Send your letters, your complaints, your injustices and your story ideas to HelpSquad@pioneerlocal.com and we will be happy to help you.

There’s nothing more beautiful than waking up in the morning to freshly fallen, powdery snow. At the same time, there’s nothing more aggravating! You now have to scramble to somehow get your car out of the driveway and get to work on time or get the kids to school. All this before you’ve even had your first cup of coffee!

Here are some snow removal options and tips on figuring out what’s best for you the next time Mother Nature decides a winter wonderland is in order for Chicago!

1. Snow blowers: Expensive but fast and fun

Also called snow throwers, these machines aren’t cheap, but will make your life a lot easier.

We spoke with Mel Safstrom, a customer service associate at Lowe’s in Orland Park, who explained that there are two different types of snow blowers available: the single-stage and the two-stage. The difference between the two is that the single-stage has curved plastic paddles to move the snow and is light enough to be picked up, whereas the two-stage can handle deeper snow, and the front intake is twice as high.

Safstrom’s Tips when buying, using and maintaining a snow blower:

• Choose your snow blower based on the size of your driveway. If you have a long driveway, or a driveway that is two cars wide, you might want a two-stage.

• Be safe: If the snow blower gets clogged, always use the shovel that comes with it to get the snow out. Don’t ever use your hand. Even if the motor is off, it can still be very dangerous, because when you pull out the snow, the machine could start to run, and could injure your hand or fingers.

• Change the oil after the first season of using your snow blower, and then change it every two to three years.

• During summer months, store your snow blower in the garage or in a storage shed. Do not leave it outside for extended periods of time because snow blowers are not designed to get wet constantly.

• Have fun with it! If you have a really nice snow blower, you will pray for snow. “It becomes like a toy,” Safstrom said.

The snow blowers at Lowe’s start at $359 and go up to $1099 for the highest end model.

2. Snow removal services: Convenient but can be costly

Most landscaping companies offer snow removal services. In other words, when there is a fresh snowfall, someone will show up at your home and remove the snow either with shovels and snow blowers, or with a snowplow.

Higher end landscapers charge by the season, meaning you get unlimited visits when there is one inch or more of snowfall. They typically charge $400-600 for the season, depending on the size of the home, driveway, front walkway and stairs.

Services that use snowplows usually charge $30-35 per visit and many companies have a minimum commitment of six visits, where clients pay upfront. Others will come on an as needed basis.

3. High school kids: cheap but not always reliable

Help Squad made a few inquiries and asked high school kids in the Northern and Western suburbs how much they charge to shovel snow. The going rate seems to be anywhere from $20-$25 for a typical snowfall, with a tip for salting!

4. Do it yourself: the least expensive but be careful!

Grabbing a shovel and doing it yourself is definitely the cheapest form of snow removal. An average snow shovel is $15-20. Plus, you are getting exercise, fresh air, and a sense of accomplishment.

But be careful, according to researchers at Queen’s University, snow shoveling does increase the risk of a heart attack.

Additionally, there is research that there are tens of thousands of snow shoveling-related injuries that result in emergency room visits every winter.

The ‘ka-ching’ of cash registers and golfers hollering ‘Fore’ made last week’s opening of the Sewailo Golf Course outside Tucson a resounding success.

Sewailo (Flower World in the Yaqui language) is an 18-hole, par 72 course that measures 7,400 yards from the championship tees (with five tee boxes on each hole to accommodate players of all abilities). According to Sewailo’s general manager, Dan LaRouere, “The $28-million course will employ up to 90 workers, many of them tribal members.”

Notah Begay III, who designed Arizona’s Pascua Yaqui tribe’s course, said that Sewailo “will revolutionize golf in this part of the country as one of the top courses in Arizona. The course design, from routing of the holes to landscape architecture, will put us in strong consideration for a top ranking.”

RELATED Notah Begay III: Leading by Example

Begay won four PGA tourneys, became a businessman and a philanthropist before morphing into his day job as a commentator for NBC’s golfing events. He is also president of NB3 Consulting, the group that designed Segwailo.

Begay walked what was once a desert before conceptualizing a layout for the course – it’s the third course he has designed.

“These projects start from the standpoint of culture and it’s important we maintain a respect for culture and tradition in the communities in which we work,” Begay said. “I asked for guidance from our Creator as we shaped this course.”

During the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, a parade of speakers, many of them members of the tribal council, took turns at the podium to praise those who helped make it happen.

“We’ve gone from predictions that ‘you can’t do anything with this barren land’ to what we’ve already built – and we’re not going to stop here,” said Chairman Peter Yucupiccio.

Ty Butler collaborated with Begay on the course design and told the opening day crowd of some 300 attendees, “Vision and leadership from the tribe gave Notah and I a path to walk down, and as a result, we have a world-class golf course that will make an impact, not only in Southern Arizona, but nationally.”

Before hitting the ceremonial first tee shot, Begay said, “When I first came here, there was a lot of uncertainty about what a world-class golf outlet might do for the community, how it might stimulate economic growth.  Times got tough between groundbreaking on 12-12-12 and ribbon-cutting a year later, but this is a true collaboration. True in the sense that when times got tough, nobody ran. We stayed together and worked through it because we believed in the worth of the outcome.”

“I’ve seen the best courses in the country. I’ve played the best courses.  And things don’t get any better than what you’ll find at Sewailo.”

Last month, I attended the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) in Los Angeles to share Marysville’s downtown-waterfront revitalization plans and receive feedback from fellow mayors and a panel of nationally renowned urban design experts.

I was invited by MICD with all expenses paid through a National Endowment for the Arts grant. MICD is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the American Architectural Foundation and the United States Conference of Mayors.

The visit was an eye-opening and invaluable experience in so many ways. I returned to Marysville with a boost of confidence in the direction we’re headed with our downtown-waterfront redevelopment and more tools to make it happen. Equally important, the great feedback provided by urban design experts is currency I brought home gleaned out of three intensive days that you can’t get anywhere else.

Design decisions for public spaces goes to the root of what makes a good city great. If we’re deliberate and committed to addressing design challenges in downtown and waterfront plans, our actions will enrich our city and our citizens, and make Marysville not only a great place to live and visit, but a great place for businesses to prosper for generations.

Seven mayors from mainly Western states engaged leading design experts at CityLAB, a think tank within UCLA’s Department of Architecture and Urban Design. The group included the Mayors of Corvallis, Ore.; Butte-Silver Bow, Mont.; Reno, Nev.; Buckeye, Ariz.; and the California cities of Rialto and Vallejo. The visit included tours of successful urban design projects and a panel discussion with students.

Sessions were organized around case studies, and mulling over the most critical urban design challenges facing our cities. We each presented a key issue from our respective cities for other mayors and urban design practitioners to discuss.

I presented Marysville’s initiative to revitalize the downtown-waterfront area, with a future that envisions mixed-use projects that create more 24/7 urban living, with shops, restaurants and boutiques; and pedestrian improvements for better walkability. The city would also look to take advantage of water recreation and ecotourism opportunities embodied in Ebey waterfront and the Tulalip Tribes’ Qwuloolt estuary restoration project.

This conference was an incredible opportunity for mid-sized cities like Marysville. It was an eye-opening experience hearing the other mayors’ stories about their circumstances, and getting cutting-edge perspectives on how to move forward with major design and development plans in the 21st century.

The highlight of the conference was the expert feedback provided by a team of urban design professionals and professors from different parts of the county, and as far away as New York City.

Panelists and mayors saw the waterfront as a huge opportunity bolstered by the Qwuloolt project, agreed with our planned spray park as a driver for bringing people downtown, supported efforts aimed at cleaning up crime and downtown’s curb appeal, and they liked the charm of Third Street, suggesting that the themes and commercial activity should extend down to the waterfront, with improved “walkability.”

They also suggested restaurants within walking distance of Ebey Waterfront Park and the boat launch as, for example, an after-fishing spot to eat, noise buffers to minimize train noise, an amphitheater or public gathering space closer to the water, and a piecemeal approach to mixed-use housing projects to slowly build a sense of community downtown, on a smaller scale than a consultant team working with the city recommended earlier this year.

Those ideas mesh well with our vision and goals to make our downtown more attractive and inviting to attract private investment, and build a “community within a community” and culture unique to downtown.

We envision a mix of recreational, housing and commercial uses, better sidewalks and street “walkability,” gateway improvements, new attractions like the spray park coming to Comeford Park this summer, modest traffic and landscaping improvements, and making full use of the Qwuloolt Trail along Ebey waterfront and the unique aquatic, recreational and interpretive assets that it represents.

The experts also mulled over how the city could best go about working with the Marysville Mall owners to create access to the waterfront, for the mall owner’s and tenants’ benefit, as well as the community’s.

We have moved well beyond identifying a bold vision that will establish new roles for our downtown-waterfront area, thanks to consensus-building among elected, community and business leaders and citizens, and a design team of consultants earlier this year that helped us keep up our momentum. The perspectives I gained at the MICD conference will help fuel the decision-making that’s ahead. As I have mentioned before, an endeavor such as this generally takes shape over several years and this is no exception.  We are in the process of doing a number of things that will hopefully get the table set for an infusion over time of private investment leading to the desired outcomes.

The panel that conducted the design case study will provide their recommendations back to each of the cities in writing this month. We eagerly await their results.

Mayor Jon Nehring can be reached at mayor@marysvillewa.gov or 360-363-8091.

Max Low: 

I started here at the zoo just a few months after it opened, and I’ve been here ever since.  I’m the grounds and gardens supervisor, and it’s been very satisfying to see people enjoying what I’ve done – but I have a team of great people around me. That’s one of the great things about working here is that all the staff – from the keepers to the canteen workers, everyone really cares.

Gus is one of those people – he’s a prime example of the kind of dedicated people who work here.  He’s been here a long time too – there’s not much he doesn’t know about this zoo. 

We were good friends before he came to work at the zoo because going back to our younger days, we both played with Dubbo Macquarie (Rugby League Club). We’ve both been heavily involved in the community and in sport, and we knew each other well through cycling. 

The thing that’s always struck me about Gus is his honesty. He’s just a straight shooter and these days you can’t ask for anything better in a bloke, can you.

We’ve had our disagreements over the years, but I’ve always gone back and apologised! Things happen, but it’s all good and the fact that we can be open means we’ll probably be friends forever. 

We work together in a sense, but not directly alongside each other. He does all the paperwork and I do all the hard work! (Laughs) He’s good at the admin side of things, and I’m not so hot at that.  But the physical stuff? I can cope with that.  

Gus has a solid work ethic – he’s just a great person all ‘round.  Through the years, he would have saved the zoo a lot of money in the way that he’s gone about different jobs. He’s always had the zoo’s best interest at heart and he’s worked hard to serve that interest. He’s a bit of an unsung hero, and I think he’ll be sadly missed (Gus retired yesterday – Friday 13).

I’m retiring in six months’ time, and I reckon we’ll still see each other regularly.  Life’s been a lot easier for me for having had Gus’ friendship in it. Work wise, he let me control and do what I wanted to do – he didn’t ever dismiss my ideas.  We’ve been able to talk things through, and our friendship has been a two way street because we respect each other’s opinions. 

Dubbo is in Gus’ blood – he’s been here as long as I have and he’s well respected as part of the community.  I think that boils down to his honesty; the fact that he’s a straight shooter with people is his biggest asset. It’s an “old school” thing – it’s different these days; you don’t get that honesty in people as much now.

He’s the sort of bloke you can rely on, and he’s helped me out a couple of times when I’ve got myself into situations I shouldn’t have been in! (Laughs) He’s sincere with it, too – whatever he does and says, you know he’s sincere. And he makes a point of always trying to make things better without complicating the situation – that’s a hard quality to find in people.   

Gus Dawson:

I retired on Friday after 27 years at the zoo – and I’m not going to do much of anything for a while. Spend some time with the grandkids…

I’ve worked in basically just about every area of the zoo so there’s not much I haven’t seen and know about the place and Max is the same.  We worked alongside each other most of the time in some kind of capacity.  

But we were mates beforehand, having played footy together and then through cycling. He was a lot better footballer than I was but more than that, he’s an all ‘round good bloke. 

He’s very handy with what he does; very knowledgeable. When you look at what he’s done with the horticulture at the zoo, it’s amazing. In the early days we had no budget at all, everything was tube stock or whatever you could scrounge from wherever we could scrounge it, and he’s done most of that from day one, right through. 

One of the things I admire so much about Max is his ability to just get things done but add that polished touch – and he brings teams together. I remember when we were doing the lion exhibit, that’s how long ago it was, and the morning of the opening we had trouble with one of the pathways. He was still bringing it all together that morning, putting final plants in and fixing the pathways but it looked fantastic for the opening.  He has that ability to get that finished look and make the deadlines that are needed.  

I’m proud of what he’s achieved at the zoo – he’s done a great job.  When you look around the whole site and at what he’s done over the years… It’s a pretty rugged site, not great soil to work with and it’s a credit to him to have been able to turn it into how it looks today. Look at the presentation and the landscaping and gardens he’s been responsible for – he’s done an amazing job.  

He’s always been a good mate; a reliable, good guy – he’s just someone you want to be around.  It helps that we have lots of things in common, like our love of sport.  We know each other pretty well – he’s a team player and that’s important in life and in work. 

He’s also a humble man – he doesn’t like taking all the credit for his work at the zoo and that earns him a lot of respect.  He’s also respected in the community where he’s been president of the Garden Club, the Referee’s Association, President of the Railway Bowling Club… He’s done a lot for the local community over the years.  He’s not just an asset to the zoo; he’s an asset to Dubbo. 

– As told to Jen Cowley

•••

Disclosure: Jen Cowley sits on the Board of Directors of the Taronga Conservation Society, which has responsibility for both Taronga and Taronga Western Plains Zoos.

PHOTO BY EDDIE SEAL/SPECIAL TO THE CALLER TIMES
The 40-foot pool, built by Galloway Pools, is a sight to behold. The entire outdoor area of the pool, and the 1,000 square feet of living and kitchen space, is floored in Scabos Italian marble flooring.

memories

© 2013 Corpus Christi Caller Times. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.