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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2015)
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 4, 2015 9A Polk County Living PEDEE NEWS Alvin Jones, a former neighbor and father of Pam Burbank, died at his home in Prineville on Feb. 23. His service will be at Prineville Community Church on Sat- urday at 1 p.m. He will be missed. — Ni n e m e m b e r s a n d friends of the Pedee com- munity’s “Thursday Morn- ing Bible Study” that met on Wednesdays — yep, this is correct — in the 1970s and ’80s gathered at Deanne Maddux’s Monmouth home on Feb. 23 for a long over- due reunion and potluck. In addition to catching up on what all are doing, Audrey Cameron read a hi- larious history of the Bible study from start to finish, in- cluding how we each joined. In addition to Audrey and Deanne, Donna Bald- win, Pat Nance, Joan Kaiser, Alberta Jones, Diane Telfer, Deanne’s sister-in-law Mil- dred Birchel and I were there. It was noted that many of our members had passed away at this point, including Virginia Burbank, May Bornholdt, Carla and Shelly Burbank, and Vi Wendler. We agreed to meet again on May 3 at Joan Kaiser’s in Monmouth. — Deanne Maddux is still doing well. Her great- granddaughter, Crystal Balzar, lives with her. She A RLENE K OVASH Columnist had taught at Pedee School in the early 1960s, then taught mostly first- and second-graders for 20 years at Kings Valley School be- fore retiring in 1988. — Mel and Marguerite Nice recently spent two weeks in sunny Sun City West near Phoenix, Ariz., to visit for- mer Vernonia neighbors. They drove through Nevada to get there and back, and were delighted to see herds of antelope on the way home. — I taught beginning quilt- ing at the Pedee Women’s Club last Wednesday, which worked out well, even though there were only three of us, including June Clark of Pedee and Pat Ohlson of Monmouth. On March 18, I’ll probably re- peat much of what was said, if needed, and contin- ue on with more informa- tion. We are planning to have our classes on the third Wednesdays as the club’s community potluck is on the last Wednesday of each month, so watch for what’s next. COMMUNITY CALENDAR (Continued from Page 8A) • Orquestra Brasil — 7:30 p.m., Western Oregon University, Rice Auditorium, 345 N. Monmouth Ave., Monmouth. Classic Choro and Samba. Free. 503-838-8275. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 • Helping Hands Emergency Food Bank — 10 a.m. to noon, Monmouth Christian Church, 959 Church St. W., Mon- mouth. For eligible community members; available every Wednesday. 541-404-6517. • Polk County Republican Women — 11:30 a.m., Oak Knoll Golf Course, 6335 Highway 22, Independence. No-host lunch available; everyone welcome. 503-623-5759. • Willamette Valley Food Assistance Program Food Bank — 1:30 to 6:30 p.m., 888 Monmouth Cutoff Road, Building E, Dallas. Weekly distribution for eligible community members. 503-831-5634. • Free Blood Pressure Check Clinic — 2 to 3 p.m., West Val- ley Hospital (surgery admitting area), 525 SE Washington St., Dallas. 503-623-7323. • Monmouth Senior Center Music Jam — 6:30 p.m., Mon- mouth Senior Center, 180 S. Warren St., Monmouth. Open to the public; musicians of all types welcome. 503-838-5678. • Dallas American Legion Post No. 20 — 7 p.m., Academy Building, Room 108, 182 SW Academy St., Dallas. 503-831-3971. 2015 Relay for Life of Polk County Got questions? Ask OSU’s experts If you want to know when to prune roses or if a bloated can of tomatoes will make you sick, the Oregon State University Extension Service can help. Through its “Ask an Ex- pert” online question-and- answer tool, OSU experts reply to queries about health and food safety, finances, family, forestry, small-scale farming and horticulture. To ask a question, simply go to the OSU Extension website, type in a question and the county where you live. You’ll get an answer within 48 hours, usually less. “Ask an Expert” has fielded about 11,300 questions since its debut in March 2011, with more than 70 percent related to gardening. Last year, nearly 3,200 people got help, a 9 per- cent increase over 2013. Those numbers rank OSU as the fourth busiest “Ask an Expert” K YM P OKORNY Your Garden site among the 74 participat- ing universities that run their own “Ask an Expert” sites. “We average around 36 hours for our replies, making Oregon among the fastest in the country to respond,” said OSU’s Jeff Hino, Extension’s learning technology leader and coordinator of the pro- gram. Queries come in from around the state — some from farther away — and are funneled to 159 experts, in- cluding OSU faculty and Ex- tension-trained volunteers like Master Gardeners and Master Food Preservers. When asking a question, pho- tos for visual problems like insects or diseases are en- couraged, but not necessary. “In this age of ‘Google it,’ people are getting all kinds of often misleading informa- tion,” Hino said. “Extension gives people information that’s real science and real re- search. People trust us.” Especially interesting or meaningful questions and an- swers are posted as Questions of the Week and archived. What do people ask about? Anything and everything. Here are some examples: • What can we do about noisy frogs? • Is it OK to eat left-out leftovers? • Can ladybugs kill plants? • Should I mix sand into my soil? • What is wrong with my red potatoes? • Is there a guide of poi- MI TOWN Since the deadline for publication in this week’s Itemizer-Observer is prior to March 1, and I don’t happen to own a crystal ball, I’m un- able to say whether March came in like a lamb or a lion. I’m always wishing for the lion to arrive and be long gone by the end of the month, so we can welcome April with the scampering, happy lambs. We’ve had such a mild winter without any weather- related problems, so let’s keep our fingers crossed that springtime will be gentle and pleasant, and we can get those garden beds ready. March days and evenings usually bring cold rain and wind, which means that most of us will try to decide whether to go to the nearest lumber yard for ark building supplies or just put another log on the fire and snuggle P ATTY T AYLOR D UTCHER Columnist down in a comfy chair with a good book. Those brave little daffodils and tiny purple vi- olets appearing all over MI Town gives us some hope that springtime has come early this year. There used to be a saying years ago that you could tell when it was spring in Ore- gon because the rain was warmer. I’ll tip my hot chocolate cup to that state- ment, and add that I’m t h a n k f u l w e’v e g o t t e n through most of another winter without any real weather difficulties that have plagued the northeastern and southern states. — Last week’s Itemizer-Ob- server had a front page fea- ture article about Court-Ap- pointed Special Advocate volunteers in Polk County. As a member of the Polk County Citizen Review Board, several of us volunteers re- view cases of children in fos- ter care to be sure that they are getting all necessary serv- ices provided by the Depart- ment of Human Services. Our CASA volunteers provide a true lifeline to children whose families need extra services in order to be better parents, so families can be reunited and kept out of crisis situations. Children are our most valuable resources and we must provide them with everything possible so they can grow up to be healthy and responsible people. Please consider volunteering as a CASA, if possible. — Bring your family and everybody’s appetites to the Monmouth Senior Center this Saturday for the month- ly community breakfast. Prices are reasonable — $6 for adults and $3 for kids under 12. Lions and lambs of all ages and appetites are welcome between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. — Tuesday at noon, Dr. Rob Willingham from Western Oregon University will be speaking about “Training Your Brain: How we can maintain and even improve our memory ability,” at Vol- unteer Hall in Monmouth. Dr. Willingham’s GERO 407 students will work with class participants with exercises to help stimulate brain activity. Call 503-838-5678 to reserve a spot, as space is limited. AM, PM, & Lunch YOGA Teaching inner peace through breath work, flexibility and balance. All levels & bodies welcome. Beginning yoga series. Polk County Relay Sponsors Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a civic group meeting to talk about Relay For Life, along with progress in the fight against cancer. As prepared as I was to speak to this group, I found that its members wanted to share their own knowledge and experiences about cancer with me and with each other. I left that meeting realizing how important it is for people to have the chance to talk about cancer, whether it be their own personal battles or someone they know. Our sponsors are also a kind of group who don’t shy away from talk- ing about cancer, but have made the decision to face this horrible disease head-on. Hopefully, their determination will encourage you to start a dis- cussion about cancer with your co-workers, friends, and neighbors, and join us at Relay to finish the fight. Please join us in thanking our seven most recent *sponsors, along with the following businesses, organizations, and health care professionals for their commitment to Relay For Life and its mission to win the fight against cancer: sonous plants? Some of the answers — including those on bursting tomato cans, killing fruit flies and dogs eating nutria scat — are illustrated with 1- minute videos. According to Hino, a survey of participants between Janu- ary 2013 and February 2015 shows that 78 percent of Ore- gonians who requested ad- vice from “Ask an Expert” con- sidered their questions to be “very important” or “critical” and 76 percent said the an- swers “very much” or “com- pletely” answered their ques- tions. Of those, 94 percent said they got answers within the time they expected. The survey also showed that those who asked ques- tions said the advice saved them an average of $70. Using that figure, Hino estimated “Ask an Expert” saved people about $355,000 in 2014. Dallas, Oregon YOGA 184 SE Oak St • 999-8016 www.dallasoregonyoga.com • Mitch Ratzlaff State Farm • Michelle Hasbrook, DDS • First Community Credit Union • Monmouth-Independence Rotary • OREPAC Building Products • Washington Street Steakhouse & Pub • Elkay Manufacturing • West Valley Hospital • West Valley Physicians & Surgeons Clinic/Dr. John Hadley • West Valley Surgical Specialty Clinic/Dr. Alison Smith • Monmouth Medical Center/Dr. Charles Essex • James W. Fowler Co. • Polk County Association of Realtors • Limeberry The deadline for • Polk County Fairgrounds submitting a sponsor- and Event Center ship is April 15. • Van Well Building Supply Make this the year your • Dallas Aquatic Center company or organization • The Majestic signs on to finish the • Republic Services fight! If you or someone • Les Schwab Tire Centers of Dallas, you know is interested in West Salem, & Independence sponsorship, contact • Central Lions Club Lyla Bruce at • Royal Flush 503-508-9277 or visit • Dallas School District our website at • Hancock Forest Management www.relayforlife.org/ • Eola Hills Wine Cellars polkcountyor • Polk County Itemizer-Observer Relay For Life 2015 will take place May 30-31, at LaCreole Middle School in Dallas What’s YOUR neighbor up to? New to the area? Number change? Call us to update! Contact the Advertising Dept. at the Itemizer-Observer for more information. Find out in the Itemizer-Observer. Local stories on local people - that’s our specialty. Itemizer-Observer 147 SE Court St., Dallas • 503-623-2373 Itemizer-Observer 503-623-2373