The Columbia Press
February 12, 2021
Senior Moments
with Emma Edwards
February has two big days
Sunday is Valentine’s Day.
It’s especially fun when such
a romantic occasion falls on a
Sunday.
Most of us celebrate Val-
entine’s Day by giving flow-
ers, candy and cards to those
we love. Often, that includes
dinner out and many people
become engaged even have
their wedding on that day.
Many pray that our local
restaurants will be open at
least for limited inside dining
on Sunday. I suspect creative
romantics won’t be disheart-
ened by “what ifs,” but will
create a beautiful candlelight
dinner for their loved one on
Sunday.
Valentine’s Day won’t fall
on a Sunday again until
2027, so that’s why it’s spe-
cial this year. Those who
know their history realize we
celebrate this day in honor of
Saint Valentine.
Legend has it that Saint
Valentine was a priest in
third century Rome, when
Claudius II figured out sin-
gle men made better soldiers
than those who were mar-
ried.
With this thought in mind,
he outlawed marriage for
young men in hopes of build-
ing a stronger military base.
Saint Valentine decreed that
it wasn’t fair and chose to
marry young couples secret-
ly. Thus, we honor him on
that day!
Another significant day
next week is President’s Day,
which is celebrated on the
third Monday of February by
the Uniform Monday Holiday
Act. In “my day,” we celebrat-
ed both President Washing-
ton (our first president) and
President Lincoln (our 16th
president) on separate days,
Washington on Feb. 22 and
Lincoln on Feb. 12.
One probably doesn’t have
to explain Valentine’s Day,
but it would be good for us
seniors to remind our young
children and grandchildren
what President’s Day is all
about.
In contrasting the two men,
we realize quite a stark dif-
ference. George Washington
is known as the father of the
nation and was one of the
driving forces behind draft-
ing the Constitution. Abra-
ham Lincoln is credited with
abolishing slavery.
Another contrast is that
Washington was born into
a well-to-do family and was
well educated. Lincoln, on
the other hand, was born into
a poor family and had little
formal education.
At one point, Washington
had more than 500 slaves
working for him on his to-
bacco plantation, but toward
the end of his life, he made
arrangements to have them
released.
Washington died of acute
pneumonia while President
Lincoln was assassinated.
Abraham Lincoln is on the
penny while George Wash-
ington is on many of the
quarters and also the $1 bill.
One fact I’ve learned is that
Lincoln kept papers under
his top hat. Maybe that’s not
such an important fact, but
it’s one I get to share once a
year.
Question: How did the tele-
phone propose to his girl-
friend? Answer: He gave her
a ring!
7
Here’s to Your Health
by Chris Laman
When can you get the COVID-19 vaccine?
As a member of Clatsop
County’s COVID-19 Vaccine
Distribution Task Force, I’ve
been getting a lot of ques-
tions from community mem-
bers about when they or their
loved ones will be able to get
a COVID-19 vaccine.
I urge them, and you, to
be patient. Our local vaccine
rollout has gone relatively
smooth, but we are still at the
beginning of this effort.
The vaccine task force in-
cludes members from the
County Health Department,
Columbia Memorial Hospi-
tal, Providence Seaside Hos-
pital and other local groups.
Our goal is to get as many
people in our community
vaccinated as quickly as pos-
sible so we can beat this pan-
demic.
There is a great deal of con-
fusion about the process as
each county in Oregon has
been tasked with developing
their own system for vaccine
distribution.
The state has added to the
confusion by mandating vac-
cinations of seniors before
we have completed vacci-
nating previously prioritized
groups.
The biggest challenge we
face is limited vaccine supply.
There are just not enough
vaccines in the county to roll
them out to all the people the
state has mandated us to vac-
cinate. We are working our
way through the state’s vac-
cination groups as our supply
allows.
The Clatsop County Pub-
lic Health Department has
posted information on its
website about which groups
are currently being offered
the COVID-19 vaccine. You
can get onto Clatsop County’s
list of people to contact when
vaccine becomes available,
by completing the county’s
online survey.
Second doses have been set
aside by the state for people
who already received a first
dose, so no doses are being
held back locally. When we
receive first doses from the
state, we are administering
every one we can.
This is the very beginning of
the vaccine rollout and there
isn’t enough supply yet to do
mass vaccination events. As
our supply of vaccine increas-
es, we will be able to do those
types of events in the coming
months.
Please, get vaccinated when
you can.
Getting 70 percent of our
community vaccinated is
the only way we will be able
to return to a time without
masks and social distancing.
Together we can do it!
Here’s to Your Health is
sponsored by Columbia Me-
morial Hospital. Chris La-
man is CMH’s director of
Pharmacy and Cancer Care
Services. He is a key member
of the hospital’s COVID-19
response team.
Registration opens for Girls Build camps
Registration is open for the
popular Girls Build camp
scheduled in Warrenton this
summer.
Other camps are held in Til-
lamook, Portland and South-
ern Oregon.
The Warrenton camp is
co-sponsored by Hampton
Affiliates and the Warren-
ton-Hammond School Dis-
trict and is run by women
in the construction trades. It
provides a hands-on opportu-
nity for girls ages 8 to 15 to
develop building skills and
learn about the high-paying
skilled crafts.
In prior years, participants
have built playhouses, bench-
es and picture boxes and
worked with circular saws,
nail guns, drills and sanders.
The weeklong camp is from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Aug.
23-27 and includes breakfast
and lunch. Cost for the War-
renton camp is $310 and some
scholarships are available. To
sign up, go to girlsbuild.org.
Special columns in The Columbia Press
Every week: Senior Moments with Emma Edwards
Week 1: Financial Focus with Adam Miller
Week 2: Here’s to Your Health from CMH
Week 3: Off the Shelf by Kelly Knudsen
Last week: Mayor’s Message by Henry Balensifer