Powered by Max Banner Ads 

Top Story of the Week

Posted on March 10, 2010 at 10:30 am in

Collins, Amacker lead Irish Days,

25th year

Barrett Amacker and Kit Collins are the 2010 Irish Days Wee and Grand , respectively. Collins is a first-generation Irish resident, and Amacker is the son of Ryan and Cambria Amacker.

Kit Collins and Barrett Amacker likely will enjoy the silver anniversary of Lake County Irish Days all the more, since the duo shall serve as Grand and Wee Leprechaun, respectively.

Amacker, 5, is the single child of Ryan and Cambria Amacker and attends preschool at Sunshine Children’s Center.  He said that he’s very excited to serve as this year’s Grand Leprechaun.

“I thank the Lord about it,” he said.  “I like leprechauns.”

Collins, 76, said that she is particularly looking forward to her participation in this year’s edition of the event, and is glad that the traditional celebration of Irish heritage in the region continues.

Collins is part of the first-generation group of Irish folks of which both parents were born in Ireland. Her father, Jack O’Leary, came to Lakeview in 1908, traveling from Ireland to Reno.  It is unknown how he got from Reno to Alturas, but he did arrive in Lakeview from Alturas by stage coach, she said.

O’Leary went to work for Jackie Flynn upon his arrival, Collins said, and at that time sheep was big business in Lakeview. 

“A lot of times, instead of wages, you’d get so many sheep, and that’s’ how a lot of ranches were started,” she said.

Collins said that her father later returned to Ireland – KingWilliamstown (now known as Ballydesmond), to be precise – where he met Collins’ mother, Julia O’Connell.  The O’Connells owned and operated one of two Irish pubs in the village.   

The couple was married in Ballydesmond in 1920, and returned stateside to settle in the Clover Flat area south of Paisley.

“That’s where they stayed the rest of their lives,” Collins said.

Like many others in the sheep business, it became difficult to find herders and other factors made it more feasible to switch to raising cattle.  The ranch was operated by the family until the late 1970s, when it was sold to Doug and Genevieve Elder.

Collins is the lone survivor of the couple’s four children.  Her late siblings, all of whom resided in Lake County, included a sister, Anna Duval, and two brothers, John and Dennis O’Leary.

Community

Posted on March 10, 2010 at 10:30 am in

Ducks Unlimited fundraiser – Saturday

Ducks Unlimited representatives Larry Conn, l-r, and Dave Wenzel display items that will be auctioned off during the organizations’ annual fundraiser banquet on Saturday, March 13, at the Lake County Fairgrounds.

Lakeview’s chapter of Ducks Unlimited will host its annual fundraising banquet and auction event on Saturday, March 13.  

The doors open at 5 p.m. for this year’s event at the Lake County Fairgrounds.  On the evening’s agenda are games, silent auction items and a no-host bar.  The games offer an opportunity to win progressive raffle tickets, or prizes.  

Prizes include firearms, wildlife prints and hand carved decoys.  An all you can eat tri-tip and chicken dinner with all the trimmings will be served at 7 p.m.

Several different banquet packages are available.  A Basic Banquet Pack is $50 and includes 1 dinner, 1 year DU membership, 1 door prize ticket, and a DU hat.  Couples Packs are also available for $70 and include two dinners, one-year DU membership, two door prize tickets, and two DU hats. 

There will be approximately 20 firearms at the event, including a wide array of shotguns and rifles. The DU dinner gun this year is a Fausti Stefano Elegant Extra Over and Under 12 Gauge Shotgun. 

Ducks Unlimited is active in working a variety of conservation-based projects throughout the county.  Among their projects is a wetland and riparian habitat improvement project on Drew’s Creek and its tributaries.  This project is being coordinated with the Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council and Drew’s Valley Ranch.  Among the activities include restoration design to facilitate and guide future restoration activities and construction of one mile of riparian fencing and off-site water facilities it improve livestock management.

Lifestyles

Posted on March 10, 2010 at 10:30 am in

Former commissioner’s grandson

becomes Eagle Scout

Cameron Lea pent six years in the Boy Scouts of America before being named an Eagle Scout

There are less than 2 million of them in history; one walked on the moon. Another held the most influential office on earth. Another led U.S. military operations during the Vietnam War. 

If the history of the Eagle Scouts is anything to go by, 19-year-old Cameron Lea has an eventful future before him.

The Lake Oswego High School senior was bestowed late last year with the lifelong honor of Eagle Scout after six years in the Boy Scouts of America. Eagle Scout is the highest possible honor in the boy scouts. 

“A few of my friends in scouting are Eagle Scouts and I don’t really know someone who is an eagle scout who I don’t in some way look up to,” Lea said. “It’s not one of those things where being an Eagle Scout makes them a good scout; it’s more like you don’t really end up going through with it unless you’re someone who is committed to helping out and someone people want to be around I guess.”

To become an Eagle Scout, Lea had to complete a series of requirements some of which included acquiring 21 merit badges. One of Lea’s final tasks involved executing an Eagle Scout project, essentially a community service project “that benefits the community on a fairly large scale.”

Through his grandfather Jim Ogle, former Lake County commissioner, Lea migrated to Lakeview for his project. The idea, spurred in part by Ogle, was to convert text into audio. The Lake County Historical Society along with contributions from Ogle had written Lake County History: The First 100 Years, a perspective of nearly 100 years of Lake County history. Several Lake County citizens expressed interest to Ogle that they wanted to read the book but conceded that their eyes had passed them by.

Cue Lea and his Eagle Scout project. To help spread the book’s accessibility, Lea sought out various contributors to the book in Lakeview and had them read out excerpts from the book to contribute to the making of an audiobook. With significant help from the Lake County Historical Society and his grandfather, Lea developed a set of sources to track down.

Lake County

Posted on March 10, 2010 at 10:30 am in

Donations fund new hospital purchase

This treadmill unit, hooked up to an electrocardiogram (EKG) machine, was recently purchased by Lake District Hospital thanks to private party donations and grant funding. An additional EKG machine was also purchased for the hospital’s emergency room.

Lake District Hospital recently purchased two new pieces of equipment thanks to funds received from a private party donation as well as a grant from Pacific Power Foundation.

New cardiac testing equipment consisting of a treadmill with an attached electrocardiogram machine was funded by a donation from Michele Howard in memory of her husband, Charles S. Howard III, as well as a grant from the Lakeview Community Foundation, according to Lake District Hospital Exec. Asst. Rose Guzman.

Guzman said that Howard was under the care of Dr. Timothy A. Gallagher, M.D., and the donation came through as a means of appreciation for the level of care received.

Lake District Hospital CEO Gordon Ensley said that the district is grateful for the donations, which help assure the hospital continues to provide the highest in quality health care.

“These donations have been a real asset to the hospital over the years,” he said.  “It is a recognition or ‘thank you’ to the staff for caring for the family member… We certainly appreciate the thoughtfulness of our grants and donations and the business communities.”

A new electrocardiograph (EKG) machine for the emergency room was also purchased, partially funded by a $3,500 grant from Pacific Power Foundation.  The total cost of this machine was $8,700, according to Guzman.  Previously, the hospital shared a single EKG machine with the cardiopulmonary unit, said Ensley.

Cardiopulmonary specialist Jack Veen, one of two specialists that works at Lake District Hospital, said the EKG machine is utilized for heart tracings and diagnostics when a patient comes in complaining of chest pains.

The treadmill and EKG unit is utilized for what are known as stress testing, Veen said.  A patient walks on the treadmill and builds up their heart rate to test for stress limits and such issues as blockages in a safe, controlled environment, Veen said.

Top