In The Middle of Everything Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day Meals for Seniors Midvale Senior Center will be hosting a Valentine’s Day Special Meal on Thursday, February 11. They will be serving lemon dill salmon, mushroom wild rice, vegetable medley, fresh orange, chocolate cake with chocolate topping and milk. Please call Midvale Senior Center at 385-468-3350 by Monday, February 8, to make a reservation for this meal. They will also be serving a traditional St. Patrick’s Day Meal on Wednesday, March 17. On the menu that day will be corned beef with cabbage, roasted potatoes and carrots, roll, fresh pear, Dijon mustard, vanilla cupcake and milk. Please call 385-468-3350 by Thursday, March 11, to reserve this meal. Both meals are a drive thru lunch for seniors 60 and over. When making your reservation, be prepared to let them know if you would like to pick up your meal between 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM and 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM. A suggested donation for each meal is $4.00.
WWW . MIDVALECITY . ORG Resolve to be More PreparedEarthquake Preparedness
By Julie Harvey, Municipal Emergency Management Planner How did you react on March 18, 2020 when just after 7 o’clock in the morning you were shaking from an earthquake of 5.7 magnitude? Did you run outside? Did you start filming for social media? There are hundreds of stories to be told about that 10 to 20 seconds of shaking but knowing what to do for future seismic events is more important. The following is taken from the Ready.gov Earthquake page.
Send Love to Seniors this February For most people, Valentine’s Day represents a time to celebrate love with romantic partners, friends and family. But for some – especially older adults – many feel lonely around the holiday, especially during the pandemic. To combat loneliness this Valentine’s Day, Midvale City is asking the community to send handwritten cards to City Hall. We will share the cards with local seniors all month long (“Letter to an Elder Day” is February 26th). Note: The CDC, World Health Organization, and Surgeon General have indicated that there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail. Take a few minutes, sit down, and write a letter to an elder (a stranger). Tell them about yourself, maybe say a joke or a riddle and let them know that they are loved. It might feel difficult at first to be writing to someone you don’t know. Our advice: just pretend like it’s a conversation! What kinds of things would you want to talk about to a stranger? GUIDELINES: 1. Letters must be legible (large print) and handwritten. No worries if you’re not artistic– make your card as what you’d like to receive. 2. Exclude the date (day, month, and year). Do not reference COVID, isolation, or quarantine– focus your letter on making the recipient feel good. 3. Embrace creativity! Recipients love it when the letters are personal. We encourage you to make your letters colorful and fun– photos, crosswords, and drawings are great! 4. Be kind & thoughtful. This is a one-way letter exchange, so you will not receive a letter back. Receiving nothing in return is part of the beauty of your act of kindness, and recipients aren’t burdened by feeling obligated or unable to respond. 5. Ready to mail? Yay! Send to: Laura Magness Midvale City 7505 S Holden Street Midvale, UT 84065 Thank you for supporting our seniors during this critical effort to fight loneliness. Physical isolation is important for public health right now, but our seniors deserve to feel supported, too.
• The best time to prepare for any disaster is before it happens. Practice “Drop! Cover! Hold On!” with family and coworkers to make sure everyone understands the words and the actions. Make an emergency actions plan and create a family emergency communications plan that has an out-of-state contact. • Plan where to meet if you get separated. Make a supply kit that includes enough food and water for several days, a flashlight, a fire extinguisher, home medical supplies, and a whistle. Being prepared allows you to avoid unnecessary excursions and to address minor medical issues at home, alleviating the burden on urgent care centers and hospitals. • Protect your home by securing heavy items in your home like bookcases, refrigerators, televisions and objects that hang on walls. Store heavy and breakable objects on low shelves. Consider making improvements to your building to fix structural issues that could cause your building to collapse during an earthquake. Consider obtaining an earthquake insurance policy. A standard homeowner’s insurance policy does not cover earthquake damage. • Stay safe during an earthquake. If an earthquake happens, protect yourself right away: o If you are in a car, pull over and stop. Set your parking brake. o If you are in bed, turn face down and cover your head and neck with a pillow. o If you are outdoors, stay outdoors away from buildings. o If you are inside, stay and do not run outside and avoid doorways. • Stay safe after an earthquake! After an earthquake, there can be serious hazards such as damage to the building, leaking gas and water lines, or downed power lines. Leave the structure you are in only if it is unsafe. When you do venture out, be alert for any hazards the earthquake may have created. The following websites have a lot of very good information. Even if you are prepared and believe you and your family and workplace could resiliently survive, take the time to visit the websites and review your plans with loved ones and work colleagues. Ready.gov Earthquake: www.ready.gov/earthquakes State of Utah Earthquake Preparedness: www.utah.gov/beready/earthquakePreparedness.html American Red Cross Earthquake Safety: www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/ earthquake.html