Heartbreaking.
That’s all I can say about the tragic rollover crash off Interstate 5 just south of Kalama early Saturday evening.
My husband, daughter and I were driving home from a birthday party east of Woodland when we approached the Todd Road northbound exit from I-5, the same place our Toyota Camry was catapulted off the freeway in September 2006 after a drunk driver struck it. My two children and I were shaken up, despite our seatbelts, and my shoulder hurt, but the Camry remained upright.
However, on Saturday we saw flashing lights and a bashed-in SUV on its top in the dry brown grass beside the exit ramp. My daughter asked if people could survive a rollover accident.
“If they’re wearing seatbelts,” my husband said.
Unfortunately, five of the six people inside — including two adults and three children 7 and under — weren’t wearing seatbelts. All five were ejected when the Toyota Sequoia rolled several times.
The driver, a 36-year-old mother with her three children, was heading north toward their home in Lakewood with her parents when the crash occurred. Her parents and her 6-year-old daughter died at the scene. She and two other children, 5 and 7, were injured. The children were airlifted to a children’s hospital in Portland. The mother, the only person wearing a seatbelt, was injured and taken to St. John Medical Center in Longview. The mother has been discharged.
Investigators say inattention caused the crash, which was reported at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday at milepost 27 of northbound I-5. Traffic had slowed and the driver overcorrected to avoid a collision.
My prayers are with the family. I can’t imagine the mother’s heartache. I hope and pray her other children recover. A friend from Oregon Christian Writers, a mother who was driving when her 5-year-old daughter was killed, shares her journey at Grieving Gumdrops: The Sweeter Side of Grief, https://grievinggumdrops.com/
It takes only a moment of distraction, hurtling down a freeway at 70 miles an hour. Just as it takes only a moment to buckle a seatbelt.
Paint the Town
Volunteers are needed on two Saturdays in August to help Paint the Town—or at least the home of a senior citizen recently diagnosed with cancer.
Lincoln Creek Lumber Co. sponsors the annual event, which brings together volunteers to spruce up the homes and yards of low-income disabled veterans, senior citizens or others in need of help. A committee reviews all applications for assistance and meets with homeowners.
This year the one-story home built in 1918 belongs to a woman who has volunteered in the past to paint the homes of others, event coordinator Jana Dean said Friday morning at a meeting of the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team (CCRT).
A preparation day will take place Aug. 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. when volunteers will scrape off old paint and sand the exterior of the 100-year-old home on South Market Boulevard in Chehalis. Two shifts of volunteers will return to the home Aug. 11 to paint the exterior of the house.
Anyone interested in volunteering should stop by Lincoln Creek Lumber Co. to fill out an application by July 30 in order to receive a T-shirt/swag bag. For more information, contact Dean at 360-219-5142.
Paint the Town, originally organized by Providence Centralia Hospital 25 years ago, has been organized by Lincoln Creek Lumber Co. in recent years, Dean said.
New Stores
Also at the CCRT meeting, Sarah Coffman and dog trainer Deb Harp shared news about Totally Pawsome, their new dog and cat supply store downtown
at 470 N. Market Blvd., which will hold a grand opening Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.
The store, which is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, features a biscuit bar and dog gelato—a guaranteed winner for furry friends on these hot days.
Coffman said they’re also involved in Purple Heart Rescue, a nonprofit that rescues abused, neglected and abandoned dogs and rehabilitates them so they can find new, loving homes. They place the forgotten pets in foster homes where they can learn to trust again.
I was happy to learn recently that the Christian bookstore will be returning to Lewis County.
The Tree of Life Christian Outlets, based in Eugene, Ore., closed its eight stores in 2015, including the one at the Centralia Factory Outlets, citing rising costs and the declining health of its owner. The store had operated in Centralia for 17 years.
But a recent Facebook post by former store manager Debbie Verley noted that the store, under new ownership, is returning to Centralia in late August. She said the new owner is Kevin Ferguson of Corvallis.
“We would like to soft open in August and grand open Sept. 1,” Ferguson said. “It will be called Christian Outlet as before.”
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com
