Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 17, 2018 3A
Dallas community creates calendar
Photo contest run through Facebook inspires project, fundraiser
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Jan Ahrendt
simply wanted a new cover
photo for the Dallas Oregon
Community Bulletin Board
Facebook page.
Ahrendt, an administrator
for the page launched by her
daughter, Cheryl Cisneros,
thought it was time to give the
growing board a new look.
“In December, my mom
said that we need to have a
refreshed photo for the
cover, and partly because it
was a new year, and we had
that one for a while, and
partly because there was an-
other board that was using
our original version,” Cis-
neros said.
Cisneros is the executive
director of Creating Oppor-
tunities, an organization
that supports people with
developmental disabilities.
She launched the Facebook
page to survey the commu-
nity ahead of her son,
Steven, who has autism,
opening a business in 2015.
From there, the board
morphed into a place local
people could connect with
others or seek information.
Since then, the page has
grown. Ahrendt, now retired,
monitors the board with the
help of two other adminis-
trators. She said it has more
than 7,000 members.
“I wanted a place where
community members could
connect with businesses,
and businesses could con-
nect with community mem-
bers,” Cisneros said. “It real-
ly was important to me that
it be positive in tone and to
really enhance the commu-
nity, to bring the community
together.”
With that mission in mind,
Ahrendt said that the new
cover photo needed to be a
representation of Dallas. She
asked Cisneros to help her
find photos of the area, but it
didn’t take them long to real-
ize the resource they needed
was at their fingertips.
Complaint leads to meth bust
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK COUNTY — A citizen complaint led to the discovery of
a large quantity of methamphetamine on Sunday afternoon.
Authorities received a call from at 12:23 p.m. about a reckless
driver traveling west on Highway 22 near milepost 15.
The caller advised that the male driver was also smoking
what he or she believed was methamphetamine from a glass
pipe.
A Polk County Sheriff Office deputy requested assistance from
the Grand Ronde Tribal Police in locating the vehicle. An Oregon
State Police trooper from McMinnville was also in the area.
Grand Ronde Tribal Police located and conducted a traffic
stop on the vehicle.
The OSP trooper and Polk County deputy arrived shortly
thereafter.
The driver, David Edie, 38, of Portland, was arrested for DUII.
Further investigation and a drug detection K-9 from the
Newberg Police Department was conducted.
The K-9 alerted authorities to bags in the vehicle and a
search revealed about a quarter of a pound of methampheta-
mine. A stolen handgun was also found with the drugs and
$500 was seized from Edie.
Edie was arrested for DUII (controlled substance), possession
of methamphetamine (substantial quantity), distribution of
methamphetamine (substantial quantity), felon in possession
of a firearm and first-degree theft by receiving.
A female passenger, Alicia Schier, 28, of Portland, was arrest-
ed for possession of methamphetamine.
Both Edie and Schier were lodged at Polk County jail. Addi-
tional charges are likely, according to a press release.
Citizen helps restrain suspect
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Julie Jones, left, who helps hand out the calendars, Cheryl Cisneros and Jan Ahrendt
display photos from the Dallas Community Bulletin Board’s 2018 calendar.
Cisneros suggested a
photo contest with mem-
bers of the board as the con-
testants. Ahrendt loved the
idea and quickly posted a re-
quest for photos, telling
members the winning photo
would become the new
cover photo.
They said the response
was immediate and over-
whelming.
“We started getting snow-
balled with all these gor-
geous photos,” Cisneros
said.
Soon, they knew they had
to expand the contest pa-
rameters.
“But since there were so
many good ones, we
thought we can’t just select
one,” Ahrendt said.
They decided to choose
one for every month, and
from that the Dallas Com-
munity Bulletin Board Cal-
endar was born. Cisneros
and Ahrendt found that
printing a calendar was
cost-effective and could eas-
ily be used to raise money
for worthy cause.
“We wanted it to be com-
munity-serving, so my mom
asked if I had any ideas
about who it should benefit,
and I immediately thought
of the service integration
team,” Cisneros said.
The Dallas Service Inte-
gration Team will receive
about $1,000 in proceeds
from the calendar sale.
Not so easy was the
daunting task of selecting 12
winning photos. They enlist-
ed their family to narrow
down photo submissions to
36 and let board members
vote for their favorites.
Ahrendt said the number
of people who submitted
photos wasn’t the only sur-
prise during the contest. An
anonymous donor, who she
identified as a Dallas resi-
dent and business owner, of-
fered prize money for the
top three winners.
“He said that he was so
impressed with what was
going on, with what had
opened up in the communi-
ty and that it had united the
community … that he want-
The winners are:
First place: Haley
Snider.
Second place: Delton
Maddox.
Third place: Ross Cadi-
gan.
For more information:
On Facebook, Dallas Ore-
gon Community Bulletin
Board.
ed to make a monetary gift,”
she said.
If you missed the calen-
dar, the pair are in the
process of ordering a 100-
page tabletop book to fea-
ture more of the photos sub-
mitted for the 2018 contest.
And, yes, there will be a
2019 calendar. Ahrendt said
she begin the contest soon-
er, so this year people can
have their calendars in time
to give as Christmas pres-
ents.
“It’s been an amazing ex-
perience, and they are al-
ready taking photos for
2019,” Ahrendt said. “We
can’t just do this once. It’s
too rewarding.”
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK COUNTY — A citizen helped Sgt. Tyrone Jenkins re-
strain Hunter Merkel until further assistance arrived on Friday.
Sgt. Jenkins contacted a male pedestrian, later identified as
Merkel (aka Jason Feyko) on Highway 22 just east of Green-
wood Road at 3:46 p.m.
The man removed his hands from his pocket, which caused a
small Ziplock bag to fall from his pocket onto the ground. The
bag contained methamphetamine. Sgt. Jenkins informed
Merkel he was being detained when Merkel pulled away and
began to fight with Sgt. Jenkins.
Both individuals ended up on the ground in a muddy field
just off the highway. Sgt. Jenkins was able to call for assistance
on his radio.
Due to slippery conditions, Merkel was close to breaking free
when a passing motorist, Malcom Mespelt, of Salem, provided
assistance.
Deputies responded along with multiple other surrounding
agencies. Deputies arrived on scene about three minutes after
the fight began. A Taser was used and deputies gained control
of Merkel and placed him in restraints.
One deputy was treated for minor injuries sustained during
the fight. Merkel was lodged at Polk County Jail on charges of
interfering with a peace officer, tampering with physical evi-
dence and possession of methamphetamine.
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