Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 23, 2017 3A
‘Bee’friend
pollinators
DEADLINES
NEWS DEADLINES
For inclusion in the
Wednesday edition of the
Itemizer-Observer:
Social news (weddings,
engagements, anniver-
saries, births, milestones) —
5 p.m. on Thursday.
Community events —
Noon on Friday for both the
Community Notebook and
Community Calendar.
Letters to the editor —
10 a.m. on Monday.
Obituaries — 4 p.m. on
Monday.
ADVERTISING DEADLINES
Retail display ads — 3
p.m. Friday.
Classified display ads
— 11 a.m. on Monday.
Classified line ads —
Noon on Monday. Classified
ads are updated daily on
www.polkio.com.
Public notices — Noon
on Friday.
CORRECTIONS
In the letter titled “Polk
should remain in County’s
name” the Polk County Itemiz-
er-Observer mistyped the date
of President Polk’s inaugural
address. The year should read
1845.
The I-O regrets the error.
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer website,
www.polkio.com, is updat-
ed each week by Wednes-
day afternoon. There, you
will find nearly every story
that appears in the print
version of the newspaper,
as well as some items, in-
cluding additional photos,
that do not appear in print
due to space limitations.
The Itemizer-Observer is
also on Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram. Watch for
breaking news, links to sto-
ries, sports scores updates
and more.
WEATHER
RECORDED
HIGH LOW
49
53
51
57
56
50
58
The Itemizer-Observer
STEPHANIE BLAIR/ Itemizer-Observer
Monmouth resident John Lang stands among his many tractors, leaning against an an-
tique International.
Man’s tractor collection
showcases foreign models
By Stephanie Blair
The Itemizer-Observer
WEBSITE
Aug. 15............. 83
Aug. 16............. 87
Aug. 17............. 85
Aug. 18............. 87
Aug. 19............. 82
Aug. 20............. 84
Aug. 21............. 90
By Jolene Guzman
RAIN
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
Rainfall during Aug. — 0.15 in.
Rain through Aug. 21 — 33.45 in.
Because of the eclipse
preparations, no police re-
port was available this
week. See next week’s issue
for the regular reports.
MONMOUTH — Over the
past 30 years, Monmouth
resident John Lang has col-
lected antique tractors. After
his retirement, he turned a
casual hobby into a full-time
passion.
“I’ve been farming all my
life,” Lang said. “I retired in
2008 and started restoring
tractors. I had a few that I
collected over the years but
didn’t have time to deal with
them. Now that I’m retired, I
have more time to work on
them so that’s what I’m
doing.”
Lang restores and shows
his farm equipment at an-
tique truck and tractor
shows around the state. De-
pending on the condition
that he receives the tractor
in, Lang said restoration can
be a long process — his
longest projects so far took
three years to finish — so he
often works on two or three
at once.
Part of what makes these
restorations take such a long
time to finish is the wait
time on parts. Lang doesn't
just restore your average an-
tique American tractors —
foreign models are his passion.
“I’ve got American ones,
too, but I really like the for-
eign ones,” Lang said with a
smile. “Because I take them
to shows and show them.
STEPHANIE BLAIR/Itemizer-Observer
Lang owns three Lam-
borghini tractors.
People see the common
ones— and they’re nice, you
know, I’m not against
them— but they see a Lam-
borghini and it kind of sets
them back a little bit.”
But Lang doesn’t have
one Lamborghini tractor—
he has three.
His collection, 38 strong,
also includes a couple of
English-made Leylands and
two tractors which were
manufactured by Fiat for the
brand Oliver, which sold
them under their own paint
and badge. Thirteen of
Lang’s tractors have been re-
stored.
Not all of Lang’s antiques
are destined for restoration,
though. Because of the high
level of care that he provides
for his collection, Lang is
able to keep tractors in their
pristine original condition.
“(One of the Olivers) I’m
not going to restore, because
it’s so nice in being original,
I’m just going to leave it,”
Lang said.
This passion is a long time
love of Lang’s, and one that
he’s happy to be spending
his days doing.
“I’ve always liked tractors,
ever since I was a little kid. I
don’t know, I just kind of fell
in love with the foreign
ones,” Lang said.
Joyful Sound Hearing
Have you considered reconditioned
hearing aids? We are currently
significantly over stocked with used
& reconditioned hearing aids.
Call now and schedule a hearing test.
RICKREALL — If you want a super pollinator in your
backyard, build a bee box and fill it with tubes perfect for
mason bee nests.
The deep blue and fuzzy-looking bees are native to
Oregon and “have ADD” when it comes to pollinating,
says mason bee “keeper” Jerry Paul, with the Benton
County Soil & Water Conservation District.
Paul and Heath Keirstad, also with Benton County
SWCD, led a presentation on attracting native pollinators
to your yard and garden at the Polk County Fair on Aug. 11.
Mason bees are solitary bees that nest in cracks and
crevices in wood or rock, in beetle holes or hollow stems.
They are early risers in terms of the time of year they are
active, from March to June.
You can provide attractive nesting places for mason
bees with a bee box and wooden tubes they can use to lay
eggs. Providing mud, which they use to build nests — a
skill that gives them their common name — helps en-
courage them as well.
Paul said you don’t have to worry about mason bees
hatching and then leaving your yard.
“A honey bee will go as far as 5 miles in order to find
pollen and nectar,” he said. “A mason bee will only go 200
feet, so you can confine what you want pollinated to your
backyard. If you start to raise mason bees, you are not
going to lose them to your neighbor.”
Mason bee nesting tubes need to be unplugged and
cleaned each year to prevent pollen mites and other pred-
ators and parasites. Mason bee cocoons can be harvested
from nests and stored in the produce crisper of a refriger-
ator until temperatures warm up to between 50 and 55
degrees for multiple days — don’t forget to check for
mold and clean again, if needed.
Place them in release tubes near your nest box, and
that process starts again. Other tips include avoiding pes-
ticides and planting native plants.
Native bees are often solitary nesters, Paul said. Some
are, like mason bees, and nest in holes and crevices. Oth-
ers, like leaf cutter bees, nest in the ground. Providing
them attractive nesting areas means not mulching all
parts of your yard.
For more information on keeping mason bees and at-
tracting other native pollinators: www.bentonswcd.org/
activities/landowners/bee-buddies/.
West Valley Housing Authority will hold their
Work Session Meeting on Wednesday, August
30, 2017 beginning at 11:30 a.m. at 204 SW
Walnut in Dallas, Oregon. The Regular Meeting
will be held on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 at
1:00 p.m. at 204 SW Walnut in Dallas, Oregon.
An Executive Session pursuant to ORS
192.660 will be held immediately following the
Regular Meeting, if required.
Agenda for the meeting is posted on the Housing
Authority website at www.wvpha.org. The
location for the meeting is handicapped
accessible. Please advise the West Valley
Housing Authority if you need any special
accommodations to attend the meeting. For
information, please call 503-623-8387, TDD
1-800-735-2900.
Mark
Sturtevant
503-623-0290 • 312 Main Street, Dallas
E
VIC
R
E
I S
T AX
• 24 Hour Service
• Pick up Drop Off Get home safe, call your D.D.
Celebrating 5 Years!
A nd
N OW TUESDAYS! 2PM - 7PM
Especially for our neighbors
and community with
user friendly hours.
Merlin D. Berkey
to
Close
Home!
Hazelnuts, Fresh Produce, Artisans
Hadley Radio Bakery, & other vendors
Independence Riverview Park
Tuesdays 2-7pm
Saturday 9am -2pm
Matinees are all shows
before 6pm. New pricing for
matinees are: Adult $8.00
Children $7.00 • Senior $7.25
Pricing does not reflect
3D showings.
Itemizer-Observer
WE’RE ON FACEBOOK!
Check us out at
www.facebook.com/pages/polk-county-itemizer-observer
/205062686252209
Get daily local high school and college sports
scores, links to breaking news on our website,
a preview of the upcoming newspaper, learn
about special advertising and newspaper sections
and promotions, and more!
ALL LOCAL. ALL THE TIME.
WE’RE YOUR SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS
AND ADVERTISING.
www.polkio.com • 503-623-2373
Friday - Thursday • Aug 25 - Aug 31
EMOJI MOVIE (Digital) (PG)
(12:00 2:15 4:30)
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (Digital) (PG13)
6:45 9:45
NUT JOB 2:
NUTTY BY NATURE (Digital) (PG) (12:20 2:35 4:50)
DARK TOWER (Digital) (PG13)
7:05 9:20
LEAP (Digital) (PG)
(12:20 2:35 4:50) 7:05 9:20
HITMAN’S BODYGUARD (Digital) (R)
(1:50 4:25) 7:00 9:35
ANNABELLE: CREATION (Digital) (R) (11:40 2:10 4:40) 7:10 9:40
WONDER WOMAN (Digital) (PG13)
(12:40 3:40) 6:40 9:40
DUNKIRK (Digital) (PG13)
(11:45 2:15 4:45) 7:15 9:45
LOGAN LUCKY (Digital) (PG13)
(1:45 4:35) 7:20 10:05