Medical Surge Drill

On Tuesday, October 28, local hospitals came together to hold a medical surge drill. The scenario was a tornado that hit town, overwhelming the emergency rooms of our local hospitals.

The drill was held in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse and included setting up the room as it might be in a real event. Participants were registered using the Elliott badging system - the same system that would be used to identify and track volunteers following a real emergency.

In the afternoon, participants, made up largely of area nursing students, served as "pretend" patients while others were part of the labor pool.

Volunteers with the Columbia/Boone County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) also helped with the drill. MRC volunteers would be part of the response and would assist local hospitals as needed. One of the best ways that you could assist following a disaster is to affiliate now with a local group, like the MRC, the American Red Cross or the fire department's CERT team.

To learn more about getting involved with the MRC, contact Betsy Smith at the Columbia/Boone County Health Department - 874-7285 or ECS@GoColumbiaMO.com.

Plant the Promise

This week local youth will begin planting 1,300 red tulip bulbs at schools, churches, public housing facilities, homes and businesses, mostly in the central city, to "Plant the Promise." The project is a joint effort of the City of Columbia's Office of Volunteer Services and the Youth Community Coalition. Through "Plant the Promise" youth will make a promise to think about their actions and stay drug and alcohol free.

Not only do we want this project to be a valuable experience for youth to give more thought to making good decisions... we also want to help beautify central Columbia.

Most of our Adopt-A-Spot Beautification projects are on the fringe of the city as part of a new street project. Unfortunately, that has meant fewer projects in the middle of town. The bulbs will be one step toward bringing additional beauty to the central city.

This project is one that although has been on my mind for some time, did not get put together until a few months ago when Becky Markt with the Youth Community Coalition approached me with the Plant the Promise concept. In a short amount of time, we have had commitments from many youth groups who want to do the planting and from contacts representing more than 45 planting sites all over town.

The bottom line here is that every part of our community - public, private, nonprofit - see the value in adding beauty. Giving our youth another opportunity to think about staying away from drugs and alcohol is important to all of us, too. When we can join those two efforts we can have a fantastic project!

So, if you see a group of young people planting bulbs this week, ask them what they are up to. They may be Planting the Promise! We'll all enjoy their work next spring with a show of red tulips.

America In Bloom Symposium

I returned on Sunday from the America in Bloom (AIB) Symposium held in Columbus, Ohio October 2-4. Earlier this year, Columbia entered the AIB competition. Through the program, participating communities are evaluated on eight areas related to appearance, environment and community involvement. City staff completed a comprehensive report on city activities and our community was visited in June by two judges who took a careful look at many aspects of our city and met with dozens of city staff and citizens.

How we did: While we did not win our size category (50,000-100,000 population), Columbia did earn four out of five blooms and received special recognition for our Community Involvement efforts. Columbia has thousands of volunteers who support our municipal efforts on everything from litter control to beautification projects and neighborhood watch to household hazardous waste - and everything in between and beyond! I was very pleased that we recognized in this area because it reflects so well the dedication of our residents and also the commitment staff have made in so many city departments. Congratulations Columbia!

Community Gardens: The most impressive part of my visit to Columbus were the community gardens in cooperation with the Franklin Park Conservatory. Abandoned city lots have been leased to neighborhood groups for $1 per year. Those empty city lots which were once havens for trouble and crime have been turned into an oasis of beauty and community pride. This photo is of a juvenile offenders garden that included neat raised vegetable gardens as well as a landscaped garden along the perimeter. I know we have some programs like this in Columbia, but after hearing from those in Columbus, I think there are lots of reasons to expand what happens here. What a great way to bring people together, build pride, increase safety and produce locally-grown food!

I will soon post all the documents related to our results in America In Bloom. You can read them, as well as the rest of the details about our entry on line.

Leigh Britt