Know a special kid who needs help?
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires schools to make available special education to children from kindergarten through age 21 who are eligible for special services.
If you know of any child who could benefit from special help or who are not in school but may have a disability, please contact anyone at your local school.
The disabilities could include learning disabilities, intellectual disability, emotional disturbance, physical orthopedic disabilities, traumatic brain injury, hearing or vision impairments, speech or language problems or autism.
Linn County residents should contact Linn Benton Early Intervention Program (541) 753-1202, ext 106.
Kids meals not served Aug. 1-2
Sweet Home School District will not offer free lunch and breakfast for local children on Aug. 1-2 due to the Oregon Jamboree.
The district provides free lunch and breakfast for kids age 18 and younger at various locations during the summer, through Aug. 23.
There is no cost and reservations are not required. Meals include fresh fruit, vegetables and milk.
Lunch is served from 11 to 11:30 a.m. at Foster School.
Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Little Promises, at Pleasant Valley and Ridgeway roads.
Lunch is served from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Sweet Home High School, Hawthorne and Oak Heights schools.
Lunch is served from 12:30 to 1 p.m. at Ashbrook Park, Northside Park and at the Skate Park on Long Street, next to the Sweet Home School District headquarters.
Breakfast is served from 9 to 9:30 a.m. at Sweet Home High School and from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Little Promises.
Extension food preservation help
As canning season gets under way, the Food Preservation hotline from Oregon State University Extension Service is taking calls.
The toll-free hotline at 800-354-7319 runs until Oct. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. When the hotline is closed, callers can leave a message. The hot-line is staffed by certified Master Food Preserver volunteers in Lane and Douglas counties, but is available statewide.
Publications are available at catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu.
Extension’s Ask an Expert, an online question-and-answer service, is another way to get information. Post a question and an expert will get back to you within 48 hours about anything related to food preservation, from safety concerns to recipes.
There’s also an app – Canning Timer & Checklist at catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/pnw689 – for more experienced canners that provides reminders of essential steps in the canning process.
Additionally, many Extension offices offer free pressure gauge testing.
Congressman to hold town halls
Rep. Peter DeFazio will hold town hall meetings focusing on war powers Wednesday, July 31, in Albany and Corvallis.
The Corvallis meeting will be from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Chintimini Senior and Community Center, 2501 NW Tyler Ave.
The Albany meeting will follow, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Albany Public Library, 2450 14th Ave. SE.
Mill movie night to feature romance
Scroggins Mill in Lebanon presents Movies at the Mill, a series of classic films on Thursday evenings in July and August at 280 W. Sherman St. in Lebanon.
The Aug. 1 film will be “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House,” a 1948 comedy/romance in which a man and his wife decide they can afford to have a house in the country built to their specifications. It’s a lot more trouble than they think.
Movies are screened on the side of the mill, so shows begin when it gets dark, generally about 9 p.m. A food vendor will be available.
Admission is free but donations are appreciated.
Celtic trio to play at Marks Ridge
Marks Ridge Winery’s summer concert series continues on Friday evenings through August at 29255 Berlin Road.
The Dinna Fash Celtic Trio will perform contemporary and traditional Celtic music Friday, Aug. 2.
Bring your own picnic or snacks and enjoy open-air seating at bistro tables or bring a chair or blanket.
Cover is $10 per person. No outside alcohol is allowed.
Jeweler, glass artist at Albany gallery
Jeweler Lori Gary of Brownsville and Fused Glass artist Cindy Conder of Corvallis will be the featured artists during August at Gallery Calapooia, 222 First Ave. W. in downtown Albany.
The gallery’s First Friday reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2, will feature the work of Garcy and Conder, as well as 18 other mid-gallery artists. Garcy and Conder have named titled their show “Ebb and Flow” to symbolize life’s tides and changes.
Garcy collects stones and rocks from wherever she travels – sapphires from Montana, Herkimer diamonds from New York, rubies from India, petrified wood from Michigan, amber from Russia, jade from China, sunstone from Oregon and stones from many more places. She has combined these stones with traditional metalsmithing techniques to create the pieces for this show.
Conder will offer some new glass creations with a focus on wave forms, color mixing and free-form shapes. Conder’s techniques for this show have resulted in new pieces with an organic feeling to them, created by encouraging the glass to move during the firing process. The impression of movement and flow is then caught within the glass itself.
Also featured for the first time in August will be the wood turnings of Gallery Calapooia’s newest member, J.J. Jones Sr. Jones, formerly a teacher, small business owner and realtor in Corvallis, has been turning wood since 1985. His pieces are both decorative and utilitarian, and feature a wide variety of woods, especially his Oregon favorites – myrtle wood and maple burl.
Gallery Calapooia is in its seventh year of operation.
Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The gallery is a nonprofit organization and donations to it are tax-deductible.
For more information, call (541) 971-5701 or visit http://www.gallerycalapooia.com.
Writers conference in Brownsville
Harrisburg author Dorcas Smucker, a former columnist for the Eugene Register-Guard, will lead a local writers’ conference Saturday, Aug. 10, at Pioneer Christian Academy, 331 Blakely Ave. in Brownsville.
The conference runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features two general sessions with Chris Miller and two one-hour workshops. Cost is $30 for those preregistered or $35 at the door and includes lunch and snacks. Authors attending will have books for sale.
Miller, a teacher, motivator and communicator, is principal of Pioneer Christian Academy and passionate about history, music, and the great outdoors. He will talk about finding a message. Workshops by published writers include “How to Begin” and “Essay Writing” by Dorcas Smucker, “Capturing and Publishing a Real Person’s Story” by Laura Smucker, and ones on writing for children and self-editing by Mary Hake, along with “Supporting a Writer” by Paul Smucker, pastor of Brownsville Mennonite Church.
To register, send the participant’s name and phone number to [email protected] with $30 via PayPal, or mail $30 to Paul Smucker, 31148 Substation Drive, Harrisburg, OR, 97446.
For more information, contact Dorcas Smucker at (541) 520-8510.
Family Bug Crawl at Riverview Park
Build Lebanon Trails is offering a new activity this year: a Family Bug Crawl on Saturday, Aug. 10.
Join the trails group and entomologist Richard Little to seek out the often-overlooked wildlife living along the riparian and urban boundaries near local trails.
Meet at 9 a.m. at Riverview Park, 1025 Mountain River Drive.
For more information, contact Rod Sell at (541) 409-1302.
Meals on Wheels weekly menu
Meals on Wheels offers lunch at the Sweet Home Community Center to seniors over 60 at noon on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Senior Center serves a separate lunch on Wednesdays.
First-time diners are invited to come in and have a free lunch to give it a try.
Suggested donation is $3.50. All meals are served with milk, coffee or tea upon request and diabetic desserts are available on request.
No meal will be served Friday, Aug. 2, due to the Oregon Jamboree.
The menu on Monday, Aug. 5, is white bean/chicken chili or macaroni and cheese florentine, mixed vegetables, marinated zucchini salad, herb roll and lemon pudding.
The menu on Tuesday, Aug. 6, is hearty chicken stew or scalloped potatoes and turkey ham, broccoli, tossed salad, oat bran roll and caramel apple pudding.
Volunteers are needed for both kitchen help and meal delivery.
For more information, contact Norene at (541) 367-8843.