COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Betty Kaiser: Chatterbox
Betty Kaiser
“Violence doesn’t work.
Communication and
dialogue do.”
—Doug Still, 2006 (He passed
away in 2007)
I
recently received an
email from an old friend
in high school days. It is a
photograph of a gigantic
elephant carrying a tiny
lion cub in his trunk with a
mama lion walking along-
side.
The story was that a lion-
ess and her cub were cross-
ing the Savannah. The heat
was excessive and the cub
had difficulty walking. The
dialogue said an elephant
picked up the cub and
carried him in his trunk
to a pool of water with his
mother walking alongside
at Kruger National Park.
I got so excited! Look!
Even wildlife animals can
get along. Bitter enemies
were cooperating for the
good of the future.
Yea! Sadly, a little re-
search revealed that it
wasn’t true. It was an April
Fool’s joke!
Still, I find it a great visu-
al example for us humans
who are always fighting
over our differences when
we could be communicat-
ing daily with others in the
urgency of life and death
“Jesus loves the little
children, all the children of
the world.
Red and yellow, black and
white, they are precious in
His sight,
Jesus loves the children of
the world.”
We took it to heart. We
believed we were all loved
and we practiced manners
and respect as much as kids
do.
How? Well, my schools
had students from a wide
variety of backgrounds.
Some of my friends were
from Watts.
We all got along.
My husband lived in the
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eration for four counties
and 2,200 churches.
He shared this story at
the meeting:
“A wire came to the Chi-
cago clergy from Martin
Luther King saying that the
people of Albany, Georgia
needed help. They were in
trouble and needed us to
come and stand with them
in their efforts to deseg-
regate the city’s libraries,
parks, schools, churches
and hotels. (City officials
were closing them rather
than integrate them).
“We formed a commit-
tee representing the three
major faiths and boarded
a bus. About 50 of us —
Catholic, Protestant, cler-
gy and lay people — rode
about 800 miles to Albany
to show our concern for our
brothers and sisters.
“We arrived at night and
the next morning we wor-
shipped together (Blacks
and whites). Martin Luther
King spoke. Our strategy
was to gather in front of
city hall and offer a very
brief prayer. The sheriff im-
mediately arrested us and
locked us up in jail. Even
then we were segregated
with the Black people being
put in the stables at the fair-
grounds. We returned to
Chicago.”
He shared other similar
experiences as did others in
the audience. Many of them
showed seemingly little
progress in race relations.
Still then asked rhetori-
cally: “So, what do we learn
from all of this?”
“Violence doesn’t work,”
he answered. “Communi-
cation and dialogue do.”
Can I get an Amen?
(Contact Betty Kaiser at
bchatty@bettykaiser.com.)
LORANE NEWS
Contributed by
Lil Thompson
for The Sentinel
• We are in high fire dan-
ger in Lorane and all West-
ern Lane Forestry. That
means mowing of dried
grass, chainsaw use and oth-
er spark emitting engines
must be done before 10 a.m.
and after 8 p.m.
There is no burning at
all. There have already been
small brush and grass fires,
so please Do Not ignore
these restrictions.
• Here are a few tips to
help prevent your vehicle
from sparking a fire:
1) Make sure no part of
your vehicle is dragging in-
cluding tow chains; 2) Reg-
ular maintenance on your
tires as a shredding tire can
shower sparks; 3) Main-
tain your exhaust system;
4) Avoid parking or idling
on dry grass; 5) Stay on the
road. Off-road is restricted
during this time; 6) Always
be prepared. Be able to call
for help, when in woodland
areas you are required to
have an axe, shovel and a
2.5-pound or larger fire ex-
tinguisher and/or a gallon of
water. You can help prevent
a forest fire by always being
very careful and prepared.
•
Crow-Applegate-Lo-
rane School District is very
pleased that 60 percent of
families have added input
on a survey for fall reopen-
ing and they “Thank You.”
The family input is vital in
the planning. The survey
closed in Aug. 5. If you wish
to contact them, use https://
www. Cal.k12.or.us/
• Lorane Grange meets
today, Aug. 6, at 7 p.m. with
potluck snacks. Distancing
and masks will be used.
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center of town and experi-
enced something different.
He was in the ROTC in
high school. Once a week,
he and his buddies wore
their uniforms to school.
After school, they were
chased home by gangs with
Zip Guns made from bro-
ken car antennas. It was a
terrifying time both in and
out of classes and he trans-
ferred schools.
I became acutely aware
of racial discrimination
about the time that Martin
Luther King, Jr. burst onto
the national scene in 1955.
He was a Black man, a Bap-
tist minister, a student of
Ghandi and well-versed in
non-violent persuasion.
His dream was that his
country’s vision of liberty
and justice for all would be-
come color-blind.
He was a man on a mis-
sion who led eight peaceful
protests that bolstered Civil
Rights and would win the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
In my lifetime, he was one
of the most inspiring, ar-
ticulate, learned and char-
ismatic Civil Rights leaders
this country has known.
His assassination was trag-
ic.
In 2006, I attended a Cot-
tage Grove Rotary meet-
ing to hear a speaker who
knew King. His name was
Doug Still. He had lived in
Oregon for 31 years and
focused his interests here
on local energy and social
issues.
He had, however, anoth-
er life as an ordained Pres-
byterian minister.
In 1962, the Reverend
Still was serving in Chica-
go as the executive director
of the department of social
welfare of the Church Fed-
Ground Ambulance
Memberships
$65 per year
Ground Ambulance &
Air Membership
$124 per year
Call 541-942-4493 for info.
FOR EMERGENCY DIAL 911
Serving South Lane County.
AUGUST 6, 2020 |
5A
Pet Tips
‘n’ Tales
Communication, dialogue make the difference
situations.
If only we would stop and
act like I believed this ele-
phant and lion did.
This summer, as the on-
slaught of the deadly coro-
navirus pandemic contin-
ued, I thought that nothing
else could be worse. I cer-
tainly didn’t anticipate the
brutal, unnecessary killing
of a Black man, George
Floyd, in Minneapolis.
Or that it would trigger
a nationwide outrage not
seen since the assassination
of Martin Luther King, Jr.
My husband and I grew
up in Los Angeles in the
1950s, unaware of how
privileged we were and of
the racial boycotts, move-
ments and marches that
were brewing.
In Sunday School, we
had learned a song written
during the Civil War:
|
By Mary Ellen
“Angel Scribe”
Welcome Home, Mr. Clif Ford
4-year-old HaDassah loves Mr. Clif Ford.
A
year ago, Pam and her family moved to Cottage Grove,
Oregon to start a family farm. Besides the beautiful
scenery they quickly realized the town is full of beautiful
people. Once their garden and baby chicks were growing,
they recognized an important farm ingredient was missing,
a dog.
They found a handsome two-year-old Bernese Mountain
dog, Clif Ford, who was gentle with children, other dogs
and small animals. A few days into his arrival, he broke his
leash and ran off.
“I have had dogs for 70 years; this was my first experience
of losing one,” said Pam. “He shot out of the yard like an
arrow, across a busy road and vanished into the woods. My
vantage point didn’t allow me to see which way he went. I
was scared because he wasn’t here long enough to know this
was his home.”
Pam took off in one direction and her friend in another
along the trails. Pam met a neighbor, Anna, on her bike.
“Luckily, she is a bona fide dog-lover and posted Clif
Ford’s flight alert on the ‘What’s Going On in Cottage
Grove, Oregon’ Facebook page. Within minutes, even
during this world-wide pandemic, people responded that
they were helping to look for Clif Ford.”
This missing dog’s previous owner was notified and ar-
rived with a dog that Clif Ford knew. The Facebook page
attested that many others had joined in the dog-hunt as
people, from 35 minutes away, arrived and began searching.
“A small army of people, many I have never met, spent
three days searching for Clif Ford,” said Pam. “Anna and
her mom rode the bike trail; Jim and Michael kept a look
out while jogging with their dogs. We notified our vet and
groomer, and Steve our computer expert soon had 180
shares/likes/sad faces on his Lost Dog Facebook post. We
contacted the Cottage Grove Sentinel, neighbors, strang-
ers, police, county sheriff and put flyers up all over town.
KNND radio station broadcasted announcements. So many
people were looking for Clif Ford. Areas that had been
searched were rechecked. Logical places and not so logical
places were scoured.”
Three days later, they double-checked their property
again, venturing into nooks and crannies; anywhere an
80-pound dog could hide. Their lives were on hold.
Clif Ford must have heard his old dog friend. Pam
couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw him skipping with a
bounce through the grass, broken leash in tow towards the
other dog. He appeared none the worse for the ordeal, but
Pam and her crew were worn out!
Facebook posts were updated, everyone celebrated Clif
Ford’s return.
“Clif Ford’s story is about; the goodness of people, the
love of strangers, and the value of community,” said Pam.
“We saw first-hand, the generosity and concern of so many
people for a dog they didn’t know. This has been an illustra-
tion of ‘Little deeds of kindness, Little acts of love’ touching
lives making Cottage Grove home. In the end the terror of
losing Clif Ford reaffirmed the goodness of humanity. We
have met many new friends who helped in his search. The
intrinsic value of a community and goodness of people have
never touched us more closely. We love Cottage Grove, its
people and our SoulShine Family Farm.”
A poem taught to Pam by her grandmother by Julia Abi-
gail Fletcher Carney is her life’s mantra.
Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean,
And the great big land.
Little deeds of kindness,
Little acts of love,
Make the world we live in,
Like the heaven above.
“The concern and support shown by so many new
friends have touched me deeply,” Pam said. “It is good to
be reminded of how things we do can mean so much to
someone else. Thank you, Cottage Grove!”
What about Pam’s four-year old granddaughter, HaDas-
sah? The child is thrilled that Mr. Ford is home and spends
hours brushing him. She wants him to know that she loves
him as much as he loves her.
TIPS:
Dawn, a Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales reader in Montreal, Canada
writes, “Mary Ellen, Thank you for these informative arti-
cles. Years ago, your column was helpful when I had my kit-
ty Wisdom. Also, your pet food alerts helped save a friend’s
dog’s life when I forwarded one of them.”
Write us about your fun pet at angelscribe@msn.com