The INDEPENDENT, February 17, 2011
Page 5
Business Notes
TenderCare ® Dental Center now open in Banks
TenderCare ® Dental Center
is now open in Banks. Dr. An-
drew Thompson, D.M.D., has
had an office in North Plains
since April 2002, and opened
the Banks office on January 4,
2011. Dr. Thompson’s history
with Banks goes back to his
high school days, when his fa-
ther, Dr. Robert Thompson,
opened a dental office in Banks
in the building most recently
used by Benson Realty. The
elder Dr. Thompson had son
Andrew dig under the building
to work on the foundation.
The elder Dr. Thompson
also opened the dental office in
the current location in Vernon-
ia, before selling out to his
brother, Dr. Ernie Thompson,
who then sold the practice to
Dr. Scott VanDyken.
But, back to Banks. Dr. An-
drew Thompson looked at
space beside Jim’s Thriftway
about 10 years ago, but wasn’t
able to get the right amount of
space for the right amount of
money at that time. About a
year and a half ago, he stopped
in again and found that now the
right space was available. Why
Banks? Dr. Thompson did
some investigation and found
that Banks was the only incor-
porated Oregon city of its size
without a dentist. “That’s really
interesting,” he said to himself.
Looking further, he looked at
the number of children in the
school district and decided, “I
felt there was a need and
they’d appreciate having me
here.”
Dr. Thompson is part of a
family of dentists. His wife is a
dentist, in the Bethany area, as
are his father, his uncle, his
cousin and his sister’s hus-
band. So far, none of his three
children; Halle (age 10), Kyle
(age 8) or Heath (age 3) have
declared an intention to follow
the family profession, but
there’s still time.
TenderCare ® Dental Center
in Banks serves adults and chil-
dren and also provides some
orthodontic care. They are
open on alternating Wednes-
days and Thursdays, with five
chairs available. Between
North Plains and Banks, the
phones are set to transfer auto-
matically, so patients can al-
ways reach them. They are lo-
cated at 664 S. Main St. in
Banks, beside Jim’s Thriftway.
TenderCare ® Dental Center’s
goal is, “Quality dentistry deliv-
ered tenderly.” Call 503-747-
3409 for an appointment, or go
to www.tendercaredentist.com
for more information.
Nominees sought for Congressional Medal of Honor
Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merk-
ley announced, on February 3,
that the Congressional Medal
of Honor Foundation is now ac-
cepting nominations for the Cit-
izen Service Before Self Hon-
ors, which recognize and honor
extraordinary Americans who
have acted with courage and
selflessness. Citizen Honors
are exceptional because they
are presented to unsung he-
roes by our nation’s most hon-
ored heroes – the fewer than
90 living Medal of Honor Recip-
ients.
“In communities across Ore-
gon, there are exceptional indi-
viduals who make sacrifices for
others and routinely go the ex-
tra mile to care for their neigh-
bors and fellow Americans,”
Merkley said. “I encourage
Oregonians to nominate indi-
viduals who have demonstrat-
ed exceptional commitment to
their community and country.”
Citizen Service Before Self
Honor recipients represent the
values of courage, sacrifice
and selfless service. Senator
Merkley and the Congressional
Medal of Honor Society en-
courage individuals to nomi-
nate any United States civilian
who has clearly demonstrated
a willingness to sacrifice for
others, whether it has been
through a single act of extraor-
dinary heroism at risk to one’s
life or through a prolonged se-
ries of selfless acts. The nomi-
nee’s actions must epitomize
the concept of “service before
self” and must be performed
“above and beyond” one’s pro-
fessional or vocational area of
responsibility or conduct.
Citizens may submit an eligi-
ble nominee by completing the
nomination form online via the
Citizen Service Before Self web
site at http://citizenservicebe
foreselfhonors.org. The dead-
line for nominations is Friday,
February 18, 2011.
A panel of judges, to include
Medal of Honor recipients, will
consider all nominations and
select a finalist from every
state, plus the District of Co-
lumbia. From among the state
finalists, three individuals will
be selected to receive Citizen
Honors and recognized at a
ceremony on Friday, March 25,
2011, in conjunction with Na-
tional Medal of Honor Day. The
ceremony will be held in the
shadow of the Tomb of the Un-
knowns at Arlington Cemetery
in Washington, D.C.
Volunteer urges others to get active in community
From page 1
too.
Attending the Vernonia Area
Chamber of Commerce meet-
ings on behalf of Vernonia
Pride got her started with the
Chamber. Webb said her goal
at the chamber was, “To get
Vernonia on the map. I think
the flood may have helped that
more than I, but I am pretty
sure I had a good hand in it. I
know I tried hard enough.”
Webb served the Chamber for
about six years, leaving the po-
sition of President earlier this
year.
Webb also volunteered as a
host parent for foreign ex-
change students, with Vernonia
First Friday, Jamboree, Salmon
Fest, Riverfest (now defunct),
the Grange, Study Club, as Cy-
cle Oregon coordinator, and
worked getting signatures to
take to Salem to get local call-
ing service here.
Now Webb has cut back on
her volunteer hours to enjoy
family, including new grandchil-
dren. Her final comment was,
“The only thing I will say is
THANK YOU, Vernonia resi-
dents and friends. I have loved
serving my community. I love
Vernonia.”
Just goes to show that a per-
son can work full-time and still
be involved in the community.
Webb hopes her story acts as a
challenge, so more community
members get out and volunteer.
Dr. Andrew Thompson, D.M.D.
Watch state legislature floor
sessions, more, live on-line
Oregon’s legislative pro-
ceedings can be viewed on-line
with coverage of all committee
hearings, Senate and House
floor sessions and news con-
ferences available over the
Legislature’s website (www.ore
gon legislature.gov).
The website offers live video
and audio streams from each
of the Capitol’s two chambers,
11 hearing rooms, and from
news conferences held in the
Capitol press room and Gover-
nor’s Ceremonial Office. The
Legislature’s website also of-
fers 24/7 access to archived
audio recordings of all legisla-
tive proceedings going back to
the 1999 session. For more in-
formation on how to access the
audio/video resources on the
website, contact the Legislative
Information Services Help
Desk at 503-986-1914.
Legislative Administration
also recently decided not to ex-
tend the pilot project called the
Oregon Channel, which is car-
ried by only six cable public ac-
cess channels at limited times
each day, compared with 24/7
access of all legislative pro-
ceedings available to Oregoni-
ans via the Legislature’s web-
site. The Oregon Channel pilot
was launched during the 2007
legislative session, in partner-
ship with Oregon Public Broad-
casting and Southern Oregon
Public Television. The Oregon
Channel will be discontinued
on July 1, 2011, following the
conclusion of the current Leg-
islative session.
“We are working to provide
cost-effective and easy access
to audio and video for the most
number of Oregon citizens. The
Legislature’s website is an ex-
cellent resource for Oregoni-
ans to follow a wide range of
legislative proceedings from
floor sessions to committee
hearings to news conferences,”
said Legislative Media Ser-
vices Manager Bill Gross.