COMMUNITY
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
A9
Camarena named Collections System Operator of the Year
Prairie City
employee has been
public works director
since 2014
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Prairie City’s public works
director was recognized for
his job performance and
accomplishments.
Director Chris Camarena
said he was shocked when he
got the Collections System
Operator of the Year Award
from Pacific Northwest Clean
Water Association because the
award usually goes to bigger
cities.
“I don’t know if any-
body here in Prairie City has
ever gotten operator of the
year before,” Camarena said.
“Since I’ve been here, this is
the first time.”
Camarena has worked with
Prairie City’s public works
department for 20 years. He
took over as assistant public
works director in 2008 and
became the director in 2014.
Camarena was awarded
virtually and said it was an
honor to be the recipient. He
also said the award would
not have been possible with-
out the public works team and
their hard work.
“They’re good at what they
do and have a lot of dedication
to what they do,” Camarena
said. “I can’t do any of this
without them, and I contribute
everything to them.”
Outside of his job with the
city, Camarena also partici-
pates in various groups in Prai-
rie City such as the Prairie City
Fire Department, emergency
medical services, the Prairie
City school board and more
that makes his work as a public
director more rewarding.
Contributed photo
Chris Camarena poses with his award for Collections System Op-
erator of the Year from the Pacific Northwest Clean Water Asso-
ciation.
“We try to work together
as a community here and help
each other out,” Camarena
said. “We tie a lot of stuff
together like working on proj-
ects with the kids at school
and help tie it in with public
works.”
When the Canyon Creek
Complex fire happened in
2015, Camarena said he and
several other team members
O utlook
SENI
“Have yourself a
merry little White
Christmas” on
the Prairie. We
hope, huh? We did
Rose Coombs
have snow for our
Christmas dinner
meal. But due to unexpected illness, we were not able to
keep to the published menu. That’s why it says “menu
is subject to change.” So what else is new this year…
But with the able help of our kitchen staff, a meal was
prepared and served in record time. Thank you Laura,
Tom, and Angie for getting the job done. You can rest
for a couple of weeks now! There will be no meal on
Dec. 23rd, but we will have one Dec. 30th and that will
be spaghetti. Happy New Year!
Back to business, we did have the baked ham and
rolls (Thank you BMCC). Also the scheduled veggies
which was Brussel sprouts. But the scalloped spuds
had to be replaced by plain old mashed potatoes.
Sorry about that. I was really looking forward to
the scalloped ones, too. Maybe we can get them for
sometime in January… And the mini cheesecake was
going to be really special ‘cause we have these cute
little muffin-like baking tins to cook them in that the
cooks really wanted to use; maybe for Valentine’s Day.
But the substitute was really good too, a nice moist
cake with red topping (raspberry?) What I’m trying
to convey is that when life gives you a lemon, make
lemonade! So we did! Roll with the punches and win
the fight. I’m so proud of our kitchen staff that did just
that. Congratulations all around and Merry Christmas!
Got the Christmas letter written, enclosed in the
card, and sent off. People were saying that they were
Dusty Harris
Wow Christmas
Dinner was
shared by all that
we received on
Monday the 21st.
To our Cooks job
For those of us
who ordered a meal
on Tuesday, we
enjoyed a delicious
dinner of ham,
Soo Yukawa
yummy scalloped
potatoes (and
you know I really did mean they were yummy for you
know I hate cheese), dinner rolls, carrots, and chocolate
pudding for our dessert. We thank Terry Cade and
Carrie Jewell for all their hard work. What a blessing
they are to all of us.
So our reported numbers of patrons coming to pick up
their Christmas dinner came to the whopping number
of 85 meals ordered and served. Wow, *blink, blink*.
I was stunned as you are, as you are reading this I am
sure. Ha.
We had Kristi Guimont filling out the paperwork.
Bob Cockrell and Jan Ensign counted the money.
Ms. Sylvia delivered the meals to the patrons at the
door. We thank them profusely also for their time and
volunteer service. We can’t do without everyone’s help.
My fingers are healing up nicely. I started slathering
on raw honey from the second day and the wounds have
mostly closed. I have no infection whatsoever. I have
no broken bones, and I praise the Lord that I didn’t
lose my fingers! Did you know that raw honey has
antimicrobial properties? It also has natural hydrogen
peroxide. It did wonders on my hand. It has to be raw
Monument
Seniors
on the water and wastewater
systems.
Camarena said there have
been many challenges to over-
come in the systems.
“I told the mayor, ‘Hey, I
wouldn’t know how to run a
normal system,’” Camarena
said. “The city has had issues
with their water and waste-
water system for years here,
but you just keep on truckin’
on through it and try to get it
fixed.”
Along with the manual
labor, the job also consists of
seeking grant opportunities to
help fund the improvements
to the systems in Prairie City
and their multi-million waste-
water treatment project, which
replaced failing pumps and
aging infrastructure.
Camarena said he is thank-
ful for his job and that the
doors and phone lines are
always open to answer ques-
tions regarding the systems.
R
Prairie City
Seniors
John Day
Seniors
were firefighters during the
incident. They spent days liv-
ing in a fire truck and doing
their duties as firefighters, but
when they got back home,
work continued as the water
facility had to be checked on
to make sure it was running
during the emergency.
“It doesn’t just stop when
you flush the toilet or turn the
faucet off,” Camarena said.
“We have to do a physical and
visual inspection of our com-
plete system every single day,
and making sure water is safe
for everybody.”
Camarena said he has great
relationships with public work
directors in other cities.
The goal for Prairie City’s
public works team is to leave
the water and wastewater sys-
tem better than they found
it. Camarena said the team
has been working on many
improvement and preven-
tive maintenance programs
getting more cards this year than in the past. I find
that interesting in this day of instant communication.
Yes, you can see their image on the Web, but a card is
something you can hold in your hand, for years and
enjoy reading again and again. And you don’t have to
go through all kinds of passwords and instructions to be
able to do it. It doesn’t get obsolete either! Since there
is nothing much worth watching on TV, we have been
going through our video library. Have the entire runs
of Matlock, M*A*S*H, Hogan’s Heros, Roots, Barney
Miller, etc. The really interesting one is Remington
Steele. The only thing they would have to change to
make it work today is to give them all a cell phone. The
stories still are engaging and entertaining. Ah, the good
old days. Then I decided I’d better see what date Easter
is going to be on next year, fist Sunday in April. That
got me investigating what I could put together for the
ensemble since I’m done with Christmas. (Have to keep
looking ahead, don’t ya know.) In going through the
different songbooks, I discovered several that needed to
be taken apart and put into 3 ring binders, so that kept
me occupied for a few days. Why do that? So the music
will stay flat on the piano music rest. It is very difficult
to play both treble and bass line while holding the pages
open! Just counted, have 38 books that have their own
spiral bindings and 50+ that I have put into binders.
You would think that would be enough, wouldn’t you?
Then there is the 4 drawer filing cabinet that contains all
the sheet music. So it takes a while to investigate (ahem)
and not get sidetracked…
Ephesians 5:19 “Speak to one another… Sing and
make music in your heart to the Lord...”
Judges 5:3 “I will sing to the Lord… I will make music to
the Lord…”
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well done. 28th Beef an Noodles, Mashed potatoes,
Veggies,Cookie. 31st. French Dip with Mushrooms,
Onion Rings, Berry hand Pie. Well I’m sure were all
looking forward to 2021, with a wonderful new year
an much happiness, not Six feet from our friend s an
family. May your New Year’s be full of blessing.
and unprocessed honey. You have to buy the raw honey
from your local bee keeper rather than the store. Raw
honey that is local can also help alleviate allergies. God
has created things to help heal our bodies naturally.
During this time of being an almost invalid, I have
been catching up on some new recipes. I tried making
beef stroganoff for the first time with the help of my
two girls. I learned it of course on Youtube. It was a
hit. It was simple enough and did not call for crazy
exotic ingredients and it did not take long to make
either. I can’t believe I took this long to try and make it.
The next thing to try and make is chicken fried steak.
Hmm, I’ll have to let you know how it went. Seems
simple enough too, but sometimes those videos make it
seem like they are and are deceiving. We shall see.
I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas! I
know that it is a really weird and difficult time for many
of us. But be encouraged, we all have been born for
such a time as this. The Lord has everything under
control and this is just a “shadow of the valley of death”.
The Lord has always promised to never forsake us or
leave us. In fact, while on my way to church this past
Sunday, I heard in my spirit these words, “Beloved, be
strong in the Lord and in the power of His Might. “ We
are weak but the Lord is strong. Let us hold fast to His
promises for He is our great and mighty God!
Psalm 34:22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of His
servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be
desolate.
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