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Polk County News Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 20, 2016 3A Next gen leaders mingle at Young Pros Station 40 to get cleaned up By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — More than 20 professionals gathered at Wells Fargo Bank on Thurs- day evening with the goal of inspiring Polk County’s next generation of leaders. Jeremey Santee-Malloy began working in Dallas two years ago. He quickly be- came involved with the Dal- las Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce, but noticed a trend. “I didn’t see a lot of leader- ship in the younger millenni- als or even anyone in their mid-40s,” he said. “I thought about what we could do to bring that generation, my generation, together.” Santee-Malloy met with Monica Johnson, Operations Manager at Citizens Bank in Dallas, when the idea of cre- ating the Young Professionals was born. The idea was sim- ple — gather together a col- lection of the county’s young business people with varied backgrounds and give them a forum to network. “I hope they get to know someone they’ve never met before,” Santee-Malloy said. “I hope that when they leave, that’s someone they can do business with, whether it’s today, tomorrow or a week from now. I know we’ve re- ceived business from indi- viduals here and given busi- ness to many individuals.” The group, which is spon- sored by the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, held an initial meeting in November of 2014. The next several months were By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer The Polk County Young Professionals gives people a chance to network and identify those who may be interested in becoming community leaders. Young Professionals • The Polk County Young Professionals meets the second Thursday of each month. There is no cost to attend meet- ings. • For more information: Jeremey Santee-Malloy, jsan- tee@citizensEbank.com spent working out the details. “It took a little time be- cause we thought how are we going to fund this?” San- tee-Malloy said. “How do we convince people to host? Do we charge people?” They settled on sponsor- ships. The group, which meets the second Tuesday of each month, got off to a successful start, averaging about 12 peo- ple during the first year in 2015, Santee-Malloy said. Then, a hurdle came. “We had an event that six people came to, the majority Dallas Lions Club’s 8th Annual Start at Levens St. Bridge - Finish at Main St. Bridge Saturday July 30 • 2:30 pm Tickets 2 $ PER DUCK 9 prizes valued at $100+ #8 Tickets sold at Courtyard Coffee, Postal Connections and from any Lions Club member. Also sold at Wal-Mart on Saturdays in July. • • • • • • Sponsors include: Home Comfort Inc. Rickreall Bargain Center Dallas Auto Center Center Market #2 Dallas Glass Dallas Animal Clinic All proceeds for service projects. of which were committee members,” Santee-Malloy said. “I instantly said we can’t sustain this. People aren’t going to want to host if they have five people they are entertaining. We reached out to people we already met, and asked them if they’re going to come, and in November of last year, we had the most people we’ve ever had, about 35.” Yo u n g P r o f e s s i o n a l s meets at a different business each month with different activities planned. “If you get the same peo- ple at the same event enough times, they’re going to get tired of coming,” San- tee-Malloy said. Thursday’s meeting fea- tured snacks and drinks, a tour of Wells Fargo bank, a game of “Would you rather,” drawings for prizes and a chance to mingle and meet. Santee-Malloy hopes to see the meetings offer more going forward. “In the next couple of years, I’d like to start taking on an educational piece for professionals in order for them to build their career and become more mar- ketable, whether that’s learning to budget better, use Quickbooks more effi- ciently or how to market yourself,” Santee-Malloy said. “We want to adapt to what everyone desires.” INDEPENDENCE — Polk County Fire District No. 1 has temporarily closed Buena Vista Station 40 for lack of volunteers from that area. Two residents of Buena Vista attended Thursday’s fire board meeting to dis- cuss issues with the sta- tion’s appearance and at- tempts to keep the doors to Station 40 open. Resident Charles Prouty said the weeds have gotten out of control around the building. “Summertime’s here,” he said. “You’ve got a burn ban. If you have someone drive by and flick a ciga- rette out, that place would be in smoke.” Prouty said that the district should keep it cleaned up. “Make it look like a viable station to volunteer,” he said. Resident Pamela Venegas said that three young fire- fighter volunteers were up late making noise and lis- tening to loud music on July 6. “I was one who pushed for sleepers at Station 40,” she said. “… but if this is the judgement they’re going to use, I agree: Station 40 shouldn’t have sleepers.” Interim fire chief Neal Olson said putting resi- dents out at Station 40 was one of the ideas discussed to help increase interest and recruit volunteers. “We want the doors open and to draw attention, un- fortunately we started drawing attention too early in the morning,” Olson said of the July 6 incident. He said upon further in- vestigation, Station 40 was never meant for firefighters to reside in, and so he was scrapping the idea of put- ting people in the station overnight. As for the weeds, board chair Tom Snair asked how other rural stations were cared for, namely Airlie and Pedee stations. Olson said that neigh- bors come and mow as a service to the community, or clean up weeds that may sprout around the property. He said he would take care of the weeds at Station 40, and that one of the paid firefighters would be in Buena Vista more often to keep the doors open, en- gage the community and hopefully get some people interested in volunteering. West Valley Housing Authority will hold their Work Session Meeting on Thursday July 28, 2016 beginning at 11:30 a.m. at 204 SW Wal- nut in Dallas, Oregon. The Regular Meeting will be held on Thursday July 28, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at 204 SW Walnut in Dallas, Ore- gon. An Executive Session pursuant to ORS 192.660 will be held immediately fol- lowing the Regular Meeting, if required. Agenda for the meeting is posted on the Hous- ing Authority website at www.wvpha.org. The lo- cation for the meeting is handicapped accessible. Please advise the West Valley Housing Authority if you need any special ac- commodations to attend the meeting. For in- formation, please call 503-623-8387, TDD 1-800-735-2900. Solution on Page 5A A Pleasant Place to Buy or Sell Your RV CALL TODAY FOR A NO-CHARGE EVALUATION. OPEN K! WEE Y A 7 D S A • Sat 9-5 Mon-Fri 9-6 -4 Sun 10 Rick 503-437-5398 Ruben 503-915-2080 4075 NE Three Mile Lane, McMinnville, OR www.macrvsales.com Next to the Spruce Goose Aviation Museum macrvsales@gmail.com Recycle this newspaper. May 5 - Sept. 29 General Vendors 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Food Vendors 10:00 am - 6:00 pm (or until sold out) Polk County’s Wine Guide Polk County’s very own wine, brewery and distillery guide ...coming soon! Interested in hearing more? Contact the Itemizer-Observer 503-623-2373 www.polkio.com 147 SE Court St. Dallas, OR 182 Academy St., Dallas (corner of Main & Academy) Featuring Growers, Producers & Artisans of the Polk County area & beyond! Fresh Cut Flowers EVERY WEEK! Live music - Cash & Company Food Trucks 20 + vendors this week NEW & returning vendors EACH week! SPECIAL UPCOMING EVENTS Summerfest Market NEXT WEEK! Bounty Market will be held at our regular time & location Don’t miss a SPECIAL Bounty Market at Art in the Park Sunday, July 31 • 8am to 4pm Dallas City Park near the footbridge Facebook.com/bountymarket 503-623-2564 http://www.exploredallasoregon.org/bounty-market.html