Polk County News
6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 12, 2017
RARE helps IDA thrive
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
Since Americorps RARE vol-
unteer Imani Hall started
work as the manager for the
Independence Downtown
Association, seven new
businesses have opened up.
There were “a lot of differ-
ent things that we’ve accom-
plished over the last couple
of months,” Hall said.
Hall’s work with IDA
through the Resource Assis-
tance for Rural Environ-
ments program wraps up at
the end of July. The down-
town association has se-
cured a grant for a second
RARE volunteer to continue
and improve on Hall’s
work, he said.
One thing Hall will sug-
gest to the new RARE is to
consider encouraging mul-
tiple events at once.
“I think one of the best
things we can do with the
downtown is try and pair
events together,” he said.
The Parade of Lights in
December was well attend-
McGarvey
ed, with twice as many
lighted floats as in years
past, Hall said.
“It was a great reception
downtown at Sojourn,
which happened to overlap
a ribbon-cutting at Pearl on
C and Keeaumoku Hawai-
ian Grill opened that night,
so it was a really vibrant
downtown,” Hall said.
It wasn’t just IDA-spon-
sored events that went well,
but fundraisers, too, Hall
said.
“The Walk of Hearts this
year went really well,” he
said. “I think we made the
most money.”
A flower basket fundraiser
was added during the spring,
which Hall said did OK.
“We definitely didn’t
make as much as we would
have hoped,” he said.
“We’re hoping it will be
strong in the years to come.
It’s still really exciting to cre-
ate a new fundraiser, be out
in the community and do
more things that are engag-
ing citizens of Independ-
ence and Monmouth in the
downtown Independence.”
Side
Hall worked to secure
grant funding for Boom-
town Brewing, coming soon
to downtown. Also, IDA
now has a Square — a chip
reader allowing the organi-
zation to accept debit and
credit cards.
“It helps in the sense that
we don’t need cash for
everything, so we should be
able to make more money
through fundraisers,” Hall
said.
While membership hasn’t
increased much during
Hall’s tenure, he said IDA
has created a new brochure
and membership packet.
“Hopefully with the new
membership pack, we’ll be
able to bring more people
in to support the downtown
association — not only
businesses, but people who
live on Second and Third
streets,” he said. “Hey, you
love coming down for live
music at Independence
Grill or paint and pinot at
Brew, you should support
the business association,
because we support down-
town businesses.”
Strain
Duddles
Corrections posts ‘most wanted’
DALLAS — Polk County
Community Corrections
lists these individuals as
“most wanted” for July.
Citizens with information
on the whereabouts of any
of them can call Commu-
nity Corrections at 503-
623-5226.
• Barry Thomas McGar-
vey, born Dec. 19, 1978, 5-
9, 180 pounds, brown hair,
green eyes. Charge: Deliv-
ery of heroin.
• Christopher Side, born
March 16, 1981, 6-2, 200
pounds, brown hair, green
eyes. Charge: First-degree
burglary.
• Richard Dawayne
Strain, born Jan. 19, 1968,
6-1, 220 pounds, white
hair, brown eyes. Charges:
Possession of meth, failure
to appear.
• Pamela Rashell Dud-
dles, born July 30, 1967, 5-
5, 120 pounds, brown hair,
hazel eyes. Charge: driving
intoxicated.
NOTICE
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has in its physical possession the
unclaimed personal property described below. If you have any owner-
ship interest in any of that unclaimed property, you must file a claim with
the Polk County Sheriff’s office within 30 days from the date of publication
of this notice, or you will lose your interest in that property.
• Firearms, knives, bicycles, electronic equipment, jew-
elry,
tools, bags/backpacks, sports equipment
• 1996 Jeep Cherokee, OR 161FLB,
Vin #1J4FT68S5TL133117
• 2002 Subaru Outback, OR SL36977,
Vin#4S3BH665926656981
Contact Polk County Sheriff’s Office at:
850 Main Street, Dallas, OR 97338 • (503) 623-9251
(June 28; July 5, 12, 19, 2017)
STEPHANIE BLAIR/ Itemizer-Observer
Kyra, Noah, Ethan and Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton at the sheriff’s commendation
ceremony at the Polk County Courthouse on Friday.
Teens honored for rescue efforts
By Stephanie Blair
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — “Every job is a
self-portrait of the one who
does it. Autograph your
work with excellence.”
This is the inscription on
the challenge coins which
were given to Ethan Collins,
Kyra Orwick and Noah
Woods by Sgt. Todd Fenk,
along with plaques of com-
mendation from Polk Coun-
ty Sherriff Mark Garton. In
the community conference
room of the Polk County
Courthouse on Friday,
Ethan, Kyra and Noah were
given commendations for
their actions on June 30.
“On June 30, at about 9:45
a.m., the sheriff’s office re-
sponded to a serious injury at
the home of 6-year-old Noah
Woods. The caller, Ethan, re-
ported that his cousin, Noah,
had seriously injured his
wrist and his stomach.
Deputies arrived seven min-
utes later, and they found
Noah, and he was being
given first aid by Ethan and
his sister, Kyra,” explained
Garton. “Deputies were sur-
prised by the effective care
that they were giving Noah
and there was really nothing
more … to be done until
medics arrived. Deputies
STEPHANIE BLAIR/Itemizer-Observer
Noah Woods with his letter of commendation.
worked to help keep Noah
calm and help him get
through the ordeal until the
ambulance was there to take
him to the hospital.
“Deputies on scene spoke
to Sgt. Fenk after the inci-
dent and said that Kyra and
Ethan and Noah all showed
exceptional composure for
their age.”
The sheriff added that the
medics on scene were also
pleased by the care that
Noah had been receiving be-
fore their arrival.
The three involved in the
incident each played a role
in ensuring the best care for
Noah, Garton said.
“Kyra provided immedi-
ate first aid to Noah and pro-
tected him from further in-
jury,” as stated on her
Solution on Page 10A
plaque. “Ethan provided im-
mediate first aid to Noah
and called 911,” as stated on
his plaque and “Noah re-
mained calm throughout
this ordeal. His actions on
this day showed exceptional
maturity and composure for
his age,” as stated on his
plaque.
“It’s not very often that we
get to do this because a lot of
times there isn’t as positive
an outcome,” said Garton.
“A lot of people may not
have done what they (Kyra
and Ethan) did, so we really
appreciate all of that.”
Family and friends at-
tended the commendation,
along with deputies and a
few members of the coun-
ty’s Board of Commission-
ers.