Monday, after attending the Weird Al Yankovich concert in Bend on Sunday night, we drove to Eugene by way of the McKenzie river Hwy. Stopped at the Belnap Hot Springs for pictures...

By the McKenzie River.

And arrived in Eugene to visit with our best-est friend, Meaghan Hackinen.

And, while the owner's are away...

National Play Music on your Porch Day

-always the last Saturday of August

 Tabling for Oregon's Universal Health Plan
at the Tillamook Saturday Market

This is where we spent yesterday (9:-2:pm) meeting many new and old friends and adding to our Tillamook Chapter of HCAO mailing list. -and, of course, eating well.
We had some great food from the Pacific Restaurant's booth, right next to us!
Thanks to Saydee for having our booth ready.

That sure is one long mutt!

Tillamook Chapter HCAO August Newsletter

AUGUST NEWSLETTER

HCAO Tillamook County Chapter
Issue 2026-08

HCAO News & August Announcements

CONTENTS

• A Quick Fair Wrap-Up
• Yesterday's meeting with Senator Wyden and HCAO Chair Valdez Bravo, and small crowd
• A Call for Tablers at next Saturday's Tillamook Farmers' Market
• October Presentation to AAUW Tillamook Chapter

A Quick Fair Wrap-Up

The Fair was amazing. I, just now, finished entering 106 records of neighbors interested in receiving our news, so we can call this a Real HCAO Tillamook Chapter - with members who are "in the loop."

We did hear, on the last day of the fair, that the Governance Board (which has been building the Oregon Health Plan) has postponed submission of the bill to the Oregon State Legislature from September 15th to December 1st, -more to come on that.

Thanks for coming to our Tillamook Fair booth and thanks to all those who helped put the booth together and those who spoke to the public about Oregon's Universal Health Plan. We will announce the Fair attendence numbers when they are made public, and let's plan on doing it again in '27!

Download: Tillamook Fair Handout (PDF)

Portland "Townhall Announcement"

with Senator Wyden and HCAO Chair Valdez Bravo, and supporters

Amazing news - U.S. Senator Wyden, has changed his mind on standing up for Single-Payer! He has decided to go full-bore for Federal "Medicare for All". In this effort he has partnered with our HCAO Chairman, Valdez Bravo, to also support our efforts for the Oregon Universal Health Plan. Look-Out Democrats, you've now got work to do!

On that note - we are copying TillCoDems on this newsletter and would like their serious feedback. Can we count on your active support for Healthcare for All Oregon, Dems?

They were arm-in-arm in Portland, Senator Ron Wyden and HCAO's Chair Valdez Bravo promising to help each other in our march toward single payer, towards achieving any and all Federal and State plans that we can accomplish. The meeting brought the medical community, individuals, especially the medically challenged, labor unions and several HCAO redshirts to testify and rally around Senator "Ron"'s new initiative.

The Senator did have a special ask. He asked for testimony to help him make the argument in Washington. So, here's where we can help. I am asking the Tillamook Chapter to tell their stories - and I will help you edit and polish them if you like. Please write out how the current system has hurt you and your loved ones, perhaps stolen your money and made your lives miserable.

Send your testimonies here, this is where Senator Wyden wants to receive your stories about the ways Medical Insurance companies have failed you. Again, if you are insecure about writing, I can help. Call or write to me and we'll get that story out.

Here are a couple of images from yesterdays' meetings and I'll also attach a scan of the Senator's handout below:

Download: Senator Wyden's Handout (PDF)

A Call for Tablers for at next Saturday's Tillamook Farmers' Market

We have our HCAO annual booth next Saturday, August 22nd at the Tillamook Farmer's Market on Laurel Street. The Market runs from 9:am - 2:pm and we'll meet there at 8:30. Gosh, if I can get up that early on a Saturday, maybe you can, too. But, seriously, it's great fun and a perfect time to talk to visitors about the Universal Health Plan. Please join us Saturday.

October Presentation to AAUW Tillamook Chapter

I have been asked to present our HCAO story about the Universal Health Plan to Tillamook's Chapter of the American Association of University Women, (AAUW) on October 10, 2026. Here's another opportunity to help out, be involved, just watch or get real speaking experience for anyone who would like to help with the presentation. In fact, I may have another opportunity or two before this one. So please drop me a line if you would like to be a speaker.

AND - Please let me know if you can help with our HCAO Tillamook Chapter. We could use a co-chair and others. Please don't hesitate, there's much we can do, including fostering neighboring countys' efforts to organize. I would love to hear from you. -B.D.

End of the Fair Breakdown

 We took down the HCAO Tillamook Fair Booth yesterday. It was a great 4 days and we talked with a great amount of people getting the message out. Here is a recap of our HCAO folks Aug. 5-8 at the Fair in photos:

Setting up the HCAO Booth at the Tillamook County Fair

 Tomorrow is the beginning of the 4-day Tillamook Fair and our HCAO (Health Care For ALL Oregon) booth is ready to go! Today Kristin Johnson from Tillamook Vision Center helped me construct the booth and I think it looks great.

(Shirt says, "Yes, I have a Retirement Plan. I Plan to Play my Accordion." -And I'm not sure there will be any practicing for the next 4 days.)

 Today was the monthly Tualatin  Valley Accordion practice, of which I am a new member.

And I performed for the first time (anywhere). I attempted to play "indifference" and "Softly, as in a summer sunshine".

Here's a nice picture of our leader, Doris Osgood.

Here's a group from the whole that performed magnificently!

The practice is inspiring - and Doris has invited me for some coaching in Forest Grove. I am really excited!

 Son Paul and his very-good friend Sadi left today after a wonderful visit from Pueblo, Colorado. We miss them already!

Come back again, soon, you two!

 Homestead Family Reunion Picnic Day 2026

Another afternoon of many happy faces, wonderful memories, and eating too much...
(I told myself I wasn't going to do that again this year!)

 It was a great time at my first meeting of the Tualatin Valley Accordionists group practice - grinning the whole time!

Life is certainly fun.

Post 4th of July Thoughts

 From the "Ain't This A Great Country?" Dept.:

                             Watch "America's Most TOXIC Site Could Be Worse Than CHERNOBYL" 

and keep smiling. 😎

The United States of America, at 250 Years, hopes for more...

Watch "America: Birth Of A Nation" and this, pretty much, sums it up.

Fun morning with Rotary raising flags in Tillamook.

Catching up on The Night Before the 4th.

 

Woo-hoo! My new accordion arrived on June 5th! Now I'm (not so quietly) trying to learn a few tunes.

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On the weekend of June 18-20 Mary's great-nieces (and 2 friends) came to visit and camp out...

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Mary and I made bagels, ummm.

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Other great news: Healthcare for All Oregon (HCAO Tillamook Chapter) will have a booth at the Tillamook Fair, and it's been paid for! This is all possible because volunteers to work the booth have emerged from the healthcare industry in Tillamook! Yes, the Tillamook Vision Center has volunteered its staff to help operate the Healthcare for All Oregon fairbooth from Aug. 5th-8th. I hope several others in the area assist us as we bring the good news to the Tillamook County! 

I became new member of the Tillamook Rotary! It's a great place to meet enthusiastic people and actually do good things for the community at the same time. Thanks for the nice welcome everyone! Had fun manning the a ticket booth with them the previous night at the Tillamook Rodeo. 

What a great group of people. (And the event was held at the home of a local restaurant owner, and also a new Rotary member, Carlos - who cooked an amazing spread!) I'm liking this club that meets for lunch in Tillamook every Tuesday. And I'll never lose weight at this rate.

Well, very early tomorrow I'm going to find out how the magic has always happened every year of my life. I'll assisting Rotary with putting out the Tillamook flags. Have I commented on what a great group this is?

Healthcare for All Oregon (HCAO): Tillamook County Chapter Progress

 On Tuesday, June 2nd, I presented, to the Tillamook Rotary Club, an introduction to the work HCAO has been doing for 26 years, and most importantly, to the health plan being designed by the Universal Health Plan Governance Board for submission to State Legislators this September.

A Thursday Personal Blog

 

Today I would like to post some personally meaningful items that should stand up well on their own:

Topic: Science (and the only truth that really matters!)
Watch "NASA Just Touched the Sun — Here’s What They Found" on YouTube

Topic: History - Stuff we Really Ought to Learn about
Watch "The 20,000 Deaths Behind the Moon Landing (Operation Paperclip)" on YouTube

Topic: Nostalgia 
Colbert and "The Late Show" have been cancelled, but this was left behind - Watch "The Worst Of The Late Show - FULL EXTENDED EPISODE" on YouTube

Topic: Personal Growth
Watch "The Day You Realize Nobody Is Coming — Carl Jung" on YouTube

Check out my new page for all things interesting that you might like to know called 
"Did you know?..."

Back home in the Lovely Coastal Range of Oregon

Arriving, yesterday, we were met by tall grass and the property desperately waiting for some attention.

So, Sunday morning I got the mower and went to work. The area looks so beautiful now, and I thought I'd share some photos of the beautiful place we are so fortunate to inhabit...

The blueberries are many and we're looking forward to enjoying them. The grapes are just shooting up.

Spring Birding & Boise Odyssey - continuing on to Boise

The drive to Boise was amazingly beautiful. A minor auto problem had us stop for diagnostics and we actually solved the problem after which we bought a new computer data reader. And when we arrived in Boise we checked in and quickly zipped off for dinner and the '60s musical at the Boise Little Theater, "She Loves You". Great performance! 

You must get to see this theatre, it's beautiful! Watch some of the performance here!

Saturday morning we went to the Boise Zoo.

Uhh...

... and Saturday night, the new Star wars movie at the Boise IMAX...

On Sunday we caught brunch at "Foodland Market (a Mediterranean market)" owned by a Turkish family and catering to a very Iraqi neighborhood. 

In the next block of this "Istanbul neighborhood of Boise", we  saw a production of "Murder on the Orient Express" at the Stagecoach Theater. 

One of our discoveries about Boise is that the Basque population do not hold sole claim to the city at all. In addition to South Asian people from Thailand etc., there is quite a large Eastern Mediterranean population from Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria area here, also. -and a huge collection of Italian restaurants from one of which we are going to have pizza tonight!

And it's Red Bench Pizza!

Pizza so good we're coming back on "Lasagna Tuesday" night.

Well, Monday started and ended  amazingly. Breakfast at Blue Bench Brunchette (we're not early risers after late nights.)

And, after short naps, we stopped for what ended up being the most expensive (especially since quitting booze decades ago), fruit/veg drinks at Boise Juice Company ringing in at $10 for each 10(?) oz. drink. The liquids were to bring with to the Westside Drive In where the food was okay and the music was yet another droning "oldies" collection which seems ubiquitous in Boise and I had hoped would go away after repeated playing in the '50s, the '60s, and the '70s, - over 50 years ago. Younger folks, some of whom must be brilliant musicians, have certainly been ignored by boomers.

Thankfully,  we could not have been more enthralled, nicely welcomed, and thoroughly entertained than we were at the location of the beautiful Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation site of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.  

The evening's "Noche de Serenatas" included an opening special appearance of the Basque Choir, followed by the Boise Orchestra, flamenco dancers w/musicians,  traditional Spanish folk dancers, and a magnificent 11 piece Boise Mariachi band! 

 Also, the special soloists were a woman and man operatic singers who returned again to sing Mexican folksong late into the night!

The Basque Choir performed lovely and unique folksongs that even most of them can't understand!

Flamenco singers and dancers performed.

The soloists first performed Spanish classical arias - and then Mexican songs!

Mexican dancers.

And the Boise Mariachis!

The encores kept coming at the end. The last piece was "Amor eterno", Watch Rocío Dúrcal sing it here on YouTube: 

That was a late night! After midnight by the time we went to bed!

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Tuesday morning & afternoon we rested in late so Mary could care for the asthma that has been holding her back for days. Tonight we've planned lasagna at the Red Bench Pizza and a movie at Rick's Flicks. We'll packed in tonight for two nights in Burns, so tomorrow we leave Boise🧳.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Friday after getting to Bend we had a wonderful dinner with Will, Mary's nephew, and his belle, "Sam". They treated us to an exciting and delicious Korean restaurant!

On Saturday, May 30, after visiting in Redmond with friends 

Peggy Glass and her lovely grand-daughter, Dahlia, we arrived home safely. It was a lovely day for driving.