Polk County Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 31, 2017 9A
MI TOWN
It’s countdown time for
students of all ages in MI
Town as the end of the
school year is temptingly
close. These last few days
before summer vacation
seem to take forever, espe-
cially with the recent Memo-
rial Day weekend with cam-
pouts and barbecues and all
those warm weather activi-
ties offer a glimpse of a won-
derful season to come.
Graduations and summer
jobs and vacations and
hanging out with friends
and family are just out there,
nearly within reach.
—
Many of our Western Ore-
gon University students will
be leaving, and we’ll miss
their youthful energy and
contributions to our com-
munity. There are still many
activities on campus for all
of us to seek out and enjoy
during the summertime and
all through the year.
P ATTY
T AYLOR
D UTCHER
Columnist
—
Saturday is just around
the corner and it’s the date
of the monthly breakfast at
the Monmouth Senior Cen-
ter. On the first Saturday of
every month, volunteers
serve an outstanding break-
fast for $6 ($3 for children
younger than 12). Every-
body is welcome to enjoy
pancakes, scrambled eggs,
biscuits and gravy, orange
juice and coffee. It’s a great
opportunity to get a good
start to a busy weekend, and
a good place to enjoy food
and conversation with fami-
ly, friends and neighbors.
—
The sounds of saws and
hammers and cement mix-
ers are alive and well in MI
Town these last few weeks,
and both commercial and
residential construction
continues at a busy pace.
We’ll have the opportunity to
welcome new neighbors and
businesses. This is our
chance to share all the good
things our community can
bring to those who are going
to be new residents and
business partners.
—
Students in elementary
and middle school are invit-
ed to the Monmouth Public
Library Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
A Little Bits Makerspace
Workshop will be held,
where those participating
can work on inventions and
complex electronics, using
magnetic modules. Here’s a
chance to build electronic
boards and inventions
quickly, without using solder.
—
And while we’re on the
subject of library activities,
do check both Monmouth
and Independence library
pages to see what’s planned
for summertime. The seed
lending libraries still have
both flower and vegetable
seed packets available
(three packages per day). If
you participate in the free
program and have more
produce than you or your
family can use, please share
with your friends and
neighbors (Full disclosure:
Pea and bean plants are
growing well in our back-
yard garden, with the prom-
ise of goodies to come).
—
The welcoming warm
weather brings more kids
and wagons and bicycles to
our neighborhood streets,
so please be extra watchful
and careful when driving —
especially at dusk.
PEDEE NEWS
Ted and Ethelene Osgood
went with friends for sever-
al days the week before last
to Florence to the Oregon
Dunes National Park to ride
dune buggies. They stayed
in their motor home at a
campground nearby and
had a great time. The set-
ting beautiful and weather
just right, and the friends
were nice, too.
—
Daniel and Heidi Russell
have been having quite a
time with the wildlife lately.
Between foxes and rac-
coons, they’ve lost two
ducks and five chickens this
spring. They had a fox play-
ing on their porch at night
last week. A guest com-
A RLENE
K OVASH
Columnist
mented, “sometimes your
cats don’t even look like
cats.” Daniel looked out
and said, “because that’s
not a cat!” They watched
the fox for a while before it
wandered away. The chick-
en house and pen are being
appropriately upgraded. In-
teresting note: They’ve
heard of multiple other fox
sightings in the last two
weeks.
—
The Pedee campus of the
Luckiamute Valley Charter
Schools is making life inter-
esting (and useful) for their
middle school students.
Two weeks ago, the boys
went to Drift Creek while
the girls had a ladies’ tea,
where they brushed up on
hostess manners and had
some tasty tea tidbits. Then
last week, the girls hiked at
Cascade Head while the
boys hosted a mother/son
tea and participated in an
etiquette class where sev-
enth grade teacher Jerry
McGuffee even taught them
to tie a tie. The guys appre-
ciated having a heads-up
on all the tricky social
niceties, and very much en-
joyed entertaining the
mothers that could come.
—
Last week I went to Kings
Valley Charter School to
read to four grade school
classes for the Ag in the
Classroom Ag Literacy Proj-
ect. Each year volunteers go
to as many classes as possi-
ble around the state and
read a pre-selected book on
a facet of agriculture, and
then lead the classes in a
fun activity designed to
help them remember con-
cepts they learned. This
year’s book told the story of
how milk gets from the cow
to the kids. Often I learn as
much as they do. I volun-
teer through Oregon
Women for Agriculture,
where I am a member.
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Serving Polk County 16yrs
2017 Relay For Life Of Polk County
Dallas High School Track
June 3 - 4 • 10 am - 10 am
Schedule of Events
Sunday June 4
Saturday, June 3
9:00 am
9:30 am
9:45 am
10:00 am
10:30am
11:00am
Survivor check in starts
Team rally
Leadership rally
Opening Ceremonies (no walkers)
Survivor Lap/Power of Purple
Theme Lap: Patriotic
Auction #1 opens
11:00am-5:00pm The Relay Store
(DOC Walkin' Warriors)
12:00pm Theme Lap: Classic Disney
1:00pm Theme Lap: Disney Princess
1pm-5pm Dunk Tank! **
2:30pm-4:30pm “Mr. & Mrs. Relay”
3:00pm Auction #1 closes
Theme Lap: Disney Hero
4:00pm Auction #2 opens
5:00pm Celebration of Everything! (Team
Recognition, Grand Club Members,
Mr/Mrs Relay Winner) (no walkers)
CAN speaker
6:00pm CAN lap
7:00pm Theme Lap: Disney Villain
8:00pm Auction #2 closes
9:00pm Theme Lap: Disney Sidekick
Luminaria placement begins
10:00pm Luminaria Ceremony (no walkers)
11:00pm Theme Lap: Fairy Wands/
Glow Sticks
Itemizer-Observer
1:00am
2:00am
3:00am
4:00am
5:00am
5:30am
7:00am
9:00am
10:00am
Theme Lap: Twin/buddy
Theme Lap: Luau/Hawaiian
Theme Lap: Redneck/Camo
Theme Lap: Mardi Gras
Theme Lap: Pajama
Sunrise Service in Survivor Tent
Theme Lap: Java Fueled
Closing Ceremony (no walkers)
FINAL LAP/See You Next Year!!
Food Vendors
• Dutch Bros will be on site all day.
• Mo’s food truck will be on site 11am - 5pm
with your favorite clam chowder.
• Pastega Coffee Roasters will provide coffee
during the event.
** Have fun dunking your teammates,
fellow participants, committee members,
whoever (!) as a FUNdraiser!
If you or someone you know is
interested in sponsorship,
contact Amy Bickleman at 541-272-9240 or
online at amy.bickleman@cancer.org
or visit our website at
www.relayforlife.org/polkcountyor
Visit our website, www.polkio.com
for local news, sports
and community events.
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITIES
These Polk County groups would welcome individuals
who have time or expertise to volunteer. Organizations
that would like to be added to this list should call 503-623-
2373 or email IOnews@polkio.com.
• AARP Foundation Tax-Aide – 503-930-7636
• After DARC — 503-623-9501
• American Cancer Society Road to Recovery
— 1-800-227-2345
• Arc of Polk County — 541-223-3261
• Ash Creek Arts Center – 971-599-3301
• Central School District — 503-838-0030
• City of Dallas — 503-831-3502
• City of Independence — 503-838-1212
• City of Monmouth — 503-751-0145
• Crime Victims Assistance Program — 503-623-9268
• Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce — 503-623-2564
• Dallas Fire Department — 503-831-3532
• Dallas Food Bank — 503-623-3578
• Dallas Kids, Inc. — 503-623-6419
• Dallas Police Department — 503-831-3582
• Dallas Public Library — 503-623-2633
• Dallas Retirement Village — 503-623-5581
• Dallas School District — 503-623-5594
• Delbert Hunter Arboretum — 503-623-7359
• Ella Curran Food Bank — 503-838-1276
• Falls City Arts Center — 503-559-6291
• Falls City School District — 503-787-3531
• Family Building Blocks – 503-566-2132, ext. 308.
• Friends of the Dallas Libray — 503-559-3830
• Girl Scouts of Southwest Washington and Oregon
— 1-800-338-5248
• H-2-O — 503-831-4736
HART (Horses Adaptive Riding and Therapy)
— 971-301-4278
• HandsOn Mid-Willamette Valley — 503-363-1651
• Heron Pointe Assisted Living — 503-838-6850
• Independence Health and Rehabilitation
— 503-838-0001
• Independence Public Library — 503-838-1811
• Kings Valley Charter School — 541-929-2134
• Luckiamute Watershed Council — 503-837-0237
• Luckiamute Valley Charter School — 503-623-4837
• Meals on Wheels — 503-838-2084
• Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce
— 503-838-4268
• Monmouth-Independence YMCA — 503-838-4042
• Monmouth Public Library — 503-838-1932
• Northwest Human Services — 503-588-5828
• Oregon Child Development Coalition — 503-838-2745
• OSU Extension Service - Polk County — 503-623-8395
• Perrydale School District — 503-623-2040
• Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of
Polk County Inc. — 503-623-8473
• Polk Community Development Corporation
— 503-831-3173
• Polk County Community Emergency Response Team
— 503-623-9396
• Polk County Museum — 503-623-6251
• Polk County Public Health — 503-623-8175
• Polk County Resource Center — 503-623-8429
• Polk Soil and Water Conservation District
— 503-623-9680
• Relief Nursery Classroom — 503-566-2132
• SABLE House — 503-623-6703
• SALT (Senior and law enforcement together)
— 503-851-9366
• Salvation Army — 503-798-4783
• SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) — 503-391-8423
• Salem Health West Valley Hospital — 503-623-8301
• Victim Assistance Program-Polk Co. District Attorney’s
Office — 503-623-9268 x1444
• Willamette Valley Hospice — 503-588-3600
• WIMPEG Community Access Television — 503-837-0163
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Continued from page 8A
—
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7
• Scrabble with Betty — 1 p.m., Independence Public Li-
brary, 175 Monmouth St., Independence. Scrabble games first
Wednesday of every month. Free; refreshments and prizes
available. 503-551-7687 or 503-838-1811.
• 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.
• Yarning for Others — 3 to 5 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal
Church, 1486 SW Levens St., Dallas. Knitters and crocheters
gather to make clothing and accessories for those in need on
the first Wednesday of every month. 503-689-7222.