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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2020)
Cottage Grove Sentinel Community B1 THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 Betty Kaiser: Chatterbox Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales Honoring Col. Kirsten M. Palmer Betty Kaiser “Things can get tough but persevere. You never know what opportunity is around the corner.” — Col. Kirsten M. Palmer A United States Air Force retirement cer- emony was held Aug. 2, 2020, at McChord Field, Wash., in honor of Colo- nel Kirsten M. Palmer for her 25 years of service. In attendance were her husband, retired Lt. Col. Roger Lang, her daughter Addyson (11), son Ar- cher (18 mo.), her parents Ron and Linda Palmer, brother Matt Palmer and multiple Air Force mem- bers who had recently served with her at Mc- Chord Field. Kirsten’s career dreams began in an 8th grade sci- ence class at Lincoln Mid- dle School. Studying the stars and planets of our solar system, installed in her a desire for space trav- el as an astronaut. Her retired Air Force uncle recommended the following path to follow after graduating from CGHS in 1991: “First, be- come a pilot. Do that by joining the Air Force and attending the Air Force Academy.” Kirsten set the plan in motion, applied and was accepted at the Academy. At a summer program at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, Kirsten changed her mind about being a pilot. She spent three weeks shad- owing young officers in different career fields that increased her horizons. She says, “I spent a day with an aircraft mainte- nance officer and imme- diately knew that was the career path I wanted. Not only are you around air- craft all day but you get to lead the incredibly skilled aircraft maintainers and resolve issues that are im- pediments to making the mission happen.” She earned her commis- sion from the Academy in May 1995 but the learn- ing never stopped. In lay- man’s terms, as an officer, her crew’s job was to keep the airplanes flying — to get the mission done and every Airmen home. So as she mentored, gave di- rections and coached oth- ers, she was always taking classes too. During her 25 year ca- reer, Palmer served in a variety of assignments in various locations, includ- ing 11 years at the Penta- gon. She finished at Lew- is-McChord Field, Wash. One of her favorite as- signments was at Spang- dahlem Air Base and Ramstein Air Base in Ger- many where she met her husband Roger. They were in the same squadron. He flew the C-9 aircraft and her maintainers fixed and serviced the aircraft. In Germany she not only met her future hus- band but became fast friends with several wom- en who remain in contact today. There was also time to ski the Alps and see the sites all around Europe. As an officer, she was al- ways appreciative of those who worked with her. Her squadron commander at Charleston Air Force Base S.C. was deployed for 6 months. As second in command, she stepped in as acting commander of a 600 person unit. She says, “It was a huge responsibility for a 32- year old but I was sur- rounded by a great group of officers and my Airmen flourished! We ended up winning an Air Force and Department of Defense level award for outstand- ing maintenance during that time period.” Later, at McChord Field, two of my Airmen had a great idea to create a tool that would maintain bat- teries for a C-17 easier, more cost effective and safer. “They pitched the idea to Air Force leadership and 500 Airmen at a convention center,” says Kirsten. “It was approved and now the base will re- ceive a state of the art 3D printer to help Airmen do their jobs.” The Air Force has been a rewarding profession for Col. Palmer in many ways. In addition to the satisfaction of serving her country at the differ- ent assignments, she has earned multiple educa- tion degrees (including the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy), many other major awards and decorations, as well as promotion to Colonel. Nevertheless, all good things must come to an end. I asked Kirsten why she was retiring now and she said: “I figured a quarter of a century is a nice round number of years to serve my country. My priori- ties in life have changed. I want to spend more time with my family and be there more for my kids. They are only young once and I want to create amaz- ing memories like I have of my Mom when I was a child. “At some point I’ll prob- ably get back into the job market with a part-time job. Until then, I’m going to enjoy being a Mom, catching my breath and reflect on the eventful last 25 years — the people I’ve met, the places I’ve been and the things I’ve gotten to do that I never imag- ined when I left Cottage Grove in 1991 and headed to the Air Force Acade- my.” Thank you, Kirsten, for a job well done serving your country and being an inspiration for all young people to follow their dreams. Enjoy the memories. A new life of opportunities and challenges await. You are an inspiration. LORANE COUNTRY NEWS school returning from sum- mer. Crow-Applegate-Lo- rane Schools begin their for The Sentinel school year Monday, Sept. • Welcome September and 14. Today (Sept. 10) is the the return to school, look- last day for CMHS students ing different from our usual to register. Calls have been Contributed by Lil Thompson made to schedule with fam- ilies. • K-3 will have in-person classes while students in grades 4-12 will begin dis- tance learning classes on the same date. If you have ques- Yard of the Week brought to you by: Cottage Grove Sentinel 116 N. 6th • (541) 942-3325 Week of September 10th Winner is: 1425 W. Harrison Yards will be selected each week by nominations. To nominate a yard you can call City Hall (942-5501) or Chamber of Commerce (942-2411) tions, contact Applegate Ele- mentary at 541-953-2100 or CMHS at 541-935-2227. Be patient, the teachers and staff are working very hard to make your school experience good for each student. • As I mentioned last week, the Lorane Rural Fire Protection District ( RFPD) recently purchased two new vehicles to serve our district. Both were purchased using capital reserves built up by careful management. A special THANK YOU to our Fire Chief, Tom So- ward, Asst. F.C. Jim Bailor, and the Fire Board members; Berneda McDonald, Gary Lutman, Bob Drullinger, Jeri Porter and Martin McClure for working so hard mak- ing these purchases without asking for monies from the patrons. They hope to have an Open House very soon. Jim Bailor has done most of the design and research with the company that put the rigs to- gether. These designs will be named the “Lorane Model” and will be shared with other districts. • Everyone have a good rest of the week and welcome back to school next week. By Mary Ellen “Angel Scribe” A ‘Jazzi’ cat Louise has dedicated her life and bank account to keeping Jazzi alive. W hen you go to a backyard breeder who is “growing” pets as their cash crops you often get an expensive, sick, inbred animal. Here is what happened to Louise when she drove three hours to a filthy home to adopt an eight- week-old Persian calico kitten. “When I arrived, there was an overwhelming odor com- ing from the house,” said Louise. “I almost left but thought, ‘I drove three hours to get here’ and went in and was shown four unkempt-crying kittens. To save the smallest of them, I adopted her and named her Jazzi because her coloring is snazzy.” When Jazzi was six months, she began constantly licking her lips and swallowing hard. Her vet diagnosed her with Eosinophilic Granuloma — known as Rodent Ulcers — where her mouth and digestive track is painfully ravaged with ulcers. The vet sent Louise and Jazzi to Boston’s Angel Memorial Animal Hospital where a specialist was waiting. “She took Jazzi from my arms and rushed her to surgery. It took an hour to remove the lesions and she was not ex- pected to make it,” said Louise. “After surgery, I looked at her little face and asked, ‘What would have happened to you if I did not take you home?’ She looked at me and gave a silent ‘Meow.’ I told her ‘Good girl! It’s okay!’” Louise said Jazzi slowly blinked in appreciation. One thing for sure, Louise said, is that Jazzi is a fighter. Her weakened immune system manifests in ongoing ulcers. She’s battled the effects of that backyard breeder for nine years. When the ulcers flare up, Jazzi can’t eat. Louise wakes up several times during the night to admin- ister medications and syringe feed her cat nutrients with the reassuring words, “Good girl. It’s okay!” after which Jazzi meows, returns a slow blink and tries eating a little, according to Lousie. Her dedication has meant giving up vacations, theater, dinner plans and canceling friends’ visits when Jazzi’s ulcers flare up. After four or five days of medications, Jazzi is usual- ly back to her happy playful self, zooming from room to room, making chirping sounds chasing an imaginary bug. “Yes! She is a wild-crazy nine-year-old kitten,” laughed Louise. “I’ve spent money on cat toys to find her playing with a ball of paper, the corner of an egg carton or an empty shoe box. She tackles boxes like she’s playing tackle football. “When I am working on the laptop, Jazzi is beside me playing on ‘her’ iPad. She took it over to play her vid- eo games, fishing for cats and mouse. She is also an avid watcher of Birds and Squirrels Extravaganza on Youtube. “When I’m on a Zoom meeting, Jazzi sits on the key- board. She jumps up thinking that I am putting on her vid- eo. She peers into the screen and to everyone’s delight she politely meows as they talk to her.” At night, Louise says, “Let’s go. Time for bed” and Jazzi waits for her to climb in, then jumps up and lays down be- side Louise’s pillow. “I rub my thumb back and forth across her nose and she licks it as if she’s having a face wash with my thumb — purr- ing the entire time while giving me slow satisfying blinks,” says Louise. “Then, she pushes my hand down and puts her head in the palm of my hand and we both fall asleep purr- ing. The best end to the day.” Louise describes Jazzi as the “million-dollar cat” because of her health issues. But to Louise, Jazzi is a gem with a mil- lion-dollar personality. “She is not ‘show quality’ but for all she has endured, Jazzi qualifies as a champion in my eyes,” says Louise. “I’ve ded- icated my life and bank account to keeping her alive and never given much thought about the money. I would do it all over again because of the love she’s gifted me.” TIPS: Janetta Overholser, president of Humane Society of Cot- tage Grove advices, “I’ve seen numerous Craigslist postings by frustrated new pet parents asking, ‘Did you get a pup from so and so that is as sick as mine is?’ A red flag of a backyard breeder of unkept/ill pets is if you are not allowed to see its parents or come to their home. Often they want to meet you in parking lots.” Write us about your fun pet at angelscribe@msn.com
