March
FREE
2013 The
News for the Mid-Willamette Valley
March Lo Events C cal alendar Page 2
Photo by Amanda Photographic
By Karen Rogers By Rick Rogers
will go toward the community effort to build a new and larger shelter on Highway 34 near Tangent. Over one-hundred local businesses participate in the mid-valley Points for Profit Program. Awards were also presented to businesses chosen by those participating non-profit members and others interested in the program. “Large Business of the Year” went to Wilco Farm Stores in Tangent, while Creative Crafts and Frames of Corvallis was named as “Small Business of the Year” and Kathy Goss with Pampered Chef received “Home-Based Business of the Year”. Special Volunteer of the Year awards were presented to Kelly Lancer of Lebanon, Lorraine Anderson, Michelle Wilkinson and Kenny Harvuot of Albany for their outstanding volunteer efforts throughout the year. The delicious special awards night dinner of Prime Rib and all the trimmings was prepared by Points for Profit business partner Jacopetti’s Catering of Albany. The night was capped by a huge silent auction which raised several hundred dollars for distribution to nonprofits next year. A big highlight of the night was an announcement by InSpirit Marketing President, Lauralee Beck: When all the receipts for last year were counted, the Points for Profit program was responsible for pumping over 6-million dollars back to Points for Profit businesses, in our local economy during 2012! For more information about the Points for Profit program please see the center section of this edition of High Points. Photo by Amanda Photographic
On the evening of January 28, nearly 200 people gathered in the conference rooms at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center in Albany for the 10th Annual Points for Profit awards banquet. At the banquet, cash awards were presented to 27 mid-valley nonprofit organizations. Awards were based upon their shopping receipts from local businesses participating in the program, along with points earned by attending monthly dinners, on location events, and other promotional events. The top cash award of $5,000 was presented for first place, in points accumulated, to Oregon Women for Agriculture. The group announced it would use the money to promote agriculture in the mid-valley and help out local schools with their agricultural programs. Second place was claimed by Teen Challenge, a Christian based program aimed at helping men with drug problems. They were presented with a $3,500 award and will use the money to finish a home in Lebanon. They are refurbishing a house to use as a men’s dormitory. A third place award of $2,500 was presented to the Saint Edwards Youth Group of Lebanon, who uses the money to support group activities affecting the community. Fourth place, an award totaling $1,200, went to the Lebanon High School Drama Club. It will be used by the students to help with school plays and other activities sponsored by the group. Rounding out the top five wards was fifth place, a $1,000 award, presented to SafeHaven Humane Society A group of young choir members perform for the banquet animal shelter. That money crowd.
I have to admit, though I love the summer months, that March is far and away my favorite month in the whole calendar year. May through September is one long idyll of warmth and sunshine. October is the golden harvest home. November is marginal, but it does have Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving, and December keeps you stepping with holiday happenings. Then, January drops in like a heavy, wet, cold blanket and February, though mercifully short, is not much better. Somehow the grayness gets grayer, the fogs, foggier, and the damp, damper. In fact the overwhelming grayness got to me this year and I was not just miserable, I was “mizzable”. That term was coined by a black-sheep relation, but it’s the truth. It’s bad enough to be miserable, but “mizzable” is a thousand times worse! If hibernation was humanly possible, this would be the time to do it. I’d like to pull the blankies over my head and grab several warming cats and hide out! So I started my spring cleaning earlyhalfway through February. At least my house will be ready for nicer weather. Beautiful March comes upon us with noticeably longer days! We pass the vernal equinox! Flowers wake up! Spring has sprung! Sure, it rains, but somehow the rain doesn’t seem as wet as it does in the January doldrums, and there is a renewed sense of hope. Easter happens and the world gets a major lift spiritually and physically, and the universe feels a great sense of renewal. Then with a contented sigh, March fades happily into auspicious April! Happy Spring!