Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.
There were 24 in attendance at today’s meeting, including: Leon & Kat McElroy, Cornelius (JR) Benedict, Virginia Young, Walter & Andrea Tommy, Bonnie Reed, Merrily & Paul Verhagen, Bill, Rebecca and Ethan Troxel, Felicia Musick, Miles Martin, Mike Anderson, Jeannie Bennett, Carol Gallo, Tim Horn, Lindy White, Wes & Mary Alexander, Harriet Borst, Susie Schneider, Audrey Roth and Essau Evan. We had spaghetti with meatballs, mixed green salad, fresh home-made bread and butter, Ritz crackers with sliced cheese and raisins and nuts for lunch.

WELCOME followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Bonnie Reed.
PRAYER was lead by Lindy White followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.
PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were no modifications to the agenda.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were posted on the WIN link at www.railbelt.com and submitted electronically to the WIN e-list. Anyone wishing to be added to that list should contact Kat.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Virginia introduced her new tenant, J. R. Benedict, who has just moved to Nenana from Fairbanks.

SPEAKERS/TOPICS
Envisioning Wellness—Peonies: Virginia Young began by telling us a little bit about herself. She lives on a 60 acre farm site 7 miles north of Nenana. She came to this area as a young married woman and raised her three children here. When her husband decided to leave, she bought out his half of their farm. She loves gardening and found out about the idea of raising peonies for commercial sale in a newsletter. There was a wholesaler in London who said that Alaska is the only place in the world where peonies bloom in the month of July. “The market,” she said, “Came to us.”
Peonies, she explained, are a hardy herbaceous perennial. They live for 30-40 years. They prefer a full sunny location and do not like to get their feet too wet, so soggy soils are out. They want well-drained soil. She bought 45 roots initially, at six dollars per root. The roots take about three to four years to grow before they can produce commercially. The buds can be harvested when they first show signs of color. Refrigerated immediately at 34 degrees F., they have an approximately four to six week shelf life, plenty of time to ship them to market. The target market is 5 star hotels, weddings, funerals, “These markets do not rise and fall so much with the economy.” One can direct market to buyers or merchandise to wholesalers.
Growers in Alaska have not caught up with the market yet, she admits. Wholesalers want thousands of blooms at a time. However, as the result of a conference in January, sponsored by the Cooperative Extension, they formed the Alaska Peony Growers Association and a web site was developed (http://alaskapeonies.org/). You do not need to have a lot of plants going to get into the association. There are three levels for membership: (from the web site)
Commercial Grower membership. $200/yr plus 500 or more peonies planted in Alaska for commercial production. Commercial grower memberships are for individuals or farms and are entitled to receive emailed newsletters, access the “Members Only” area of the APGA web site, cast a single vote, and purchase APGA shipping boxes and other materials. Currently all commercial grower members are automatically members of the APGA Board.
Associate membership. $50/yr. Associate memberships are for Alaska individuals interested in the commercial peony industry but who either do not qualify as a commercial grower or do not want to join as a commercial grower. Associate members are entitled to receive emailed newsletters and access the “Members Only” area of the APGA web site. Associate members are entitled to vote for the associate members’ representative on the Board of Directors. Associate members are not entitled to vote for officers or expenditure of funds.
Supporting. $25/yr. Institutional memberships are for individuals, private organizations/companies, or government agencies. An institutional membership entitles the organization to receive emailed newsletters.
Virginia estimated there were about 150 members across the state, including the Interior, Mat/Su basin and the Kenai area.
There are currently no Alaskan peony growers selling root stock. After three years, root stock can be divided to produce more plants, but, Virginia explained, those roots would be out of commercial production then for three or four years before they could produce commercial grade/quantity blooms again. Roots for the exotic species can go as high as 25 dollars per root, but there are certain varieties bred especially for market that seem to do best and be the most consistent producers.
Virginia would like to have up to two thousand plants under cultivation eventually. She has her plants on drip irrigation and they seem to be doing well. She has had problems with getting root stock from abroad; some went into customs and were “lost” for a long enough period of time that she was unable to get them into the ground during the crucial “fall” months. Those roots are not producing as well as others put into the ground in a timely manner. She has not experienced moose damage, nor damage from rabbits or voles. She did have some mold damage last summer related to rainy.
Virginia believes commercial peony cultivation to world markets is a viable economic strategy for people wanting to make a living from their land.

WELLNESS THOUGHT: Together we can do what none could accomplish alone
UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Paul showed us a flyer he has made for PR for the Veteran’s Honor Pancake Feed scheduled for 9 A.M. at Kristi’s Quisine on Saturday, July 4th. They are looking for donations to help with this event. Mike offered to donate a 25 pound bag of flour. Gary will play bagpipes. There will be a flag-raising ceremony.
Bill: Robert and Rita Pierce will be doing some drumming after the festivities on July 4th. They gave Bill an impromptu demonstration of their new big drum.
Merrily: Kristi’s will be open on the 4th from 11 A.M. – 3 P.M. for drinks, smoothies, etc.
Lindy: Adam is home from Seattle and healing well. He is feeling better every day although he is low in energy. They thank everyone for the prayers and assistance.
J.R. is looking for people who need to do community service hours. He is willing to do trash hauling to help clean up Nenana. He has been helping Kat clear for the sober house.
Kat is willing to donate money for gas for trash removal. David and JR cut down about 30 trees to clear a space for the Sober House. They are in the process now of limbing the downed wood and bucking it up for firewood. They hope to have a place cleared by the weekend, ready to begin dirt work.
Jeannie brought flyers she handed out for Operation Overhaul. Some were small, quarter page sized, which she hopes people will pass on to neighbors to get the word out about our clean-up efforts. She wonders if there could be a dedicated space to haul brush for burning. Perhaps we could have a bon fire?
Merrily: Joe is taking his Sober House project to the Eagle Scout’s board for approval today. He anticipates that it will be approved.
Bonnie: The Senior Bus will be going to town on Tuesday, July 7.
Rebecca asked if anyone knows about the move to make a borough for Nenana; she saw a petition to that effect at the senior center and had heard that this was on the agenda at a recent city council meeting. Paul says he will call the state and see if there is an actual proposal in the works. The Troxel’s are again having over-charge hassles with their internet provider. They are being charged for downloads they have not made.
Mary and Wes just got back from Prince of Wales Island where they attended and performed music at a Hydaberg wedding.
Miles read an email he got from Brent indicating that ten new plants have been put into the experimental garden over on the old TCCC/Americorps property. The ultimate outcome is unknown but Brent indicated that UAF may be funded for this project for three more years.
Mike says school starts August 18th. He doesn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to have WIN meetings again in the Lynx Den at NSLC starting August 4th. He will be back from holiday after July 16th.
Tim has not heard back from Magistrate Fischer as to his proposed Envisioning Wellness presentation for July but Felicia is slated for August 25.
OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS /QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None
ADJOURNMENT: 2 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES

June 23, 2009

 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

There were 19 in attendance today, including: Miles Martin, Walter & Andrea Tommy, Jeannie Bennett, Paul & Josh Verhagen, Bob & Darlene NOEL, Ethan, Aerin, Bill & Rebecca Troxel, Harriet Borst, Bonnie Reed, Carol Gallo, Virginia Young, Wes Alexander and Kat McElroy. We enjoyed baked chicken, potato salad, mixed green salad, nine-grain bread, garlic hummus, raisins & pecans and cherries for lunch.

 

WELCOME followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Bonnie Reed.

 

PRAYER was lead by Paul Verhagen, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were posted on the WIN link at www.railbelt.com and submitted electronically to the WIN e-list.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Betty Buchan was introduced. She is  an Assistant Professor of Public Health for the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 My Medication: What’s Age Got To Do With It?  – Betty J. BuchanBetty explained about how the human body assimilates medications and how the aging process can impact that. She explained how our bodies absorb, distribute, metabolize and then eliminate substances. Medications can be fat or water soluble; medications that are fat soluble will hang out in the body a long time while water soluble meds will be eliminated more quickly. As we age, we tend to become dehydrate more easily which can cause medications to concentrate into sometimes toxic doses in our systems. Anxiety, depression, epilepsy and sleep medications tend to be water soluble thus all have the potential of becoming too concentrated in the systems of aging patients. Thus, over-medication can be a distinctly senior issue. She stated that as we age our liver can shrink up to 35 % with age and our blood flow can decrease by up to 40%. This can make medication concentration issues unique for elderly populations.  She warned how easily an over-medicated elder could be mistaken for someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. Betty provided us with four questions we should keep in mind whenever anyone is prescribed a new medication:            When and for how long should I take this medication?            Are there any side effects and how should I deal with them?            Are there any foods, beverages, other medications, herbals medicines or over-the-counter medications I should avoid?            What should I do if I miss a dose? Betty passed out a handout that had information about online health information. It had hints for how to determine what is reliable and trustworthy online health information as well as many good sites, including:www.nih.gov  a good starting place for information on almost any health topic.www.nihseniorhealth.gov for website information for seniorswww.quackwatch.org self-explanatoryhttp://www.dcri.duke.edu/ccge/curtis/beers.html for information on potentially inappropriate medications for the elderlyBetty talked about some of the problems associated with taking multiple medications, in regards to changes in efficacy, side effects and the danger of drug interactions. She provided Railbelt and the Senior Center with copies of a book, The AARP Guide to Pills, which has clear, succinct explanations about various medications, including prescription and non-prescription meds, with photographs, discussion of side effects and counter-indications for each. She also passed out a handout taken from www.mustforseniors.org with information about medications and seniors.  Betty said she would email the power-point presentation so it could be attached to the minutes. This has not happened yet but as soon as it is received, it will be posted online and forwarded to the WIN e-list.  

Operation Overhaul– Jennie Bennett reports that Ester has made up flyers to post about the Nenana Beautification Project. Jeannie will contact a member of the Lion’s to solicit a donation. She has also written letters to various merchants in Fairbanks requesting same, submitting applications for donations. The BBQ/Pot Luck and Awards ceremony is scheduled for August 1^st, to coincide with the Freecycle.

 

WELLNESS THOUGHT

Life is what happens while you are busy making plans.
–Anonymous       

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Paul: Is making plans to have a pancake feed and a flag ceremony on July 4^th. They have contacted Clear Air Station staff who may be willing to assist in the flag ceremony. They want to do this to thank the military veterans of our community. Also, as part of their church cemetery mapping project, they are going to map the Nenana graveyard up on the hill. He passed around a map they did of the graveyard in Tanana. Lastly, he continues emailing Bernie Karl at Chena Hot Springs to get confirmation for our proposed tour of the facility.

Walter: Robert Charlie has been talking to Walter and Andrea about how to do culture camp activities at their 4-Mile Slough property. He is excited about their vision.

Elder Noel: This will be their last WIN meeting. They have very much enjoyed the time they’ve gotten to spend here.

Bonnie: Seniors have a trip planned to Chena Hot Springs but no one signed up yet; everyone wants to wait until winter.

Wes: WIN has been approved to continue having meetings at Meda Lord Center til the end of July.

 

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

 

ADJOURNMENT: 2:00 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionAGENDAJune 16, 2009 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. 

There were 12 in attendance today, including: BOB & Darlene Noel, Miles Martin, Rebecca, Bill, Ethan and Aerin Troxel, Jeannie Bennett, David Poppe, Kat McElroy, Theresa Titus and Tara. We had mixed green salad, baked salmon and rice pilaf for lunch.

 

WELCOME followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Rebecca Troxel.

 

PRAYER was lead by Aerin Troxel, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were three modifications to the agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were submitted electronically by Kat to the WIN e-list and posted on the web link at www.railbelt.com per usual. Jeannie asked to be added to the e-list.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: No new guests this week.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

Adam White Fundraiser —This is scheduled for this Friday night, 5 P.M., at the George Hall. It will be a taco dinner. There will be a dessert auction. Rebecca is coordinating with Suzanne Hill who has volunteered to help organize this fundraiser to assist the White family to defray medical expenses. Miles suggested that people be allowed to donate other auction items besides desserts. He would like to donate one of his hand-made knives, for instance. David suggested that these items be outcry auction, not silent auction, as “bidding fever kicks in” and it can increase the funds raised. Rebecca will coordinate with the EMT’s. She will be purchasing food stuffs for the event tomorrow. WIN brainstormed strategies to increase publicity for this worth event.

 Operation Overhaul—Jeannie Bennett announced that the awards ceremony/pot luck for June has been cancelled as there just isn’t enough lead time to adequately organize. The Noels have donated Lowe’s gift certificates for prizes. The July awards ceremony will coincide with the Freecycle on August 1^st. 

Ramparts Project Community Meeting: Tara has been in ongoing communication with Department of Environmental Conservation contact Graham Woods who will be at the meeting tonight at the Civic Center at 5:30 P.M. There will be someone there from the Ramparts Project to address community concerns about spill cleanup procedures. It is important that  people that use that area and are aware of the particular hydrology of that waterway be at the meeting to voice their concerns.

 

The fire alarm went off in the Meda Lord Senior Housing. Everyone quickly exited the building. It was the alarm in the attic that was triggered, apparently by workmen there, but no one was readily available to disarm the alarm. The fire department was contacted. The alarms are very loud. A great deal of socializing occurred out in the front parking lot while everyone waited for the fire alarm to stop.

WELLNESS THOUGHT: Don’t miss out on a blessing simply because it isn’t packaged
the way that you expect. American Folk Saying

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS.

Rebecca said that she had gone to the city council meeting last week where decisions were made as to which streets will be paved this summer. The job will go out to bid next week. Work will start in July. Old material   from the airstrip will be reutilized for the subsurface work which will then be chip sealed. Front street, second street, Market street, all of sixth street, C street and around the school will be paved initially.

Kat: Will not be here July 12^th thru 20^th. Going to Reno to visit her family. Someone will need to cook for WIN July 16^th, and do the agenda and the minutes.

David: Got 50 meat chickens, 25 laying hens, 2 turkeys, 5 quail and 5 bantam chickens. They are eating all the time.

Theresa: Tommy Titus will no longer being doing the Ride For Sobriety as part of the Nenana River Days celebration. There is another motorcycle club that does a fund-raiser every June for victims of drunk drivers. They tour from Fairbanks to Kenai to raise funds. They are willing to take over that event as part of their larger ride.

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS /QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION.  None                                                                        

ADJOURNMENT: 1:30 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES 

June 2, 2009

 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. There were 23 in attendance today, including: David Poppe, Virginia Young, Harriet and Gabrielle Borst, Tim Horn, Bonnie, Reed, Wes & Mary Alexander, Carol Gallo, Tara, Adam White, Greg Crowe, Rebecca, Ethan and Aerin Troxel, Bill & Janet Rasmussen, Mike Smith, Darlene & Bob Noel, Paul & Merrily Verhagen, and Kat McElroy  We enjoyed moose and barley soup, mixed green salad, sliced cheese and Ritz crackers, mixed raisins and nuts, gingersnaps and triple chocolate/cherry cake for lunch. 

WELCOME followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Bonnie Reed.

 

PRAYER: Was lead by Paul Verhagen, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There was one call for modification.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: No minutes were generated from last weeks meeting.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Harriet introduced her grand-daughter, Gabrielle. Rebecca introduced Bill & Janet Rasmussen.

           

 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS:

 

How to purify water: Bill Rasmussen and his wife are from Talkeetna. He has been on mission several times to Africa and other 3^rd world areas to assist people in setting up water purification systems. He began by talking about problems associated with unclean water. He said that, world-wide, a child dies every 8 seconds due to water-borne illnesses. Ground water most frequently becomes contaminated from pit latrines.

He used a slide presentation to describe the process they use, which will purify micro-organisms. It does not remove minerals, heavy metals or other possible contaminants, for which one would need a reverse osmosis system. They use McGuire Purifiers which are manufactured by New Life International out of Indiana. They are portable, cost about a thousand dollars a piece, require one 12 volt battery to power and can be maintained with a minimum of training.

McGuire purifiers use common table salt to purify water. The purification system breaks the salt down into sodium and chloride. The chloride is converted to a gas. Electrolysis allows the chlorine to bubble up thru the water, which will kill bacteria, parasites, and viruses. Bleach is a by-product and can be used for disinfectant purposes. The sodium combines with hydrogen and becomes lye which can also be used.

He explained that 1 to 2 parts per million chlorine to water is sufficient to kill undesirable organisms in water but they aim to have 3 to 5 parts per million. The units they use will purify55 gallons per minutes. Purification of 70 million gallons of water require about a pound of salt, which is usually readily and cheaply available even in the 3^rd world . Each unit will purify a sufficient quantity of water each day for about a thousand people. Discussion ensued regarding the applicability of such a system for our community for use in case of disaster such as the flood we experienced last summer.

  

Nenana Basin Nunivak Project Oil Spill Clean-up Response Plans: Tara was able to track down a copy of the Clean-up Response Plans for the Ramparts project. They appear to have been “plug and chug” copied from various North Slope response plans as much of the information speaks to an arctic environment and does not take into consideration. Kat read aloud the letter Tara has generated which people were invited to sign.

The body of the letter read:

 

We are people who live in Nenana and we are concerned that Rampart Energy’s proposed Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan for Nunivak is inadequate and places our community at risk for untold damage.

 

In their response scenarios Rampart says that in the case of a blowout they could have front end loaders, dozers, dump trucks, backhoes, vacuum trucks, and supersuckers at the site within 1.3 hours (page 1.5-2).  Even if all that heavy equipment were driven the 65 miles to Nenana in an hour, how can Rampart guarantee that a barge would be available?  And wouldn’t it take at least an hour to barge all that equipment across the Nenana River?

 

Also in their response scenarios (page 1.6-1) Rampart does not include a plan for a fuel spill at the staging area or on the barge crossing the Nenana River.  This is salmon habitat where the Nenana flows into the Tanana, and we believe that Rampart should have a plan to minimize damage if they spill the 10,000 gallons of diesel they are going to be transporting across the river in the barge.

 

In the case of a blowout scenario (page 1.6-7) Rampart says that the potential impact area is only the 6,000 feet radius of the oil plume.  They do not take into account that this is a wetlands are with many sloughs, rivers, and underground streams that could quickly move the oil much further than 6,000 feet. 

 

We believe that there should be a hydrological study to show how and where the oil would move in such a situation.  Such a study would need to take into account that water flow in this area is dramatically different at high water and low water (the Little Nenana River, for example, flows quickly in one direction at high water, barely moves at medium water levels, and flows quickly in the other direction at low water), and that there are many underground springs which could potential bring the oil into the groundwater.  Also, Ramparts winter/summer plan should take into account that there are warm springs along the rivers that keep them open in areas even at forty below.

 

Rampart states that there “are no sensitive areas/resources that would be directly impacted by the plume.”  Aren’t wetlands, by definition, sensitive?  Isn’t the Minto Flats State Game Refuge an important resource?  The fish in these rivers and especially the Tanana River are certainly important resources that we depend on. It is particularly distressing that there is no effective public process in place to allow the people of our community to have input into this as we are the ones who will be most affected by any untoward events.

 

Discussion ensued regarding the perceived dangers and benefits of this project. David spoke to his concerns if there were to be a bow-out event. Tara said she is more concerned about a spill as the result of a valve giving out as that is the most common event that occurs. She mentioned that the North Slope has oil spill response teams with specific plans and equipment available for immediate response but the Ramparts Project is apparently only requiring an 8 hour haz/mat training. She also said that the response plan references the use of booms that are not in place. Wes said he didn’t think booms would be effective on the Tanana River as the water moves too quickly. Paul said that he is in favor of the natural gas development but would like to see it done in a manner that takes those concerns into consideration. He suggested inviting Endil Moore to WIN as he (Endil) is very knowledgeable about the rules and regulations that apply to Interior waterways due to his position with Crowley.

Tara said that the window for public comment has been moved up to Friday, June 5^th. Anyone wishing to make comments may do so by e-mail to graham.wood@alaska.gov at Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

 

Alternative Energy/Tour of Chena Hot Springs: Paul Verhagen says that he still has not heard back from Bernie Karl in regards to our proposed tour.

  WELLNESS THOUGHT:  Nothing to it but to do it. Eleazar Baker 

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Saturday, June 6^th is River Days starting at 10 A.M. downtown. There will be a petting zoo and face paining amongst other activities. The Ride For Sobriety motor cycle parade is scheduled for Noon. There will be a bar-b-que. Don’t forget the Freecycle which begins around 4 P.M. at the Troxel’s (509 1^st Street.)

  

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

 

 

ADJOURNMENT: 2:10 P.M.