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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.
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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