Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 9, 2016 4A
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EDITORIALS
Brush it off, let’s
move on together
Your candidate won, or didn’t. You feel a sigh of relief, or
are considering a move to Canada.
It’s easy to get tied into the presidential election, espe-
cially this year with such widespread information and mis-
information, but don’t pack your bags yet.
Don’t forget that we are a community — friends, family,
businessowners, neighbors — and we’ve been through
worse; and better.
It’s all about perspective.
Remember that you aren’t the only one with a perspec-
tive, and try and see others points of view. The only hope
we have of not pushing the repeat button on this year is by
changing the way we communicate with one another dur-
ing the next four.
Election results were too late to print in this week’s edi-
tion — this isn’t about who won.
This is about how they won, and how we handled it as
Americans. Most of all, it’s how we handle it from here.
GOVERNOR
gov. Kate Brown (Dem.)
160 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-378-4582
Email: via website,
http://governor.oregon.gov/
—
STATE LEGISLATORS
Sen. Arnie Roblan
(District 5, Democrat)
S-417 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Glow Run first year
huge success
PUBLIC AGENDA
Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for gov-
ernmental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk County.
To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the
actual meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer via email
(ionews@polkio.com).
—
WEDNESDAY, NOv. 9
• Independence heritage Museum Commission — 4 p.m.,
Independence Heritage Museum, 112 S. Third St., Independ-
ence. 503-838-1212.
• Monmouth Library Advisory Board — 7 a.m., Monmouth
Public Library, 168 Ecols St. S., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Monmouth Parks and Recreation Board — 7 p.m., Volun-
teer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
ThuRSDAY, NOv. 10
• Polk County Fire District No. 1 Board — 6 p.m., Central
Station 90, 1800 Monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1510.
• Western Days Commission — 7 p.m., Independence Civic
Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212.
• Falls City City Council — 7 p.m., Falls City Community Cen-
ter, 320 N. Main St., Falls City. 503-787- 3631.
MONDAY, NOv. 14
• Dallas School Board — 6:30 p.m., Dallas School District of-
fice, 111 SW Ash St., Dallas. 503-623-5594
• Southwest Polk Fire Protection District Board — 7:30
p.m., Rickreall Fire Station, 275 Main St., Rickreall. 503-831-3530.
(location moves each month).
TuESDAY, NOv. 15
• Independence historic Preservation Commission — 4
p.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence.
503-838-1212.
• Monmouth City Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S.
Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Dallas Parks Advisory Board —5:30 p.m., Dallas City Hall,
187 SE Court St., Dallas. 503-831-3502.
• Falls City School Board — 6:30 p.m., Falls City High School,
111 N. Main St., Falls City. 503-787-3521.
• Polk County Board of Commission work session — 9
a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 Main St., Dallas.
503-623-8173.
WEDNESDAY, NOv. 16
• Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer
Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
We can’t thank enough
the committee that initiated
and helped make the Glow
Run happen.
City of Dallas members
Suzanne Dufner and Dave
Brautigam headed the com-
mittee that included com-
munity members Patti Sen-
ger, Geoff Guiger, Judy
Boustead, Betsy Miller and
Mike and Kelly Davis, and
city personnel Jeremy Teal,
and Dallas Parks Depart-
ment.
All spent countless hours
getting this run organized
only to have it postponed
due to weather concerns
that kept the team in the
planning and orchestrating
mode for two additional
challenging weeks.
This amazing event and
fundraiser had over 500 par-
ticipants. These runners and
walkers lit up the night as
they moved down streets,
through the park and ar-
boretum, finally completing
their route at the Academy
Building.
It was wonderful to see a
variety of folks enjoying the
run and supporting Christ-
mas Cheer. Serious runners
sped through, while fami-
lies — strollers in tow —
along with walking club
members and a few sponta-
neous bystanders complet-
ed the course in their own
time. At the finish line they
were all welcomed with live
music, food and drink.
Over 100 volunteers spent
hours preparing the course,
stuffing goody bags and
working the registration ta-
bles. A big thank you goes
out to the many sponsors
who stepped up to make
this inaugural event one of
Dallas’ best yet. The pro-
ceeds from the Dallas Glow
Run allow Christmas Cheer
to continue doing what we
do best — putting together
amazing holiday food boxes
for local families in need.
Thank you for believing
in our program and in our
community. We are hum-
bled by the love and sup-
port.
Sue Lamb
Dallas Christmas Cheer
Board of Directors
Dallas
Turn on headlights
driving in rain, fog
This maybe a trivial topic,
but since we are in the sea-
son, I wanted to voice my
frustration with those that
don’t use their headlights
when driving in the rain and
fog.
The opportunity for a col-
lision increases as the
weather becomes more dif-
ficult to drive in and visibili-
ty decreases.
Don’t invite trouble; do us
all a favor and turn your
headlights on.
It won’t cost you a dime,
and you may save someone
injury.
So, talk it up at home
with friends, neighbors and
co-workers; you’ll never
know when it helped.
Mike Berkes
Dallas
Christmas pageant
remembered fondly
Dear Rickreall Christmas
Pageant attendees and par-
ticipants:
I want to thank you for
your years of support to the
“Pageant” while I was the
director from 2005 through
2015. It is because of you
that we finished strong at
our 75th annual “final” per-
formance on Dec. 5, 2015.
With the retirement of
myself and several others on
the pageant’s board of direc-
tors, we made the decision
to discontinue the pageant.
I hope you will join our
Rickreall Christmas Pageant
Facebook Group to share
what the pageant meant to
all of us, whether it be com-
munity involvement, new
friendships, or faith inspira-
tion.
Sen. Jackie Winters
(District 10, Republican)
S-301 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1710
sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters
Sen. Brian Boquist
(District 12, Republican)
S-305 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1712
sen.brianboquist@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist
Rep. David gomberg
(District 10, Democrat)
H-471 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1410
rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg
Rep. Paul Evans
(District 20, Democrat)
H-281 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1420
rep.paulevans@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans
Rep. Mike Nearman
(District 23, Republican)
H-378 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1423
rep.mikenearman@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman
—
U.S. CONGRESS
Sen. Ron Wyden (Dem.)
221 Dirksen SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-5244
Fax: 202-228-2717
Salem office: 707 13th St. SE,
Suite 285, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-589-4555
Email: via website,
www.wyden.senate.gov
Mary McCarron
Retired pageant director
Rickreall
SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER
I
t’s hard to believe we
are quickly approach-
ing Thanksgiving. I am
thankful for all of you — our
community, parents, staff,
and students — for your
support and engagement in
our dis-
trict.
I want to
take a mo-
ment to
provide
you with
an update
on school
Johnstone
safety pro-
tocols and
the evacuation drill process.
This year we are imple-
menting the protocols from
the I Love U Guys Founda-
tion, which began in 2009 by
Ellen and John Michael
Keys.
Each school in our district
began training staff and stu-
dents at the beginning of the
year.
Additional information
can be found at iloveuguys.
org.
We are beginning to test
our systems and refine safe-
ty practices by running evac-
uation drills at three schools
this year.
Our district safety com-
mittee, in conjunction with
local emergency responders,
will plan and debrief each
evacuation drill.
Once a drill has begun,
parents will receive a phone
message stating: “This is a
drill. The school has been
evacuated. Please pick up
your student at the designat-
ed evacuation site.”
At the same time, drill in-
formation will be available
on the district Facebook
page and district website.
Details before the drill are
purposely limited to fully
test our plans.
We began testing our
process with a drill at Lyle
Elementary School on Oct.
21.
The staff did an excellent
job of preparing every detail
from evacuation to reunifi-
cation.
We greatly appreciate all
the parents who were able to
pick up their students dur-
ing the drill.
The pickup process is
called “reunification,” and it
is an important step in the
process to ensure we have
the best practices in place.
We will use the feedback
from observers, staff, and
parents involved in the Lyle
drill to refine our practices
for the next drill.
Many have heard the
phrase, “practice makes per-
fect,” but I support the mod-
ified version of this phrase:
“perfect practice makes per-
fect.”
When it comes to safety,
we want to ensure we have a
perfect process in place to
keep kids safe. Thank you for
supporting our efforts.
Have wonderful Thanks-
giving.
Michelle Johnstone
Superintendent
Dallas School District No. 2
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Dem.)
313 Hart SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-3753
Fax: 202-228-3997
Salem office: 495 State St. SE,
Suite 330, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-362-8102
Email: via website,
www.merkley.senate.gov
Rep. Kurt Schrader (Dem.)
108 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-5711
Fax: 202-225-5699
Salem office: 544 Ferry St. SE,
Suite 2, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-588-9100
Fax: 503-588-5517
Email: via website,
www.schrader.house.gov
—
POLK COUNTY
Board of Commissioners
850 Main St.
Dallas, OR 97338
Phone: 503-623-8173
www.co.polk.or.us
—
CITIES
Dallas
187 SE Court St.
Dallas, OR 97338
503-623-2338
www.ci.dallas.or.us
Falls City
299 Mill St.
Falls City, OR 97344
503-787-3631
www.fallscityoregon.gov
Independence
555 S. Main St.
Independence, OR 97351
503-838-1212
www.ci.independence.or.us
Monmouth
151 W. Main St.
Monmouth, OR 97361
503-838-0722
www.ci.monmouth.or.us
HOW TO REACH US
NEWSROOM
Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com
Vol. 141, No. 45
(USPS) - 437-380)
The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875
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from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
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Published weekly at 147 SE Court Street
Dallas, Oregon 97338
Phone: 503-623-2373
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