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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
