Page 6
The INDEPENDENT, November 1,2000
Community
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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
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Vernonia Federal
Credit Union
503-429-8031
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PASTRIES • MUFFINS • COOKIES • BAGELS
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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.
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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