Earlier this month in the aisles at the Fred Meyer store in Corvallis, children searched for the perfect gift as part of the 29th annual Shop With a Cop. Local law enforcement personnel took between 55 and 60 Benton County elementary-aged kids shopping.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office hosts the event and the Philomath and Corvallis police departments joined in. In all, there were 36 law-enforcement personnel, including BCSO Sheriff Jef Van Arsdall, Philomath Police Chief Ken Rueben and Corvallis Police Chief Jason Harvey.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to do it in all my years with the Corvallis Police Department and then coming back here as sheriff and having an opportunity to participate,” Van Arsdall said. “It’s a pretty powerful opportunity, it’s really cool.”
The children receive a gift card with a predetermined amount.
“But every time I talk to a participant in this, they give a little bit of their own money as well,” Van Arsdall said.
Donations from law enforcement personnel and community members fund the program.
“It’s pretty amazing to have the opportunity to give back to the community,” Van Arsdall said. “It’s a chance for uniformed law-enforcement folks to go out with young people that are a little bit less fortunate and this moment in time and this gives us an opportunity to go out with them.”
In most cases, parents or guardians are there during the shopping.
“Sometimes the parents go with the children and sometimes they don’t — it’s up to them,” Van Arsdall said. “It’s another way we can just kind of break down some barriers. Every cop I know has siblings or children or cousins or nieces and I mean, we all have a soft spot for young people.”
The kids will hem and haw in the beginning a little and then work their way down the aisles until they find something that they really want.
“Sometimes you’ve got to crack that shell but that’s where it’s kind of fun,” Van Arsdall said. “You get to talk to them and find out what they’re interested in.”
Interestingly, the kids often want to get something for their parents.
“We want to make it about the young people so we make sure they get what they want first,” he said. “Then maybe you go back downstairs there at Fred Meyer’s and find something for mom and dad. It’s pretty amazing, these young people and how thoughtful they are for their parents. It’s kind of tough at times — they don’t really want to get stuff for themselves and want to get stuff for mom, a lot of them do.”
In addition to the Sheriff’s Office and police departments, other local agencies that help included Benton County Parole and Probation and the child welfare offices of the Department of Human Service.
1b. Stuffed animals donation
In another effort that benefits children, the Philomath Police Department received about 50 stuffed animals last week. Brie Caffey and the human resources department at the Oregon State Credit Union delivered the toys to the local station on Dec. 14.
Rueben said the stuffed animals will be given to children “we encounter throughout the coming year that are in need of a little extra comfort.”
2. Memories of Cabell Lodge
Ken Likens has a lot of memories of the house at the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge that had become known as the Cabell Lodge. Those thoughts were especially intense over the past week when the 87-year-old Coquille man heard the Dec. 13 news that it had burned to the ground.
Likens spent a good part of his childhood and young adulthood at the site, which he has always known as the “clubhouse.”
Born in 1936 in Corvallis, Likens as a youngster spent time in the vicinity at his family’s cattle ranch. He lived with his grandparents, Jess and Vina Campbell, in the building that burned — which at the time they called the “clubhouse.” The years he spent there included the 1940s during World War II. When he was older and in North Bend, Likens said he’d often return into the early 1950s during summer breaks from school to pick up work.
“Good memories — that was always home to me,” he said.
Likens can share various memories about his time at the clubhouse, including those years during the war when a military bus from Camp Adair would arrive in the mornings with men out of the jailhouse sent in to work in the hay fields, or when his grandmother would pull all of the shades down during nighttime hours during mandatory blackouts.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the two-story, wood-frame structure near Muddy Creek and overlooking Cabell Marsh was constructed as a hunting lodge and cabin in 1912. When the land was purchased by the federal government from the family’s estate, the lodge was one of several that remained on the northern half of the refuge. The lodge served as the headquarters of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex from 1979-2009.
The Oregon Inventory of Historic Properties and the Benton County Register of Historic Resources include Cabell Lodge on its listings.
Likens said he saw the Cabell Lodge for the final time last summer when he was there for an aunt’s memorial service. He had been there on other occasions and even has home movies that were filmed there in the mid-1970s during a family reunion.
Said Likens, “A lot of things had changed.”
As for the fire, there’s been no word on exactly what caused it to ignite. The State Fire Marshall did say that arson was ruled out.
3. Santa Claus cleared for Oregon
In preparation for the upcoming holiday, the Oregon Department of Agriculture announced Friday that it has issued an animal import permit to Santa Claus of 123 Elf Rd, North Pole, and his nine reindeer.
The permit, issued by state veterinarian Ryan Scholz, grants all nine reindeer entrance to Oregon and access to “good children everywhere.” The permit is valid through Dec. 25.
“After thorough examinations, including hoof prints and antler selfies, I’m pleased to declare all nine of these reindeer fit to fly,” Scholz said. “We have confirmed that each reindeer’s jingle bells are in working order, and that Rudolph’s navigational illumination capabilities remain intact.”
All livestock entering the state, via traditional or aerial modes of transportation, are required to obtain an animal import permit and Certificate of Veterinary Inspection as part of the state’s animal health regulations.
Santa’s whereabouts leading up to Dec. 25 can be followed using NORAD’s Santa Tracker.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).