Our family has had a couple reminders recently of how quickly life can change.
A couple weeks ago, while headed to the airport on Hwy. 99 north of Canby, my truck was struck by a young man’s vehicle that had been bumped by a hit-and-run driver. No injuries, but about $3,000 damage to my rig and at least that much to his.
Last week, a driver cut in front of Debbie and tapped the Expedition’s left front bumper. Only some mud was swapped there.
Nothing serious but close calls and enough to make one ponder how quickly a good day can turn bad.
We mention this after being somewhat in awe of our EMT/firefighters at work on Monday morning.
After a weekend at the ranch spent burning the remaining limbs from the wind storm almost two years ago, we arrived at the office Monday early but a little behind in terms of newspaper work.
As we plowed through stories and photos for the week, the call came over the police scanner that there had been a wreck in front of Midway Grocery and one of the drivers was trapped inside.
Upon our arrival at the scene, we found the firefighters already at work, beginning to extricate Nan Seiber from her smashed vehicle.
Sweet Home police were busy securing the area and getting information about the accident.
What sticks in our mind though is how caring the firefighters were of the person trapped in the car.
Although they seemed calm, they had to be at least somewhat nervous when dealing with such an event and yet, they were professional.
They went about their work methodically, moving from one level to the next in their attempt to remove the driver safely from the vehicle.
They covered her with a blanket to protect her from both the cold morning rain and any loose materials as they cut the roof from the vehicle and then moved in with a backboard to move her safely to the waiting ambulance.
Thirty years ago, in rural Iowa, I was often the first on the scene of accidents as the “cub” reporter for the county’s newspaper. It wasn’t unusual for me to help the Highway Patrol or ambulance staff with any number of tasks, including loading people–alive and dead– into the ambulance.
One horrific St. Patrick’s Day accident remains burned into our memory.
It’s been a while since I’ve watched the Sweet Home team in action and my hat goes off to all involved for such a fine job.
Not just in how professionally they went about their work Monday morning but from the look on their faces, how compassionately as well.
It is another reminder of how fortunate we are to live in a community like Sweet Home where people aren’t just numbers.
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A reader told us this week that although “I don’t like your politics, I think the paper is the best it’s been in 40 years.”
That’s a great compliment. We don’t expect everyone to agree on politics but we do hope you will use the editorial page to create an ongoing community discussion.
Letters to the editor and guest opinions are always welcome,whether you agree with us or not.
We hope The New Era’s editorial page makes you happy, sad, mad, interested, concerned.
Well, you get the picture.
Speaking of editorial pages, we hope to gather together a team of guest writers who will rotate columns for the page as we approach our 75th year in the community.
We’d like to credit for the idea but we’re actually stealing it from the Tri-County News in Junction City, an outstanding weekly paper.
At the News, 12 writers from throughout the community take turns every quarter developing a piece for the editorial page.
The topics vary widely from serious to funny, from politics to local commentary.
We want to do the same thing.
Conservative or liberal, we would like to put together our own community forum team to represent diverse thoughts about life in our town.
You won’t make any money but you will have a chance to be heard or at least read and to have your opinions cussed and discussed.
Any takers?
Call me at 367-2135 or email us at [email protected].