A benefit dinner and auction to raise funds for a local woman seriously hurt in a riding accident early last month will be held Saturday, Oct. 28, in Canby.

Sherri Vita was discharged from Oregon Health Sciences University last Wednesday, and was admitted to Providence Benedictine Center, a skilled nursing facility in Mount Angel for rehabilitation.

The 30-year-old married mother of two was injured following the Sept. 9 collision of two horses during a rodeo drill at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds.

The Oct. 28 fund-raising dinner and auction will be held at the Northeast Fourth Avenue fairgrounds, the place Vita has worked for the past two years as fair events and contests coordinator.

A social hour will begin at 5:30 p.m., with dinner from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Auctions will follow.

Tickets cost $25 per couple, or $12.50 for a single ticket.

As of Friday, all 400 tickets had been sold, but fair staff are trying to add table space to accommodate more people wishing to help Sherri and her family.

Kind-hearted local folks are asked to call the fairgrounds at 503-266-1136 for information on more tickets becoming available.

Life Flight helicopter and medical bills are mounting, and the upcoming event is a key fund-raiser for the family.

Vita was due to be discharged two weeks earlier, but improvements in her vital signs were temporarily set back by a bout of pneumonia, which required treatment and monitoring.

"The doctor told our father, 'I hope Sherri is walking within a year. I hope she is able to function within a year,'" said Vita's sister, Terri Schmelling.

"She is going to need to go through a lot of rehabilitation. Walking, talking, everyday life things . . . The doctor said the left side of her arms and legs are less active than the right side, which leads him to believe she'll need a lot of rehabilitation to that effect.

''Sherri will need at least four hours of therapy each day when she does wake up."

Barlow auctioneer Steve Van Gordon will take bids for items on the auction block, and silent and oral auctions will be staged Oct. 28.

The oral auction will be held from 7:30-9:30 p.m., with a dance to follow until midnight.

People are requested to call Nancy Wilmes at 503-263-8844, or Bob Traverso at 503-266-1136 to make donations of cash, or merchandise to be auctioned.

A special account has been established at Washington Mutual Bank's Canby branch, and donation canisters are located at numerous businesses in the area.

"We've definitely been collecting money from businesses around Canby and Molalla, and we raised $105 at the Chris Ledoux show," Schmelling said. "The family would like to give special thanks to Joni Harms, who spoke a couple of times during her show about Sherri and that donations are appreciated."

Any and all contributions continue to be gratefully appreciated by Sherri's family and friends, and they thank concerned citizens for their cards, flowers and prayers.

A recent survey found that a slim majority of the Class of 2000 didn't feel Canby High School counselors were "helpful in the selection of a path to follow after graduation."

What the survey didn't reveal was the extent to which counselors try to help students, CHS counselor Sharon Schneider said.

"Not all of the students come to counselors for career advice," she said.

Counselors provide personal counseling for students who are troubled. They map out the schedules for more than 1,650 kids, which involves calculating class sizes.

Counselors also give college counseling, encourage students to take the Standard Achievement Test, and give advice on which college or military branch would best meet their needs. Finally, they visit classrooms and give talks on mental and physical health.

"We want to give the kids and teachers the tools to discover the kids' strong points," CHS Principal Bill Westphal said.

The counseling department at CHS has those tools.

Currently, there are six Career Information System computers in the career center at the high school. The computers feature a database of careers, schools and scholarships.

Students can search for a particular job title and read a description of that career, including the type of schooling required for it.

The program also has a form survey of 21 questions to help direct students who may not know what they want to do yet. It asks if they prefer repetitive work, working in teams or as an individual, and what subjects interest them.

The career center also provides a program called S.W.I.S. (School to Work Information System). This service connects students interested in a particular field to an individual in the community who is employed in that field.

The student can experience job shadowing, mock interviews and even internships.

The counseling center is aided in these programs by 15 parent volunteers. Parent volunteers put in time to help students with the CIS while organizing scholarship information.

The volunteers are recruited as part of the pre-registration process involving incoming freshman. A sign-up form is included in each registration packet.

"This is the sixth year we've had parent volunteers," Schneider said. "While the parents do this work, they learn information to share with their kids."

Counselors also meet with every senior to make sure they are on track, that they are taking the required high school courses for graduation, that they have information about the Scholastic Achievement Tests, and to see if they want help regarding the choice of a career.

The recent survey, which was conducted by Life Track Services Inc., focused on the counselors' role as a career adviser.

According to the survey, 44.8 percent of the students said counselors were helpful, while 55.3 percent said they were not.

Larry Ledgerwood, director of data processing for Life Track, said he's heard similar comments about counselors in other surveys.

"Counselors often get a negative response," Ledgerwood said.

Counselors are given extra work that may distract their attention from students' needs, he said.

"We have a slogan: 'Let counselors get back to counseling, and let Life Track do the paper work,'" Ledgerwood said.

Westphal agreed that counselors are overloaded. He said they do an admirable job, given all of the things they are asked to deal with.

"My criticism of the counseling program is we ask them to do too much," Westphal said.

The survey did point out some of CHS's strong points. For instance, it found that many students had a positive learning experience at CHS.

More than 73 percent said CHS offered enough advanced or specialized courses to meet student needs. Sixty-five percent believed that they were offered enough electives to explore different career opportunities.

In addition, nearly 60 percent of the Class of 2000 said they planned to attend a four-year college, while 30 percent planned to attend a two- year college.

That means more than 90 percent of the class will be going to college.

CHS Principal Bill Westphal said the most important aspect of the surveys is the information officials will be receiving over time.

Life Track is a graduate follow-up specialist. The company keeps a database of graduates' names and addresses and uses this information to survey the graduates 18 months after high school.