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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2000)
Page 8 The INDEPENDENT, November 15, 2000 Wide variety of made in Oregon gifts available for holiday giving With the wide variety of Ore gon produce, Oregon foods make an ideal holiday gift for friends and relatives. If you have the time and the talents to create your special products when the produce is in season during the year, you can have some very cherished, tasty treats for friends and relatives to enjoy during the year. If you choose to create your own products, do take the time to follow research-based pro cessing procedures. Another important practice is to label your home-canned products with the recommendations you followed to inform the receiver of your procedures. Check your methods by obtaining the OSU Extension publications on canning fruits, vegetable, sal sa, meats and seafoods. Creating a gift basket that is filled with a variety of foods is a simple way to present your gift. One idea is to include a favorite recipe from you for using your food gifts or organizing the in gredients for a quick meal or the makings for a special occa sion, complete with fancy nap- Fireplace can keep you cozy if you maintain safety loose sections of pipe, throw ing burning particles and flames into the house. Should a flue fire start, shut off the air supply to the woodstove, get everyone out of the house and call 911. Along with making sure your chimney is creosote-free, be sure to dispose of ashes prop erly, in a covered metal con Every year, fire trucks re tainer, kept outdoors at least 3 spond to chimney and flue fires feet from anything flammable. that could have been prevent Also, keep combustible materi ed had the homeowner taken als, such as furniture, drapes the time to have his or her fire and decorations, away from place system inspected. The the fireplace or woodstove it most important step is to clean self. Using a fireplace screen the stovepipe or chimney be can also help prevent sparks fore lighting the first fire of the and ashes from leaping out of winter. This can be done your the fire and landing on sur self, but fire officials recom rounding furniture and carpet. mend having a professional As always, vacuum and test chimney sweep do it for you. smoke alarms to be certain that The cleaning process involves they are working properly; it is special tools of the trade, such recommended that the batter as a wire brush to clear away ies be changed twice a year creosote, the sooty buildup that and alarms more than 10 years can ignite, causing the old be replaced. Thousands of homes in Ore stovepipe or chimney to heat gon rely on outdated wood- up to over 2000 degrees stoves or fireplace inserts in Fahrenheit, starting a flue fire. stalled during the energy crisis Chimney maintenance is vi of the late 1970’s. Many of tal to safe woodstove and fire these may not have been in place operation, and fire mar stalled or maintained properly. shals recommend that your These stoves produce far more chimney be inspected annually smoke and burn less efficiently to cut back on the chances of a than the modern certified chimney fire. These intense woodstoves, pellet stoves or fires can cause much damage, non-woodburning systems like igniting the house inside and natural gas. Check to see if out and creating enough your woodstove is a certified smoke to be deadly to occu model by looking on the back pants indoors. If a chimney flue of the stove for a certification is not cleaned, a chimney fire sticker from the Department of will occur. It will begin when the Environmental Quality (DEQ) creosote, which is made up of or the Environmental Protec tiny unburned particles of wood tion Agency (EPA). If there is fuel, heats up until it turns no tag, it may be an uncertified, bright red. As air rushes in to high-polluting stove. oxygenate the fire, a loud, roar Oregon law allows the use ing sound will be heard inside of woodstoves, uncertified or the stovepipe. It may shake not. However, resale or rein Now that cold weather is upon us, more and more Ore gonians will be turning to their woodstoves or fireplaces to keep warm. Before lighting the first bundle of kindling, state and local fire safety profession als urge you to take the neces sary precautions to ensure that a flue fire does not occur. stallation of an uncertified stove is prohibited. Homeown ers who upgrade their wood stove should request that the installer recycle their old stove. For information about chim ney sweeping and a list of pro fessional chimney sweeps, check out www.ocsa.org. For more information on wood stoves and other fireplace products, call the Oregon Hearth Products Association at 503-585-8254 or check out the website at www.ohpa.org. For information on wood smoke pollution, contact the Oregon DEQ at 503-229-5359 or www.deq.state.or.us. tire kins and a bottle of Oregon wine. Oregon also has a nice se lection of packaged and pre served foods manufactured by Oregon companies for those with no time for preparing gifts. Consider jams, sauces, nuts, dried fruit and flavored vine gars. If the opportunity to get fresh produce has passed by, holi day jams from frozen berries or fruit leather from canned fruit are other options for easily pre pared, out of season items. G ranny ’ s C rafts CQ q & G ift I tems Christmas Gifts & Decorations Plenty of new items in stock Prices Reduced on selected items. Order your Personalized Christmas Sacks and have them hand-painted by Susan! Hate to wrap gifts? W ell do it fo r you! HOURS: M onday thru Friday 10-5, Sundays 12-4 In th e Bridge Street Mall 902 Bridge St., Vernonia • (503) 704-6983 eaóon • • • to think about your Christmas letters. 3u w rite « 'Ü d tess « i th e styte ' Vetterhea' ,Udayted oï ! bright» * ■ a , onvetopeS t â t r risttnas it Special Two 1-Hour Gift Certificates“$60 or Four 1-Hour Gift Certificates...$100 OFFER GOOD IN DECEMBER, 2000. ONLY Summer Country Massage Clinic In the Bridge Street Mall 902 Bridge Street, Vernonia • 503-429-5800 d d ^ iP ^ ^ e te tw e to V e l v e \ o p e , ^ P et Return The INDEPENDENT 725 Bridgi Strut, T in n ii, OB 970B4 503-429-9410
