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Show A r o u n d T h e Co u n t y FEBRUARY 1, 2008 PAGE A5 Summit County News VA Volunteers Make Cupcakes For Hospital Patients Conservation Corner How Important To Raise Hay Hundreds of cupcakes have found their way to the Veterans Hospital in Salt Lake City, thanks to the efforts of Sheryl Clark and the volunteers who have made the cupcakes, cookies and popped popcorn to take to the veterans for Valentines! Sheryl has been a VA volunteer for many years and has been the coordinator and supervisor for this project, and the veterans always look forward to the treats brought to them by the many Summit County Volunteers. They do this not once, but twice a year - and more than 5075 dozen cupcakes are made, decorated, and frozen along with cookies until time to frost them and take down to Salt Lake City to the VA Hospital there. The patients really enjoy the treats, and look forward to the visit from Sheryl and her volunteers. This year, the students at North Summit High School will be among those who will bake and prepare the cupcakes for the veterans. They are cooking them in Susan Wilde’s homemaking class at the NSHS. BY THOMAS E. HOSKINS Range Management Specialist USDA-NRCS Randolph F.O. and Coalville F.O. Nora Lopez and Suzanna Sanchez They finished up the last of the cupcakes on Wednesday, and they will be transported to Salt Lake on Thursday. They also love to receive popcorn along with the cookies and cupcakes. This has been a worth- while project, and one that brings joy to those whose hands are preparing the treats, along with the many recipients. What a great way to get a “warm fuzzy” from doing a good deed! All things in life are cyclical. Ranchers and farmers know this cliché better than most. Spring springs, summer provides, and fall creeps slowly towards winter. Winter is inescapable. Tractors become harder to start, and pastures change from yellow to white. The cow is left unemployed, with nothing to do but remember the good times, warm days grazing green grass by the creek. Fields of grass have been replaced by the cold dryness of the January snows. The lucky cows are moved south, or to the desert for the winter but most of the livestock in Rich and Summit counties aren’t so lucky. Cows here have to be thick skinned in order to prosper in crisp winds, and deepening drifts. Everybody knows that snow is a bad substitute for grass. It provides no protein or carbohydrates, or shelter, or comfort. This month, the cow is com- pletely dependent on the cattleman and the cattlewoman for survival. Water holes need to be chopped and hay needs to be fed. It might be cold in this neck of the woods, but the livestock of Summit and Rich County are fortunate in that they are furnished with very high quality feed. High Mountain meadow hay is a coveted and important commodity. Hay costs what its worth, but what is it worth to you? Here are five questions to ask yourself. Do you cut your own hay, or buy? Have you ever calculated how much it costs you to grow your own hay, including costs for equipment maintenance, fuel, fertilizer, weed control, irrigation, and labor? Is it cheaper to buy or grow your own? If you do buy hay from somebody how much of your profits are going towards buying hay. On some ranches hay expenditures are the largest cost of the budget. How does it compute on your ranch? Do you know how many tons of hay your livestock will need in order to take you through a long winter? What can you do to balance your grass production with your grass consumption? These are all important questions to ask because they allow you to figure exactly how much hay is worth to you. If you are capable of growing hay for $87/ ton why buy it for $160/ton. Once you have determined how many bales of hay your livestock will require to feed them until April, you can determine whether or not it is feasible to grow that amount. Now is as good a time as any to ask these questions. The winter allows time for contemplation, formulation and planning for implementation. Spring is a time for action, and that time is quickly approaching. You cannot take a step in the right direction, without knowing where you are now. If you have any questions about fertilizer application, forage balancing, irrigation water management or anything else feel free to contact me or any of the other conservationist at the Coalville NRCS F.O. Office at (435) 881-8279. We’d like to help you get to where you want to be tomorrow. Thank you. Lead Exposure – SCHD Testing CHERYL OVARD SC News Editor The Summit County Health Department (SCHD) set up testing stations in Park City at the Park City Police Station and the Sheldon Richins building on Tuesday, Jan 29; and a second day of testing was set up on Wednesday in Kamas and Coalville for people to bring in their dishes, toys and other items that they felt might contain a high volume of lead. “Lead poisoning can affect nearly every system in the body. Because lead poisoning often occurs with no obvious symptoms, it frequently goes unrecognized. Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death,” state the DCED. If there is a possibility that you think you may have lead poisoning, please see your doctor to obtain the necessary tests. A simple blood test can detect lead in the bloodstream, even with a child. If your dishes have a high testing (over 600 ppm) of lead content, and they are not used frequently, they may not be of big concern. Greg Mortensen, of the Environmental Science with Division of Air Quality out of Salt Lake City, brought the equipment necessary to check dishes and toys for lead content. He stated that acidic foods may increase leaching of lead in dishes, and heat could cause leaching, too. A dish in good repair will most likely have a glazing that can help protect from lead exposure. A chipped dish or an exposed edge not covered with glazing increases the opportunity for lead exposure. Children can hold lead in their bodies better than adults do. Young, developing children are harmed the most by lead exposure. Toys that have been made in other countries and imported to the U.S. or antique toys and collectibles passed down through generations put children at risk for such exposure. Children should not put the toy into their mouths, and always wash hands after touching the toys. Check your toys and/or the packaging for indication that the product has met national testing standards for lead and other hazardous materials. The labeling will indicate testing method ASTM 4236 or it may just have an ASTM stamp. The website that posts manufacturers of recalled toys is www.cpsc.gov; the Food and Drug Administration also has a site that posts manufacturers of dinnerware that have been restricted: Http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ ora _import_ia5208.html. You can also get help from www.summitcountyhealth.org or www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/ |