Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2000)
Page 6 The INDEPENDENT, November 1,2000 Community '7gg>Y P - 'ÿ illili . aaaaaaaaaalaalalaa By Karen Miller Last week, I had the oppor tunity to converse with an 82 year-old employee of a store I was shopping in. Of course, I had to ask her to what she con tributed her agility and well ness. “Get out and do some thing!” was her emphatic reply as she tore into cardboard box es on the floor. A reply, I might add, that still haunts me every time I kick back in my easy chair! Here at the Senior Center, we have lots of room for volun teer work; not only here, but around town. Jacqueline Ram sey, one of our faithful volun teers, also reads stories every week to a group of schoolkids who can’t wait for her next chapter! There is also a pro gram called Volunteerworks at 503-413-7787, if you are look ing for a place to serve. Please plan to attend our November 3 business meeting as Jim Tierney will be updating the information on our pro posed Senior Center. We need your input. Also, please plan to attend the 1:00 p.m. meeting on No vember 15, when we will be meeting with Harold Scudder and the folks from Elder Care. They are studying the feasibili ty of an Assisted Living Center in this area. It is your city. It’s in the inter est of you and your families to help us plan for the future. As of January 1, 2001, our dues will be $10 per person per year. All dues will be due Janu ary 1. If the payments overlap, we will adjust them to 2001. From the kitchen: Again, we would like to remind you; Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Here at the center we will be holding Thanksgiving lunch, which this year will be Friday, November 17. There will be a sign up sheet at the Senior Center for anyone will ing to help serve in the kitchen or bake a pie. The kitchen staff would like to express a big thank you to our area churches and seniors who volunteer to help serve and clean up each week. And if you think that spoons are just for eating, you should have heard Bill Yeo, our dispatcher for Colco, play his spoons to a honky-tonk moun tain fiddlin’ tune at our recent Banks Fiddle playing night! Lots of action around here; come on down! On-line food distribution network Senator Ron Wyden an nounced that he has secured $167,000 in the Fiscal Year 2001 Agriculture Appropria tions Conference Report to fund “Food Effectively and Electronically Distributed” (FEED), the first online food distribution network in the na tion. “We have a situation where crops are rotting in the field while Oregonians are going hungry, and something’s got to be done,” Wyden said. “By link ing food producers with distrib utors and food banks, FEED will get more food to more peo ple. When it comes to feeding the hungry, we have nowhere to go but up, and it’s time to get started.” Wyden devised the idea for FEED, his initiative to combat hunger in Oregon, as a new way to improve transportation of donated food and crops to people in need. In its most re cent report on the state of food security in the United States, the U.S. Department of Agricul ture (USDA) found that Oregon had the highest percentage of hungry people in the entire na tion. FEED will serve as an elec tronic clearinghouse of infor mation for anyone interested in increasing food access by link ing food producers, transporta tion and distribution services and food banks. The FEED Web site, which will be funded through Oregon State Universi ty’s Extension Service, will be administered by the Oregon Food Bank. The Food Bank will develop FEED in partnership with the Oregon Truckers As sociation, Dial-A-Truck (DAT) transportation services, the Oregon Extension Service and the Oregon Farm Bureau. The FY 2001 Agriculture Ap propriations Conference Re port now goes to the President for his signature. LOW CO$T CAR LOANS Vernonia Federal Credit Union 503-429-8031 (jA eo iive QjwLpjuJL&e GA Af) & (Deli HOT, ICED & BLENDED DRINKS & TEA PASTRIES • MUFFINS • COOKIES • BAGELS SANDWICHES • SALADS • SOUPS • CHILI • CHILI DOGS By Audeen Wagner INFORMATION NUMBERS COLCO Transportation ........................ 429-4304 Senior Advocate.. 429-9112 Senior Center..... 429-3912 “Fam ilies” council seeking members If programs and activities af fecting children and families are important to you, you may be the person the Columbia County Board of Commission ers is looking for. Volunteers are needed to serve on the Columbia County Commission on Children and Families. This 20-member ad visory committee makes rec ommendations to the Board of Commissioners regarding the expenditure of state and feder al funds for programs and serv ices for children and their fami lies in Columbia County. Lay representatives are needed from the Vernonia, Clatskanie and Rainier areas. For further information, call the Commission on Children and Families at 503-397-7211. Qualified child care providers needed Many Columbia County fam ilies are desperately searching for quality care for their chil dren because quality child care is a vital link to achieve self- sufficiency and maintain em ployment that benefits the fam ilies, their employers and their communities. There is also a critical short age of qualified childcare providers in the county. Exempt providers may not have the ba sic skills and training needed to provide quality care for children. Caring Options, a program of Community Action Team, Inc., supports individuals and groups in their endeavors to operate child care businesses that provide professional, qual ity childcare. For information on operating a child care busi ness, call 1-800-404-3511 or 503-397-3511. For information on available child care in the Vernonia area, call Caring Options Child Care Resource & Referral at the same number. Great American Smoke-out is only 1 5 days away (Get ready to quit) O reg on Tobacco Jh&Ajap&uik WlaAMupi: Call503429-9011 ( da dslails Q u it Line Nail & Tanning Appointments Available • Walk-ins Welcome toll free REG HOURS: Mon 6a-12:30p • Tu-F 6a-5p • Sa 7a-5p • Su 8a-2p 854 BRIDGE ST., VERNONIA • 503-429-9011 I-8 7 7 -2 7 0 -S T O P Flu Shot Information: As reported in the last Independent, the influenza vaccine supply is late and may be lim ited; however, now the Center for Disease Control (CDC) says they are “optimistic” that anyone who wants a flu shot will be able to have one this fall or winter. Michele Treece, a P.A. student at Pacific University, has been researching the flue shot issue for the Vernonia Clinic, and she tells us that the Clinic will adhere to their policy of providing the shots for the “risk” groups first, but are hopeful that everyone will be able to get their shots if they want them. Those “risk” patients include: - Persons aged 65 or older; - Residents of nursing homes and other chronic-care facilities that house people of any age who have chronic medical conditions; - Adults and children who have chronic pulmonary or cardiovascular problems, including asthma, and those with chronic diseases like diabetes, kidney problems and blood disorders; - Children and teenagers who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy; - Women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during the influenza season. Pneumonia Shots are available for $22 and Flu shots are $15. GetAFIuShot Program: In the meantime, Sentry Markets (and other grocery stores around the area) are having Flu Vaccination Clinics in their stores. Vernonia Sentry will hold a clinic on Saturday, November 4, from 12:00 to 7:00 pm. Their guidelines: - All immunizations administered by registered nurses. - Minimum age: 12 years (parental consent required for minors). Cost: $12.00 per Flu Shot. Medicare part B accepted (you must have your Medicare Card with you). Randy Parrow reports that there is limited insurance coverage through Providence Health Plan, First Choice 65 and Secure Horizons. If you belong to one of these HMO’s, you may have insurance coverage for your shot. Pneumonia and Tetanus vaccinations are also being offered for $25 and $20, respectively. While the Sentry program stresses the importance of those “at risk” patients getting their shots, patients will not be screened, so it’s basically first-come, first-served. For questions, visit www.GetAFIuShot.com or email: Nurse@GetAFIuShot.com., or call 503-299-4945 or 888-536- 6900 to talk to a real person. Meet Michele Treece: As a student in the Physician’s Assistant Master’s Program at Pacific University, Michele has been working at Providence Family Medicine, Vernonia, for about five weeks as an Intern. It is, she says, a “very intensive program” to become a Physicians’ Assistant; she will graduate in the sum mer of 2001. She is at the Vernonia Clinic working under close supervision of Laura Nichols, P.A. and Mark Livingston, M.D. At this stage in her training, she is qualified and experienced in most office procedures, such as suturing, complete examinations, assessments and treatments. She has undertaken a special proj ect in Vernonia working in the school athletic department giving a class on concussions and head injuries to coaches and PE teachers. Michele has an interesting background for her work: She earned a B.A. from Occidental College in Los Angeles in Kinesiology. During that time, she worked as a student athletic trainer and has logged over 1000 hours in this field. After graduation, she was in the Army for five years. Part of her training and experience was in the field of emergency response, similar to EMT training. “We were trained to stop the bleeding and assess injuries,” she says. Her present goals lean toward Surgical or Orthopedic work. “But right now, I’m keeping my options open,” Michele said. The clinic rotation part of her training will help her decide her future, as she will work in many different clinic settings, such as Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, etc. Michele has been married for five year, with no children. On the rare occasions when she has spare time, it is likely to be spent at outdoor activities. Laura Nichols says, “Michele is a highly qualified student and we at the clinic appreciate the community response and cooper ation with the P.A. Intern Program. These are our care providers of the future!” LOW CO$T CAR LOANS Vernonia Federal Credit Union • 5 0 3 4 2 9 -8 0 3 1
