Vancouver Family Magazine September 2020

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September 2020

Tiny Humans,

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Diagnosis: Cancer.

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Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

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contents

16

FEATURE ARTICLES

12

Tiny Humans, Big Love Support for Babies (and New Parents) in Need

16

Diagnosis: Cancer. Treatment: Transplant.

How local survivors found their matches

22

NW Getaway: Hood River Explore the Gorge in Hood River

IN EVERY ISSUE

10 12 22

4

September ‘20

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

6

Editor’s Notes

8

The New Domesticity Pride and strengthened family ties through naming things

10

Renaissance Dad Of Survival and Takeout

24

Calendar of Events & Activities

ON THE WEB • Child Car Seat Safety Guide

It’s your moment.

From the moment you find out you’re pregnant to the moment you see that precious face.

At PeaceHealth, we know how exciting pregnancy can be, while understanding you may worry about COVID-19.

We are doing our part to make your stay with us worry free by taking every precaution to keep you and baby safe and healthy.

We take pride in Newsweek magazine recently naming PeaceHealth Southwest Family Birth Center one of the best maternity hospitals in the U.S. Our team is here for you, ready to provide exceptional, personalized care for your every moment.

Get your birthing questions answered at peacehealth.org/vancouvermom.

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

5

EDITOR'S NOTES

Photo by Scarlette Richards

Mostly Memorable Moments

Reading my old journals is like reading a raw, uncut biography of someone else’s life. I have such a terrible memory that the vast majority of my own life events would be lost to me but for the record that bears witness to what I’ve apparently witnessed. But gaps in memory are to be expected to some extent for each of us. What really shocked me recently was how susceptible I am to unwittingly creating false memories to fill those gaps.

One summer while I was in high school, our church youth group piled into a school bus for a road trip to a historical site in Wyoming, stopping to camp along the way. I remember sneaking out of the tent one night with my friend, Kim, with the express purpose of visiting the boys’ tents, only to get caught in the act by Bill, one of our loving yet weary leaders. Kim and I recently reminisced on Facebook about this incident, but her memory of “sneaking” out of the tent is quite different from mine. We were simply going to the bathroom, Kim insisted.

“Someone overheard a girl talking about sneaking to the boys’ camp,” she commented, “and when we went to the bathroom, it was assumed that we had snuck over. That’s why [Bill] was so mad and we were so upset!” It seems that the rumor about someone else sneaking around and then being wrongly blamed for it wormed its way into my memory, creating an entirely new untruth, disguised as my personal experience.

We tagged Bill into the conversation and all had a good laugh about it. I may have a less consistent memory than most of my friends, but I’m not alone. Memory is not fixed, but fluid. Author John Gottschall wrote about the malleability of memory in his book, “The Storytelling Animal” (Mariner, 2012), “Like a novel in process, our life stories are always changing and evolving, being edited, rewritten and embellished by an unreliable narrator. We are, in large part, our personal stories.

And those stories are more truthy than true.” We all have blind spots and biases that color our past and that we would do well to acknowledge.

But we can still shape our present and future into a fulfilling (if fluid) reality.

This month, learn about how a chance conversation twenty years ago led to helping thousands of local babies in need (page 12) and how local bone marrow transplant recipients found their perfect match (page 16).

Plus, explore Hood River with my family on our first post-COVID-19 weekend getaway (page 20). Here’s hoping I remember the experience for many years to come.

Nikki Klock, Editor nikki@vancouverfamilymagazine.com

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Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

www.VancouverFamilyMagazine.com

Volume 19, Issue 9 Publisher

Julie Buchan Julie@vancouverfamilymagazine.com (360) 882-7762

Editor

Nikki Klock Nikki@vancouverfamilymagazine.com (360) 882-7762

Associate Editor

Sarah Mortensen Sarah@vancouverfamilymagazine.com

Graphic Designer

I-Shüan Warr Ishuan@vancouverfamilymagazine.com

Ad Designer

Philip Nerat addesign@vancouverfamilymagazine.com

Contributing Writers

Dana Greyson, Julianna Lawson, Sarah Mortensen, Perry P. Perkins

Ad Sales

sales@vancouverfamilymagazine.com Vancouver Family Magazine is published monthly by Vancouver Kidz Magazine, LLC Address: PO Box 820264 Vancouver, WA 98682 Tel: 360-882-7762 Copyright 2002-2020. All rights reserved.

No portion of Vancouver Family Magazine may be reproduced without the written permission from the publisher.

Vancouver Kidz Magazine, LLC and staff do not recommend or endorse any service, product, or content represented in this magazine or on our website.

The sole purpose of this publication is to provide information on available services and/or products. It is the consumer’s responsibility to verify the accuracy of information given. Vancouver Kidz Magazine, LLC, and/or Julie Buchan and Nikki Klock and staff do not assume and disclaim any liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by error or omission in this magazine or on our website. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.

On the Cover: As newborn/baby photographer Mandy photographed 5- month old Mila, she says she had so much personality, a sparkle in her eye and posed so sweetly for the camera.

Photo by Mandy Marie tinytimesphotography.com tinytimesphoto @TinyTimesPhotography

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Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

7

THE NEW DOMESTICITY

the

NEW DOMESTICITY

1

What’s in a Name?

By Julianna Lawson

Our family recently enjoyed a hike along the Whipple

Creek trail in Ridgefield. The towering evergreens provided welcome, cooling shelter on the hot summer day, and the eerily long mosses, lavishly draped from branch to branch, were somewhat reminiscent of Rivendell. (One of our sheltering-athome diversions, of course, was to revisit “The Lord of the Rings.”)

At one point along the trail, our daughter had a flashback, recalling a hike at the same location, several years prior, when she’d been having a rough day and couldn’t quite snap out of the grumps. That is, until she met Randy. We had been walking slowly along, pacing ourselves to accommodate a downcast daughter, when her eyes fell upon the

loveliest clump . . . of moss. She scooped it up, cradled it tenderly in her arms and declared: “This is Randy.” She tended to Randy for the rest of the day, and her blues were a thing of the past.

We laughed over the memory, and it was with great fondness (and a bit of pomp) that our daughter carefully selected another clump of moss, a tribute to her younger self. She christened the new moss Ringo, selected a couple of small sticks, propped him on a stump and announced that he was now ready to keep the beat for John, Paul and George.

I often think about that hike of the past. Randy turned out to be a great friend to me, too: he revealed the way in which my daughter was able to work through her emotions by transferring her focus to something else. At a later, appropriate time, we talked about emotions more deeply, but in that moment, there was something magical about our daughter having something to name.

There’s a sweet sense of ownership and pride that comes into a child’s life when he or she names something.

Whether it’s describing a mutt or a moss, the name becomes an extension of the child’s personality, a permanent identification that declares, “This was my idea.” As we step into an uncertain school year, we may find comfort in the practice of naming things with our children, whether it’s our home, our school, or even our snack time!

Homes of old were often named. I love the description given by Laura Ingalls Wilder, as described in “Little House in the Ozarks,” of the home she and her husband shared in Missouri: continued on next page

8

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

continued from previous page

“When I look around the farm now and see the smooth, green, rolling meadows and pastures . . . the orchard and strawberry field like huge bouquets in the spring . . . the grapevines hanging full of luscious grapes, I can hardly bring back to my mind the rough, rocky, brushy, ugly place that we first called Rocky Ridge Farm. The name given it then serves to remind us of the battles we have fought and won and gives a touch of sentiment and an added value to the place.”

We, too, have fought and won battles over these last months, haven’t we? We’ve looked for creative ways to overcome isolation, to keep in touch with loved ones while maintaining distance, to bring education into the home, to encourage one another when frustration and despair threaten to overwhelm. What might we name this time, this season, this home, this home school?

If you’ve read The New Domesticity in the past, you know I can’t resist sharing examples from great literature. When my daughter was about 10 years old, we read Noel Streatfeild’s “Ballet Shoes” together. It was a delightful book, and the funniest tradition took root as we read about the morning snack routine of the Fossil children. We read of their structured school day which included:

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“. . . a little break of ten minutes in the middle of the morning . . . . Both doctors had lovely ideas about the sort of things to have in the middle of lessons -- a meal they called a beaver . . . . Sometimes it was chocolate with cream on it . . . once it was ice cream soda . . . . They had their beavers sitting round the fire in either of the doctors’ rooms, and they had discussions which had nothing to do with lessons.”

Did you catch it? My daughter and I quickly adopted the term “beaver” to refer to our own snack time, and it stuck. Names have a way of doing that! This month, whether you find yourself naming a school, a new pet or an afternoon snack, invite your children to take part. The ownership and pride inherent in naming a thing “gives a touch of sentiment and an added value” that can’t help but strengthen family ties.

Julianna Lawson and her husband, Jamie, make their home in Vancouver with their four children, ages 15 to 22. Julianna has always enjoyed naming things, beginning with Patchie, a beloved patchwork stuffed animal from childhood.

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

9

RENAISSANCE DAD

Photos courtesy of the author

By Perry P. Perkins [This is a piece that I wrote back when The Pickle (AKA my daughter, Gracie) was still roaming the house on all fours, finding new and exciting ways to endanger herself, and terrorizing our poor old Basset Hound, Phlash. Now, after months of being confined to our home (and now with a teenager), it felt eerily appropriate to dust it off and share the pain.]

If you are a friend, family member, or someone I owe money to, I have to apologize for the recent disappearance of myself and my family, we’ve been sick.

(Actually, if I owe you money . . . we’ve been abducted by aliens and are being held on the planet Zorb. Please feel free to drop by and pick up a check.)

Honestly, Vic and I have spent a week hosting the current cold virus (or, as we like to call it, “Dante’s hack-fest”) and I have only now had the strength to crawl over the mountains of dirty dishes and used Kleenex to get to my computer. Survival has been our only focus.

Ah, I remember the days of my youth, when getting a cold meant a couple of days of Nyquil shooters and wiping my nose on my sleeve. If I were really ill, I’d call in sick to work and go fishing.

Not so anymore.

As I’m sliding ungracefully towards 40, my body has adopted all the fighting verve of a French commando, and I’m pretty sure that the common cold will now kill me.

I’m at peace with this.

Conversely, our 8-month-old daughter Gracie is having the greatest time of her young life.

10

If she had the eyehand coordination to wield a spork, she would now be the dominant species in our home. Instead, whenever she makes a noise, one of us flings a handful of Cheerios in her general direction.

Her diaper emits actual comic-book-esque odor squigglies, and she spends most of her day locked in mortal combat with the dog over pizza crusts and misplaced fortune cookies.

That, or she’s chewing on my DVDs. I don’t care. As mentioned above, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to make it, and God wouldn’t let me bring most of those movies with me anyway.

Phlash has abandoned us completely and now follows Gracie shoulder-to-shoulder wherever she crawls in hopes of getting something to eat. Together they look like a badly-written “Incredible Journey” movie.

However, all is not lost. I’ve made some surprising insights on the history of mankind during the last week.

For instance, hundreds of years ago the average human life expectancy was about 35 years. Modern science would like you to believe that this is due to things like “genetics” and “evolution.”

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

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(These are terms that scientists make up to keep getting grant money.)

(Think: the bad guys from “Deliverance,” only in week-old sweatpants and a paisley bathrobe.)

Don’t believe it.

. . . and he now leaves our food at the end of the driveway and honks. He apparently values his life more than his tips.

I’ve discovered that the real reason for this shortened life span is that the human race hadn’t invented “takeout” restaurants yet.

Ergo . . . when a couple got sick in the 1400s and couldn’t call out for pizza or the Chinese special, the whole family would starve to death instead of getting out of bed to make a peanut butter sandwich.

This, I’ve determined, was the wise decision.

If the effort to unscrew the peanut butter lid hadn’t killed them, they were sure to be buried in the avalanche of dirty dishes. Better to accept their fate and blame it all on rats or manifest destiny.

He’s smart.

So, if we live, I’ll write again soon.

If not, somebody please bring my daughter some Cheerios . . . before she eats the dog.

Perry P. Perkins is a third-generation chef, award-winning writer, and a culinary instructor in Longview. He operates the MY KITCHEN Outreach Program for at-risk and under-served youth. His writing has appeared in hundreds of publications including many “Chicken Soup for the Soul” anthologies.

Speaking of takeout, the Chinese restaurant delivery guy won’t even knock on my door anymore.

One look at me in I’ve-been-sick-for-a-week mode . . .

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

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Feature: Tiny Humans, Big Love: Support for Babies (and New Parents) in Need

Tiny Humans,

BIG LOVE Support for Babies (and New Parents) in Need

By Sarah Mortensen

“It all began in 1999 with a chance remark at coffee hour after church one Sunday,” recalls Kitty Ash, director of Babies in Need. Her friend, Emily Wilson, was a social worker at Southwest Washington Medical Center (now PeaceHealth Southwest) and mentioned trying to find baby clothing and a car seat for a new mother she was working with who had nothing for her newborn.

The friends decided to gather their own children’s old baby clothing, wash the items and assemble them into care packages to give to these mothers. More supplies were donated from members of All Saints Episcopal Church in Hazel Dell and a charitable ministry was born! Today, Babies in Need works to makes sure that every infant in Southwest Washington can leave the hospital with clothing, blankets and an appropriate car seat, no matter the circumstances they were born into. To date the organization has donated over 2,500 car seats and 5,000 layette gift packs to babies who are truly in need.

From their simple beginnings, Babies in Need has grown entirely by word of mouth.

Multiple churches, schools, scouting

troops, clubs and businesses donate to make sure that the smallest and most vulnerable members of our community are taken care of. “People hear about the plight of some local newborns and their families and ask how they can help,” says Ash. “Then they sew, quilt, shop for bargains, scout garage sales, donate money for car seats and spread the word to their friends. It strengthens my faith in God and my neighbors to see the joy and goodness of so many individuals and groups.” Originally, about 85% of the donations were used items with roughly 15% new, but today it’s the other way around with 85% new and only 15% used.

Thanks to generous donations, Babies in Need is able to serve the needs at Legacy Salmon Creek, PeaceHealth Southwest and, most recently, PeaceHealth St. Johns in Longview. Together, the hospitals and church distribute approximately 25 layettes and 13 car seats per month. “The need is great, and we see it increasing, particularly as housing costs in Clark County continue to rise,” says Kathryn Jones, a social worker at Legacy Salmon Creek. “Preemie clothing is particularly continued on next page

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Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

Photos: Top: Kitty Ash (founder) and Mona Pocha (assistant director) of Babies in Need next to a rack of layettes ready to donate. Bottom: Babies in Need’s current storage and work space.

Photos courtesy of the author.

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expensive so the families who need it really appreciate it.” Some of the mothers who receive these care packages are experiencing homelessness; for them these items are a lifesaver. “They always want to thank me and the hospital, but I always remind them it is the Babies in Need program.”

As the need in the community has grown, so has Babies in Need. At one point, the closet at All Saints Episcopal Church that they used to store their stock was no longer sufficient. Ray Johnson, a member of First United Methodist Church in downtown Vancouver wanted to help.

His church collected $6,000 in seed money to help construct a building to store and assemble the donations. Other grants from the Meyer Memorial Trust and Vancouver Rotary Foundation soon followed, along with many other acts of support, making the money sufficient to

January 18, 2019: Kiwanis members deliver donations from annual Giving Trees.

Photo courtesy of Kitty Ash

continued on page 14 Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

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Feature: Tiny Humans, Big Love: Support for Babies (and New Parents) in Need (cont'd) continued from page 13

complete the project. With the exception of the structure’s foundation, all the designs, electrical work and labor for the building were donated by volunteers. Johnson had previously worked with volunteer builders on Habitat for Humanity projects and found many willing hands there. The carpenters thought of everything, making large storage bins on wheels and shelves with pull-out organizers. Their labor of love created a beautiful and functional design, helping Babies in Need to fulfill their mission more efficiently.

Every month, Ash, assistant director Mona Pocha and a group of volunteers gather to put together the “layette bags” as they are called. Each bundle is assembled into a large handmade colorful drawstring bag (something that can be used for toys or laundry later on) and includes almost everything a baby will need: diapers, wipes, soap, diaper cream, pajamas, outfits, bibs, burp cloths, towels, books, toys, blankets and more. “There are about two dozen volunteers on our monthly email reminder list and usually 10-12 come once a month,” explains Ash. “With so many experienced people, we can assemble 25-30 in an hour and a half. We talk and laugh, and at the end of each session we form a circle and pray for health and guidance for the moms and their new babies who will receive our layettes.”

The love and genuine care of the volunteers is felt within every layette. Upon opening the bags, mothers may find a homemade quilt lovingly made by Dottie Bloomquist who has been donating since 2002. She is now 93, but hasn’t slowed down production one bit. When a young sibling is present at the birth center, they often receive a special sibling bag put together by Pocha’s 9-year-old granddaughter, Ramona, who took over assembling the bags when she became a big sister herself. The sibling bag includes toys, coloring book, crayons and a workbook called “My Baby and Me,” created in 2006 by the sixth grade girls of

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Girl Scout Troop #1960. The workbook helps the older sibling to welcome the new baby and record special memories as the baby grows.

Babies in Need’s focus is on helping infants, but their work brings together the very oldest and youngest of Vancouver.

“Our community is full of wonderful people in their 80s and 90s who support and improve our work,” says Ash. “They get great joy and satisfaction continuing their lifelong pattern of helping others.”

Sometimes, donations of yarn or fabric will be given and then turned into beautiful creations by their experienced hands. No donation is wasted. Sharing their skills while in retirement not only provides a service, but is a great example to their children and grandchildren who sometimes also get involved in serving. While in her 90s, Mollie Smart, an emeritus professor of the University of Rhode Island, used her expertise to write parent-education pamphlets to be included in the layette bags. One is just for mothers and one is for the important man in a baby’s life, whether father, uncle or friend. The pamphlets offer simple and practical advice for first time parents. Smart passed away in 2012, but her knowledge and kindness is still spread throughout Vancouver with each donation.

Sarah Mortensen recently completed her degree in marriage and family studies and works for Vancouver Public Schools as a paraeducator. When Sarah is not reading to her kids or students, she is probably in her backyard taking care of her vegetable garden. She also enjoys hiking, hot chocolate, and dressing up for Halloween. She lives in Vancouver with her husband, son and daughter.

How to Help “Babies in Need would not be the ministry it is and has been for the last 21 years without all the private donors and volunteers that help us help the babies that need us the most,” says Pocha.

Donations of new and gently used clothing up to size 12-18 months are welcome, as is fabric, and yarn, blankets, bibs, hats, books and small toys. Additionally, money donations are needed to purchase car seats and diapers. Used strollers and folding playpens are particularly helpful to families who are living in temporary housing situations. Visit babiesinneed. org for more information on how to get involved.

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

Photos: Top & Middle: Supplies for layettes and sibling bags.

Bottom: Ramona makes sibling bags for big brothers and sisters of newborn babies.

Photos courtesy of Kitty Ash.

The founding members, volunteers and social workers who are connected with Babies in Need have the privilege of witnessing blessings on two fronts—both the generosity from the community as well as the gratitude from those who receive. They each share some of their favorite memories:

“I spoke to a preschool group of about 20 children that had collected many baby gifts. We talked about kindness and helping others and they shared their own stories of new baby siblings. Afterward, they followed me in a long line carrying their gifts to my car and filled it to the brim. What a heartwarming sight!”

“One winter afternoon during our monthly assembly we heard a timid knock on the door. When Kitty answered, we met a young mom with two children under two who had recently relocated to Vancouver and were living in their car.

We put together diapers wipes and several warm blankets to help this young family. The mom was limited in what gifts she could accept due to her living conditions. When I asked her why she came that day she said she felt God telling her to come. When I explained we were only there very few days per month we both agreed God had sent her to us on that day at that time!”

—Mona Pocha, assistant director of Babies in Need

—Kitty Ash, director of Babies in Need

“I strongly feel that a social worker is only as good as the resources in their community. These donated supplies have such a big impact on the families who receive them. For some families, getting a car seat is a source of relief, not having to find the money in a budget stretched tight by high rent.

For other families, getting a supply of 60 diapers means not having to go out to the store with a vulnerable newborn.

Still, other families were preparing to welcome an 8-10-pound newborn and find themselves coming home with a preemie baby who needs much smaller clothes. I feel honored to be able to collaborate with the Babies in Need program.”

—Kathryn Jones, social worker at Legacy Salmon Creek

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

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Feature: Diagnosis: Cancer. Treatment: Transplant.

Olivia, age 3, of Ridgefield, after chemotherapy.

Photo courtesy Lori Sexton.

Diagnosis: Cancer.

Treatment: Transplant.

How Local Survivors Found Their Matches

By Dana Greyson

Sabine (name changed), a Hazel Dell mother, Göran, a Vancouver father and grandfather, and Olivia, a 3-year-old from Ridgefield who loves rainbows, all share at least three things in common: they’ve all been diagnosed with cancer, and they were all eventually told a transplant would be the best treatment. Through a blend of technology, medicine, networking and generosity, each found a second chance at life—from perfect strangers.

Sabine’s Story

y th

eM ar

so

am

n

f

Olivia’s Story

ti n

Olivia’s mother, Lori Sexton, shared her daughter’s story with me.

“In Oct 2018 I saw some faint yellow in the far corner of Olivia’s eyes. You could only see it when she was looking to the side. One Saturday morning, after at her soccer class, I asked another mom—a doctor—to look. She said I should take

i ly .

Ph o to c o u r te or i

x to Se

continued on next page

sy L

“I became ill on a ski trip and went to the ER,” Göran Martinson shared with me. “They took blood tests; the results concerned them. I was diagnosed with a rare, chronic blood cancer called myelofibrosis (MF) where a bone marrow defect eventually causes

u r t es

Göran’s Story

scar tissue to develop.

It’s a cancer that can take up to 10 years before a transplant is needed. That was in April 2009. [By] September 2018, I needed a transplant.”

Ph o to c o

Sabine, a dear friend of mine, decided it was time to see a doctor when she began experiencing severe rib pain, among other symptoms. “I mentioned exhaustion and low-grade fevers,” she recalled. “My blood counts were off the chart, but he wanted to wait one week.” Sabine retested. That same day her doctor “called me at home.” He directed her to “go to ER within the hour and tell them I sent you.“ In the emergency room, Sabine received two transfusions and a bag of platelets and was told, “You’re not going home tonight.” It was the beginning of a five-week stay at two different hospitals. Professionals at PeaceHealth first diagnosed her with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), then changed the diagnosis to acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), atypical for an adult. PeaceHealth could not treat her so she transferred to OHSU. “Within the first week, they had a treatment plan,” Sabine shared.

“First, I needed to get into remission, then I would be ready for a transplant. My oncologist said a successful transplant could be a complete cure.”

n.

Photos, Middle: Göran Martinson of Vancouver was diagnosed with a rare, chronic blood cancer in 2009. By September 2018, he needed a bone marrow transplant. His wife, Ingela has been a constant support. Bottom: Olivia has aplastic anemia, a rare condition in which the body can’t produce enough new blood cells. When her family learned that she would be undergoing chemotherapy that would cause her to lose her long hair, her mom, Lori, suggested she dye it before it fell out. Olivia chose rainbow colors.

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Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

Adventure Rider.

Seahawks Fan. Family Nurse Practitioner.

Meet Heather tvc.org/meet-heather continued from previous page

Olivia in on Monday. We continued texting about how Olivia’s poop was getting lighter in color and her urine darker, like she was dehydrated. We both decided I’d better take her to urgent care. Olivia was only 1 year old. By lunchtime we were at urgent care where the doctor didn’t see the yellow I [had seen]. However, once she felt Olivia’s tummy, she could tell her liver was enlarged.

Their lab wasn’t open weekends; she sent us to the ER. At the ER, Olivia’s bloodwork showed elevated levels, indicating something wrong with her liver. Around midnight they sent us to Randall Children’s Hospital. The next two or three weeks were spent running every test imaginable, all coming back negative.

Olivia continued to get worse, her whole body turning yellow, and her numbers off the charts. They determined she had idiopathic (unknown type) hepatitis. She started on meds and slowly started recovering. On November 5, 2018— my birthday—we were at the doctor for follow-up. Olivia’s platelets and white and red counts dropped. Eventually, they diagnosed her with very severe aplastic anemia (AA), a rare condition in which the body can’t produce enough new blood cells. They first started talking about a bone marrow transplant in December 2018.”

Donors Needed Sabine, Göran and Olivia all faced the same hope and the same challenge: finding a perfectly matched bone marrow donor.

Because of the precise nature of transplant effectiveness, only 30% of patients have a closely matched donor within their own family, requiring most to search for transplant donors outside their own spheres. Recognizing this need, organizations have been created to help individuals like Sabine, Göran and Olivia who fall into that 70% majority and need lifesaving transplants from strangers.

Be The Match was founded in 1987, has arranged more than 100,000 blood stem cell transplants since their inception, and manages a database of 22 million potential donors. About 1 in every 430 U.S. Be The Match registry members donate to a patient.

Gift of Life began 30 years ago when founder and CEO, Jay Feinberg, needed to find a matching donor. His search led to testing 60,000 donors over four years. Feinberg celebrated his continued on page 18

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

17

Feature: Diagnosis: Cancer. Treatment: Transplant. (cont'd) continued from page 17

25th transplant anniversary this July. Gift of Life is an independent registry from Be The Match, however all donors on Gift of Life’s registry are accessible in the same registry searches.

Donor registration is simple. The process is essentially the same for Be The Match and Gift of Life. Prospective donors typically sign up online and are sent a kit. The kit contains a swab to collect their saliva, with everything needed to send that sample to a lab for analysis. Then that data is entered into the registry.

The Donor Experience Vicki Sverzhinsky was inspired to register as a donor by her cousin who did so on a 2006 trip to Israel where the trip’s sponsor organization teamed up with Gift of Life to hold a bone marrow drive for trip participants. When Sverzhinsky took a similar trip to Israel the following year through the same sponsor organization, she followed suit and signed up for the registry. In 2010, she was notified that she’d been matched with a patient. “Over the course of the next three months I had my blood drawn for confirmatory typing first to confirm I was the best match for the recipient,” Sverzhinsky recalled. “I then had to go through an information session, give my consent to donate, and get a physical exam in order to ensure that I was healthy enough to be cleared for the donation.” She appreciated that “foremost, priority is for the health of the donor, rather than the recipient.” With preliminaries completed, it was time to donate.

Now a Vancouver resident, Sverzhinsky lived in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, across the border from Detroit, when she flew to New York for the transplant. She received a daily injection of Neupogen (a trade name for filgrastim) in her arm, to “trick” her bone marrow into over-producing stem cells in her bloodstream so they could be collected in the transplant. Her hips and shoulders felt a little achy after the Neupogen injection; Tylenol took care of that. Every day, after her injection that took only 10-15 minutes, Sverzhinsky played tourist in Manhattan until the fifth day.

Then, she donated her peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) through a blood donation process that is similar to what is used when donating blood platelets. The blood is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that collects only the excess

stem cells. Then, the remaining blood is returned through a needle in the other arm. This process is repeated until enough stem cells are collected based on the recipient’s needs and usually takes anywhere from four to eight hours; for Sverzhinsky the donation took six hours.

The next day, with a mild bruise on the inside of her arm, Sverzhinsky carried her own luggage, with the blanket the Gift of Life staff autographed and gave her, and jetted home. Through this donation process, Sverzhinsky’s recipient got a whole new immune system. Sverzhinsky sent her recipient a get-well card, noting, “P.S. I’m sorry you’re allergic to cats now.”

From the donor side, about 80% of transplants are outpatient, nonsurgical PBSC like Sverzhinsky’s. Twenty percent are outpatient surgical bone marrow transplants, where the donor is sedated, then the doctor collects marrow from the back of their pelvic bone.

“For a very minor inconvenience,” Sverzhinsky says, “I had the opportunity to save someone’s life. Why wouldn’t anyone want to do that?” This year marks her 10-year anniversary of the donation.

She believes her donation is perhaps good karma in case herself or someone in her family would ever need a life-saving donation from a stranger in the future. “I would do it again and again in a heartbeat.”

Receiving the Transplant Sabine: “It took me six months of multiple chemo and immunotherapy approaches to get into remission. During that time my brother was assessed and rejected as a donor, as was my second Be The Match donor, due to incompatible antibodies. Another, more nuanced, search led to a 19-year-old female—my oncologist likes ‘em young! I agreed with my oncologist; I get only one shot and a more compatible donor would give a better outcome. The transplant date pushed out a month. Starting three to four days before, I went to the infusion clinic daily to get a cocktail of different chemo designed to destroy my blood cells/immune system. On day zero, they hooked up an IV bag containing six million stem cells. It looked like a blood transfusion. In 2 1/2 hours, they removed the empty bag and my immune system was no longer my own.”

Göran: “I received my match in February 2019; my transplant took place June 2019. You realize that your life depends on someone continued on next page

Vicki Sverzhinsky registered to become a bone marrow donor in 2007, and was notified in 2010 that she'd been matched with a patient. She traveled to New York City to donate peripheral blood stem cells (pictured above).

Photo courtesy Vicki Sverzhinsky.

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Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

continued from previous page

else’s in order to get a life extension. The transplant was a very humbling and spiritual experience. You have a great respect and love for another human being you’ve never met, knowing the rigorous process they had to go through to save a life of someone they don’t even know. You gain a love for humanity in a way you never have before.”

Olivia (via Lori Sexton): “We were finishing out the flu season, but COVID-19 was in full swing. Olivia’s doctors decided that while she needed a transplant, she was stable and could wait for COVID-19 to hopefully calm down. As a parent, it’s absolutely terrifying. Olivia was stable.

Reliant on transfusions, but stable and alive. We were taking her in to poison her, destroy her cells with chemo and then give her new ones and hope they worked. You know going in that they could die. We started preparing her for the transplant once we knew it was happening. At first, she was scared, then she seemed ready. We told her we would have to stay in the hospital for several weeks. She helped pack, deciding what toys to take. She wasn’t scared, she came willingly; she accepted it. She wanted her new bone marrow so she wouldn’t have to go to the doctor all the time and could start school. Olivia received eight days of high-dose chemo and no radiation. I prepared myself for the

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Donors of Black, Asian and Pacific Islander ethnicities are currently especially needed to meet transplant patient needs.

Graphic courtesy of Be The Match.

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

19

Feature: Diagnosis: Cancer. Treatment: Transplant. (cont'd) continued from page 19

worst. Hives, fever, puking, diarrhea, possibly being transferred to PICU. I expected those eight days to feel like an eternity. Before I knew it, it was over. Olivia received the new cells on 'Day Zero,' June 25, 2020, and it was day ten before signs of them showed up in her blood work, when she finally had a white count. Day 23, her platelets stayed stable. The real excitement was on day 26 when Olivia’s platelets went up for the first time without a transfusion. I could finally breathe again. July 24, 29 days after the transplant, Olivia came home.”

Recovery Sabine recently celebrated her one-year transplant “birthday” and her doctor approved her return to her former job, but part-time from home. At the time of her diagnosis, Sabine’s daughter quit college and flew home for a semester during those crucial “first 100 days” to share caregiving with Sabine’s husband. Now, both of Sabine’s children have registered for Be The Match and are encouraging their friends to do the same.

Göran’s one-year mark was June 5, 2020. His wife, Ingela, notes he has at least another year before he’s out of the “Red Zone.”

“It has been a very difficult road to recovery,” Göran told me. “I have been hospitalized many times throughout this year and have suffered from chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) multiple times. This has been the most difficult year of my life, but I am more than grateful that I am alive. I participated in my oldest son’s wedding, the birth of my grandson and soon another son will be married. I now see life through a different perspective. I don’t take things for granted anymore. You realize after going through such a difficult trial that the only thing that really matters are the relationships you have with others and the daily memories you make with them. Life is shorter than you think, and I try to make the best of every extra minute I am blessed with.”

More Important Than the Transplant?

Olivia understands as much about what is going on inside and outside her body as any 3-year-old can. “With COVID, you want to get back to normal, but it’s so scary,” Sexton said. “Who knows what normal is anymore? I think about what we’ll do next summer, but there’s no knowing what things will be like with COVID. Olivia is incredibly smart, compassionate, loving, playful and driven. She doesn’t give up easily. I’m excited to see what the future holds for her. She’s this little pot of ambition and possibilities that’s boiling over and waiting to be set free. I have no doubt she’s going to continue to recover and this will be just another part of her story.”

You can join over 33,000 other followers of Olivia’s story on Facebook (see sidebar).

Register to Donate Now “Patients with leukemia or other blood disorders can’t wait until the pandemic is over,” emphasized Jamie Margolis, senior vice president of donor services at Be The Match. “We need committed donors now more than ever. There are donors who can’t proceed because they live in a hotspot or are more apprehensive because of COVID. Go to BeTheMatch.org to sign up, get a kit sent, do the cheek swab and send it in. There is no out-of-pocket cost for donors; we arrange everything. We find the most convenient location for the donor to meet the patient’s timeline. All donors need to do is show up. It’s a wild time in the world. Here is a glimmer of hope, something you can do to save a life.”

Dana Greyson, is a freelance writer and a frequent Vancouver Family Magazine contributor on health, travel and relationships. She’s working on her first memoir about her tropical sailboat escape, due for release August 2021. To download the intro chapter, visit danagreyson.com/ sailingnaked.

Caregivers.

“Cancer is an existential marathon, physically and emotionally,” explains Keren McCord, Sabine’s OHSU oncology social worker. “It’s more dangerous to do the transplant without a caregiver than to not get the transplant. Patients are in a ‘chemo brain’ fog. If they get fever at 3 a.m., the patient can’t drive, they need to be driven in ASAP. Someone has to drive them back and forth. Someone has to be with them 24/7 for that [initial] 2-3-month period. We can’t proceed without a caregiver.”

20

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

Photo courtes

y Lori Sexton.

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More young people of diverse racial and ethnic heritage are needed now to help patients searching for a match.

Go to Vancouver Family Magazine.com to learn more about becoming a donor through Be The Match or Gift of Life, and to follow Olivia’s journey on Facebook.

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

21

Feature: NW Getaway: Hood River

NW GETAWA Y:

HoOdRiver

By Nikki Klock

On

the banks of the Columbia River, in the heart of the Gorge and flanked by Mount Hood to the south and Mount Adams to the north, Hood River is a magical place for families who love the outdoors. Which is why my outdoor-loving family visited in July—our first vacation since COVID-19 hit and threw off our (and everyone else’s) spring and summer plans.

Discovering the charm and adventure of the area that we had driven through many times but never fully explored, was just what we needed.

Our first sight to see when we arrived in Hood River County, a little over an hour’s drive from Vancouver, was the famous Hood River Fruit Loop, a region of farms, orchards, vineyards, and wineries nestled in the fertile hills along Highway 35, just south of town. The 26 independent farms all offer a little something different—from fruit stands to wine tasting to baked goods to ice cream. Before visiting the farms, we stopped to have lunch at Apple Valley BBQ in the small town of Parkdale. The town and the restaurant are off the beaten path, but the delicious pulled pork quesadillas and garlic Parmesan fries were well worth the detour.

We ate our takeout across the street from the restaurant at a park that showcases Parkdale’s history with the still-standing RiesThompson House, built in 1900 and designated a national historic continued on next page Photos: Page 22 Top: View of Mount Adams from Packer Orchards. Middle left: Draper Girls Country Farm market. Middle right: The Gorge White House’s flower gardens. Bottom: Hood River Inn on the river.

Page 23: Public art pieces line Hood River’s Shoreline Path along the banks of the Columbia River. Photos by the Klock family.

22

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

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We are hopeful that the Home Buyer and Home Seller classes will be taught in person at the Marshall Community Center, Vancouver YMCA and Cardinal Financial very soon. However, due to COVID-19, these locations are still closed, so we are currently teaching by secure webinar. We look forward to teaching in person as soon as it is deemed safe to do so. We want to respect everyone’s level of comfort both now, and as things open up more.

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Home Buyer Classes Saturday, September 12th, from 9am-12pm (ish)... probably virtual Marshall Community Center, conference room 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College) Thursday, September 17th, from 5pm - 8pm (ish)... probably virtual Marshall Community Center, Conference room 1009 E McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College) Saturday, September 19th, from 11am-2pm (ish)....virtual Saturday, September 26th, from 11am-2pm (ish)... probably virtual Vancouver YMCA, conference room 11324 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver WA (corner of SR500 & Gher Road/112th Ave)

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360.903.3504

continued from previous page

site. After lunch, we made our way back toward Hood River on Highway 35, stopping along the way at Draper Girls Country Farm for photos of the quaintly decorated farm and fruit stand, Packer Orchards for milkshakes and freshly picked peach slice samples, and The Gorge White House for an up-close stroll around the historic farmhouse and flower garden. The views of Mount Hood and Mount Adams were stunning, adding to the natural splendor of the countryside.

We rounded out our first day in Hood River with dinner at Solstice Wood Fired Café at Waterfront Park (where we decided that huckleberry lemonade may be the best lemonade) and checked into Hood River Inn, situated right on the Columbia River near the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Toll Bridge. My kids’ favorite part of the hotel? The outdoor pool, which was blessedly open while we were there (temperatures surpassed 100 degrees that week, making waterplay a must), and which offers full view of the majestic Gorge and Columbia River.

The next morning I woke early, as usual, and took a walk along Hood River’s Shoreline Path, which follows the river from just east of the interstate bridge to The Hook, a narrow hook-shaped peninsula that creates a protected cove, perfect for learning to windsurf and kiteboard—both hugely popular sports in Hood

River due to the area’s wind and water conditions. On any given summertime day, the sky above Hood River is filled with dozens of kites, tethered to surfers of many ages and ability levels. We would spend our last day in Hood River watching these kiteboarders for hours. But this morning, I was by myself, the air was still cool and I enjoyed views of the river and dramatic public art installed along this path, collectively called The Big Art Outdoor Gallery, for which a free audio tour is downloadable through an app called Otocast.

After my morning walk, I toured our hotel (incidentally owned by the same family who owns Vancouver’s beloved Heathman Lodge) with the property’s director of catering, Lisa Willis, who was born and raised in Hood continued on page 24

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

23

Feature: NW Getaway: Hood River (cont'd) continued from page 23

River and has worked at the hotel for over 20 years. In that time, she’s seen many additions and changes to the building and grounds—in fact, during our visit the hotel was in the final phase of completing construction on a brand new meeting space—but the most striking feature of the hotel has always been the unparalleled river view, visible from the pool, the on-site Riverside Restaurant, and most individual rooms and suites. Even with this natural asset, though, the hotel and the entire hospitality industry in Hood River and worldwide, has taken a huge hit during COVID-19 shutdowns.

Hood River Inn typically hosts an average of 60 wedding-related events per season, to say nothing of business conventions and meetings. But this summer has been unlike any other travel season in memory, and the economic impact has been severe.

Still, Riverside Restaurant has increased its takeout business, and Willis and the rest of her team, like most other businesses in the Hood River community, have adapted the best they can. When we were there, masks were required in all indoor spaces, breakfast was served in low-contact grab-and-go style and outdoor pool capacity was limited, but families were still safely enjoying their stay and the many amenities of the hotel, including a private beach where kayaks, jet skis and paddleboards are available for rent. My family planned to enjoy that beach later that afternoon when it got hot, but first we wanted to shop downtown Hood River.

Concluding my tour with Lisa, I retrieved my family and we drove about a mile from the hotel to Oak Street and the main stretch of quaint downtown Hood River, set uphill from the river and thus providing peekaboo views of the river and Mount Adams. Shopping is not my favorite activity, but my husband and teenage daughters love it, so I indulged them and soon found myself enjoying the glimpse into Hood River culture that shops like Doug’s Hood River, Hood

River Stationers, The Ruddy Duck and The Darling Boutique deliver. We cooled off with a mint Oreo shake to share from Hood River favorite, Mike’s Ice Cream, denied ourselves a cinnamon roll from Bette’s Place (though highly recommended to me earlier that morning by Lisa), and decided it was getting hot enough that the only logical place to be now was in the water.

By this time, the sky above the Columbia River was filled with kites tethered to kiteboarders who had spent lots of money and time to master the extreme sport. For our part, we headed back to the hotel, hauled our simple inflatable paddle board to the hotel’s private beach and the kids launched into the water. In retrospect, we should have come with better footwear (water shoes are best here—the beach is rocky rather than sandy) and life vests (provided with paid water craft rentals but not readily available to borrow a la carte), but the water was a welcome refreshment from the heat. And the change in scenery was a welcome refreshment from the new normal that COVID-19 had thrust upon us. The expansive outdoor setting made it easy for couples, families and individuals to enjoy the view and feel and fun of nature at a safe distance from each other. It was all enough to allow us a brief and needed reprieve from the pandemic.

After some time in the river, we moved our water time to the pool right up until it was time to get out and head to dinner, booked for 6:30 p.m. at 3 Rivers Grill, a converted historic home with an continued on next page

24

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

Photos: Page 24: Top: A kiteboarder navigates the Columbia River. Bottom: Kiteboard prep area at Waterfront Park’s Event Site at Hood River.

Page 25: On any given summertime day, the sky above Hood River is filled with dozens of kites, tethered to surfers of many ages and ability levels.

continued from previous page

expansive outdoor patio that overlooks the river. We met owner Jim Dey and enjoyed dinner in the pleasant evening shade of the patio, followed by my favorite dessert of the trip (the year?): chocolate gateau ganache (layers of chocolate cake and raspberry mousse covered with a dark chocolate ganache).

We had saved my husband’s favorite activity for the last day of the trip: watching the kiteboarders in action up close. But on our final morning in Hood River, before we took to kiteboard central on the river’s edge, we checked out of our hotel and enjoyed a delicious brunch at Broder Øst, a Nordic-inspired café in downtown Hood River. The Scandinavian cuisine was both new and familiar, with offerings of eggs and potatoes amidst Danish pancakes (my order, yum!), uunipuuro (Finish style oven porridge) and chicken apple sausage. I texted a friend who lived in Sweden for years and married a Swedish man, to tell her I was thinking of her while eating food inspired by her husband’s native land. She quickly replied that she loved Broder Øst and testified to its authenticity.

The food presentation was our favorite of the trip and we took lots of photos before inhaling it.

Full to the brim on delicious food and friendly hospitality, we headed to find a spot on the beach to watch the kiteboarding. We parked at a site called The Spit, where the Hood River flows into the Columbia River, and Kite the Gorge offers kiteboarding (also called kitesurfing) lessons. The kiteboarders were fascinating to watch, as they harnessed the wind and maneuvered on the shallow water between fellow kiteboarders and other obstacles, including permanently installed jumps and rails—a sort of skatepark in the

water. The wind—vital to the kiteboarding sport—eventually drove us as spectators off the beach and over to a food truck operated by Solstice, the same restaurant we’d eaten dinner at our first night in Hood River, for some soft serve ice cream cones that we slurped up quickly before they could melt. A sweet ending to a sweet trip.

On our way home, I noticed for the first time that the anxiety I’d been dealing with for weeks had vanished while in Hood River with my family. The combination of a change in scenery, the beauty of Gorge and the river, the food and the fun we found on our short vacation filled us all up, and we were able to reenter our real lives with increased energy to meet the challenges ahead.

Nikki Klock has been the editor of Vancouver Family Magazine since 2006. She loves reading, running and exploring the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two teenage daughters.

Certain safety measures to protect against the spread of COVID-19 were in place and strictly followed during my family’s two-night stay in Hood River. For up-to-date information on current recreation developments, standards and practices in Hood River, go to www.visithoodriver.com/.

Go to vancouverf amilymagazine.com to see more photos of my family’s trip to Hood River, and for more information on the specific sites, restaurants and locations mentioned in this article.

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

25

CALENDAR OF EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Calendar

September ‘20

S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

1 TUESDAY

Salmon Creek Farmers’ Market at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital, 2211 NE 139th St., Vancouver. Every Tuesday Jun 16-Oct 6, 2020. Face coverings and physical distancing required. 11 am-3 pm

2 WEDNESDAY

Camas Farmer’s Market, located between the library and City Hall in historic Downtown Camas, every Wednesday through Sep 30. Bring a mask for the safety of fellow shoppers, vendors and yourself. 3-7 pm

4 FRIDAY

Alderbook Park Friday Night Cruise In at Alderbrook Park, 24414 NE Westerholm Rd., Brush Prairie. $5 cash per vehicle/$5 per person for spectators at the main gate (please have exact change). Physical distancing and masks required. Café, snack shack, beer garden will be open for orders.

Every Friday through September 11.

4 pm-Dusk

of events

Have a community event that you want to share?

Go to www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com and click on “Calendar” to submit your event. Deadline for print calendar submissions is the 1st of the month prior to the issue.

5 SATURDAY

Vancouver Farmers Market in Downtown Vancouver, at 8th St and Esther St. Physical distancing required, masks encouraged, send one person per household. Go to www. vancouverfarmersmarket.com to learn more about safety restrictions to this year’s market, and to access the market’s new online store with curbside pickup. First hour of each day is reserved for seniors and individuals with underlying medical conditions. Saturdays and Sundays through November 1. 9 am-3 pm

6 SUNDAY

Vancouver Farmers Market in Downtown Vancouver. (See Sep. 5) 10 am-3 pm

8 TUESDAY

Salmon Creek Farmers’ Market at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital. (See Sep. 1) 11 am-3 pm

9 WEDNESDAY

Camas Farmer’s Market. In Downtown Camas. (See Sep. 2) 3-7 pm

SA

AY

12

Photo courtesy Furry Friends

Check out our website for even mo re local events .

Events are subject to change. Please contact organization directly to confirm. All library events are free and open to the public.

TURD

26

activities

Food for Thought Cookbook Discussion (Online through FVRLibraries).

Each month, focus on a different cuisine

or theme. Find recipes and downloadable cookbooks from Overdrive, online magazines (try the Food & Cooking magazines in Flipster), or any other source and share virtually with the group. Register at fvrl. librarymarket.com. 6-7 pm

11 FRIDAY

Alderbook Park Friday Night Cruise In at Alderbrook Park, 24414 NE Westerholm Rd., Brush Prairie. (See Sep. 4) 4 pm-Dusk

12 SATURDAY

Hairy Pawter: Furry Friends 12th Annual Auction Fundraiser Online Event.

Proceeds benefit Furry Friends, a nonprofit, no-kill cat rescue serving Clark County.

Auction is live 8 am Saturday, Sep 12- 9 pm Saturday, Sep 19. Go to furryfriendswa.org for auction news and videos.

Vancouver Farmers Market in Downtown Vancouver. (See Sep. 5) 9 am-3 pm Supper & Socially Distanced Fundraiser for Pomeroy Farm at 20902 NE Lucia Falls Rd., Yacolt. Virtual and good old-fashioned farm fun drive-thru event to raise funds for Pomeroy Farm. Online auction open for bidding 8 am Wednesday, Sep 9 through 8 pm Friday, Sep 11. Drive-thru event: Saturday, Sep 12, 4-5 pm. Tickets include a catered “progressive dinner,” and an exclusive gift including wine from Pomeroy Cellars. Also enjoy fundraiser activities with continued on next page

Donations to Furry Friends' Hairy Pawter auction include vacation and entertainment experiences, winery tours and tastings, gift certificates to local eateries, gift baskets, pet and personal items, handmade gifts and much more.

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

Shopping, Dining & Entertainment Conveniently located at I-205 and SR-500

ShopVancouverMall.com

continued from previous page

Vancouver Farmers Market in Downtown Vancouver. (See Sep. 5) 10 am-3 pm

14 MONDAY

15 TUESDAY

Salmon Creek Farmers’ Market at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital. (See Sep. 1) 11 am-3 pm

16 WEDNESDAY

Camas Farmer’s Market. In Downtown Camas. (See Sep. 2) 3-7 pm

19 SATURDAY

Vancouver Farmers Market in Downtown Vancouver. (See Sep. 5) 9 am-3 pm Camp Hope Outdoor Discovery Day Camp at Camp Hope, 12800 NE Roper Rd., Battle Ground. Experience nature walks

continued on page 28

TURD

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The mission of Camp Hope is to compassionately reach our youth, empowering them to overcome life’s challenges. Outdoor Discovery Day Camp registration for September is open!

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

AY

Teen Write-In (Online through FVRLibraries). Calling all teen writers! Have a new idea you want to get down on paper?

Need to edit your latest draft? Or maybe you’re somewhere in between? Join and meet fellow writers at our virtual write-in event.

We will discuss the writing process, have visual prompts and brainstorming sessions as well as have time to share. For ages 12-18.

Register at fvrl.librarymarket.com. 3-4 pm

Alderbook Park Friday Night Cruise In at Alderbrook Park, 24414 NE Westerholm Rd., Brush Prairie. (See Sep. 4) 4 pm-Dusk

and hiking, horseback riding, orienteering, archery, arts and crafts, woodworking, outdoor survivor skills, scavenger hunts, fire starting, caving, plant identification, games, a history challenge course and more! Snacks and lunch provided. For ages 10-17. $40 per camper, $30 family/discount rate, scholarships available. Register and get COVID-19 guideline information at camphope-wa.org/day-camp.

9:30 am-3:30 pm

Photo by Jacob Granneman of Gear Work Films

13 SUNDAY

18 FRIDAY

SA

a chance to win exciting prizes! (Event is limited to ticket holders and auction winners.)

Tickets:$50-$90 at pomeroyfarm.org. 4 pm

27

Calendar of Events & Activities (cont’d) continued from page 27

20 SUNDAY

Vancouver Farmers Market in Downtown Vancouver. (See Sep. 5) 10 am-3 pm

22 TUESDAY

Salmon Creek Farmers’ Market at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital. (See Sep. 1) 11 am-3 pm

23 WEDNESDAY

Camas Farmer’s Market. In Downtown Camas. (See Sep. 2) 3-7 pm

24 THURSDAY

Give More 24! Community Fundraising Event. As Southwest Washington’s largest day of giving, Give More 24! amplifies the work of our local nonprofits by tapping the generosity of our greater community. This 24-hour day of giving provides nonprofits the unique opportunity to reach new donors through a widespread event and marketing campaign. It’s a great way to boost fundraising efforts, grow awareness for important causes and take advantage of a simple online giving platform…all while participating in a fun-filled, community effort!

Learn more at givemore24.org.

25 FRIDAY

Alderbook Park Friday Night Cruise In at Alderbrook Park, 24414 NE Westerholm Rd., Brush Prairie. (See Sep. 4) 4 pm-Dusk

26 SATURDAY

Vancouver Farmers Market in Downtown Vancouver. (See Sep. 5) 9 am-3 pm

27 SUNDAY

Vancouver Farmers Market in Downtown Vancouver. (See Sep. 5) 10 am-3 pm

Camas, Salmon Creek, Vancouver and East Vancouver Farmer's Markets are all open with fresh local produce and craft items.

Check your local market for safety guidelines.

28 MONDAY

Make Anything: Handicraft Toolbox (Online through FVRLibraries). Get creative and join others to learn how to make stuff! Monthly project will feature a variety of projects and tools, including recycled crafts, sewing and basic mending, 3D design, fiber arts, paper-making, stamp-carving, watercolor, embroidery, cooking, baking, painting, and more. Projects are suitable for older teens and adults. No experience is necessary. See the monthly program description to learn about that month’s project and the tools you’ll need to create along with us: fvrl.librarymarket.com/make-anythinghandicraft-toolbox-0. 6-7:30 pm

Revolutionary Reads Author Presentation: Ijeoma Oluo (Online event through FVRLibraries). Join the conversation!

FVRLibraries is hosting Ijeoma Oluo, author of “So You Want to Talk About Race,” winner of a 2019 Washington State Book Award for this year’s Revolutionary Reads. This virtual event will be live streamed and recorded.

Visit fvrl.librarymarket.com/revolutionaryreads-author-presentation-ijeoma-oluo for more information about joining. Revolutionary Reads is an annual community reading and event series from Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries to engage readers, spark dialogue, and inspire ideas that just might change the world. 7-8 pm

29 TUESDAY

30 WEDNESDAY

Salmon Creek Farmers’ Market at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital. (See Sep. 1) 11 am-3 pm

Camas Farmer’s Market. In Downtown Camas. (See Sep. 2) 3-7 pm

UESDA

T Photo courtesy of the author

28

Y

29

Author Ijeoma Oluo's “So You Want to Talk About Race” is “an important work that powerfully illustrates the need to honestly face the lasting, living damage of racism in the United States. With great clarity and empathy, Oluo includes autobiographical and historical scenarios to illustrate cause, effect, and how to move forward.”

Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • September 2020

Washington State Department of Health's

DO’s and DON’Ts of wearing masks

Practice compassion.

Remember, wearing a cloth face covering is an act of compassion. We cover our faces to protect others. There is no public health reason to wear a cloth face covering if you are alone in your car, in your own home, or around members of your own household.

DON’T wear surgical-grade masks or N95 respirators. We need to reserve those for health care and other frontline workers.

DON’T think that wearing cloth face masks means we can gather in large groups of people. For most of the state, all gatherings are prohibited. For the counties that are in Phase 2, all gatherings of more than 5 people outside your household are prohibited.

DO cover your face with a couple layers of cloth while in public places.

DON’T think that wearing a cloth face mask makes it safe to come within six feet of other people. At best, a cloth face covering is just one added level of precaution. It doesn’t really help unless we are also washing our hands, staying home when we are sick, and practicing physical distancing.

DO wash your hands or use hand sanitizer before you put your mask on and after you take it off.

DON’T wear a cloth face covering while exercising outdoors. It’s not dangerous, just annoying and not necessary.

DO wash your cloth face covering in a washing machine after a day’s use.

DON’T put a cloth face covering on a child under age 2 or on a person with a disability that keeps them from being able to remove it.

DO take a cloth face covering with you if you are hiking or visiting a park. Although you do not need to wear one outside, you may find that you need to come within 6 feet of someone else on a trail. At that point, put your cloth face covering on, say hello, and carry on.

DO make sure the cloth face covering covers both your mouth and nose.

DON’T touch your cloth face covering after you put it on. Try not to touch your face at all.

DON’T worry that a cloth face covering might restrict your oxygen. It’s not airtight. If you ever feel like you’re having trouble breathing, remove the cloth face covering and sit down. If the feeling persists, call 911.

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Vancouver VancouverFamily FamilyMagazine Magazine••www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com••September December 2016 2020

29

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