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The INDEPENDENT, January 15, 2004
Bits & Bites
Health Notes
By Audeen Wagner
Welcome, Amy
Amy
Leatherwood,
Nurse Practitioner, has
joined the staff at Vernonia
Clinic. Amy grew up in
Banks, graduated from St.
Mary’s High School in
Portland, and attended the
University of San Francis-
co for her undergraduate
studies, earning a degree in Exercise and Sports
Science. She returned to Oregon to work in the
Physical Therapy Department at Providence. Af-
ter three years, she returned to San Francisco,
where she entered a master’s nursing program
and graduated in Advanced Practice Nursing;
she is certified as a Nurse Practitioner. In addi-
tion to working for Providence in Portland, she
has Public Health experience in a rural, family
practice clinic in Tillamook. Her career interests
include family practice, women’s health and rural
medicine. Amy and her husband, Aaron, live in
Hillsboro, and enjoy hiking and swimming in their
free time. “I’m excited to be part of the medical
community in Vernonia,” Amy said. “I believe
strongly that every person deserves good health
care, and that is my goal.”
Winter Storm
Clinic Manager Cathy Rozinek wants to say
thanks to all the clinic patients who suffered
through the icy weather with us. “Our faithful
courier service just wasn’t able to get to Vernon-
ia for days, creating a frustrating time for patients
needing prescriptions,” she said, “and most pa-
tients realized that there’s not a lot we could do
when Mother Nature goes on the rampage! We
are sorry for any inconvenience caused by the
storm.” On two occasions, Marla Rethwill made
the trip to Scappoose to pick up medications.
The staff at the clinic will no doubt be glad to see
the end of winter!
I couldn’t help but notice that while many clin-
ics in and around Portland were closed during
the weather crisis, Vernonia Family Medicine
managed to stay up and running. The caregivers
who have to commute to Vernonia managed to
get to the clinic, so they were available for pa-
tient care on a regular schedule.
It’s the Cold Season
Fortunately, we have gotten off easy with the
annual influenza bug this year, but many families
are down with severe colds. The advice from the
clinic is to make sure you eat right, drink lots of
fluids, get extra vitamin C, and make sure you
get enough rest. And, if symptoms persist, you
should be seen for diagnosis and treatment.
Mammovan Schedule
Family Nurse Practitioner Amy Leatherwood
is now seeing patients at Providence Family
Medicine in Vernonia.
The next visit of the Mammovan to the Ver-
nonia Clinic will be February 25. Appointment for
a mammogram can be made at the local clinic
(503-429-9191).
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By Jacqueline Ramsay
Happy
N e w
Year. Ho!
Ho!
It
came in
crisp,
clear,
white and
s i l e n t l y.
Well, al-
most. That one fellow has to
shoot off his cannon once a
year. Don’t know who he is but
he makes himself heard.
I know I was sort of griping
about what was missing during
the holiday season in Vernonia
but driving into town early one
morning there was a feeling of
“Our Town” about the main
street. The blinking light, the
court house. Not a car on the
street for four blocks; until my
eyes caught the warm welcome
glow of a lighted spiral barber
pole, casting the welcome sign,
“come in, it’s warm inside.”
Someone to talk to and catch
up on what’s going on in town.
The smell of shaving cream
and lotion and a smiling face
(that’s the memories it brought
back to me).
It’s time to take down the
twinkling lights, bells, balls,
swags, wreaths, garlands and
dried out trees. Wash the win-
dows, sweep the floors, clean
out the fridge and eat the final
bowl of turkey soup.
I’m tired, guess I’ll curl up
with another good book til
spring. Read two books by
Jane Kirkpatrick, A Name of
Her Own and Homestead.
Strange what life presents to
you when you read. I did not
know the author until I read her
book Homestead. Our lives
crossed in March of ‘86 when
they crashed their airplane in
downtown Wasco, Oregon, not
far from our house. I knew
nothing more of her until her
book brought back that day.
We came here in July of ‘86.
On books yet – last May I
was touting OLD books, well, I
was in the Senior Center just
before Christmas and a lady
was purchasing two of them for
Christmas gifts. Whoopee.
Guess what? Winter has fi-
nally arrived. This will be one
we can talk about for years –
it’s been about seven years
since we had one close to this.
What does hi ber nate really
mean? Hi = Hello, ber = slang
for I’m cold, nate = (since nates
is plural, natis is half a but-
tocks). So much for breaking a
word down to today’s English.
You see the word hibernate
means going stir crazy for a
house-bound human.
I’ve read Clan of the Cave
Bear in two days and watched
12 hours of old Sherlock
Holmes videos. I had forgotten
some of them but the 7% Solu-
tion is still good watching.
Good Grief. The robins are
back, get out your bread
crumbs and bird seed. Can the
hummingbirds be far behind?
Kiwi’s are the only birds with
a sense of smell.
A Big P.S.
All I can say is thank you to
Vernonia Sr. Center bread and
vegetables. I was smart
enough (for once) to pick up
onions, spuds, cantaloupe and
fresh salad mix just before the
storm hit. Also, thanks to my
friend who braved the thaw to
go out and get me the meds I
ran out of. My drug store does
not mail out prescriptions. I
wonder how many others got
caught this way. Bless you.
Submit art for Youth Art Show
This year’s annual Youth Art
Show at The Gallery at Colum-
bia Center will be held a month
earlier than usual, though it will
start a week later than the date
published in the 2004 Gallery
brochure because of weather-
caused school closures.
Artists through grade 12 are
invited to submit artwork on
Monday, February 9, from 4:00
to 6:30 p.m. at the Columbia
Center, 375 S 18th Street, St
Helens.
Art will be on display from
February 10 through February
27. The artists, their friends and
families, and the public are in-
vited to an opening night recep-
tion on Friday, February 13,
from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. to ad-
mire the art, enjoy great
snacks, and congratulate the
prize winners. Prizes will be
awarded by age group and all
those attending the reception
will have the opportunity to vote
for a candidate for the People’s
Choice award.
Although many local class-
rooms submit art as a group,
home schooled students and
children not yet enrolled in
school are also welcome to
participate. For more informa-
tion on art submissions contact
Jan Rentenaar, show coordina-
tor, at 503-397-7873.