Please check back soon for a photo gallery of the Tualatin BLM/George Floyd protest.
Winona Grange offering Free Seeds for your Garden
Colds and Flus and Uh Oh!
Any other year this would be a late date to be writing about the highly infectious respiratory infections going around, and how best to protect your self. This year is different in that we have a group B influenza that is particularly potent among young people, and now the panic-demic coronavirus spreading from China.
We have influenza every year, and despite widespread efforts to give everyone a 40% chance of protection through vaccination, 10s of thousands of us die from it. Death is always among a dispersed population that is vulnerable for one reason or another. We have a fundamental choice every year, live in fear, pretend influenza doesn’t exist – or do what we can to be healthy and have remedies on standby.
The coronavirus, while something new to our minds and concern, is not a lot different from influenza in how often it chooses to take someone from this life. Fatalities seem to be mostly amongst the elderly and those with preexisting respiratory conditions that make them more vulnerable – a lot like influenza.
Here are the basics to protect your self. Wash your hands before handling food or touching your face. Manage your stress, get good sleep, drink plenty of water, eat good food, not packaged junk, and ditch the sugar. Eat vegetables rich in beta-carotene to keep your vitamin A up. Make sure you have adequate supplemented vitamin D on board. A strong correlation of cold and flu season is that it always happens when we spend the most time indoors. Yes, breathing other people’s air but also not getting much sunlight on our skin.
Take high-quality multivitamins like the ones we recommend at True Health Medicine. Ours are top quality with bioavailable forms of Bs and essential trace minerals.
If you haven’t established care with one of our doctors, now is a good time! We can provide you with a wellness assessment, run some screening labs and get you on the path towards a healthy immune system. We are always ready to help you debug any nagging problems you may already be experiencing from allergies to digestive problems to low energy.
When you get that very first cough or tickle in the throat is when to start herbal remedies that are all at once antiviral, antibacterial and immune-stimulating. My favorite is a tincture of Oregon Grape, Echinacea, Myrrh and Poke mixed up in the office. Gargling and swallowing three times a day can often make it go away! Every two waking hours when you first get sick.
These first-line efforts have by now kept many of my patients from needing annual antibiotics. Most of the seasonal illnesses are viral, but for some they wear down the immune response and then a secondary bacterial infection evolves to the point that it can only be remedied with antibiotics. No one should need antibiotics every year. There is a whole host of reasons why that is a really bad pattern to follow. But if you need them, you need them, and we do prescribe them.
If your seasonal illness drives deeper, you simply must stop and give your body what it needs to fight and recover. Rest, sleep, extra vitamin C, and lots of clear water to keep you hydrated and flushing. We have even more remedies to offer depending on how that sickness evolves – mostly to support your immune system in the battle, and to keep your breathing open and clear. If you develop any breathing problems see a medical professional ASAP. Developing pneumonia is what makes both the coronavirus and influenza dangerous.
If you understand influenza patterns — deadly disease comes calling every single year, with each of us having a 5% annual chance on average of acquiring about of it. Most who do get it recover, but the losses of life add up when you count them across a nation of 330 million.
We advise that panic doesn’t ever help. Being healthy is the best way to not have to worry. Naturopathic medicine has a big toolbox when it comes to dealing with seasonal illnesses. The tools unique to us fit hand in glove with the heavy guns of antibiotics and hospitalization should worse come to worse. In all cases, people who start out healthy have the best odds of returning to health in short order.
Don’t worry, be healthy.
You can learn more about my practice at www.JeffClarkND.com Follow my health related blog on Facebook: Jeff Clark ND.
Tualatin Girls Finish Season in Playoffs
Army Enlistment: an Out-of-this-World Experience for Tualatin High Senior
For anyone joining the military, taking the oath of enlistment is sure to be a memorable experience. That’s certainly true for Natalie Unis, a Tualatin High School senior who recently pledged to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” as part of a first-ever nationwide enlistment ceremony that included live broadcasts from Space Center Houston and the International Space Station.
Unis, who is joining the Army Reserves, was among hundreds of students from around the U.S. who were nominated by local recruiters and then selected by a national committee to participate in the Feb. 26 event, which was broadcast locally onto a large screen in the Tualatin High library.
“Though the Army and NASA have been working together for over 60 years,” Brig. Gen. Patrick Michaelis said from on location at Space Center Houston, “this is the first time to host a nationwide oath of enlistment from space for over 1,000 future soldiers at over 150 locations, where they will launch – no pun intended – their careers.”
Soon after his comments, a connection was established with NASA astronaut and Army Col. Andrew Morgan aboard the space station orbiting some 250 miles above the Earth.
“It’s really a great honor for me to administer the oaths of enlistment today from this magnificent spaceship,” Morgan said as he floated in the space station in front of a backdrop of international flags.
As family, friends, fellow students and local Army recruiters looked on, Unis raised her right hand and recited the oath as it was administered by Morgan, a combat veteran and physician who is in the midst of a 9-month deployment on the space station.
“I’m pretty excited right now,” Unis told reporters following the ceremony, adding that it made her feel that, “I’m part of something bigger than myself.”
After graduation, Unis plans on attending Point Loma Nazarene College in San Diego, where she will study nursing, according to the school district.
“I wanted to have a personal connection, to help people in a very direct way,” she said of her decision to go into nursing.
Unis says that being a part of the Army Reserves will give her additional experience and training. But it will also give her the chance to serve.
“I really wanted to serve my country – that was a big thing for me,” she said. “I have a lot of family members who have served.”
During the broadcast from the space station, Morgan said that, before becoming an astronaut, “I was a soldier first.”
“I made the decision, when I was 18 years old, to raise my right hand, just like you’re about to,” he said. “I am still a soldier – I’m just serving in space, on the ultimate high ground. I’m here as a direct result of the incredible opportunities I had in the Army, and I’m a soldier through and through.”
The idea that being a soldier can serve as the foundation for a variety of roles and opportunities resonated with Unis.
“Maybe someday I can be as cool as he is,” she said of Morgan.
Tualatin News in Brief: March 2020
City honors employee of the year
Jackie Konen, Tualatin’s volunteer project manager, has been named the city’s 2019 employee of the year. “Jackie is one of those people that make a difference every day. She is determined, humble and kind,” City Manager Sherilyn Lombos said in a press release. “She is a fitting recipient of this honor.” Among her duties, Konen coordinates the city’s tree-planting program, through which 175 volunteers recently planted 1,300 trees, shrubs and flowers at Saum Creek Trail. The City Council will honor Konen during its April 13 meeting, according to the release.
60’s Café liquor license approved
The City Council on Feb. 10 approved a new liquor license for 60’s Café & Diner, which will be located at 19358 SW Boones Ferry Road, a city staff report says. The license will allow the establishment to serve liquor, beer, cider and wine for on-site consumption, as well as sell malt beverages for off-site consumption. According to the license application, the restaurant will serve hamburgers and milkshakes and be open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. It will have two full-time and six part-time employees. A message to the proprietor went unanswered.
Amendment to food cart regulations planned
Food trucks will soon be allowed to operate in a swath of Tualatin along 99W. Currently, mobile food vendors are prohibited from doing business in the area because of its general commercial zoning designation. In January, Mayor Frank Bubenik said that Tiny Wolf Brewing expressed interest in hosting a food cart at its location along 99W in Tualatin. During a Feb. 24 work session, the City Council asked staff to draft an amendment to the municipal code that would allow food carts in that area.
City to study new urban renewal areas
The City Council on Feb. 24 gave staff the go-ahead to start honing in on potential new urban renewal areas in Tualatin. City staff has identified two general areas for potential urban renewal: the industrial southwest concept area with Basalt Creek and the central business area adjacent to I-5 and including Bridgeport. Possible renewal projects include developing amenities to support public transportation, affordable housing and mixed-use projects, among others. Through spring and summer, city staff will work to better define the boundaries of potential renewal areas and conduct feasibility studies.
Second Positive Case of COVID-19 Appears in Oregon
- A presumptive case of COVID-19 was announced on February 28. The testing process is two-tiered. The first test is done by the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory and a second test to confirm is conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The results of the second (CDC) test have to be received on the presumptive case.
- Testing is only done upon request of a health care provider and is based on symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath), travel to an affected area and exposure to a person or persons who have traveled to an affected area.
- Testing only occurs in-state public health labs and at the CDC.
- The Oregon State Public Health Laboratory has materials to process up to 80 tests a day and is building surge capacity if needed. Supplies are on hand to perform approximately 1,500 tests; and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has pledged to replenish Oregon’s capacity as needed.
TuHS Baseball Holds Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser
How do we know spring is here? The Tualatin High School baseball team pancake and youth baseball/softball players parade is the answer. Each year, the Tualatin High School baseball team hosts a pancake breakfast, their major annual fundraiser, and over the years, it has also become the presentation of all the Tualatin youth baseball teams. This is the twenty-seventh year of the pancake breakfast, which has become a popular and notable kickoff to both the high school Timberwolves season and the youth baseball and softball programs.
The pancake breakfast raises money to help pay the expenses of the baseball program, which annually fields a Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity team. Last year’s teams had over fifty students participating. The funds help cover the cost of baseballs and other equipment and maintenance of the field and batting facility. The batting facility “The Barn” is used by the high school teams and in the evenings and weekends by nearly 500 kids and their coaches who participate in the Tualatin youth baseball programs. The high school varsity team is coached by Jake Austin, currently starting his third year at Tualatin High School. The Tualatin Timberwolves play in the always competitive 6A Three Rivers League, which includes Tigard, West Linn and the Lake Oswego schools among other high schools, and these funds help the team be competitive. Tualatin High School baseball has won or shared multiple league titles over the years, including co-champions two years ago in coach Jake Austin’s first year.
The parade of players has become part of the event, introducing each Junior Baseball Team and Girls Little League participating teams. Tualatin youth baseball and softball have teams beginning with T-Ball and up to 7th and 8th-grade Senior ball. The teams play various levels of ability from National teams, just learning the game, to Federal teams, which are very competitive, and all the teams compete against other Junior Baseball Organization (JBO) and Girls Little League teams in Oregon.
Sponsors include The Village Inn, Hayden’s Lake Front Grill, Safeway, Shari’s and Starbucks. Each of these Tualatin businesses (Safeway in King City) has donated most of the supplies necessary to create the breakfast, including pancake batter, sausage, eggs and coffee and juice.
This is a city-wide event open to the public. This year’s event is Saturday, Apr. 4, 2020, from 7 a.m. – 11 a.m. at the Tualatin High School gym. Cost is $6 for adults, $4 for kids (ages 3-12), and 2 and under are free.
TuHS Hoopers Pay it Forward
Current players from the Tualatin HS boys and girls basketball teams mentored and coached our future rising stars at the 1st Annual TYBA hoop camp on January 27th, 2020. The Tualatin Youth Basketball Association and the Tualatin High School Basketball Programs teamed up to put on a full day of basketball competition for 3rd through 8th-grade TYBA registered participants. The camp served as a fundraiser for both programs, which included 100 TYBA kids along with 40 HS volunteers.
The day was filled with basketball drills, games and contests! The HS volunteers were each assigned a team to coach and the TYBA players were able to spend time discussing strategy, learning more about the game of basketball and asking silly questions to these HS players throughout the day. It was nice to see these HS players give back to those younger kids that so often look up to them and to show their support to the next generation of our young basketball players.
Highlights of the day included a visit from the Portland Trailblazers mascot BLAZE, a 3 point shoot off with the HS Girl volunteers and a high flying, high energy dunk contest from members of the boys basketball team. The day ended with contest winners competing in front of the entire camp and a TuHS logo’ d mini basketball given to every camper that attended.
TYBA is thankful for the support and partnership we have with Tualatin HS and the girls and boys basketball teams respectively. It’s amazing to see a plan come together when you have dedicated volunteers from the TYBA board and both High School Basketball coaches seeing value in having their current players “pay it forward” to the youth basketball players in Tualatin.
Togetherness helps build a foundation for our Tualatin community and I saw first hand how kids of all ages can come together and create happiness while playing this great game of basketball.
Loose Style and All Kinds of Edges in the Artwork of Nola Pear
On display this Spring in the Living Room Gallery of the Tualatin Public Library will be the watercolor paintings of local artist Nola Pear. Come and delight in the textural beauty and grace in artworks that capture birds nestled in their woodland habitats and florals which mimic the soft and delicate loveliness of the actual plants from nature. Several still life paintings are so sumptuous, you will want to reach into the frame to pull out an apple or persimmon to munch on. Nola demonstrates a level of uncommon accomplishment in a medium that has been called “that most difficult” of painting mediums.
Nola isn’t just a painter. She is an artist. There is a difference. Just about anyone can paint, believe it or not. Anyone can follow steps and create a pretty picture. A visual artist who communicates beyond the brush strokes, however, is in another league altogether. It’s the same kind of difference you encounter when you hear someone singing a song and hitting all the right notes versus a virtuoso who breathes emotion and life into the music.
This accomplishment is, of course, the result of an almost spiritual devotion Nola brings to her work. She is a serious student of the discipline, always increasing her understanding of the forest (art in general) and the trees (techniques and the elements of art.) Classes and workshops and YouTube occupy her free time in addition to painting, painting, painting. Someone once called it “miles behind the brush,” and she has earned platinum status if we play out that analogy.
Nola’s style is loose and mysterious, and you see it in the interesting variety of edges both lost and found in each work. She is also a fan of experimenting with unusual textures which sometimes involve salt, granulating mediums, or both. If you are not a painter yourself, you’ll enjoy the effects. If you are an aspiring artist, you will look at Nola’s work and ask yourself, “How did she do that? Nola’s finished artworks are deceptively simple-looking but the skill to create them has been a life’s journey. Nola has a reverence for what is beautiful, sacred, and eternal, and that is her music behind the art.
If you are interested in learning more about the Living Room Gallery program, please contact Angela Wrahtz at angela.wrahtz@comcast.net. This program is funded in part by the Tualatin Arts Advisory Council.