City of Shawnee utility customers recently began receiving a notice in their bills containing important information about their drinking water. First, let me emphasize there is no reason to worry and the city actually has been in compliance for more than a year now.
But because quarterly numbers in February/March 2008 violated a drinking water standard, then the city was considered in noncompliance in 2008. As City Utilities Director Jim Bierd told me last month, the city has been in compliance now for a year with Department of Environmental Quality regulations regarding total organic carbons in the water.
“We are at 38 micrograms per liter, which equates to parts per billion, and the limit is less than 80,” Bierd related in March.
He emphasized “TOC has no health risks whatsoever.”
Because the city was out of DEQ compliance 13 and 14 months ago, local water users began receiving a notice in their utility bills on Monday, March 23 of that violation.
Last month Bierd stressed “we just received our results for March and we are in compliance and have been for a year now.”
But DEQ requires that the notice be sent out, so the city complied and the best way is to include the notice in customers’ utility bills.
For those of you who might have any questions, though, you can contact David Rodriquez at 273-0890 or P.O. Box 1448, Shawnee, OK as the notice advises.
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Shawnee’s Salvation Army is hosting its annual dinner Tuesday night, April 14, and will honor Paul Milburn as the 2009 recipient of the Don Bodard Friend of Youth Award.
It begins at 6 p.m. in the Geiger Center at Oklahoma Baptist University with the celebrity auction Celebrity Auction and dinner will be at 6:15 p.m. The cost is $25 per person, and RSVP deadline was Wednesday of this week.
For any further information, Pam Robinson advises to call 273-1470.
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Habitat for Humanity of Shawnee, Inc., will host its annual Fiesta Dinner and auction fundraiser on Tuesday, April 21, in First Baptist Church’s Barton Fellowship Hall at 10th and Union. The meals will be served from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Silent auction items will be available for viewing and bidding during the meals.
Julie McGowan, who is news and media relations director at OBU, serves as a public relations volunteer for Habitat. She provided the information on the upcoming fund raising lunch and dinner and silent auction.
Her article quotes Tim Sean Youmans, president of Habitat, who said “The Fiesta is Shawnee Habitat’s primary fundraiser, along with grants and individual gifts from folks. But it also has a feel of a celebration for Shawnee residents for all that Habitat does locally and around the world.”
The fiesta menu will feature taco salads, salsa, chips, desserts and drinks. Tickets are $5 in advance and $6 at the door; tickets for children under age 12 are $2.50. Advance tickets may be purchased from any Shawnee Habitat board member or at the Edward Jones office at 318 W. MacArthur during regular business hours.
For more information about tickets, call Marguerite Guinn, the event coordinator, at 214-0434, who also facilitates cooking the meal.
Carry-out meals of five or more dinners will be available for lunch and dinner meals. To pre-schedule a pick-up time for the carry-out meals, call 214-0434 by 4 p.m. on Monday, April 20.
“Fiesta does not happen without the dedication of volunteers from the Shawnee community,” said Guinn. “Area churches provide desserts (and everyone knows that church ladies are some of the best cooks!). People from all vocations and occupations, from retirees to high school students and Boy Scouts, volunteer each year at Fiesta.”
Guinn said information on providing desserts for the Fiesta Dinner is being sent to area churches, along with sign-up sheets. Please provide only desserts that do not require refrigeration. For information about providing desserts, contact her at the above number.
“Fruit pies, cobblers, cupcakes, cakes, and cookies are all great!” she said.
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The Multi-County Master Gardener Association and the OSU Cooperative Extension Service will conduct a “Lawn and Garden Care and Maintenance” seminar on Wednesday, April 15 beginning at 10:30 a.m. It will be held at the OSU Extension Center, 14001 Acme Road, Shawnee. The office is located on the southeast corner of Acme Road and MacArthur.
Joe Benton, agricultural educator, will discuss irrigation, mulching, fertilization, weed control and other proper maintenance practices.
The program is free and the public is encouraged to attend.
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Vivian Ray says she is coordinating the Relay For Life survivor dinner and those planning to attend are asked to please contact her at 255-0261.
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Family Promise is hosting its inaugural Families Helping Families 5K run, walk and fun run on Sunday, May 3, at 2 p.m. Tim Barrick, one of those helping with the fundraising, tells me the run will begin at the courthouse on North Broadway, go north to almost Federal Street, and return back south to the Woodland Veterans Memorial Park.
The event is a sanctioned 5K run, he said, so there will be a number of the top runners in the region participating. In addition, as a fun run, it also will be geared to accommodate entire families.
Sponsorship levels include Sponsor for $1,000, Partner $500, Friend $250, and Donor $100.
For more information, contact either Tim Barrick, at srprx@sbcglobal.net, Nance Diamond at nance_diamond@yahoo.com or Mike Adcock at jmadcock@bodard.com
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If you have ideas or something of interest for this column, call 214-3922 or e-mail michael.mccormick@news-star.com. Include name and phone number for contact purposes.
SHAWNEE, Okla. —
