Posted in N&V

Birders Take Flight at RVM

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By Anne Newins

Most people notice birds, but they may not understand why so many people are interested in feathered fauna.  This article originally was going to be about why birders bird, but after talking with three of RVM’s most knowledgeable birders, their desire to inspire and educate others took over as the topic.  The focus is on Gary Shaffer, Carolyn Auker, and David Guzzetta, but there are many other past and present birders on campus.

Gary Shaffer has lived in the Rogue Valley for 47 years, much of the time on a 20-acre ranch.  About 25 years ago, his wife mounted a bird feeder, and Gary’s interest took wing.  He connected with Wild Birds Unlimited, which sells a wide array of bird related items and has a highly knowledgeable staff.  He began taking classes, and says that “one pair of binoculars led to another.”  About 15 years ago, Gary became interested in photographing birds, making use of the improved camera technology.

When asked why he is interested in birds, Gary replied that “it gets you out of the house, away from the television, and out into nature.”  Gary’s affinity with nature also includes a deep interest in dragonflies, insects, and mushrooms.  He leads tours for local groups, including the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy.

Gary Shaffer

Although Gary has traveled the world looking at birds, he currently is focusing on the Rogue Valley.  He engages in friendly competition with several other birders.  Several years ago, he counted the largest number of species in Jackson County:  245!  Gary’s eagle eye has resulted in eleven new species being sighted on the RVM Campus since he and his wife Annette moved here two years ago.  A gallery of his bird photographs is found in the companion piece The Birds of Gary Shaffer.

The reason that we know how many species have been seen on the RVM campus is due largely to the efforts of David Guzzetta and Carolyn Auker.  David’s interests in birds date back to his college years, when he was an intern for the Fish and Wildlife Service and took zoology and environmental classes at San Jose State University.  Carolyn’s interest was piqued when she and David met and later married.  Like Gary, their love of birding is related to the solitude and beauty found in nature.

I first met David and Carolyn many years ago when we all lived in Merced County, CA.  Their desire to share the pleasures of birding led them to help start “The Fledglings,” an informal group of novices and more experienced birders.  We were all able to enjoy the many field trips, regardless of our levels of knowledge and skill.

Dave Guzzetta

Not long after moving to RVM seven years ago, David and Carolyn began a series of initiatives to help residents enjoy birds.  They spearheaded a campaign to place bird feeders outside the windows of residents of the Health Center and the Memory Support Center.  Residents donated feeders and the RVM Foundation supplied funding for the hooks to hang them.  Manor staff eventually took responsibility for the maintenance of the feeders and providing seed.  The ability to watch birds is both relaxing and stimulating for residents who may have little mobility.

Quickly finding kindred spirits, David and Carolyn have facilitated two bird watching excursions on the Quail Point Golf Course.  They made the acquaintance of Shannon Rio, director of the board of the Klamath Bird Observatory and a popular OLLI instructor.  Shannon now makes annual presentations as part of the Thursday Night program series and has led several Manor bus tours to the Klamath Basin, most recently this spring.  Many Complement readers also will have read David’s articles about birds in hillTopics.

A major project has been the establishment of a Manor birding interest group, which currently has 91 members.   The Bird Group, also known as ‘Old Coots,’ is for all birders and potential birders at RVM.  Members exchange information about sightings, general knowledge, and other tidbits.  This past winter a rare Costa’s Hummingbird took up residence on the Manor Rooftop Garden for several weeks.  Word of the sighting quickly spread regionally, and “bird chasers” from as far as Eastern Oregon and San Francisco came to see it.

 

To find the RVM Birding site, go to MyRVM / Resident  Information / Groups and Activities / Birding, or, make sure you are logged in to MyRVM and Click Here

The links in the text below will connect directly to the ebird site; to return to this page close the browser tab associated with the page.

The RVM Birding site includes other important sources of information, including direct links to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ebird.org).  The ebird site includes an eBird Field Checklist for RVM, and thanks to David and Carolyn, offers an RVM hot spot, named “RVM campus”.  The hot spot provides a place where birders can list their sightings, and includes a wealth of information about species observed on campus and when they were seen.

Thanks to our intrepid birders, 152 species have been seen on campus.  Credit goes to a number of people, but special recognition should be made of Dick Heintz, who has posted about 75 new

Carolyn Auker

species to the site thanks to his many years of observations. Lee Purkerson has been a frequent contributor, and Gary Shaffer continues to significantly expand the list.

Past resident and naturalist John Kemper also was an important part of the birding community, at RVM and statewide.  His guidebooks to birds, wildflowers, and places of geographical beauty continue to be circulated at the RVM library.

Carolyn is currently involved in an ambitious effort to provide photos of all the birds seen on campus to ease identification.  She encourages photographers who are not birders to submit Manor bird photos to the birding group.  They will be identified and added to the Birder’s Gallery on my RVM, where pictures from the recent trip to the Klamath Basin may also be found.  When on the MyRVM Birding site, click on “photos” to access the photos of over a dozen contributors.  Clicking on each photo shows the species name.

Even if your interest in birds has been limited mainly to your dinner entree, take a look outside your window.  There is a world of beauty, drama, humor (thanks to turkeys) and solace flying beyond that pane of glass. Thanks are due to our residents who make watching birds an even more rewarding experience.

The Herrons’ Peace Corps Adventure in Belize….. and The Gambia

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This is part of a series of articles on the experiences of RVM residents in the Peace Corps.  Also in this issue is the article on Russy and Anita Sumariwalla; the November issue featured Joni Johnson and Asifa Kanji and David Drury.  Stay tuned…

Another Peace Corps Adventure- So good that they signed up for # 2

by Joni Johnson

Jean Herron, a resident at RVM since Bastille Day, 2001, joined the Peace Corps with her husband John in 1985.  He had retired not long before and was not quite ready to settle down.  Jean, who had not yet retired, decided to join him in a new adventure, and so the Herrons were off to Orange Walk, Belize, for a two-year experience from 1985-1987.  Jean had been a high school English teacher in Eureka.  John had a varied career, first in forestry for ten years, then as a high school chemistry teacher, also in Eureka.

According to folk stories, Orange Walk got its name from the many orange groves that had hugged the banks of the New River, which flows through the town and was a major trading route centuries before for the Maya. The town is a cultural mix of Mestizos (Spanish-Maya), Maya, Chinese, East Indians and Creoles.

Jean and John’s assignment was to train elementary school teachers. To prepare, they did the second half of their three month Peace Corps training 53 miles south of Orange Walk, in Belize City, home of the only Teachers Training College in the country. In Orange Walk, because they made a substantial salary of $350, they were able to afford a house with running water and a toilet and even hot water, when the water heater for the bathroom was turned on and left to heat for a while.  Water was potable with a few drops of Clorox.

For the first year, both John and Jean taught elementary teachers how to teach. The Belizean teachers were there on provisional credentials and were required to attend classes and receive support.  Jean also taught an English class every day from 10 to 12, changing elementary schools each day. In addition, she and John did demonstration lessons for their teachers in each elementary school and then left the teachers assignments to complete. They did all of their traveling on a motorcycle, John driving and Jean in the back.  At one point, Jean, tired of always being in the rear, decided to do the driving.  Unfortunately, John was 6’4” and significantly heavier, and with the weight distribution having changed dramatically, a push on the accelerator caused John to fly off the seat.  Luckily, he was wearing a helmet.  From then on, he was the driver.

Jean continued her position as teacher trainer throughout their two years in Belize. However, John transferred to the Forestry department to help the Belizeans with their forestry efforts.  Belize has extensive forest and abundant mangroves.  Among the environmental issues facing Belize are deforestation and the management of forest resources. It is generally believed that the amount of deforestation that has occurred in Belize is much less than that which has occurred in other rain forest countries.  When Jean’s daughter, Kathleen, visited Belize in 2013 she noticed how proud the natives were of how they were managing their forest resources. This was one of the projects on which John had worked.

After their return to the United States in 1987, the Herrons were still not quite ready to settle down.  And so they reapplied to the Peace Corps. This time they were sent to The Gambia, which is the smallest country in mainland Africa and totally surrounded by Senegal except for its western coast along the Atlantic Ocean. It was a British Colony before achieving its independence. Senegal, on the other hand, had been a French colony.

This assignment proved more difficult for the Herrons for several reasons. In addition to English, they needed to learn a native language (Mandingo).  The culture proved more challenging because of the hardships they saw, not only in terms of poverty but also in terms of culture.  Women were definitely relegated to second class and were expected to handle everything except the raising of cash crops.  Because of the extreme poverty, there was a great deal of corruption. When financial aid came in from a variety of foreign organizations to pay for various projects, the money would often be embezzled and the projects would receive significantly less than what had been offered. The Gambian system of extended families put financial demands on the wage-earners, which contributed to the corruption.

Jean and John enjoyed their experience with a completely new culture in
spite of their frustration with the system, even learning to eat from communal bowls. This time, Jean helped students develop their school gardens. She had been a big gardener during her time in Eureka, California.  And so she helped the teachers and their students improve their garden projects. John worked again in forestry with the Gambian Forest Service, teaching lessons on forest conservation.

Unfortunately, the Herrons could not fulfill their two-year obligation in The Gambia. John fell seriously ill after the first year, and they had to return home. Luckily, he was able to recuperate over time. But they were sad to cut short their stay. Jean loved her Peace Corps experiences.  She and John appreciated the kindness and respect they received from their new friends in both Belize and The Gambia. Jean often told her children, “The Peace Corps gave us the chance to make a difference in the lives of many people, and we became better people because of it.”

What’s New in November

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Do you want to get a personal email notification of a new Complement issue or new material?   Email us at openinforvm@gmail.com and we will put you on the mailing list

Past articles are all on display;  If there is a “Load More” link at the bottom of the page, clicking it will bring up the older articles. 

EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA

Our sister publication, VIEWPOINTS, offers an opinion piece on the issues of multi-species evacuation:

Problems of Pets and Preparedness 

by Bob Buddemeier

 

And in this month’s Complement:

NEWS & VIEWS

 

Peace Corps in Turkey 1967-1969, by Joni Johnson
      – The lead-off article in our resident Peace Corps Series — a formative experience

A Peace Corps Ramadan: Mali 2011-2012, by David Drury
      – Fast forward four decades — a resident career capstone

Behind the Shelves at the Manor Library, by Anne Newins
      – A tell-all tale of the local book nook

         in Big, Borrowed, or Both

3550:  the Portland Mirabella quarterly magazine (most recent issue)

Mirabella Monthly, Newsletter of the Seattle Mirabella (October issue)

 

ARTS & INFO 

Turkey, Anyone? by Tom Conger and Connie Kent  
      – The bird that keeps on giving

RVM November-December Event & Entertainment Schedule

November Library Display, by Anne Newins
       – A list of the checkout champions

Let Me (Try To) Entertain You, by Bob Buddemeier
       – Pandemic program presentation

Nit-Wit Newz — The Mean Streets of RVM, by A. Looney
      – How do visitors find their way?
     

PREPARE

The entire Prepare page is being revised and updated — check back frequently

Why the Fake Quake? by Bob Buddemeier
– At least pretend to Drop, Cover, and Hold

Not brand new, but more relevant than ever:

Pet Preparedness, by Vicki Gorrell
– “Let meowt onto the woof!”

RVM Campus Evacuation Guidelines for Fire

 

 

 

 

 

A Peace Corps Ramadan: Mali 2011-2013

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by David Drury

David Drury and Asifa Kanji served in Peace Corps together while in their 60’s, from 2011 to 2013. David did small business development work, and Asifa did health and nutrition.  Their first assignment was in Kayes, western Mali, the hottest continuously-inhabited town in Africa. After 14 months service they had to be evacuated from Mali, due to a coup and invasion, but they went on to do Peace Corps assignments in Ghana and South Africa. This story is adapted from the his-and-her memoir 300 Cups of Tea andThe Toughest Job, by Asifa Kanji and David Drury, 2015

A Peace Corps Ramadan–and Thanksgiving

Ten years ago Asifa and I were serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Mali, West Africa. In that year August was the month of Ramadan, a time of reflection and fasting for Muslims. Although people still go to their regular jobs, they take no food or water from sunup to sundown. At work my colleagues did get a bit sleepy in the afternoons, and the soft drink machine was unplugged for the month, but everyone took it in stride. Growling stomachs and parched mouths notwithstanding, most folks were cheerful and mild. Even the nicotine addicts – of which there are many among Malian men  – sighed philosophically and waited for sunset. Allah cooperated with relatively balmy weather that year, but Ramadan is a lunar fast and moves backwards through the calendar year by year. Not so many years from now it will come during the searing 120 degree heat of May, and I wonder how the faithful will cope. As for Asifa and me, we did eat lunch and kept ourselves hydrated, but always in private. No one expected us to fast.

Although the days are austere, the nights of Ramadan have a special cozy feel as families turn inward to break their fast together. It is a time for reading from the Koran or listening to radio preachers, patching up old quarrels, giving to the poor. And like the Christian Lent, Ramadan ends with a joyful bang: the feast of Eid Al Fitr, started by the Prophet himself so they say, not long after his flight from Mecca to Medina to escape assassination.

On Eid day Asifa and I were invited to celebrate with our friend Moussa and his family in Kayes Ndi, a three or four mile walk to the far side of the river in the western Mali town where we lived. We set off mid-morning, dressed in our very finest Malian gear, me awkwardly hiking up my long boubou against the mud and the dust. Got to look respectable, you know. It felt like Easter morning, the streets full of smiling people looking splendid as can be and exchanging jolly greetings with total strangers. How could we resist? We Eid Mubārak!-ed and Aw sambe sambe!-ed our way through the market and across the bridge.

 

Eid Mubārak!   

With Moussa’s family we sat down to a fine festive supper, starring charcoal-roasted mutton and capitaine, a large river fish stuffed with fragrant greens. I must say, it was the best damn meal I ever had in Peace Corps, served up with love and the all-out generosity that is so typically Malian. But feasting isn’t really the point of Eid Al Fitr; in between prayers at the mosque, Moussa took us around with him to call on neighbors and friends, paying his respects, catching up on news of the family, and exchanging blessings special for the day.

May this be our first feast and not our last.

May your life be as solid as an iron bar.

May worms not alter it, nor termites.

May God have pity on the departed.

May God accept our prayers.

Each good wish answered, of course, with a fervent Amina! Amen. Kids, too, had a field day, dressed in their holiday best and going around the neighborhood in small flocks of friends to beg for sweet rice cakes. The grownups give them blessings and a small treat. It reminded me a little of Halloween, maybe, or English wassailing, but less rambunctious.

Dressed in their holiday best

As we headed home from celebrating this second-greatest of Muslim festivals, the strangest thought popped into my mind: Bring Back Lent. “Where did THAT come from?” I asked my brain. Then I thought about it. Of course: Lent is in many ways the Christian Ramadan.

When you strip away the religious trappings, Ramadan and the traditional Christian Lent are really the same idea – a mass spiritual exercise, a time of sacrifice and renewal that the whole community takes part in. Picture a world where, for one month out of the year, everybody you know sets out on that same journey, to take stock of who they truly are and how they treat the people around them, and to rise above the discomforts of hunger and thirst. A month when people are conscious of trying to be good. It’s a discipline many of us in the West have never learned; but, like jogging, it goes better if you do it in company. Islam does it on a global scale.

Christmastime is the closest our culture comes to a mass spiritual exercise, I suppose (not counting Superbowl), but we have turned Christmas into a season of indulgence and not much else, and given up on the austerities of Advent. That’s a pity, because the shared self-sacrifice of a Lent or Advent creates opportunities for soul-searching that just don’t seem to happen when we are too comfortable, or do it alone. We have lost the centuries-old tradition of using the run-up to Christmas and Easter to make ourselves better persons.

So here’s what I was thinking as we walked back over the bridge, bellies and hearts full of Eid cheer:  Thanksgiving is the best of our North American holidays. It celebrates no military victories, no revolutions and no particular religion, though it is at home with all religions. How much more joyful would Thanksgiving be if the whole week leading up to it had been set apart by tradition, like Ramadan, as a time of fasting and reflection? And if everybody did it?

Betsy Portaro- One of the Very Early Peace Corps Volunteers Danced with Belafonte

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This is one of the last two of our series on  the experiences of RVM residents in the Peace Corps.  Also in this issue is the article on David Guzetta and Carolyn Auker.  The December issue featured Jean and John Herron and Russy and Anita Sumariwalla; the November issue contained articles on Joni Johnson and Asifa Kanji and David Drury.

 

by Joni Johnson

Betsy Portaro joined the Peace Corps in 1963 shortly after graduating from college, only two years after the Peace Corps started.  She spent two years in Guinea, West Africa.  Her major at Boston College had been Psychology but she had studied French while in high school and college and so she entered the Peace Corps light years ahead of most of the volunteers destined for the Republic of Guinea which had just received its independence in 1958.  Her program planned to send two types of groups to that country.  One was for an agricultural project and the second was for teachers of English as a Second Language.  Oddly enough, she first entered as part of the agricultural team to keep company with one of the wives in that group so that there would be more women in a group made up largely of men.

You can see the Betsy of today in the Betsy O’Connell of 1963.  She was feisty and brave and adventuresome.  She wanted to join the Peace Corps for a variety of reasons. It’s connection to JFK was very appealing.  But most of all, she wanted to see the world.

The first part of her training took place in Vermont at a school for International Living that was relatively empty in the summer.  There were approximately 35 people in her agricultural group.  The second group, training nearby to be ESL teachers, were mostly women.  The training in the US was a combination of physical training (boot camp) and language studies as well as understanding the Guinea culture. After two months, the two groups were taken by plane to Conakry, the capital of Guinea where the last part of the training would take place.  Within a month of their arrival, Kennedy was assassinated.  As you can imagine, the volunteers were in shock. Many Guineans knew little about the world outside of their own country. There were few TV’s and radios. But those that had heard the news offered sympathy to the volunteers.  It was a very difficult time and everyone was heartbroken.

During their last month of training, this time in Conakry, the volunteers would practice their French and get used to the culture “in vivo”.  Betsy remembered that the boys had to learn how to spit in order to be accepted. The main religion was Islam (currently at 85%) which meant that the women often wore burkas or at least a veil.  And most of the men kept their distance. Betsy remembered that the men in the city wore long robes and the men from the country wore short robes. The women volunteers were told to wear simple dresses that came slightly below the knees

Guinea was a beautiful country.  There were three major tribes and then smaller tribal groups in the various regions. The mountains had the best weather. The coast was extremely humid and the desert was hot and to the volunteers, felt airless.  Conakry was on the coast with a high humity and a climate considered tropical monsoon. One of the tribes was heavily business oriented and was thrilled that the Americans were coming.  However, it was a bit of a disappointment since most of the volunteers could buy very little on their $50 a month allotment.

.Betsy’s first job for the Peace Corps was working as a social assistant in a hospital helping the supervisor translate anything into English and welcoming the new patients that were ambulatory.  However, after a short time, Betsy was transferred to the city of Labé (Tropical Savannah climate at an altitude of over 3000 ft) to teach English as a second language in the high school there. Labé is currently the second most important city economically in Guinea even though its population is rather small (about 200,000). I am sure that in 1964, it was even smaller.  Betsy was called Mademoiselle Teacher throughout the rest of her stay in Guinea.  During her second year, she moved again, this time to KanKan (Also with a tropical Savannah climate but significantly hotter than Labé) where she taught English to 9th and 10thgraders.  The head of the school there had only one ESL book and asked Betsy to get more copies from the Peace Corps.  They managed to scrounge up six more books. So the students would sit together at round tables and share the books with one another.  Because this was the first group of Peace Corps volunteers that served in Guinea, the Peace Corps didn’t know what they would need to fulfill their tasks.

Even in the early years, the Peace Corps fulfilled its three major goals:

  1. To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
  2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
  3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans

While we don’t have much information about the results of the agricultural unit, certainly the ability to offer ESL classes given by native speakers who were there to meet and share their lives with the residents of their host country definitely met the Peace Corps criteria for success.

Here are some of Betsy’s quotes:

“They loved that I was an American.  Most of them had never met one.  And they were impressed that I had traveled so far to be with them.  They were all interested in my hair and the color of my skin.

“I found that some of the culture was difficult for me because it felt as if women were treated as second class citizens.  Very few were in the government.  Some were teachers.

“I loved being in the Peace Corps.  I would always talk with the students after school because they wanted to spend more time with me.  At the end of my stay, it was difficult to leave, but at the same time, I was ready to come home. I missed my family and I missed the ease of life in the United States. The Republic of Guinea was a very poor country, but also felt very glamorous for me.  After I had been there for a year, half the people knew who I was.  This did not happen in Boston.  And when I returned, I really didn’t leave the Peace Corps completely behind.  I worked for them in Washington DC for over a year.

“And yes… Thanks to the Peace Corps and the Republic of Guinea, I danced with Harry Belafonte. He had come to Conakry for almost a week in search of dancers for his company.  He asked me to dance.  I almost passed out!”

 

 

 

 

Behind the Shelves at the Manor Library

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Anne Newins

By Anne Newins, with assistance from Sophia McMillen, Jan Hines, Lynda Hansen,
Liz Caldwell, and Bonny Turner

Hundreds of residents utilize the Manor library every year, checking out books, reading newspapers and magazines, or just enjoying the comfortable reading areas. Questions arise about library operations, so the purpose of this article is answer some of the most common ones.

How is the library operated?

The library is operated completely by volunteers. About 25 volunteers are responsible for checking books in and out, shelving, and other tasks that are obvious to patrons. Behind the shelves, volunteers also handle less visible functions. The library falls under the leadership of Sophia McMillen, a retired academic librarian at the University of Hawaii. Sophia and Lynda Hansen are responsible for cataloguing books, a complex process, with the assistance of Barbara Maxfield. Bonny Turner oversees the budget and volunteer training. Jan Hines is responsible for book acquisitions. Liz Caldwell handles a myriad of other functions, not the least of which is tracking circulation. Among Anne Newins’ duties is determining when to remove books from the collection.

How is the library funded?

According to Bonny Turner, the RVM library receives 100% of its funding through donations from our residents in the way of bequests and tax-deductible year end donations to the Foundation. Most of these monies are budgeted annually for the purchase of new books, three newspaper subscriptions, and annual software maintenance. All magazines and audiobooks are donated by residents. A minor amount is allotted for unseen expenses. The Resident Council provides a small amount for out-of-pocket expenses, such as inexpensive office supplies.

How are books chosen?

Jan Hines is responsible for determining which books will be added to the library collection. Jan reported that “out of hundreds of new books published each month, only a few are purchased for the RVM library,” due in part to space limitations. According to Jan, “Books chosen are those appealing to the greatest number of RVM readers. Most residents prefer fiction, although there is a small group of dedicated non-fiction readers. Reviews from at least five sources are read for all books under consideration and the final list is checked for diversity and balance.” The monthly book order usually consists of ten to twelve recent publications, including non-fiction, favorite authors, mysteries and thrillers, and “occasionally a ‘sleeper’ to keep things interesting.” Fortunately, more popular large print books are available than in the past.

A number of books are donated by residents, which helps stretch the library budget. Many of these donations are passed onto the Annex for sale because of their age, condition, are duplicate copies, or because they do not meet the criteria listed above. Books that are heavy (weight-wise), “hard science,” or “classical” literature are rarely circulated and are not likely to be kept.

For efficiency, it is best if these types of books are donated directly to the Annex. New and popular duplicate copies also are redirected to the Health Center and Care Suites, where collections of non-catalogued books are kept for residents.

Most books written by Manor authors are added to the collection if they will be of general interest. No chemistry textbooks, please!

What online services are available for readers?

The library uses two types of technology, Atriuum and OPAC. Atriuum is used for many library operations, including cataloguing, circulation, book reserve lists, and overdue tracking. The stalwart volunteers have catalogued about 10,000 books and audio books just since 2014, when the library converted from an old-fashioned card system. OPAC is the system available for Manor patrons’ use, both from home or in the library.

Each resident has a user identification name and password. The user id normally is the resident’s initial and last name and the default password is their unit number. Residents may change their passwords if desired. The passwords do not automatically change if readers change residence. For help with user names or passwords, a friendly library volunteer can help.

OPAC easily is found on MyRVM. Simply link on “Libraries.” This will offer readers the option of choosing Books and Audiobooks or the DVD library. The OPAC main page offers a review of library services and gives instructions. If you log on, you will be able to reserve books, check when your books are due, and renew them if they are not being requested by others. You even may find a history of books you have checked out.

What if I need help?

The Manor library is open 24/7. It is staffed daily by volunteers, both morning and afternoon. They will be happy to answer any of your questions.

 

Readiness Review Reminder

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By Bob Buddemeier

Autumn is here, and we are almost out of wildfire season.  That means you can take a break from worrying about how Slithers, your pet rat-snake, would adapt to being evacuated to the Plaza.  Does it mean you can take a break from worrying altogether?  No way!  Winter is coming.

Let’s suppose you are an outdoorsy aesthete, waiting eagerly for the first snow to come so you can drive up into the back country to feast your eyes on the winter landscape.  It does, and you do, and the car slides off the road into a narrow ravine with no cell coverage.  “Aha,” you think proudly, “I have my Car-Go-Bag in the trunk.”  So you scramble around, open it up, and pull out — a broad-brimmed hat, some sunscreen, and two extra water bottles.  Uh-oh.

Or maybe you are the homebody type, planning to stay snug and warm inside all winter.  So when the precocious 8-year-old in Fresno who got a laptop for Christmas crashes the entire U.S. power grid, you decide to go to bed to keep warm.  But that little light on the electric blanket control doesn’t go on.  Think!  Did you bring any real blankets, or were those all downsized?  Uh-oh.

Moral:  Eternal vigilance is the price of preparedness, with organization, self-awareness, and other very scarce commodities mixed into the price along with vigilance

But, FEAR NOT! The Residents’ Preparedness Group (RPG), with complicity of the RVM Emergency Preparedness Task Force, has devised a plan for keeping all of us somewhat ready to survive the next earthquake, wildfire, power outage, or other misadventure, foreseeable or unforeseen.

The Plan:  Every 6 months, Fall and Spring, we’ll have a Readiness Review week.  The selected times are (1) the week containing the 3rd Thursday in October (the Great ShakeOut – more on that below), and (2) the week containing April 15 (Tax day – considered a disaster by many).  RPG and RVM will be reviewing their own programs, but especially reaching out to residents with reminders, information updates, demonstrations, advice and assistance with emergency preparations, and for those interested, classes and exercises.  Your local coordinator (the neighbor in the lime-green safety vest) will be in touch.

Upcoming – the week of the Great Shakeout (shakeout.org/Oregon/) – October 17-23, with the actual Shakeout on 10/21/21, at 10:21 a.m.   We expect everyone to luxuriate in the expanded significance of the whole week, but to focus down on the core event – The Great ShakeOut is an international promotion of earthquake awareness and safety.  Any number can (and do) play.

Here are the rules:  pay attention because we are in the area of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which is thought to be ripe for a Great or Very Great Earthquake just about any old time.  So, we are going to simulate a serious earthquake beginning at 10:21 and lasting for 4 minutes or so (this is not one of your quick-and-dirty California quakes).  You are supposed to take the appropriate action for your location and condition at the time.

First, if you are lucky and attentive, you feel a very noticeable but not devastating shaking.  That is your friend the p-wave arriving to let you know that in not more than a minute, the big bad s-wave will arrive and shake the crap out of everything.

Whatever you feel first, ACT!  Inside, DROP, COVER, AND HOLD.  Anywhere, get away from things likely to fall on you, such as tall furniture, overpasses, power lines, breaking windows, etc.  If you’re not sure of what to do or how to do it – well, that’s why we have these days and weeks.  Find out.

The following linked references are available on both the myRVM Emergency Preparedness page, and on The Complement/Prepare.  Both sites have other information as well.

Recommended Earthquake Safety Actions  What to do when it hits.

Earthquake Preparedness Guide — Disabilities  Not limited to people with disabilities – preparation advice is good for everyone.

 

Emergency Power at Home- Why, What and How

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By Joni Johnson

When the power goes out, it is very nice – and could be life-saving – to have a back-up source of electricity. Power supplies can be battery packs that are charged when there is power and used when there isn’t, or they can be battery packs attached to an independent source of electricity, like solar panels or car batteries.

Tom and I were very devil-may-care about getting a generator until the second power outage this year.  Because of a need to keep some health machines going and the desire to see in the dark, we started looking into options for power supplies that would work here on campus.

Gas:   For reasons of safety, RVM does not allow gas or diesel generators in our homes.  If someone needs to be hooked up to electricity during a power outage, their main option is to be moved to the Manor for an electric hook-up to the emergency generator there.

Solar:   After simple stored-power battery backups, the next and most viable choice is solar powered energy, and there seem to be a lot of these power supplies on campus.  After inquiring, I was contacted by a number of people directly and others gave me names of people with this equipment.  The big questions are, what do you want to charge, how heavy do you want the machine to be, and how much do you want to spend?  All of the batteries discussed in this article can be charged from your electric socket while you have power, from solar panels, or from a 12v car charger.

Important – before you buy a power supply, make sure that it will work with the equipment you are interested in using. Voltage – AC or DC? All of these batteries do have both options but some of the less expensive ones might not. The Watts (power requirement) – if it doesn’t tell you, multiply Volts times Amps. Watt-hours of the supply will tell you how long it will power an appliance of specific wattage.  For example, most  home medical gear (CPAP, oxygen concentrators) will run on 12 volts DC, although you may need some accessories, but air purifiers are AC only, and some power supplies do not have AC output.

Small Power Supplies –

 1.  David Drury bought a setup from Amazon with an 80-watt solar panel strip (which he can hang from his back deck), and a 296 watt-hour storage battery. It weighs 6.6 lbs.

In his words, “I can charge all kinds of small electronic appliances — up to laptops — as well as batteries for flashlights etc. The storage battery is very versatile, produces both AC and DC current, and even includes a 12-volt attachment for connecting to car batteries. The important point (or one of them) is that using the solar panel in conjunction with a storage battery provides a lot more flexibility. You can charge things when the sun isn’t shining, and take maximum advantage of the sun when it IS shining — whether or not you’ve got anything that immediately needs charging.

If I had any buyer’s remorse, it would be that I got the 80 watt rather than the 100 watt panel (which is 6 feet long, as opposed to my more convenient 4 ft panel). Likewise, the smallish battery unit which would probably not be enough to run an oxygen concentrator. The next higher battery pack is 504 watt -hours.

His solar panels are connected and can be folded into a briefcase.  They can be hung as he does or can be mounted at an angle of 40 degrees with their kickstands for better efficiency.

  1. Keith Maxfield wanted to buy locally and wanted a machine with the smallest possible footprint and with a collapsible handle so that he could keep it in his RV. He chose a Goal Zero Yeti Lithium 500X Portable Power Station.

He also chose a 4 panel connected 100 watt solar panel by Goal Zero, called the Nomad 100, which can fold up.

Medium Power Supplies

 Tom and I wanted a higher capacity battery, but I needed to be able to carry it. We had to run a battery-powered oxygen concentrator (how many watts?).  With a lot of help from Ron Constable, I ended up buying a Jackery 1000 package which included two 100 watt solar panels.  The solar panels charge the battery from 0 to 100% in 8 hours in full sun.  In our case, Tom’s battery powered oxygen concentrator could last about 10 hours on the battery pack. We have a charger that can charge one of the two concentrator batteries separately, which leaves a lot of room for charging other things like iPhones, iPads and computers.  We should also be able to light one lamp, although we did buy a battery-operated lantern. The Jackery 1000 weighs 22 pounds and is fairly easy for me to carry. I bought from Amazon because Home depot’s Jackery was listed as the 880 and in fact only ran 880 watt-hours. When I searched for their 1000, it was significantly more money.

You can see the size of the battery compared to a bottle of wine and how easy it is to store the two panels in a closet.  This is what it looks like open.

 

 

Larger

 Bill Anderson has a Jackery 1500 plus the four 100 watt panels included in his package.  The Jackery 1500 wasn’t available on Amazon, so he bought it through the Jackery company itself.  It weighs 35 pounds.  With the 4 solar panels you can recharge the battery in 4 hours of sunlight.

This is what it looks like out on the trail:

Bill also has a Tesla which can provide electricity, and can have him living the life of Riley for weeks on end without the need for any other power source.  With that, he could use his coffee maker, a small refrigerator, an electric frying pan and a toaster.

If you have or want a Tesla, he is the man to talk to about what it can do for you in a power outage.

Really Large

There are other people on campus who have much larger batteries.  For example, one person has a Goal Zero Yeti 3000X battery plus two 200 watt solar panels that will cost around $3000 plus the panels, but will run things for a significantly longer period of time.  However, it is bigger and heavier (69.78 lb).  The Yeti 3000 comes with wheels.

The weather is changing.  If we are caught in another power outage or worse yet, an earthquake with indefinite loss of power, what would you do? The bottom line is that there are many choices of solar powered back-up battery systems. The three brands mentioned in this article are well respected.  The Jackery and Goal Zero can be bought on-line or in stores such as REI or Home Depot, depending on the brand.  Pricing can be vary a lot, so it pays to double check.  If you have any questions, the companies seem very accessible.  And the owners here on campus have allowed me to post their names as well, and can serve as advisors and references.  And there are all sorts of YouTube videos comparing one power source with another.  It is worth a look!

Below is a link to a chart showing typical wattage for various appliances and equipment:

https://www.donrowe.com/usage-chart-a/259.htm

 

for example

cell phone      10

laptop             20-75

iPad                10-20

tv-led 32”       50

tv-42 plasma  240

refrigerator    500-750

CPAP 20-60 W depending on model and accessories

Oxygen concentrators    high power, 100-600 W

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bringing Lawn Bowling Back to its Former Glory

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By Joni Johnson

Did you know that one of RVM’s residents reached the quarter-finals in the National Lawn Bowling Championship in Seattle? That was Eleanor Ritchie in 1985, when more than 200 men and women from all over the United States had competed in that event.  In addition, in 1983, also at the Nationals, Eleanor won the “triples” (bowling with 2 others) and was runner up in doubles.  It is still possible to find her name on the internet.

       First Bowling Green at RVM

Did you know that 1961, the very same year the Manor opened, was the year that RVM broke ground for a natural grass, three-rink green that existed approximately where the current exercise room and indoor pool exists today?  That was also the same year that the indoor one-rink green was built.  One might wonder why an ecumenical community group of Methodists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians who were creating Rogue Valley Manor for retirees might be so interested in creating two lawn bowling greens at the very beginning of RVM’s existence.  No one knows for sure, but the guess is that one of the members of the RVM executive Board, the Rev. R.V. Bolster, who was a native of County Cork, Ireland, educated at Trinity College, and a member of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was the initiator.

                Bowling in 1973

What happened next? you ask.  After more than 10 years, the natural-grass green became very difficult to maintain, so a new green was created in 1973 using donations from 27 people for the artificial turf.  The single green ran between the old health center and what is now the gym area, but went north south. And then, in 1992, to make room for the new health center addition, the current, two-rink green facing east-west was created.

All sorts of tournaments took place in the ensuing years.  Someone said that “a day without bowls is like a day without orange juice.”  In 1987, RVM’s bowling club accepted invitations to tournaments with three clubs in Oregon and individual members bowled in Arizona, California and Washington.

I started bowling shortly after I arrived on campus in the spring of 2019.  At that time, Alan Bushell gave us several classes to understand the game and how to roll the bowl.  For those new to the game, it’s called a bowl rather than a ball because it is not symmetrically round and therefore, when it leaves your hand, it goes straight for a while and then it curves. So it’s not only a physical game, it’s also a game of strategy.  When I started, there were meetings and dinners, and it was very hard to get on a team.  I was a sub for quite a while until someone decided to quit and there was a place for me.

Then Covid hit and all turned to naught.  While people still played, rather than being a club that felt cohesive and strongly bonded, we became just a gaggle of teams.  Nobody met as a group beyond the teams and so enthusiasm sort of waned.

                 Norm Boice

Norm Boice, the new president of our RVM Lawn Bowls Club, wants to return us to our former glory.  He would love to have receptions and tournaments and events and meals again. “We have to be a little cautious because of the pandemic,” he says, “but with almost all of the residents and employees vaccinated, life might return somewhat to normal here at our cocoon on the hill.  Lawn Bowling used to be THE sport.  And the fact that we have both a beautiful outdoor two-rink green and an indoor green for winter is extraordinary.  There are only two other lawn bowling clubs in Oregon.  One is in Portland, and the other is in a retirement center in King City. How lucky we are, and we should take full advantage of our good fortune.”

If you are interested in knowing more about the game, please contact Norm Boice at X6164 or email him at normb2306@gmail.com

Russy and Anita- As Young As The Peace Corps

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This is part of a series of articles on the experiences of RVM residents in the Peace Corps.  Also in this issue is the article on Jean and John Herron; the November issue featured Joni Johnson and Asifa Kanji and David Drury.  Stay tuned…

by Joni Johnson

Russy and Anita Sumariwalla were trainers in the Peace Corps almost at its inception. They were both students (close, but not married) at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst when Russy was tapped as the Assistant Training Project Director for the first group of volunteers to go to Senegal, the Ivory Coast and Niger. This was in the Fall of 1962. President John Kennedy started The Peace Corps in 1961 as a project to promote world peace and friendly international relations. The first trainees went to Africa and South America in the summer of that year. Russy and Anita were right on the cutting edge of the Peace Corps, providing training for their groups just one year later.

At the time, Russy was working on a project for John Ryan, the Secretary of the University, while doing post graduate study. Russy had come from Bombay (now called Mumbai) and had only been in the country since 1959, first getting his Master of Laws degree in Charlottesville, Virginia, and then moving to the University of Massachusetts for study in International Law and International Organization. Ryan admired his work and thought that his multicultural background would help him in running the nuts and bolts of a training program which took volunteers from everywhere in the United States with plans to send them to three French speaking African countries. Anita had arrived in the United States by boat from Rotterdam in 1961. Having been born in the French speaking region of Switzerland, Anita was a perfect addition to the team of eleven French teachers for these 60 students. The goal was to get the new volunteers, ranging in age from 18 to 64, ready to take part in a two-year program to help and support the citizens of these African countries, largely in rural areas.

Almost none of the students spoke French when they arrived on campus. Anita and her fellow teachers needed to get these students able to speak passable French so they could carry out their lives in their new environments. So Anita not only taught these students during their 7am to 10pm daily schedules of classes and activities, but she ate meals with them as well. The Peace Corps had provided materials for teaching French, which they used in class. Meals and outside activities were a time to help them develop their vocabulary and conversational and reading skills in their new language.

Those fifteen hour days might include Physical Conditioning, Breakfast, and then classes in French, and, depending on their country, Food and Nutrition, Water and Waste, Goats, Irrigation, and Farm Machinery. Then more French, Lunch, American Studies and World Affairs, American Culture, Art, Music, The American Character, Rural Community Development, Mental Health, First Aid, Dinner, and more French.

Russy, as the Assistant director of the program, was charged with making everything run smoothly from housing to dining to problems between students. By the second week of fifteen hour days, students were generally exhausted, and that was the time that issues arose. Typically, many of the problems were with people who, from all over the country, from all ages and all walks of life and all types of American accents, were learning to get along with one another while experiencing exhaustion and anxiety as well as excitement. Both Russy and Anita emphasized that listening was probably one of the most useful tools of the trade in working with the volunteers as these problems arose. And of course, as the volunteers solved these problems with each other, they learned skills that would benefit them in the long run as they worked with their African colleagues.

Not only did the volunteers need to learn French, but they all had to become knowledgeable in the fields in which they were expected to support their African brethren. These areas included health, childcare, dealing with the sick, new skills to avoid Typhoid and Malaria (by boiling water, etc.) and help in the area of agriculture.

All the volunteers were idealistic and wanted to change the world. They all had a sense of adventure. But part of training was also to help them prepare for the disappointments that lay in store, like the possible non-existence of hot showers, or their programs being held up by lack of materials or promised materials not arriving for weeks. So that meant that training needed to include providing volunteers with the idea of never giving up and ways to maintain their spirits. One of the big adventures for the volunteers was a trip to the United Nations in New York for a reception, as invited guests of the Ambassador of Niger. This trip helped the volunteers form a deep connection to the Peace Corps and its goals.

I asked them both Anita and Russy what they would want their readers to know about their experience. Anita expressed her admiration for the volunteers: “They were so eager and courageous. Many of them had little idea of the country they were assigned to. Good training was such a vital part of their future success. I told them that they were ambassadors. Whatever they did or said would reflect on the U.S. Also, we cautioned them to respect the culture of their hosts even if they did not understand them. Seeing the generosity of the American spirit may have even influenced me to become an American citizen.”

Russy said that he was very impressed by our country’s enlightened approach to spreading our sense of freedom to developing countries. He admired all of the volunteers for wanting to make a better world and in a sense sacrificing two years of their lives to do this. He says, “I found myself lucky to have had that experience. It broadened my outlook. I had always felt that I was a citizen of the world, but this took it out of the abstract and made it a reality. I saw respect, love, care, tolerance and dignity for others.”

Russy’s and Anita’s experiences in the Peace Corps as trainers mirrored in many ways the experiences of the volunteers.  It was a life changing and life affirming event.