Vaccines available at Mono County Health Department

Shingles vaccine available

Shingles is a painful skin rash which is caused by the virus that causes chickenpox. Statistics show that we have a 20-30 percent chance of getting shingles during our lifetime. At this time, I know of at least one person in the Antelope Valley who is suffering mightily from it.

In October of 2006, the Centers for Disease Control recommended a new vaccine for people 60 years of age and older. The Mono County Health Department offers this vaccination for $155. Some Medicare Part D and private insurance plans may cover the cost; check with yours to find out.

You can call the health department at (760) 924-1830 to schedule and the public health nurse will schedule you for when she comes to Walker.

Red Cross training

This Saturday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Mono County and the Northern Nevada Red Cross will hold training at the Walker Senior Center to educate people on the operation of a disaster shelter and to encourage volunteers for the next time we need a shelter in our area.

If you have questions, call Kathy Watkins at (760) 924-1793, or just attend to see what they can teach us.

Relay for Life update

The Douglas group of teams for this cancer fundraiser also includes teams from the Antelope Valley, Bridgeport and Topaz Lake. Recently they had their post-relay team captain's dinner, during which it was announced that their efforts exceeded their contribution goal of $110,000. The Antelope Valley team was in 7th place out of the 45 teams for coming closest to reaching their goal. Antelope Valley was only $336 short of their goal. Hooray for our team.

Regional Planning Advisory Committee

Tomorrow evening 7 p.m. at the Walker Community Center is the committee's monthly meeting. There will be some interesting items discussed that area residents should be interested in, so please try to attend.

This and that

-- There are things that occur everyday that make you shake your head, and we have recently had such a happening. Dorothy Palmer was a long-time contributor to the workings of this valley and its programs. She and a few others like her have been honored with memorial benches in Walker Community Park. The benches are lovely, with plaques honoring the individual, and bolted to a concrete pad.

The other day it was noticed that very recently some creep (or creeps) had unbolted and stolen the bench in her honor. Now, maybe I'm missing their point (if there was one), but why would anyone do that?

-- The Coleville High School football team won last Saturday's game against Smith Valley by a score of 56-40. In this game, sophomore Jason Peters set a school record, throwing six touchdown passes in a game. Their next home game will be Sept. 15. Don't miss it! I also want to say how much we appreciate their coach, Will Sandy, for passing on statistics and team information through the paper. It is great for those of us who miss a game now and then.

-- In the same vein, the Coleville girls' volleyball team played in the Yerington tournament this past weekend. They finished 3-3, but the really impressive part was that they defeated top-flight schools. Teams in this tournament were from 2-A, 3-A and 4-A schools, so it was a big victory for our 1-A school.

My thanks to Mary Booher for keeping me informed on their results.

-- Congratulations to local teenager Robert Underwood on the finish he and his teammate, Adam Thissen, had in the Best in the Desert motorcycle race from Las Vegas to Reno across the desert.

They finished fourth out of more than 100 entries in the Open Pro Class and eighth in overall standings. Since this race covers 559.3 miles, I'd say they did darned good.

-- Saturday, Sept. 22 is the state of California's Free Fishing Day. Every year they have one day that people can fish without having a license.

If you aren't a diehard fisherman during the season, you can still go out that day and try your luck.

-- Lynne Katusich can be reached at lynnekat@gbis.com or (530)495-2552.