Posted: Thursday, July 17, 2008 12:00 am
Benefit concert planned for Philomath public works director, wife
By KYLE ODEGARD, Gazette-Times reporter
Philomath Mayor Chris Nusbaum said he gets asked about Beau Vencill every day, including when he was riding in a car waving to the crowd in Saturday's Main Street Parade during the Philomath Frolic & Rodeo. He understood why.
Residents are wondering and worried about the health of the city's popular public works director.
"He's liked by his men. He's liked by the businesses. He's liked by the town,"
Vencill and his wife, Sally Vencill, were injured in a car crash off Highway 99W shortly before midnight on May 19, and they've been hospitalized in Portland from burns and broken bones ever since. Beau Vencill is in serious condition at Legacy Emanuel Hospital, and Sally Vencill is in fair condition is at Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland.
According to a family blog, Beau Vencill is unable to see. He has a spinal cord injury. He is often hooked up to a ventilator and sedated. He suffered a heart attack while hospitalized and had problems with pneumonia. Despite all of that, he is getting stronger.
"He's a fighter, and has proven that time and time again throughout this whole situation. I hope that he continues to surprise everyone," wrote son Michael Vencill, a city public works employee, on the Web site CaringBridge.
On July 6, he wrote that his mother no longer needed any feeding or intravenous tubes, and was starting into the rehabilitation phase of her recovery. At that time, he noted:
"Right now, she's struggling with the emotional side of this whole ordeal and is very scared of an uncertain future in terms of how she'll function and what life will be like for a while. Most, she is very worried about dad and like the rest of us, is hoping that things keep getting better."
However, a July 15 blog said Sally Vencill needed to have surgery to remove her thyroid gland.
Vencill planned to retire in July, but he never turned in his resignation letter. Nusbaum said he's received many inquiries about the Vencills' medical expenses, and he wanted to be clear: Vencill had accrued enough vacation and sick time to cover his absence at full salary at least until the end of the year.
Nusbaum said the city is standing by Vencill.
"Beau Vencill still is our public works director. … He has not conveyed to us what he wants to do, and until we hear from Beau, any course of action is premature at this time," he said on Tuesday. "We want him to focus on nothing but healing."
Nusbaum said Vencill was a calm and collected professional, even during controversy regarding the couplet, an $11 million highway project that created heated debate - as well as two main thoroughfares in town.
But while he oversaw multimillion-dollar infrastructure projects, Vencill also made sure that any residents' complaints about sewer and water were handled quickly, usually with some sort of response the same day, Nusbaum said.
"I'd hate to see him retire."
Collection jars have been set up at several Philomath businesses to help pay for gas so sons Michael and Colin Vencill can visit their parents in Portland. A benefit concert also is set for Aug. 3 at Tyee Wine Cellars.
For more information about the Vencills' recovery, see http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sallyvencill.
Benefit concert
Music for Beau and Sally: Jay Howlett, DonnaLynn, Cold Snap, Dan Bottom and Katie Boula, Jeff Cochell and Roland Woodcock, 1 to 5 p.m. Aug. 3, Tyee Wine Cellars, 26335 Greenberry Road, Corvallis. Event features wine tasting, silent auction, food and drink. Admission: $10. Information: www.tyeewine.com.
Kyle Odegard can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.