8A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 7, 2015 Polk County Living

RichertRemington Michael James Richert was born to Jonathan

and Ashley Richert of Dallas at 8:38 a.m. on Dec. 13 at Sil-verton Hospital Family Birth Center.

He weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and was 20 incheslong.

Remington is the couple’s first child.Grandparents are Bruce and DeAnna Richert of Dallas

and Bill and Jill Pfankuch of West Salem.Great-grandparents are Walt and Evelyn Roquet of Dal-

las, Dormer and Lois Richert of Dallas, and Bill and LindaLewis of Fullerton, Calif.

EnszFinley LaRue Ensz was born to Brandon and Victoria

Ensz of Portland at 5:22 p.m. on Dec. 19 at ProvidenceWillamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City.

She weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and was 20½ incheslong.

Finley is the couple’s first child.Grandparents are Glen and Cindy Ensz of Dallas and

Kurt and Tami Loehlein of Spokane, Wash.

BrunoKeegan Max Bruno was born to GianPaul and Stephanie

Bruno of Dallas at 9:23 a.m. on Dec. 28 at Salem HospitalFamily Birth Center.

He weighed 9 pounds and was 20 inches long.Keegan joins Natasha, 18, Tristan, 16, Hailey, 12, and

Meghan, 9.Grandparents are Debbie Mersch of Independence,

Karen Syers of Lebanon and Paul Knox of Kingston,Okla.

BIRTHSWe celebrated the end of

2014 watching two CentralHigh graduates — and out-standing football players —in postseason college bowlgames. Jordan Pratt, wide re-ceiver for Stanford University,and his team beat Marylandresoundingly in the FosterFarms Bowl on Dec. 30. BoiseState quarterback GrantHedrick and the Broncoskept us on the edge of ourseats as they narrowly wonover the Arizona Wildcats inthe Vizio Fiesta Bowl on Dec.31. Both of these young menand their teammates havegiven many of us in MI Townall kinds of bragging rights aswe begin the new year.

—I’d like to thank the Mon-

mouth-Independence LionsClub for providing MI Townwith a wonderful communi-ty breakfast for our area sen-

iors and their families onJan. 1 at the Monmouth Sen-ior Center. We shared ahearty breakfast with friendsand neighbors. It’s a joy to besurrounded by such caringand hard-working volun-teers who do so many goodthings for all of us.

—Our recent cold and crisp

weather has given us manyreasons to bundle up inwarm coats, hats and mittensas we head out on our way towork, school and for walksaround MI Town. It’s also agood time to remember our

other family members — catsand dogs and other pets whowould welcome the opportu-nity to sleep in a warm housewhen the temperature dipsbelow freezing. If pets mustspend the majority of theirtime outdoors, try to find asheltered spot and an oldblanket for them to sleep on,a place to find refuge duringthese bitterly cold winternights. Always be sure thereis a bowl of fresh water thathasn’t frozen over. Thesefurry creatures give us un-conditional love on a dailybasis, so let’s return the favorand help them keep warmthis winter.

—A group of talented local

musicians get together onthe second Wednesday ofevery month at 6:30 p.m. atthe Monmouth Senior Cen-ter for a couple hours of

music and fun. Communitymembers are invited to par-ticipate or to listen and enjoygood music and conversa-tion. The next gathering willbe Jan. 14. The MonmouthSenior Center is located at180 S. Warren St.

—We’re one week into 2015,

and those of us who maderesolutions have no doubtbroken at least one or two bynow. This year, why notmake a resolution to “pay itforward?” How about help-ing to pay for a family’s gro-ceries, or buying coffee forthe next car in line, or secret-ly picking up somebody’sdinner check? Or maybe tak-ing cookies to a neighborwho lives alone? Doingsomething for somebodyelse is doubly rewarding.

Happy New Year, every-one!

MI TOWNPATTY

TAYLOR

Columnist

DUTCHER

PEDEE NEWSDid Christmas come early

this year or what? No,Thanksgiving was late, so thetime between the holidayswas just short enough be-tween the two that activitiesseemed to be more low key.

—Norm and Donna Baldwin’s

son, Dan, his wife, Jael, andtheir daughters, Ginger andMolly, came to Pedee fromHolley (near Sweet Home) fordinner, as well as did “neigh-bors” Wyatt and Joy Overly —neighbors to us being anyonewithin, say, 10 miles.

—Betty Forry was delighted

to celebrate her 101st Christ-mas in the company ofdaughter June Clark, grand-son Patrick Clark, and great-granddaughter Britni Weiss-Clark. Britni was able tospend three days in Pedeeenjoying time with her old-est living relative and uncle.

—Daniel Russell’s parents,

Jerry and Phyllis Russell ofPleasant Hill, spent much ofChristmas day with him, wifeHeidi and their kids. Theyshared gifts with one anotherand snacked on cheese fon-

due. The next day, Heidi’swhole side of the family joinedthem — her grandparentsfrom Sisters, her brother andhis family from Cottage Grove,her sister and her family fromRedding, Calif., and her par-ents from Creswell. They ex-changed gifts, played gamesand had a great time together.

—S t e v e n a n d A u d r e y

Cameron gathered at sonJames and his wife Jenny’shouse in Milwaukie forChristmas with their family.The six littlest cousins hadso much fun, they got to-gether again on Dec. 29 atthe Portland Zoo.

—Pam Burbank went to

Prineville to be with her par-ents, Alvin and Elsie Jones.Family that came and wentover the week were brotherLarry Jones and his wife

Michele and daughter Kaileefrom Eugene, sister Kathyand husband Scott McKinleyfrom Albany, son Jon andMaiya Burbank from Port-land, and son Michael Bur-bank from Monmouth. Thosethat went home over Christ-mas weekend hit snow andslow traffic, and had to put onchains to get over the moun-tain passes, while Pam stayedand enjoyed 4 inches of snowand zero-degree weather.

—Dave and Suzanne Bur-

bank had a Christmas Evedinner with Dave’s brothers,Dan and his wife Mikki fromDallas, and Dennis and hisdaughter Rachel from Inde-pendence, son Derek and hisgirlfriend Ashley Gruczafrom Turner, and his aunt Al-berta Jones and cousin Ray-mond Jones. On ChristmasDay, Dave and Suzanne, andPaul and I, had breakfastwith son Brennan and Callieand their kids Annabelle andJake in Independence, thenwent on in to Salem to havelunch and dinner with sisterLorraine and Doug Odelland their two daughters, Vic-toria and Christina.

—Sam and Judy Guida had

their Christmas dinner onChristmas Eve with friendsand family. Sam’s niece, Jackie,came down to help out, andbrother Joe was there fromHouston for a week’s visit. Boband Lynda Schnekenburgervisited on Christmas Day.Their son, Matt, and AmandaGuida and granddaughter Mi-randa came for a four-dayvisit after Christmas. Sam,with leukemia, is rather pes-simistic about making it toanother Christmas, so he ap-preciated the company onthis one.

—Pedee Church served din-

ner to the homeless under theMarion Street Bridge in Salemtwice in December (Dec. 22and Dec. 29), taking Christ-mas goodie bags to the ap-proximately 125 people. Thebags were made up by thecongregation after church onDec. 21. Churches in and nearSalem take turns serving din-ner and Pedee is scheduledfor the fourth Monday, plustake the fifth Monday if thereis one, of the month. The peo-ple are very appreciative.

ARLENE

KOVASH

Columnist

Ben Meyer, AAMS®

Financial Advisor503-606-3048193 E. Main Street Monmouth, OR 97361

Bob Timmerman Financial Advisor503-623-5584 159 SW Court StreetDallas, OR 97338

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Please join us in THANKING ALL of these Businesses

for supporting these extra publications throughout the year.

Without them, it wouldn’t be possible! THANKS!

• Spring, Fall & Winter Sports Previews• High School Graduations & Homecomings

• Back To School • Polk County Fair

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