is a set of windowed French doors leading from the cat room into the main part of our home. Th e cats’ water and food are in there along with their litter box, a tall scratching post to observe birds at the outside feeder and enough cat toys to open a pet store. For the last year, Whyspurr has been playing a prank on Myster E. and he has yet to catch onto it. When he goes to use the litter box, she paws-itions herself behind the French doors, crouched down peeking through the glass at him — waiting. Aft er he uses the kitty washroom, he walks back into the house. Whyspurr, who’s waited patiently the entire time, springs out at him. Her action leads them to spin around the house chasing each other like kittens. Do cats get Alzheimer’s? Myster E. is either walking into his sister’s trap knowingly to join a game of chase, or he is honestly forgetting to look? Every day, we stand and watch Myster E. as he jumps out of the litter box. We think: Today is the day he is going to look for her! Nope! Th en, as he causally strolls back into the house, he is once again not aware of her, and he defi nitely never thinks to look through the glass panes for his trickster sister. Meanwhile, she wiggles her furry little rear end in anticipa- tion of her approaching “prey” then jumps out at her brother. Every time, he acts stunned as she rushes him. He jumps in the air, totally surprised, and the chase is on. One thing is for sure, they still feel young enough to "hunt" and exercise together and we are grateful for every day with our beautiful fur babies ... errr, furry seniors. We are learning several things by observing cats; every fam- ily has a comedian, even if it is the cat. 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MAINTAINING YOUR VEHICLE AFFORDABLY 60% of smalled businesses close their doors within 6 months following a cyber-attack. Call today (541) 942-0555. Mary Ellen “Angel Scribe’s” senior kittens, Whyspurr and Myster E., still play pranks on each other. TIPS: “Many senior pet owners do not realize that pets like humans lose their eyesight with age,” said Janetta Overholser, president of the Humane Society of Cottage Grove. “Even though I know this, last August I saw one of my elderly outside cats staggering. I went to her and discovered that cataracts had grown over both eyes. Apparently, she could no longer fi nd any of the bowls of water I leave out for the animals. She was hot and dehydrated, so there was an immediate trip to the vet clinic.” Please do not dump young, elderly or any animals. Th e re- sults are pain, suff ering and heartbreak because the pet’s star- vation is a slow, cruel death. Please bring your unwanted pets to a shelter so they can be rehomed. Tricks to keep alert blind pets to where they are in your home/yard through touch, smell and sound. • Place a doggie gate in the hallway to paw-vent blind animals from wandering outside. • Diff erent thicknesses of throw rugs. • Table top water fountains. • Textured fl ooring, tiles, indoor carpeting, rubber mats. • Solar/wind chimes. • Diff erent scented candle/herb sachets in each room. • Don’t move fur-niture or leave objects on the fl oor. EVENT: KNND and the Humane Society of Cottage Grove's fund raiser will be Saturday, Oct. 20, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 S. Th ird St. Entertainers are David “Elvis” Lomond, Cowboy Cadillac, Dallas McCord, Cameron Reiten, and Julie Nedele. “People in the United States spend millions of dollars on Hal- loween costumes for their pets each year. I wonder how many fewer animals would be euthanized if that money were in-stead donated to animal shelters,” Mark Cuppola. WE LIVE IN THE SAME TOWN WE WORK IN “WE MAKE SHIFT HAPPEN!” www.automotivespecialties.biz PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove DUSTIN TULLAR & RUSS OWENS 541-942-8022 • COTTAGE GROVE Share your fun, amazing or crazing pet tips and tales at an- gelscribe@msn.com or Follow Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PetTipsandTales. Adopt loving pets online at www.PetFinder.com. For spay or neutering, call the Humane So- ciety at 541-942-2789.
