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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2011)
The INDEPENDENT, July 20, 2011 Free sports physicals available . Sports physicals will be of- fered at no charge to those Vernonia students who qualify for free/reduced meal benefits on Monday, July 25. Contact the District Office, 475 Bridge Street, Vernonia, or by phone at 503-429-5891 to sign up. Here are some summer fun ideas During the summer months, children have lots of unstruc- tured time, and parents or grandparents may have more time with children. Adults can enhance children’s develop- ment while building a store of great memories by planning fun and stimulating summer ac- tivities. Here are a few ideas that don’t cost much money. The key ingredient is an adult who is willing to spend TIME with children. • Turn off the TV, video games, and computers! The average child spends more than 21 hours each week watching TV. Children need in- teractions with others to devel- op social skills. Summer is a great time to “hang out” in local public parks where children can climb, slide, swim, and swing. All of these physical ac- tivities promote coordination and enhanced self-esteem. All the adult has to do is watch and talk about what the child is do- ing. • Churn up a freezer of ice cream. This is an opportunity for a science lesson. How do salt and ice make it freeze? The end result is a cool treat for a hot day. Any food preparation is a science lesson. Most chil- dren enjoy helping prepare snacks and meals. • Go further than food prepa- ration. Go to production! Get the children into the garden to help see where food really comes from. It is surprising how tasty vegetables become when you grow your own. • Visit the library often. Reading is a lifelong pleasure. Libraries generally have spe- cial summer programs. This is a great way to improve skills vi- tal to school (and life) success. • Use summer events as a way to teach children responsi- bility. Have the children plan and lead the games at a family picnic. To teach money skills give them a budget for enter- tainment. • Have your older children plan dinner one night. Give them a budget and the respon- sibility of planning, shopping for, preparing and cleaning up after the meal. • Have your children teach you something. This is a great way for grandparents to learn about computers. It is a great self-esteem builder when chil- dren are allowed to be the ex- perts! • You can teach children something you want to pass on – recipes or a craft such as knitting or woodworking. • Remember what you liked to do when you were a child, and do some of those same ac- tivities with your own child. This is a great way to build family traditions that are passed across generations. • Take a swimming break. Go to a local pool, river or creek. Don’t forget the sun- screen! • Try “water painting”. A bucket of water, a paint brush and a sidewalk or porch is all you need for a masterpiece. You can even pass the time watching your creations evapo- rate. Drawing with sidewalk chalk on a wet pavement is also fun. • Take a tour around your house/neighborhood. Look for things you haven’t noticed be- fore. • Go for a nature walk. Be- sides being good exercise, you can investigate rocks, plants, bugs, etc. Just remember to be careful around critters – some of them view humans as a threat and will try to protect themselves! • Make some homemade bubbles: 1/4 cup liquid dish de- tergent, 1 tsp. corn syrup, and 1/2 cup of water. Make bubble wands out of bent wire wrapped with yarn, or use a slotted spoon. • Camp out in the back yard! • Is it raining? Have a cookie baking day. (Put some in the freezer to enjoy later or take some and share with the neigh- bors.) • Check out the local OSU Extension Office for summer day camps and other activities. Source: Jinny Hopp, Human Envi- ronmental Sciences Specialist, University in Jasper County and Angela M. Fletcher, Human Devel- opment Specialist, University of Missouri Page 11 Young hunters must now wear orange New rules that require youth to wear hunter orange when hunting take effect August 1, 2011. As of that date, hunters age 17 and under are required to wear a hunter (fluorescent) or- ange exterior garment or hat when hunting game mammals or upland game birds (except turkey) with any firearm. Details of the regulation: • Exterior garment means a shirt, jacket, coat, vest or sweater. • Hat means any head cov- ering (hat, bandana). • The upper garment or hat must be visible in all directions (e.g. 360° of hunter orange). • Hunter orange camouflage patterns are acceptable. • Game mammals are deer, elk, bear, cougar, pronghorn antelope, Rocky Mountain goat, bighorn sheep and west- ern gray squirrel. • Upland birds are forest grouse (blue and ruffed), chukar/Hungarian (gray) par- tridge, pheasants, quail (Cali- fornia and mountain) and sage grouse. • “Hunt” means to take or at- tempt to take any wildlife by means involving the use of a weapon. Archery, turkey and migrato- Col. County SBHC’s get awards On July 14, Oregon Sena- tors Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded over $4 million to twelve school-based health centers across Oregon to expand ac- cess to quality health care to children while at school. Fund- ing for these awards comes from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Columbia Health District - Public Health Authority in St. Helens received $500,000 in the awards. “In Columbia County, we are improving two clinics,” says Sherrie Ford, MPH, School Based Health Clinic (SBHC) Coordinator, “making one more accessible for teens, and making both more accessible for mental health services. Rainier is a ru- ral community and the SBHC is on a K-12 campus of 1050 stu- dents. Columbia County does not have a hospital, and Rainier has no primary care providers except the SBHC. Without the SBHC, Rainier families have to travel 60 miles for mental health services.” “Investments in preventive health care, like health screen- ings, health promotion, and dis- ease prevention activities are a key to making our families healthy,” said Merkley. “If you want to help get kids healthy, you go where the kids are: at school. Providing resources to school-based health centers will ensure Oregon children get the care they need so they can succeed in the classroom.” “Early, accessible and tar- geted investments in the well- ry bird hunters are exempt from the hunter orange requirement. (Turkey and waterfowl have ex- cellent eyesight and wearing hunter orange could reduce hunter success.) The Fish and Wildlife Com- mission adopted the new rule last year to protect youth hunters from vision-related firearm incidents. Adult hunters are also strongly encouraged to wear hunter orange when in the field. Some controlled (limited en- try) youth elk hunting seasons open August 1 and general season bear and cougar will also be open that day. But most hunting seasons don’t open un- til September or October. being of Oregon’s children set the cornerstone for a path of lifelong health,” said Wyden. “Expanding preventive health care in schools means healthi- er kids and less hassle for working parents and big sav- ings for Oregon families.” The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act appropriat- ed a total of $200 million for 2010 through 2013 for the School-Based Health Center Capital Program to address capital needs in school-based health centers. These funds announced are the first in the series of awards that will be made available to school- based health centers under the Affordable Care Act. The Health Resources and Ser- vices Administration (HRSA) oversees the program. G OOD F OOD G OOD F RIENDS G OOD T IMES 831 Bridge St. Vernonia, OR 503-429-0214 Vernonia Veterinary Clinic Formerly Midway Veterinary Clinic Monday, Wednesday & Saturday 700 Weed Avenue Vernonia
