Corvallis parade moved to Saturday, Dec. 2

CORVALLIS - The city will celebrate the holiday season with the 22nd annual Corvallis Community Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 2.

After 21 years being on the Friday after Thanksgiving, the parade will be a week later this year because of the Civil War football game that will take place in Corvallis on that day.

The parade will start at 7 p.m. and go north on Fourth Street from Washington Avenue to Jackson Avenue. The theme for this year's parade is "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

The parade will include floats, walking groups, horses, dogs, kinetic sculptures, music and many other entries. The grand marshal for this year's parade is Mayor Helen Berg, who is retiring at the end of her term.

At the conclusion of the parade, a ceremony will be at the courthouse. The Singing Leslies will lead in the singing of holiday carols. The ceremony will finish with the traditional lighting of the Benton County Courthouse and the Holiday Tree.

The parade is co-sponsored by the Corvallis Lions Club and the Downtown Corvallis Association with a lot of help from the Corvallis Police Department, the Radio Club, Corvallis Parks and Recreation and others.

It isn't too late to be in the parade. Call the DCA at 754-6624 for more information or to get an entry form.

Albany woman to talk about trip to Mongolia

ALBANY - Albany resident and Earthwatch participant Wanda Knight will give a multimedia presentation on her recent camel-riding adventure in Inner Mongolia, China, at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27, at the Albany Public Library, 1390 Waverly Drive S.E.

Knight spent 19 days among the highest sand mountains of the world with a team of lay persons and scientists trying to determine why China's massive Gobi Desert is expanding and where the area's water is going.

The program is open to the public and free of charge.

Nov. 27 discussion

to focus on hunger

CORVALLIS - A discussion on hunger will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27, at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 N.W. Monroe Ave.

Patti Whitney-Wise, executive director of the Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force, will discuss how residents can be part of ending hunger in the community and in Oregon.

Her presentation will be followed by a panel of local experts, including Ryan McCambridge, coordinator of Linn Benton Food Share; Molly DeMarco, of St. Vincent de Paul and the South Corvallis Food Pantry; and Sharon Thornberry, community food programs advocate for Oregon Food Bank.

Oregon in recent years had the highest rate of hunger in the nation. Benton County still has one of the lowest rates of eligible residents participating in the food stamp program and only one school district that does not participate in the federal school lunch program.

Computer security course offered in SH

SWEET HOME - Learn to protect your computer from viruses, spyware and spam during the course "Hackers, Crackers and Spies" (CRN 26707) held at LBCC's Sweet Home Center.

Learn to apply an effective security strategy and understand who the 'bad guys' are and how they operate. Explore security and privacy issues and low-cost security software, and learn how to minimize your online exploitation risk. This class is oriented to the Windows XP user.

Class will be from 6 to 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, and Thursday, Nov. 30, at the LBCC Sweet Home Center, 1661 Long St. Cost for this non-credit course is $33 plus a $1 lab fee.

For more information or to register, contact LBCC Sweet Home Center at 367-6901.

LBCC board member Joseph Novak retires

ALBANY - Joseph Novak, a board member at Linn-Benton Community College for 25 years, has announced his resignation from the board of directors effective Dec. 31.

During his time on the board, Novak served three terms as chairman and four terms as vice-chairman, working with four different college presidents and participating in hiring three of the four. He has been involved with LBCC for 35 years.

"The 35 years I have been associated with the college, including the 25 years I have served on the board, have been the proudest years of my life," said Novak. "It has been an honor to serve and I step down now only because of uncertain health."

Novak operates Novak's Hungarian Restaurant in Albany, which the family opened in 1984. He is affectionately known as "Papa" Novak in the community.

During his tenure with the LBCC board, Novak consistently pushed legislators for more state support for Oregon community colleges.

Novak also received an honorary membership in Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society of Two Year Colleges after being nominated by LBCC Student Life and Leadership. He has been a guest speaker at LBCC's commencement ceremony and staff inservice days. He also serves as chaplain for the American Veterans Association and is active in the community.

After arriving in the United States from Hungary in 1959, Novak worked for a short time as an engineer in the space program for NASA. He went on to work for Wah Chang of Albany in metallurgy research and development.

Pesticide course offered in Spanish

ALBANY - Do you have a Spanish-speaking employee who has studied hard but failed the Oregon Department of Agriculture pesticide applicator exam, or needs in-depth training in pesticide application and safety and coaching in math and calibration skills needed for licensing?

Linn-Benton Community College is offering a course designed to prepare Spanish-speaking agriculture workers to take the ODA pesticide applicator exam. The course will be from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on two Fridays, Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, in the LBCC Siletz Room, second floor College Center, 6500 Pacific Blvd. S.W., Albany.

Cost is $75 and includes all materials. Upon completion of the course, participants will receive an award of completion. The ODA pesticide applicators exam is optional and should be arranged with ODA.

For more information or to register, contact LBCC Health Occupations and Workforce Education at 917-4923. Space is limited.