BARBARA’S LEAVING US

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Jackie Deal

Who?  Where?  When?  How??  I dunno.  “Ask Barbara.” For 16 ½ years Barbara has been the go-to for all information, the glue that holds Timber Valley SKP Park together.  And now she’s leaving us! By the way, did you know that Barbara has a last name? It’s Davis, and now that we’ve learned it, we have to let her go. Noon, Thursday, Dec. 31 will be her last day.  With Covid rearing its ugly head we can’t have a fare-well party or even a mass gathering. So come on, let’s at least leave off cards at the office.  Kim assures us she will see that Barbara gets them.

Barbara has been a fixture in the office since 2004. She has survived many boards, many managers and many of us who all thought we were her boss.   She lives in Sutherlin and plans to remain here.  She has two kids and five grandchildren. We’re told she has “acreage with chickens, a cat and flowers”.  (What a combination!) We know she likes to go to garage sales and shop. So you garage sales people look for her!  She also “loves Seven Feathers” so maybe we’ll see her there when Covid calms down.

We’re told her plans are to “just relax” and we wish her the best with that.  Kim says she will be on call if needed so we may see her in the office sometime. Cards with best wishes will be most appropriate.  Thank you Barbara, we will miss you. And enjoy retirement.  You deserve it.

Posted in Announcements, Events, Featured, General Interest, News | 11 Comments

Christmas Thoughts

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Jackie Deal

See the source imageby Jackie Deal

While a few Christmas lights still twinkle and the Christmas dinner pounds abound, let’s think of Christmas Past. I remember three kinds of Christmases; perhaps you’ll remember them too.  There’s the Minnesota Christmas:  COLD,Cold cold.  The Oregon Christmas: rainy, wet, foggy.  And the Arizona Christmas: cactus, palm trees and sand.

You may have known them by other names but the surroundings were probably similar. The Minnesota Christmas always meant snow, in fact after I moved from Minnesota I just couldn’t feel Christmassy until I saw some snow. However, the most snow I ever saw was in New Hampshire where I spent one winter.   In the morning, ready to go to work, you open the door and there’s nothing but white, white, white.  The snow was deeper than the door! It was nothing to walk in snow up to your waist.  One winter was enough!

Oregon, the Willamette and Umpqua River valleys, where I’ve experienced many Christmases is stingy with its snow. Rain and fog are normal.  The fog lifts and drops and the scenery changes: sometimes you’re surrounded by mountains and other times, nothing exists but your own driveway. It’s really rather enchanting.  And the rain, there are different kinds of rain. My favorite is the soft, gentle mist-like rain that makes you lift your face and say “Oh, isn’t this a lovely, nice rain.” Of course, there’s also the blasting horizontally driven downpour that makes you wonder why you don’t live in Arizona!

Christmas in Arizona?  Aw, totally different.  Twinkle lights nestled in palm trees and adorning cactus.  There’s nothing like it! Santa doesn’t come on a sleigh, maybe a hay wagon pulled by a camel.  It can get a little crispy, cold (not by Minnesota standards!) and winter jackets feel good. Once, just once, I saw snow on the desert floor and sparkling on the cactus:  what a novel sight! But if you’re waiting for snow, you‘ll miss Christmas.  Now I know, Northern Arizona in the mountains does have snow but they don’t share it with the valley and the deserts.

Whatever, wherever your Christmas, this was the year of the Covid Christmas for all of us.  So let’s look ahead:  Covid can’t last forever.  It will be contained faster if we all do our part.  You know the drill:  masks, wash hands, 6 feet apart.  This too shall pass but Christmas?  Aw, it will last forever.

Posted in Featured, General Interest | 1 Comment

IN MEMORIUM, JAYNE HICKMAN

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Jackie Deal

Jayne Hickman passed away Dec. 18, 2020 after a 17 month illness. Jayne and Les moved into the park in 2017 and Les says that he met “wonderful people” here in Timber Valley who helped him care for Jayne in her final months. Jayne was born in New Orleans and Les in New Mexico; they RVed the United States for almost 15 years. They heard about the Northwest from a Park Ranger in New Mexico who said she looked forward to retiring here. At that point their travels hadn’t taken them to the Northwest so they decided to try it and they liked the area. They lived in Green (Roseburg) and waited three years to get into the park.

Les says he has a son in Vermont but he knows he “doesn’t like snow and cold” so his current plans are to stay here. His friends and all of Timber Valley wish him well in the coming years.

Posted in Announcements, Members, Obits | 1 Comment

TWO CHOICES?

Posted on December 23, 2020 by Jackie Deal

Two Covid 19 vaccines?  You mean we get a choice?  Nope, not really. Yes, two vaccines have been approved but we better be happy to have one or the other and don’t get choosy. Let’s take a look at how the vaccines are made and a bit more about them.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – “U.S. regulators authorized Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Friday, a week after granting the first U.S. authorization to Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s coronavirus shot.”  So to be exact:  Pfizer (a US company) and BioNTech (a German company) vaccine was approved first and one week later Moderna (a Massachusetts’s company) received U.S. approval.

Are they the same?  Are they different?  From what I could find they are made the same way (which we’ll go into in a minute), they’re equally effective and equally safe. BUT the temperature required to keep them stable long-term is vastly different.

Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at ultra-cold temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 Fahrenheit). Once thawed, it can only be refrigerated for 5 days. The vaccine requires a special shipping container packed with dry ice to keep it at the proper temperature.

Moderna’s vaccine can be stored at standard freezer temperatures of -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) for up to six months. After it’s thawed, it can be kept in a refrigerator for up to 30 days. Sounds a little more consumer friendly, doesn’t it?

Now I imagine you’ve heard that they are made differently from the other vaccines, for example the flu vaccine? Other vaccines are made from dead or attenuated (weakened) viruses which incite the body to repel them.

Now we get into RNA and DNA.  You’ve all heard of DNA: With a swipe from your mouth or a hair from your head scientists can now prove if you really fathered that child or if you are that axe-murderer.

The clearest explanation I found was from “Technology Network:  DNA encodes all the genetic information and is the blueprint from which all biological life is created”. So, pretend all this DNA information is on a thumb drive (the little doohickey that can record all the info on your computer, otherwise called a “flash drive”).  How do you read it?  “RNA is the reader that decodes this flash drive.”

Both vaccines use RNA technology.  “The instructions spur the immune system into action, turning the body into a virus-zapping vaccine factory.” Again let me emphasize: No actual virus is contained in the vaccines. It can’t give you the virus.

Now, you’ve all seen picture of the little round corona virus with its spikey hairdo.  Both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines target those spikes on the surface of the coronavirus that it uses to smash its way into healthy human cells. The spikes also give the family of viruses their distinctive name. They’re supposed to look like a crown or corona.

One last note:  a new “mutation” of the Corona virus was detected in September in London, England; by November, one fourth of all the case diagnosed were from that mutation.  By mid-December, two thirds of the cases were from that mutation.

Scientists say that viruses mutate all the time.  This just happens to be 70% more transmissible (according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he’s the one with the covid-like mussed-up hairdo). All joking aside, we are assuming the vaccine will target this mutation; there is no evidence that it won’t. Please, God, keep the British safe and, please, let them keep their latest discovery to themselves.

Posted in Editorial, Featured, General Interest | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Cans and Bottles Recycle Bin at Timber Valley

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Sharon Elliott

The new bin was fashioned by Frank Egbert, a former Lion and owner of a local muffler shop. Lions requested Frank to build the bin to replace the old wooden one that had been damaged by use, the weather and also by thieves.

Your empty cans and bottles are important. Twice a day Lions empty this bin and contents sorted into bags the size of a dress for a 5 ft person. The bags are placed in our large cargo truck until full with around 150 bags then transported to Eugene to the Oregon Bottle Recycling Center (about every 4 months) emptied onto a conveyor belt and the bar codes are read. A few days later Lions receive a check for around $4000.00 Beer bottles are processed in Roseburg.

This is how your Sutherlin Lions finance charitable giving. Any money coming from the community must go back to the community. Some of our expenses includes financing college scholarships, 3 summer camps for blind, diabetic and deaf children, dogs for the blind and hearing impaired. The empties also fund the Halloween and Christmas and Mothers Day celebrations. Lions provide glasses and hearing aids for less fortunate folks plus screening of youngsters, with 10% of the children, being referred to doctors for eye care. I could go on for another page.

Lions are especially appreciative of SKPs David Hall who helps Rick DeYoung and Judy Leonard Sharon Elliott’s assistant. This can be a dirty job especially when we have to empty cigarette butts or snuff spit from them. One time a load even contained false teeth. The Den is neither heated or cooled so extreme temps can be daunting.

Its amazing what a contribution of 10 cents can accomplish in a small town. We appreciate that members of Timber Valley stay well hydrated but there is something else you need to know to help us. Plastic gallon water containers are not welcome as well as cans or bottles that are smashed or bent as they cannot be read by the bar code reader.

Quench your thirst and keep the containers coming to support the benefit they make in the community.

Sharon Elliott #36

Posted in Editorial, Featured, General Interest | 3 Comments

Christmas Eve Dinner Cancelled

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Dick Shanahan
Christmas Eve Dinner Cancelled
Posted in Announcements, Events, News | 4 Comments

SCAM ALERT

Posted on December 17, 2020 by Jackie Deal

SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! Yes, it’s already started: scams about the Covid vaccine. Don’t be fooled. The following info’ appeared in the “Desert Messenger”, Quartzsite, Arizona’s newspaper.
1. Be suspicious if told you must pay. Likely either the shots will be free or insurance will cover it.
2. You cannot pay to be put on any list for the vaccine. You don’t have to pay to go on a list. Period.
3. You cannot pay someone to give you early access to the vaccine. Can’t be done.
4. Medicare or the Health Department will not contact you to register for routine vaccine shots.
6. No one should call asking for your Social Security, credit card etc. or other information in order for you to get the vaccine.
7. Watch out for “other remedies” in place of the vaccine. There’ll be plenty of them.
8. No one should come knocking at your door to sign you up.

Posted in Announcements, General Interest, News | 1 Comment

Covid – Count the Days – 2; 5-6; 14

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Jackie Deal

 

With Covid-19, the key numbers are two days, five to six days, and 14 days. (The following information was taken from   “Healthcare” by Bruce Y. Lee, Senior Contributor).

Two Days, the Latent period: This is the period of time between getting infected with the virus and first becoming contagious. The virus, like the cotton boll weevil, has to get a foothold in your body and make enough copies of itself to get ready to do damage.  You feel fine.

Five to six days, the Incubation period: you have been infected and enough time has passed for the virus to cause symptoms.  In other words:  you become sick and you know it!

Symptomatic period: This is the time from the end of the incubation period when you first start having symptoms to when your symptoms resolve. So far, so good; it takes 5-6 days for symptoms to show.  You may not even know you are “sick” during this 5-6 day period. And then this period doesn’t end until you are free from symptoms: up to 14 days or  more.

Now let’s muddy the waters: The Infectious or contagious period: This is the time from the end of the latency period when you first become contagious until you are no longer contagious.  Ignore the incubation and the symptomatic periods for now. From that first invasion by the boll weevil: you are contagious.  You don’t know it and neither does anyone else! During this time, you will have an infectious personality and you can spread the virus to others.

You aren’t immediately infectious once the Covid-19 coronavirus gets inside your body. It has to get into your respiratory tract and begin to reproduce. But once enough new viruses are produced and released: you are contagious. As Bruce Lee says, “Symptoms, if you end up having them, won’t come until later when your immune system says, “WTH,” and starts mobilizing against the virus.” You are shedding virus at least one to two days before you develop symptoms. In fact, you may be most contagious during the period between the end of the latent period and the end of the incubation period.

Studies have suggested that the incubation period can last anywhere from two days to 14 days. This is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been recommending that you quarantine yourself for at least 14 days after close contact with someone who is infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus  (Current advice lowers this.)

In other words, on average you will develop symptoms five to six days after you’ve been infected with the virus.  A majority of those infected will have an incubation period of seven days or less. And potentially over 90% of those infected will have an incubation period of ten days or less.

One other warning: you can be Asymptomatic.  That means you are sick, you are contagious but you have NO symptoms. And while you may feel okay, you ae possibly the most dangerous of all!

Confused?  Join the crowd.  Wear your mask.  Six feet apart.  And pray for those who have been caught by the Covid 19 boll weevil.

Posted in Featured, General Interest, News | 2 Comments

Christmas Dinner

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Dick Shanahan
Christmas Eve Driveup Dinner
Posted in Announcements, Events, News | 2 Comments

**NOTICE** Monday’s Covid Open Board Meeting at 9am by Zoom Video

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Thom Hoch

As the Board looks for solutions to balance the requirements of our bylaws for monthly open board meetings with the meeting restrictions placed on us by the State for Covid-19 relief, we’re planning to use a Video Conferencing tool known as Zoom for our regular bi-weekly Covid-19 Open Board Meeting on Monday, December 14, at 9am. This is a test to evaluate the system. All members are invited to join the meeting. A link to the meeting will be posted on the website on the Member’s Only Page. Alternatively, you can obtain the meeting information from the office.

There are members of our Park who already do Zoom meetings with family and friends during the Covid crisis. For them, this is an easy procedure.  We encourage any member to become familiar with the Zoom software and join in this, and any future open Board meetings that may utilize Zoom.

The direct link to the meeting can be found on the Members Only Page (near the top)

Posted in Announcements, General Interest, News | 2 Comments