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CONTRIBUTED Babe Gow celebrating her 105th birthday. BySeniaOwensby Even at 105, Babe Gow of Red Bluff isn't the old- est living member of her family. That distinction is held by her brother, Larry Matthews. At 110, he is cur- rently the oldest living man in the United States. Born in Oakland on Aug. 22,1911,Babewastheseventh of nine children. Her given name is Clairbel, but you'll get a look if you call her that — she prefers to go by Babe. Babe married Andrew Gow, now deceased, in the early 1930s and they moved to Red Bluff in 1944. Having the opportunity to go into business, they opened Andy Gow's Donut Kitchen. Every morning the scent of the doughnuts cooking drew folks in from nearby busi- nesses — it was common for the line to reach down the block. Later, they became the managers of the Trem- ont Hotel on Main Street and it was said they never turned anyone away. Dur- ing the busy rodeo sea- son, even if they were com- pletely booked, the Gows were known to allow out- of-town cowboys to find a corner to get some much- needed sleep. Babe's managerial abil- ities were put to good use as the manager of the Hope Chest thrift store on Grant Street — a position she held for many years. Never one to sit still, she also was the secretary of the Shasta Livestock Auction Yard. If that wasn't enough, she spent time working in Rasco's Variety Store and Sprouts Ritz on Wal- nut Street as well as selling Avon and Home Interiors. Babe loved to be on the go. Full-blooded Portu- guese, she was pleased to have the opportunity to travel to Portugal for a trip of a lifetime with her family after the death of her hus- band. In spite of her busy sched- ule, Babe always found time for her two favorite sports, bowling and golf. She was in a bowling league for sev- eral decades and continued to play golf well into her late 80s. Ever spry, she was still climbing atop the house at the age of 90, but hiding her ladder put a stop to that. Loving people is a skill that comes naturally to Babe, and she shines the brightest when she is with her family — especially the babies. Anytime the little ones arrive at Brookdale to visit, her whole face lights up. Although her speech is becoming limited, her abil- ity to communicate is still quite strong. The Gows' three daugh- ters still live in Northern California, as do many of her grandchildren, great- grandchildren and great- great-grandchildren. A party was held a few weeks ago to mark Babe's 105th birthday. One of the cards on display read: "Happy Birthday to one hot Babe." Babe Gow the life of the party at 105 years old FEATURE The best part of my job as your humble columnist is the mail I get from my loyal read- ers. I had to laugh to- day when the first two letters I pulled from my inbox requested help with ants and sharks. Dear Mary: Once again, this summer I am dealing with an invasion of ants in my kitchen. Please advise. Extermi- nators are terribly expen- sive. — Lola Dear Lola: You're not the only one! I've been hearing from so many readers who are anxious to know how to get rid of carpenter ants, sugar ants, fire ants, acrobat ants, big ants, tiny ants — every kind of ant imagin- able, even crazy ants! Fortunately, I have so- lution for you that is inex- pensive, natural and com- pletely safe to use around kids and pets. It's a very effective tactic I wrote about recently, and I am happy to share it again. Food-grade diatoma- ceous earth, or DE, will take care of this prob- lem and continue to work as long as it stays dry. It is available in most gar- den centers and home im- provement stores, and also online on Amazon. I just checked, and you can get a 10-pound bag on Amazon for $22 with Am- azon Prime free shipping. DE is an off-white, talc- like powder made of fos- silized remains of ma- rine phytoplankton. If you could take a look at it through a micro- scope you'd see that it re- sembles shards of glass. When sprinkled on bugs that have an exoskeleton (such as centipedes, bed- bugs, ants, cockroaches, and fleas) or placed stra- tegically so they crawl into it, the DE cuts into the exoskeleton, which causes them to dehydrate and die. The amazing thing about DE is it kills bugs but doesn't hurt mammals. In fact, many people add DE to their daily diet to promote good health! Sprinkle the DE pow- der wherever you have seen ants crawling — edges, corners, cracks, baseboards and floor- boards. Pour a line of DE across doorway thresh- olds and on all window- sills. Sprinkle it in the cabinet under the sink, and behind drawers and baseboards. If the DE gets wet, clean it up and reapply. Caution: Only use food-grade diatomaceous earth that's used for pest control, NOT the diato- maceous earth found in pool-supply stores. If it doesn't say "food-grade" on the label, it has been chemically altered to be used in swimming pools. Non food-grade DE is in- effective against creepy- crawlies. Dear Mary: Awhile back, you wrote about your top-rated vacuum cleaner. I clipped that ar- ticle, but now that I need it I cannot find it. Could you tell me the make and model again? I have had several vacuums over the years that I have not been happy with. I am desper- ate to find a good one. — Trudy Dear Trudy: The brand is Shark. That's the easy part. What's confusing is that Shark makes nu- merous models of its vac- uums and other floor- cleaning devices. And it manufactures vacuums with model numbers that are unique to stores like Costco and Bed Bath & Beyond. But not to worry, I can make this simple. It is the Shark Navi- gator Lift-Away Profes- sional. The model on Am- azon is NV356E. This Shark is robust, reliable and relatively inexpensive for a top-of-the line vac- uum. I use the Lift-Away feature regularly to vac- uum stairs. Should you be looking at Shark vacuums in a store, don't expect to find that exact model number. Instead, look for the words "Shark," "Professional" and "Lift- Away" in the name. I just checked, and as I write this the price on Ama- zon is $145 with Amazon Prime free shipping. That is a serious bargain. Wouldyouliketosend a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE Readers in search of help with ants, sharks Mary Hunt The following events are planned for the Mount Lassen Chapter of the Cali- fornia Native Plant Society in October. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit mountlassen.cnps.org. • General Meeting, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, Oroville Public Library Long time member Gerry Ingco will talk about the natural setting and hu- manhistoryoftheGiantSe- quoia National Monument in the southern Sierra Ne- vada.Gerrywas involvedin surveying the boundaries and forests of the private land which eventually be- came the monument. • Butte Creek BLM Trail, 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 Meet at Chico Park and Ride west lot with lunch, water, sun and insect pro- tection and money for ride sharing. This is an easy 3 mile roundtrip walk along a secluded section of Up- per Butte Creek. The group will see a variety of shrubs and trees in the riparian vegetation along the creek and the mixed coniferous forest growing on the can- yon walls. Call leader Mar- jorie at 343-2397 for more information. • Willow Lake and Ter- minal Geyser, Lassen Vol- canic National Park, 8 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 9 Meet at Chico Park and Ride west lot with sturdy shoes, lunch, water and money for ride sharing. Willow Lake at 5,500 feet is a unique body of water called a fen. Mats of float- ing sphagnum moss sup- port a variety of interest- ing plant forms. The mats are walkable, but your shoes may get wet. From Willow Lake the group will hike about 1.6 miles to Ter- minal Geyser, a thermal area just inside the park at 5,840 feet elevation. For more information and al- ternate meeting place con- tact leader Woody at 588- 2555. • Maidu Medicine Walk and Talk, 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, jointly with Chico Creek Nature Center Meet at Alice Hecker Native Plant Garden at Chico Creek Nature Cen- ter in Bidwell Park. Learn about native California plants that the local Maidu tribe used for medicine, food and crafts. About 30 plants will be covered in- cluding foothill pine for their edible nuts and pitch for ointment, lemonade berry for a delicious lem- ony drink as well as fiber for baskets, soap root for cleansing suds and catch- ing fish and many others. Ends at noon Call leader Wes at 342-2293 for more information. • From Chico to Hum- bug Summit, 8 a.m. Satur- day, Oct. 22 Meet at Chico Park and Ride west lot with sturdy shoes, lunch, water and money for ride sharing. This trip will be a series of car stops for roadside bot- any. The group will start just above the valley floor, proceed up SR32 to Butte Meadowsandthen12miles on mostly unpaved road to Humbug Summit at 6,714 feet. The group will stop to see changes in compo- sition of the forest plants, fall color, dormancy and signs of low tree vigor due to the recent drought. For more information call 893- 5123. NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY BLM Trail, Medicine Walk among activities This month's Writers Fo- rum presentation, sched- uled for 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, will explore a variety of revi- sion techniques that allow writers to see their work with fresh eyes and a new perspective. What happens after the first draft of a novel can be the most difficult part of the writing process. What works? What doesn't? Presenter Ellen Jellison will discuss three easy steps in making the revi- sion process less painful: The Four Basic Elements to your Narrative, Response to Literature, and Ques- tioning Strategies. Jellison is a former teacher of English and history in middle school in the Redding area. As a teacher turned writer, El- len understands the im- portance of revision, or as stated in Latin, revisare, meaning "to look at again." She now writes middle grade and young adult fic- tion, and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustra- tors, the Historical Novel Society, and Sisters in Crime. The gathering takes place at All Saints Episco- pal Church, 2150 Benton Drive in Redding. For details, visit www. reddingwritersforum.com or write to writersforum- programchair@gmail.com. Writers Forum meets monthly on the second Sat- urday 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. The public is welcome to get acquainted with two free visits before joining. Annual membership dues are $25. 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