Columbia Basin

By Jody Foss

It was a crystal-clear November morning in Gorka Shep, Nepal, at 17,000 feet. Condon’s intrepid marathon runner, Darryl Houghtelling, was ready for the 2015 Mount Everest Marathon after three weeks of acclimating to the thin air and terrain.

After the first few miles, Darryl, 46, says he was wishing for a third lung.

“We 27 international runners followed the Nepalese runners, who were sprinting through the sand—in shorts, mind you—to our first 2 kilometers uphill through a boulder field.”

As the race progressed, Darryl joined a young female British Army sergeant and an accomplished Danish runner. He got ahead of them at mile 5 and wandered onto the wrong trail up a ridge line.

“I thought people were cheering me on, but they were yelling at me to come back down to the correct path,” he says with a laugh. “I scrambled down and it took the next 3 kilometers to get my position back.

“Then I was running with an Australian who ran like a huge loping daddy longlegs down hills but who slowed considerably on the flats.

“By the mile 9 checkpoint, we had dropped 2,000 feet and Louise, my French friend, had caught me. We ran together gently downhill to mile 12, warning each other of ice and yak trains on the trail.”

Mile 13, at 11,500 feet, was a steep hill up to a monastery where Darryl’s group leader was waiting with a big piece of apple pie and Mars bars.

“The massive downhill from the monastery went on for 1.5 miles, and I

had to be careful I didn’t plummet off a cliff or twist an ankle while dodging trekkers, porters and yaks,” Darryl says. “At the bottom of the hill, we crossed a long suspension bridge over a wild river gorge and then up a steep hill to mile 17.5 station, where I received a hug, mango juice and a granola bar and headed around the mountain toward Namche Bazaar with amazing views of the Himalayas along a cliff ridden ancient trail.”

Darryl got lost again and ended up in an old woman’s backyard, then on a yak path well above the trail. It cost him a good 15 to 20 minutes.

“I discovered I was behind TK,

the young American runner from Manhattan,” he says. “If I wanted to be the first American, I would have to get a move on up the hilly last 2 miles towards town and a final mile descent.

“I caught him with a kilometer to go and didn’t look back as I finished the most scenic and hardest marathon anyone could think of.”

Darryl took 30th overall and finished first of the three American runners in a little more than 7 hours. The first international runner hailed from Denmark and finished eighth in a little more than 4 hours.

A 1987 graduate of Dufur High School, Darryl was a state champ, and

A Strong Heart in Thin AirCondon runner takes on an extreme challenge

With a stunning view of Mount Everest in the background, Darryl runs a ridge November 30, 2015, during the Mount Everest Marathon.Photos courtesy of Darryl Houghtelling

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

ran a 4-minute, 13-second mile. “It’s hard to break 6 now,” he says. “In

the marathon, I averaged 7.2 minutes a mile.”

In 1991, Darryl joined the Marines and served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He gained 144 pounds after his service while driving truck for a living. He underwent lap band surgery in Mexico, lost 121 pounds the first year and was inspired to get back into shape.

“I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C.,” he says. “It wasn’t pretty, but I did it.”

In August 2014, Darryl was diagnosed with kidney cancer. After partial kidney removal, he is cancer free.

“When I was in the hospital, my wife got me a book called ‘Extreme Running,’” Darryl says. “I saw the Everest Marathon and thought it would be neat to do it. Cancer makes you think about what you want to do in life.”

Darryl flew from Seattle to Dubai, then over the North Pole to Kathmandu, Nepal. The group, organized by the

British tour company Bufo Ventures Ltd., spent two days there.

“It’s crowded, poor, old,” Darryl says. “Even without the earthquake, everything is crumbling. It’s a lot different than Condon.”

They flew into Lukla, one of the deadliest airports in the world—there is a cliff on one side and a mountain on the other—in a 20-passenger plane.

“Then it was just a primitive trail, where you have to carry everything on your back,” Darryl says. “That is, unless you have your own yak. If you have your own yak, then you are in the big bucks.

“We were 40 people with two teams of 20. We employed 36 local Nepalese. There were 18 Sherpa, cooks and porters. They set up our tents, fed us and took our gear up on the yak train.”

Before leaving for Nepal, Darryl trained on South Sisters Mountain, which is 10,000 feet at the summit.

“There is really no way to prepare for that high elevation,” he says. “I was gone an entire month, trekking and getting in

shape for race day.” Darryl hopes to run the Boston

Marathon in April and run with some of the members of the Condon running club. He will run the Eugene Marathon in May and the Chicago Marathon in the fall.

Darryl says hanging out and running with such an adventurous group was an experience he will never forget.

“They all have such great stories,” he says. “They have run the European marathons, the Antarctic, the North Pole Marathon. Some have run the Wall of China Marathon and the Four Deserts Marathon, across the Sahara. Everyone swapped stories.”

One of the highlights of the trip was the day before the official race, when Darryl summited Mount Kalipathar, an 18,300 summit, with a Green Bay Packers pennant.

“Even though I was at 18,000 feet, I was looking up at Mount Everest, which is 11,000 feet higher,” he says. “It was incredible.” n

An avid Green Bay Packers fan, Darryl poses with his Packers pennant along with prayer flags at the summit of Mount Kalapathar at 18,300 feet. The Buddhist prayer flags are used to bless the surrounding countryside.

Darryl and his friend Nikki Aragon are both members of the Condon running team. The team runs at least three days a week.Photo by Heidi Cardoza

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

Douglas Electric

By Craig Reed

Norma Evans remembers being a kid, getting up early, catching a couple of steelhead in the first hour or two of the day and returning home before her parents were up and about.

It was an easy routine for a youngster. Norma got the fishing bug at an early age because her parents’ house sat alongside the Applegate River near Grants Pass.

Years later, Norma has run heavy equipment in her family’s concrete and rock crusher business in Grants Pass, in opal mines near Denio, Nevada, and for the Nevada Department of Transportation. But there has always been a fishing rod nearby, and Norma has fished in rivers and lakes wherever she has been working.

In 1995, she had her first fishing experience on the Umpqua River when she and her husband, John, were invited on a fishing trip by a co-worker at the opal mines.

“I fell in love fishing for fall salmon down out of Reedsport on the lower Umpqua,” Norma says. “I had kind of gotten bored fishing the Applegate and Rogue. The Umpqua was something new and different.”

In 2000, the couple bought a place in Elkton near the Umpqua River. John retired in 2002, and Norma quit her

NDOT job two years later, freeing them up to spend more time at their Elkton place and on the river fish-ing for fall salmon and winter steelhead.

Encouragement from John led Norma to enroll in the classes needed to become a licensed fishing guide. She had barely started the classes in May 2011 when John died unexpectedly. Norma dropped out of the classes to take care of her husband’s estate. Later that year, she returned to the

guide classes.“John had his heart set on

me being a guide,” she says. “So I went back to school.”

Norma earned her mer-chant mariner credentials, allowing her to operate her power boat in tidal water. She established her business, A Bent Rod in Elkton, and started guiding full time in June 2012.

She is one of a few female fishing guides in Western Oregon.

“I look at myself as just

another fishing guy,” she says. “I love guiding. I love being in my boat, being on the water, seeing the things you get to see. To be trolling by Deans Creek, catching a fish and hearing an elk bugle. There’s nothing like it.”

Jody Smith, another Elkton-based fishing guide, says Norma is the only female guide he knows of who fishes on the Umpqua.

“She’s done really well,” he says. “She runs a good boat.”

Jody explains that when guides are booked and have additional requests for fish-ing trips, they pass those on to other guides who are not booked for the day. He says Norma has earned respect in the guiding community and has become part of that shar-ing program.

Norma focuses on the pink fin perch fishery in the Umpqua tidal water from mid-May to mid-July and the fall salmon season from mid-July to October. During the winter, she spends most of her time in the Grants Pass area with her elderly mother, Betty. It was Betty who taught Norma years ago how to fish for steelhead on the Applegate.

This year, Norma will share her fishing expertise at the ServPro Douglas County Sportsmen’s & Outdoor Recreation Show February 19-21 at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Roseburg. Her guide business will have a

Get Ready for Outdoor FunSportsmen’s & Outdoor Recreation Show comes to Roseburg February 19-21

Norma Evans will bring her fish guiding experience to the show with several demonstrations and a booth.Photo courtesy of Norma Evans

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

booth and she will also pres-ent fishing demonstrations one or two times a day at the giant fish tank in Douglas Hall. She will give a pink fin perch presentation once a day at the Sportsmen’s Theater in the Floral Building.

The outdoor show will fea-ture numerous vendor booths and products, kid activities, expert speakers on hunt-ing and fishing, and some celebrities.

Talking GoldDakota Fred Hurt is all about the adventure of the gold rush. He brings his enthusi-asm to the Roseburg outdoor show in February.

Fred earned his fame on “Gold Rush” as Dakota Fred. He and his mining crew starred on the first four sea-sons of the show televised on the Discovery Channel.

Fred and his son Dustin are now working on their own mining documentary, “All That Glitters.”

“People have been fas-cinated by gold ever since mankind began,” says Fred, a Southern Oregon resident when he is not on a mining site. “That fascination con-tinues today. I never caught gold fever—I always went for the adventure. Along the way we made enough to continue mining, and I’ve enjoyed

every bit of it.”Fred, now 72, has been

mining since 2004 when he retired as a successful business-man. He has mined in Alaska, Montana, Nevada and in his native state of North Dakota.

“I haven’t gone broke in 12 years,” he says of his success in digging up gold, most of it the size of coarse salt and pepper. “We have found some three-quarter ounce nuggets, but most of the easy stuff like that was found 150 years ago.”

At the outdoors shows, Fred will talk about mining and demonstrate different ways to pan for gold. Visitors to his booth will have free opportu-nities to pan for gold. Practice gold, a fabricated metal that looks and acts like gold, will be used.

A video will continuously roll, showing Fred’s mining activities from 2012.

“We’ll be there to meet and greet the public,” says Fred,

“to answer questions, to have photos taken.”

BearsThe bears are coming to town. No, not the Chicago Bears.

Instead, American black bears will make an appear-ance, starring in The Great Bear Show.

Show owner and trainer Bob Steele will bring three or four of the big critters—claws, teeth and all. Bob, 57, has been around bears and other animals since his birth because his father worked with circus animals. After working with many animals through the years, Bob has specialized in bears since 2002.

He works with 17 bears, all of them rescued from nega-tive situations between 8 and 18 months of age.

Visitors will be able to see the bears up close and on stage during presentations of

The Great Bear Show.“These are educational

shows about bears,” says Bob, whose animal facility is in Jefferson, Texas. “I’ll share the dos and don’ts of hiking in bear country, of camping in bear country, of being in bear country. I’ll be there to answer questions.”

During each show, Bob will bring his bears on stage indi-vidually to introduce them and talk about them.

“They all have their own personality just like people,” he says. “Some bears are ornery, some are energetic, some are lovey, some are lazy.

“Bears are so easy going. I believe if they had hands instead of paws, they could actually figure some things out and do them like we do.” n

For more information about the Sportsman’s and Outdoor Recreation show, visit www.co.douglas.or.us/dcfair/sportsman.html.

Above, Bob Steele brings The Great Bear Show to the Sportsmen’s and Outdoor Recreation show. Left, Dakota Fred Hurt will share his adventures about gold mining.Photos courtesy of the ServPro Douglas County Sportsmen’s & Outdoor Recreation Show

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

Central Electric

By Courtney Linville

Celebrations, history and engagement are just a few things members can look forward to as Central Electric Cooperative celebrates 75 years of service throughout 2016.

On a cold, snowy day in May 1941, CEC President Carl H. Baker flipped the switch at the Deschutes Junction Substation that brought the 20th century’s greatest invention to many Central Oregon farmers and ranchers.

CEC will celebrate the electrification of the area with its members in a variety of ways. Along with observations at the co-op’s annual meeting in April, there will be a birthday celebration at CEC’s Redmond headquarters May 14. The 75th celebra-tion will include a barbecue, safety demonstrations from the line crews, up-close access to the tools and equipment linemen use, and presentations on our outage management system and the Northwest’s preparations for the Cascadia earthquake.

“We really want to invite members in so they can get an idea of what our crews do every day to provide safe and reliable service,” says Jeff Beaman, member

services director. “This will be a family-friendly event, and we will have something for everyone to enjoy.”

The co-op’s member services team has also been hard at work digging through company archives to create a 75th anniversary book titled “Generations: Building Lines, Changing Lives.” The book describes the origins and growth of the company, and dis-cusses other topics such as safety, technology, rates and resources. Copies will be available for birthday party attendees.

“This will not be your average history book,” Jeff says. “We look at how different events have shaped the cooperative’s culture, and the role it played in the region’s growth and development. It will have plenty of historical photos many members have not seen before.”

Throughout the year, we will share stories and photos from employees past and present and delve into the company’s history with little-known facts. Make sure to check Ruralite and CEC’s Facebook page and Twitter accounts often for these gems.

75th Year, 75 Acts of KindnessThe cooperative and its employees frequently

Celebrating 75 Years of ServiceCentral Electric Cooperative line crews pause for a group photo at the cooperative’s headquarters on Highland Ave. in Redmond in the late 1950s.

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

contribute time and money to a variety of causes and organizations throughout Central Oregon. To mark CEC’s diamond anniversary, this year’s com-munity contributions will be expanded and cel-ebrated under the banner 75 Acts of Kindness.

“One of the seven cooperative principles we are guided by is concern for community,” says Jeff. “The 75 Acts of Kindness structure allows us to broaden the celebration in a meaningful way, highlight our employees’ generosity, and reach out to the member-ship to identify worthwhile causes that we may not normally be able to help.”

If you have a charity or community organiza-tion you believe should be a part of the 75 Acts of Kindness celebration, let us know. Send an email to cecmemberservices@cec.coop and tell us about your organization, what it does to serve the community of Central Oregon and how a donation will be used. To help the most people possible, we must limit the scope of giving. We will not support causes promot-ing political or religious activities or athletic team sponsorships.

Follow along with CEC’s Acts on Facebook and Twitter and the Celebrating 75 Years page on our website at www.cec.coop.

“We are really excited about this program and what we can do to help Central Oregon’s communi-ties,” Jeff says.

Here is to a wonderful year filled with remem-brance, celebrations and community! n

Senior Meter and Relay Technician Dave Putnam addresses a group of students about electrical safety during a safety trailer demonstration.

Above, CEC employees help local nonprofits and organizations each year through the United Way Days of Caring. From left, Kari Lynne, M.L. Norton, Bree Ysen, Heather Anderson, Bob Simpson, Leslie Ryerson, Donna Robinson, Rachael Robinson and Bob McConnell.

Top, a Redmond Spokesman photo of CEC’s first board of directors throwing the switch at the Deschutes Junction Substation May 17, 1941.

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

By Jean Bilodeaux

At one time or another, just about everyone is faced with “sticker shock.” Cars now cost as much as some may have paid for their first homes.

For Mikie Royer of Fort Bidwell, sticker shock hit her when she was trying to buy a coffin for her grandmother.

“It was an emotional time,” she says. “The funeral director was arrogant and told me, ‘Of course you want the same type of coffin your grandfather had.’ It sounded reasonable and I asked the price. It was $8,000. That was 24 years ago in Southern California.”

The salesman made her feel that if she did not spend that amount of money, she did not love her

grandmother enough. Mikie knew her grandmother would not approve of spending that much money for her coffin.

“We ended up paying $2,000 for a simple, but nice, coffin,” she says. “I got to thinking that there’s got to be another option. High pressure salesmen—being guilt-tripped into going into debt during a time of grief—just add to the stress of burying a loved one. Thank goodness the funeral home here is not like that. But still, there had to be another option.”

Mikie researched the different way people’s cre-mains were stored or disposed of—other than sitting on a shelf or in a closet. She discovered an avid bird hunter’s cremains were mixed with wildflower seeds,

New Beginnings for an Old West End

Surprise ValleyOwned By Those We Serve

Fort Bidwell resident Mikie Royer aims to make family loss less stressful while grieving

Mikie Royer, owner of Old West Coffins, looks over one of her custom coffins, which often are decorated to highlight aspects of the deceased’s life.

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

placed in shotgun shell casings and a shooting party ensued.

A beadmaker’s ashes were used as a primary ingredient in making beautiful beads given to family and friends. Another’s ashes were taken to a favorite spot and released into the wind. A fisherman’s ashes were cast upon the sea.

“When I die, I wouldn’t mind being cremated and rototilled into the tomato section of my garden,” Mikie says with a laugh.

She found that whether cremated or placed in a coffin, they all had one thing in common: love for the individual who died.

As a history buff and someone who felt she was born into the wrong century, Mikie began to wonder why simple, plain, affordable pine boxes were not readily available.

Why not do it like they used to in the Old West?“This is outdoor country,” Mikie says. “If Grandpa

was a cowboy his entire life, why not bury him in a pine box customized with his brand burned into the wood, or line the box with a favorite handmade quilt or saddle blanket?”

The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that a coffin should reflect the person’s lifestyle.

Mikie believed a coffin should not be fancy, but unlined, with pine shavings to cradle the body: sim-ple, dignified and traditional. The coffin would be made to fit into a standard-sized vault. Simple con-struction would leave ample space to write messages or decoupage photos on the surfaces, both inside and outside.

“I believe that the grieving process is enhanced by hammering lids on as a way to say goodbye,” she says. “It’s a personal touch, a natural end, dust to dust.”

Mikie felt strongly enough that she started design-ing coffins. After thinking about it for 20 years, she and her husband, Mark, started making coffins, which sell for between $595 and $900, depending on customization.

The couple settled on basic western mountain-style coffins, made with the outdoors in mind. The box is aromatic cedar with hand-peeled lodge pole corners and stays. In typical Old West fashion, the coffin is unlined. One of their coffins has horseshoe handles to highlight an individual’s way of life. The simple nail-on lid is accented by an original acrylic painting framed in maple.

Mikie opened Old West Coffins on Main Street in

Cedarville. She shares the space with her other busi-ness, Wholesome Goodness Co. Mercantile.

At first glance, many people might look at the Old West Coffins sign out front and keep walking. To make sure passersby do not misunderstand the sign, Mikie leaned a coffin against the outside wall near the shop’s front door. Since then, hundreds of locals and tourists have stopped and had their photo taken standing in the coffin.

“I display several of the coffins in the back of the store, as they tend to make some people uncomfort-able,” she says. “But I find that most people like the idea of having a coffin that reflects the personality of the person it’s meant for.”

Mikie is working on a couple of custom pre-ordered coffins.

“The act of picking out your own casket toward life’s end takes the pressure off the family, both emotionally and monetarily,” she says. “It avoids the sticker shock and guilt-trip sales.

“Prior to using it for its intended use, the cof-fin can be used as a blanket chest, a coffee table or placed vertical and used as a cedar closet. Whatever you use it for, it makes for a lively conversation piece.” n

Mikie’s businesses are open Thursday through Monday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the historic Cressler-Bonner Building in Cedarville.

Mikie believes that a coffin should be a final representation of the way a person lived.

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

Blachly-Lane Electric

By Pam Spettel

Horton Market has been helping fill needs of the Blachly community since 1936. Sandy and Marilyn Rice, owners of the market for the past 43 years, recently installed a 22,000-watt full-load electrical generator at the 80-year-old market to enable the country store to provide services to the extended area in critical situations.

Horton Market is packed full of items that locals and passersby might want or need. Greeting cards, maps, canned goods, cold beverages, snacks and a bit of fresh produce neatly fill coolers and shelves.

One recent morning, two Bureau of Land Management-permitted harvesters stopped in for

work gloves, and a local filled his pickup with gas and stocked up on ingredients for winter-weather stew.

At Horton Market, successful fishermen are honored with photos of their prized catches on the walls, hanging next to historic memorabilia of the area. Original wood floors lend authentic appeal. Shiny chrome gas pumps—the only ones for miles—beckon back road-travelers.

In 1972, 13 stores dotted Highway 36 between Eugene and Mapleton, according to Sandy. Now, only five markets remain on the route to serve local communities.

“When we took over,” Sandy says, “Horton Market had never been closed a day in its 37 years.

Horton Market Continues Legacy in BlachlyGenerating community through technology and tradition

Sandy Rice and his wife, Marilyn have owned Horton Market for 43 years. They continue to make improvements to ensure the store can serve the community.

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

I decided then that the legacy would continue. Even on Christmas Day, I’m here from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s our way of thanking the community for all of their support throughout the year.”

True to Sandy’s word, Horton Market has never closed a day in its 80-year history.

When the Rices bought Horton Market, the sid-ing and roof were rotten and the plumbing was even worse. An indoor electric panel had been installed outdoors, its life cut short by exposure to the ele-ments. With an eye to the future, Sandy and Marilyn immediately started making improvements to keep the store serving the area as it always had.

In the 1990s, Sandy replaced the store’s under-ground fuel tanks with above-ground tanks to meet the codes necessary to continue pumping gasoline. A public restroom was installed.

When improvements to the original 1936 electri-cal system were made, Sandy also made plans to someday install a generator. With a generator, Sandy determined that no matter what emergencies might arise, the market would be ready to provide fuel and provisions not only to neighbors, but to the police, fire and utility services the community may need.

“I believe in management by planning rather than management by crisis,” says Sandy. “Some plans take a little longer to get to than others. We decided to go ahead last year with the generator investment simply because it is a necessary resource for the commu-nity. It needed to be done. We began the process in March, and the generator was in place and opera-tional by December 1.”

Sandy noticed through the years that the hots are hotter, the colds are colder, the winds are windier and the dry spells are dryer than ever before—what he calls weather intensification. That, combined with the fact that the area sits atop the critical Cascadia Subduction Zone, makes Sandy want to be ready.

To underscore his point of preparation, Sandy slides a photo taken during the notable flood of 1996 out of a scrapbook and onto the counter. The photo poignantly captures a drift boat in hip-high floodwater floating next to a scenic mural of fisher-men in drift boats. The base upon which the new generator sits is 18 inches above the high water mark.

“We do what we have to do to keep Horton Market remaining viable,” says Sandy. “We want it to survive. The generator was just the next piece of the puzzle we could add to help sustain the community.

“Blachly-Lane is wonderful about keeping us in electricity. They devote a lot of hard work to keep the lines clear all year long. However, with the weather becoming more intense, the outages are going to get more intense and longer in duration. Management by planning—I do a lot of planning.”

As much poet as pragmatist, Sandy says that he still loves to breathe the three-minute-old air and drink the three-minute-old spring water he and Marilyn fell in love with at the confluence of Congdon and Lake creeks in the summer of 1972. With the Rices’ oversight, the Horton Market har-kens to the past as it leans into a bright future—one that is prepared for whatever comes its way. n

Top, a backup generator was recently installed so the store can continue to serve customers, even during a power outage.

Above, Sandy helps a customer. The store has never closed in its 80-year history.

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

Klickitat PUD

By Drew Myron

When he was hunkered in the tight, dark space of an armored vehicle, Jimmy Pardo did not know his future would fea-ture an entirely different sort of patrol.

Thanks to VetsWork, a program offered by the Mt. Adams Institute in Trout Lake, Jimmy went from the dan-gers of war to working on mountaintops in fresh forest air.

“I had the privilege of patrolling the Mount Adams Wilderness, all the way up to the very summit of Mount Adams,” Jimmy says. “I will never forget that.”

Jimmy, 33, served as an armored reconnaissance scout in the U.S. Army

Cavalry, followed by two years in the VetsWork program working in public affairs for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and on trail crews for the Mount Adams Ranger District.

Jimmy and other young veterans are part of VetsWork, an 11-month environ-mental internship. Participants are placed at local, state and federal land manage-ment agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Service, where they gain hands-on skills and experience in natural resource man-agement and public lands.

“Our country has invested a lot of time, money and effort training civil-ians to be soldiers, but what the military doesn’t do is prepare for the transition

from military to civilian life,” says Aaron Stanton, VetsWork program director. “We have to do a better job of supporting veterans as they re-engage in their com-munities. That’s what we owe our ser-vicemen and women.”

The Bureau of Labor estimates one million veterans will exit the military between 2011 and 2016. Aaron says these veterans are struggling to find employ-ment. For states such as Washington—home to more than 630,000 veterans—the impact on local communities is significant.

While veterans hunt for jobs, natu-ral resource agencies are challenged with budget constraints, a backlog of

VetsWork Fills Employment GapsJob program headquartered in Trout Lake gives vets firsthand experience

Kindra Aschenbrenner, left, and Emily Hastings, VetsWork interns, crosscut a fallen tree as they clear a wilderness trail in Northern California.

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

maintenance projects and an aging work-force ready to retire. With the right training and access, opportunities are created for veterans to secure good jobs within these agencies, Aaron says.

Jonathane Schmitt agrees. “After nearly eight years of military

service and two bachelor’s degrees, I searched for any environmental govern-ment position, from the municipal to federal level, for a year and a half and wasn’t even offered an interview for a single job,” he says. “Then I came across the Mt. Adams Institute’s VetsWork pro-gram and everything fell into place.”

Jonathane recently completed an internship as an invasive species spe-cialist in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

“This program is designed to give veterans experience working in conser-vation, natural resources and ecological fields,” he says. “I now feel that I have the experience and connections to officially start the career that I have been slowly making progress on since I graduated high school. It seems that the hardest part is just getting your foot in the door.”

VetsWork was created by the Mt. Adams Institute, a nonprofit organiza-tion headquartered in Trout Lake, with the mission to strengthen the connection between people and the natural world through education, service learning, career development and research.

“These are not just jobs, but pathways,” says Aaron.

Working in partnership with AmeriCorps, a national service pro-gram, VetsWork was initiated in 2014 with a handful of veterans placed in sites in Oregon and Washington. The pro-gram quickly expanded across the U.S., with veterans placed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Natural Resources and various state parks.

To date, the program has served 46 veterans in Oregon, Washington, Missouri, Virginia and North Carolina. This year, VetsWork offers 36 internships in 11 states.

Mt. Adams Institute also offers

VetsWork GreenCorps, a firefighter training program developed with the Umatilla National Forest.

VetsWork is open to U.S. military veterans between the ages of 21 and 35, with a discharge classified as honorable or general under honorable conditions. Interns earn a stipend of about $1,200 a month, and housing is sometimes available.

Chelsea Fields, 27, served four and a half years in the Coast Guard before join-ing VetstWork. She was stationed at the Umatilla National Forest in Pendleton, Oregon, where she worked as a conserva-tion education and wilderness assistant, organizing educational programs for students. Chelsea’s internship included a vigorous outdoor component.

“I worked with a crew of three other people, and we spent our days cross-cutting logs that had fallen in the trail, cutting back shrubs that have grown into the trail, and redoing trail areas that were washed out,” she says. “We worked 10 hours a day for eight days in a row. It was hot, dirty work, and I had never experienced anything like wilderness trail maintenance, but I am glad I did!”

The outdoor experience prompted

Chelsea to learn more. She is pursu-ing a degree in environmental science with a concentration on fish and wildlife management.

For some participants, the VetsWork experience leads to job offers and opportunities. For others, it shines light on a new career path. For many, the program brings a sense of peace and purpose.

“Through VetsWork, I have found a way to serve the underserved—the veterans of the U.S. armed forces,” says Jimmy. “I’ve seen how this program benefits individuals, including myself, drawing them into nature, helping them to find renewed purpose and harmony within themselves as well as with the world around them.” n

Above, approximately one million veterans will leave the military between 2011 and 2016. VetsWork helps them find training and employ-ment. Right, interns Mattheau Corris, Kaye Jones, Tyler Walsh and Chelsea Fields take part in a train-ing session on a community farm near Trout Lake.

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

Cindy and Bud Dickson spent years of their spare time remodeling Northern California homes, turning dated run-down residences into modern, stylish showcases of domestic fashion.

As part of this, they understood how slices of the past—a well-placed antique piece or collection—could add to the style and theme of a home. They also learned that sometimes those old things—such as a wood cookstove—still have a useful function.

The Dicksons’ split-log sided home off Beaverslide Road looks across the

Clearwater Valley into Kamiah. New homes are pushing up on lots where prior residences were claimed in last summer’s devastating wildfires that spared little in their path. The Dicksons’ home was among the handful to survive.

Step inside their house this winter and you may be in time for some home-cooked chili, or perhaps a sourdough biscuit made with starter dating back to the region’s early pioneers. But for sure, you will be pleasantly warmed, thanks to a century-plus old stove that more than serves the couple’s heating and cooking

Turning the Old Into Something New

Idaho County

Above, Cindy and Bud Dickson’s century-old wood cookstove serves a dual purpose: keeping them warm and cooking their meals.

Kamiah residents go back in time with cooking and heating appliance

By David Rauzi

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

needs.“I love it,” Cindy says as she talks

about her Monarch wood cookstove.The stove is 300 pounds of thick-gauge

steel, chrome hardware and sides still well coated in a protective cream enamel with two warming ovens and a cast-iron griddle. Just for decoration, an antique red glass caboose lamp sits on top. To the side hangs a collection of cast-iron pans. Cindy says the stove manufacturers used to make their own pans to match the stoves.

This particular stove model is a Malleable, so named for the manufactur-ing company—common in those days—that provided the steel, Cindy says. The couple bought the Monarch Malleable about two years ago for around $900. It came off a ranch outside of Hayden and had been in the owner’s family for three generations.

“I grew up with one of these,” Bud says. “We didn’t have electricity in our home, not until the early ’60s.”

For Cindy, her first was a 103-year-old blue and white Alcazar that she and Bud bought “in a little dinky town in California off some back road.,” she says.

It was a pretty stove that heated and cooked well—a make that she has not seen before or since.

“I didn’t want to leave it,” she says, but the people who were buying the home at the time made that a condition: no stove, no sale.

The Dicksons do have a modern gas stove.

“A KitchenAid, if I need something heated really quick, but I hardly ever use it,” says Cindy.

Their electric bills are small, because they only use their central heating for a short time in the morning until the Monarch is up to temperature. They leave the stove operating until they go to bed.

“It heats the house, and it just cooks better. You cook a turkey in there and everything turns out moist,” she says.

The stove is also set up to run a hose

through it to heat water in a reservoir. A lack of available room keeps them from connecting that feature.

Cindy says there has been a learning process to use the Monarch’s dampen-ers to regulate heat, as well as the kinds of wood that work best for preparing certain foods. For example, red fir works well to provide an even temperature for cooking roasts. Hard woods, such as river birch or oak, provide the necessary heat to bake cakes.

The stove cooks with a dry heat. Adding moisture takes putting a cast-iron pan filled with water in the bottom of the oven.

“It sounds complicated, but you get used to it,” Cindy says.

The benefit is meals are better pre-pared than if she were to use a conven-tional oven because of the heat distribu-tion. Pizzas, biscuits and pies have a light and crisp outside and soft inside, Cindy says.

“A large number of restaurants use wood cookstoves to prepare their food,” Cindy says. “Food cooked over wood has a more natural and distinct flavor than wood cooked with gas or electricity.”

When the power goes out, it keeps heating, and Cindy can still cook on it, unlike her gas oven that still electricity to run.

Cindy enjoys the environmentally-friendly aspect of wood-fired cooking since it does not use electricity or gas.

“Although you may have to experi-ment a bit, the fun of using your wood-fired oven or stovetop may just equal the deliciousness of what you create,” Cindy says.

Now married 48 years, the Dicksons are retired to their quiet section of rural Idaho, where a two-chair table tucks into a windowed corner next to their stove. Here they can enjoy their view of Idaho County while split chunks of fir quietly rumble in the firebox.

“With all that’s going on in the world today, it’s the simple things like this that make you happy,” Cindy says. n

Top, Cindy Dickson holds biscuits made in her Monarch Malleable wood cookstove.

Above, the Dicksons bought the wood cookstove two years ago for $900 from a ranch in Hayden.

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

Tillamook PUD

By Denise Porter

A group of students huddle together at the Tillamook Junior High football field on a winter day cold enough to snow. Several have forgot-ten to bring coats outside with them, but their shaking appears to come from excite-ment as they laugh and joke together.

“OK! Listen up,” shouts sci-ence teacher Carrie Averill. “We need to go over safety rules!”

For the past two weeks Carrie’s students have been

building rockets. Today they will see the results of their labors, measure the height of each model as it soars into the air and combine their data into a lab report.

Carrie demonstrates how to place a rocket on the launch rod, attach ignition wires and send the rocket skyward.

Her final rule is clear: “Please,” she says, with a twin-kle in her eye and a joking tone of voice, “if it looks like the rocket is going to come down near you, get out of the way. Don’t just stand there. Move. OK? Just move. Don’t

panic. It’s really simple. Just mooooove.”

She pantomimes stepping sideways, exaggerating the motion as she draws out the last word.

The students laugh with her, but the mood shifts as she calls the first team forward.

“I don’t think they are ner-vous building (the rockets)” says Carrie. “They laugh about things blowing up. I don’t think they understand the risk. Then we get down to the launch and they are way more concerned than they were to begin with.”

A few hundred feet in front of the launching platform sev-eral student assistants from Tillamook High School along with Clair Thomas, the dis-trict’s science coordinator, stand by ready to measure the height of each flight and record the data.

The first group’s rocket shoots into the air nearly 900 feet before gracefully land-ing in the field. The students’ moods lighten considerably; they cheer and clap wildly. Only one rocket fails to ignite. The teens in that team calmly switch out their rocket’s

Soaring into ScienceJunior high students build and launch rockets to test hypothesis about variables

Tillamook Middle School students watch a model rocket soar into the sky as part of a two-week science unit

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

engine and watch as it lifts off.The students gather their

belongings and walk past the school principal, JP Richards.

“This is such an amazing project,” he says. “It’s such a fun way to learn science.”

Later, in the classroom, stu-dents chatter about their day.

“I liked everything about it,” says Marlene Luna, 14.

The scholars are not just building rockets. They are conducting a real science experiment from start to fin-ish, says Carrie. Every one of the 150 students in eighth grade has teamed up with one or two partners for the project.

All totaled, Carrie estimates they launched 60 to 70 exper-iments skyward during the

course of two days. The first step is to learn the science behind a successful launch, she says. Then students build their kit rockets, change vari-ables and form a hypothesis about what rocket type they think will have the greatest altitude.

Each class chose a different variable. Some have blunted or sharpened the nose cones on their subjects. Other class-rooms changed the wing shape, or placement, or used different paints with different weights to decorate the rocket bodies.

After the rockets fly, stu-dents compile their data, analyze the height of each team’s craft, and compare the final results to their original

hypothesis. Next students pre-pare a summary that is placed in their work samples with the Oregon Department of Education.

It may sound intimidating, but because the project is so engaging, “the kids just learn,” says Carrie. “They don’t really realize the raw science behind it.”

This, she says, is exactly the aim of the project: showing the students how fun science can be.

“Some of my kids who will just sit and do nothing really got into this project,” she adds. “It also really engages the ones that can’t really sit and be part of a traditional classroom—but it also gets the ones who can conform involved as well! There are so many different skills involved. There’s a piece for every kid.”

The students say they love this unit.

“I like science,” says student

Mackenzie Mitchell, 13. “Well, I love being a TA (teacher’s aide) best, but science is my favorite subject. I love learn-ing about the planet and I love these hands-on projects. It feels like we learn better when it’s not just the book. I like doing experiments and testing hypotheses.”

This is the second year Carrie’s students have built rockets. She says she began the project on a whim because she and Clair were looking for an engaging proj-ect that would keep the stu-dents’ interest as they fulfilled the department of education’s writing sample requirements for eighth grade science students.

Last year, she says she learned as much as her students.

“I had three rocket bodies last year,” she says. “This year, we chose one style. The flights were so much more accurate this year. And I’d never built a rocket last year.”

Carrie also wrote and suc-cessfully received a grant to pay for the nearly $800 in supplies.

For Carrie, it is a chance to have the students she taught last year for one last time before they move on to high school.

Tommy Hagen, 13, says the project was “pretty great.” One tricky part was, “putting the fins on. The glue kept drying.”

“I really like Mrs. Averill,” says Chris Jimenez, 14, who was Tommy’s partner for the project. “It was nice to have her for a teacher again. Making the rocket wasn’t too hard and I liked launching it.” n

Top left, from left, Mackenzie Mitchell, Marlene Luna Parra, Riley Cloyd work together on their rocket design.

Above, Diego Luna readies his rocket for launch under Carries’ watchful eye.

Left, high school students Abraham Romero, left, Alana Contreras, right, help Bailey Aufdermauer and Whitney Averill prepare to hit their launch button.

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

By Kris Capps

People in Fairbanks have a lot to be grateful for. Just read the walls at Date-Line Digital Printing. They are covered with personal notes of gratitude, for everything from good neighbors to sunshine and summer gardens.

It is all because Date-Line owners Geoff Welch and Travis Lewis provide an ongoing gentle reminder, with a special project called “Thanks Fairbanks.”

It began several years ago, according to Geoff, when his wife attended a gratitude class at their church and shared what she learned with him.

“It occurred to me that I was a grateful person, but I did a bad job of talking about it,” he says. “So I decided to send a thank-you card every business day.”

Every morning when he got to work, he tried to write a thank-you card to someone who deserved gratitude. He wrote 275 cards that year. That soon evolved into sending three free thank-you cards to customers to use.

That was the beginning of the Thanks Fairbanks project, which invites others into a discipline of gratitude.

Date-Line invited customers to sign up for the free cards. An initial list of 150 customers quickly grew. The company sends cards out every three months and estimates it has sent thousands of cards to customers since the program began.

At the office, Date-Line also invites customers to write their own notes of gratitude, which are posted on the walls. The snippets range from sweetly touch-ing to laugh-out-loud delightful.

Here are some examples:I’m thankful for:“My sweetheart, my family, my friends, my cli-

ents, my home, my community … my life!”“Pretty trees when the snow falls.”“The staff at The Fairbanks Pioneers Home.”“Pickles and hair gel.”“Music in our schools.”“The opportunity to be at the right spot at the

right time to give someone a hug who could really

use it. #LOVE”There are plenty of happy and grateful thoughts

for customers to read while they wait to do business at the counter.

The community quickly embraced the commu-nity gratitude program and Geoff became a popular speaker at local events.

In 2014, Geoff was selected to deliver a TEDx (technology, education, design) talk in Anchorage about the community gratitude program.

TEDx Talks is a branch of the TED nonprofit dedicated to sharing ideas and starting conversa-tions. These local, self-organized conferences bring a TED-like experience to communities around the world. Geoff was one of 11 speakers.

His talk was titled: “How gratitude accidentally connected a community.”

‘Thanks Fairbanks’ Project GrowsGratitude expands with help of businessmen Geoff Welch and Travis Lewis

Golden Valley Electric

Geoff Welch, left, and Travis Lewis show off a display of free thank-you cards that Date-Line Digital Printing sends to custom-ers every three months.

28 F E B R UA R Y 2016

About a year ago, preschool classes came to the business office. Geoff and his staff used the field trip to introduce the kids to the concept of gratitude.

That got the business partners thinking about cre-ating a coloring book. Geoff and Travis talked about how it is probably difficult for a preschooler to write a thank-you card. Maybe a coloring book would be a better option for children.

“We had an opportunity to make something that would spur conversation between parents and chil-dren, kids and caretakers,” Geoff says.

They turned to Fairbanks artist Brianna Reagan.“I wanted to highlight things that are great about

living in Alaska, things that are universal for kids, that they could fill in their own stories around them,” says Geoff.

Brianna was happy to join the project.“I grew up on coloring books, and now my

daughter is obsessed with them, so of course, I accepted,” Brianna says. “My biggest challenge was making the illustrations simple enough for a younger crowd, as my art is typically very detailed. I learned from coloring with my daughter that the big fat crayons don’t handle small little details very well.”

The coloring book is titled: “THX FBX: You Are Never Too Young to Be Thankful.”

The coloring pages feature friends, the midnight sun, family, majestic mountains and the aurora bore-alis. A caribou prances across the wildlife page and one page features a house that could be right here in Fairbanks. The pages feature things for which Alaskans can be grateful.

“We hope to spread our message of gratitude with young and old alike,” says Geoff. “It is our sincere hope that this coloring book will inspire interesting conversation between children and the people who are teaching them, about how to make meaningful contributions with their lives.”

Free copies are available at Date-Line Digital Printing, or you can download the pages to print at home at www.dldp.co/colorthxfbx. At last report, the coloring book has been downloaded about 1,600 times.

Word of this community project has spread. Geoff receives calls from business owners in other states asking about the program and if he minds if they start a similar venture. Geoff is delighted and encourages them to start their own program. n

A wall at Date-Line Digital Printing is devoted customers’ notes of gratitude.

F E B R UA R Y 2016 29

By Rick Stedman

Like golf, snowshoeing is one of those rare “forever” activities. Whether you are 2 or 92, if you can walk, you can snowshoe.

Parkland-area resident Charles Celmer has been snowshoeing for more than two decades, citing the winter activity as a great alternative to staying indoors dur-ing the dreary Northwest winter months. A member of the Mountaineers, Tacoma branch, Charles leads small groups of snowshoers on treks at various locations throughout the state.

The Mountaineers, an outdoor edu-cation nonprofit, teaches skills needed to explore the many treasures Mother Nature offers. Formed in 1906, the Mountaineers have been getting people of all ages outside safely and responsibly for more than a century. Members are passionate about the outdoors and work to preserve the wild backcountry for gen-erations to come.

“In the Mountaineers, we have a snow-shoeing mantra,” Charles says. “ ‘Safety first. Have fun. Destinations are optional.’ Our snowshoeing classes go into great depth, and people who take all the

Snowshoeing—An Exciting Winter WorkoutMountaineers snowshoers do not let winter get in the way of enjoying the outdoors

Parkland Light & Water

Mountaineers snowshoe class participants prepare to take to the trails at Mount Rainier. Photos courtesy of The Mountaineers

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

snow courses are able to trek just about any place non-technical in the world. However, we realize that for most folks snowshoeing is just a great way to remain active in that third of the year when rains in the lowlands keep most people inside.”

Charles further explains the beauty of snowshoeing: “Each day is different, even if you are snowshoeing in the same area. The snow world becomes a fresh white canvas ready for you to paint your own personal story. But tomorrow, it will be made anew for the next adventurer.”

Snowshoeing is a love it or leave it activity.

“Some folks never get past the idea that it is something that happens in a cold dreary environment, when it’s much nicer to be snuggled up with a good book or watching Sunday football games,” Charles says. “Be advised though, if you get out on a crisp sunny day with snow that glistens like a beach full of diamonds, and share that moment with a good friend or loved one, you may become hopelessly addicted!”

Snowshoeing is more than just a cere-bral activity that gets you outdoors. It also gets you away from the world for a while. American Catholic author Thomas Merton wrote, “Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.”

Most of the time, the cost is minimal, and the rewards are endless. And you do

not have to live in Alaska to enjoy snowshoeing.

Nearby Snowshoeing Options If you want to get your snow-shoe groove on but do not want to travel too far, consider a trip to Crystal Mountain.

The mountain is about a one-hour drive from Parkland. It has been a pre-mier ski resort in the country since its opening in 1962.

A couple of snowshoeing options at Crystal Mountain include the guided Saturday snowshoe tour and dinner, or the 21/2-hour guided snowshoe walk. Offered every Saturday from January through March, these informative alpine wilderness snowshoe tours have been popular since they began several years ago.

For the snowshoe and dinner out-ing, guests begin with a scenic ride up the Gold Hills chairlift. You then snow-shoe through the majestic alpine forest into the Bullion Basin area. After a short break, the group makes its way down the gentle slopes to the base area for a family-style dinner at the Bullwheel Bar & Grill at the base lodge.

The $65 fee includes the chairlift ride, snowshoe and pole rental, guided tour and group dinner.

Those on the snowshoe walks begin the

21/2-hour tour by taking a scenic ride on the Mount Rainier Gondola (weather per-mitting) to Crystal Mountain’s 6,872-foot summit. Once at the summit, take in the beauty of the Cascade mountain range.

The $50 fee for this tour includes Gondola ticket, snowshoe rental and guided tour.

Another opportunity to get out-doors and learn about winter ecology while snowshoeing is the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest from January through March. No experience is neces-sary. The Forest Service provides snow-shoes and poles free of charge, though a donation is recommended. Participants should wear layered and insulated cloth-ing, hats and gloves, and sturdy, water-proof shoes or boots. n

To make a reservation at Snoqualmie Pass, call (509) 852-1062; Stevens Pass, (360) 677-2414; Darrington Ranger District, (360) 436-1155; or Mount Baker Ranger District, 360-599-9572.

Check out The Mountaineers’ snowshoeing courses online, and learn more about the group at www.mountaineers.org.

Above, a group of Mountaineers snowshoers take a break from their excursion on Mount Rainier. Right, snowshoeing is a great way to get out in winter, exercise and see the sights.

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

4 F E B R UA R Y 2016

ORECAwww.oreca.org

By Ted Case

“It never rains in Autzen Stadium!” Every Oregon Ducks home football game includes

this iconic catchphrase, uttered by 55,000 die-hard fans who understand the irony of the statement. The game is, after all, in Eugene, which averages 50 inches of rain a year.

“It has nothing to do with the weather,” said Don Essig, the Ducks’ public address announcer. “The feeling you get when you walk in there, it’s a sunny experience.”

The same can be said now of Eugene-based Lane Electric Cooperative. In 2013, it conceived a landmark community solar project with Autzen Stadium-like optimism: hoping its members would sign up, and the sun would do its part.

So far, it has worked. On December 28, 2015, Lane Electric Co-op energized a 27.5-kilowatt, 84-panel solar garden at its headquarters.

“We have a number of members who like the idea of solar, but aren’t able to locate an array on their property due to trees, buildings, topography—things that inhibit solar access,” said Chris Seubert, Lane Electric’s board president. “Now, through the solar garden, our members can take advantage of the sun’s rays remotely. It’s kind of like country living on city water.”

Because they were in uncharted waters, Lane Electric waited until 50 percent of the panels were subscribed before moving ahead with the community solar garden. The co-op soon crossed the threshold. To date, 57 of the 84 panels are fully subscribed.

Lane’s board was adamant about the project not being subsidized by the entire membership. The co-op took advantage of a variety of incentives to finance the project, including a $25,000 grant through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

“Our hope is that now that there is concrete, steel and panels for our members to actually see,

Here Comes the SunOregon electric co-ops lead the way in deploying community solar programs

Lane Electric’s community solar garden in Eugene has received strong support from members.Photo by Zechariah English

F E B R UA R Y 2016 5

we will fully subscribe the remaining panels and begin thinking about a phase-2 project,” said Dave D’Avanzo, Lane’s manager of member services.

A full panel subscription costs $1,200, and subscribing to a half panel is $600. Subscribers can finance the cost over 12 months on their electric bills. Subscribers can see a credit on their bill of $3 to $5 a month, depending on the availability of the sun.

The sun is usually not an issue 120 miles east of Eugene, where another Oregon electric co-op has launched an ambitious community solar project. But there were other challenges for Redmond-based Central Electric Cooperative.

Two years ago, after hearing a presentation on community solar, Central CEO Dave Markham and his board of directors decided it was important for Oregon electric co-ops to lead the way on offering renewable opportunities for their members. Markham tasked Central’s Member Services Director Jeff Beaman to spearhead the project.

Beaman navigated the seemingly endless regulatory and financial issues for what ultimately became a 200,000-watt, 700-panel solar farm at Central’s Bend field office. Like Lane Electric, Central’s solar project is funded only by those who participate.

Markham and the Central board decided to offer members an array of options. Central offers a “shared solar” program, granting members the output from a full, half, quarter or multiple solar panels. Each month, subscribers see a credit on their bill that equals the energy produced in the previous month.

Half of the 700 panels will be used for Central’s green power program. The program’s members choose to pay a premium on some or all of the electricity they use. While this program is not new, it is the first time it supports a project in Central’s service area.

Markham has been an outspoken advocate of community solar, which has caught the attention of the Oregon Legislature. He says the co-op’s project “demonstrates the transformation from a traditional energy structure toward a vision of the future.”

Beaman noted the project will be instructional in many ways.

“We’re proud that we’ve taken action to put it out in front of the members to see how renewables affect them,” he said.

Like Lane Electric, Central is aggressively market-ing its community solar options. Beaman said the potential subscribers have different rationales.

“Some just think it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

“Others want it to pencil out financially.” Even farther to the east, another Oregon electric

cooperative—Umatilla Electric—has taken a different solar approach. The co-op broke ground November 2015 on a massive 1-megawatt solar installation along Highway 730, east of Umatilla. The project will generate enough power for 1,200 homes when it becomes operational this year.

Umatilla Electric CEO Steve Eldrige said the project will be owned collectively by all of the co-op’s 10,000 members, and will help the co-op meet the state’s renewable portfolio standard.

This is not UEC’s first foray into solar. It built a solar array on the grounds of its Hermiston office to learn more about the resource.

The 2016 Oregon Legislature will debate legislation to stimulate community solar programs, but lawmakers have taken note of what is happening in rural electric cooperative territory. Oregon’s electric cooperatives have strongly endorsed proposals that retain local control, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene), a leading proponent of community solar, recently spoke at the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative annual meeting.

“I certainly recognize and applaud what the co-ops have been doing in community solar,” he said.

If Rep. Holvey—an Oregon Ducks fan—has his way, the grand experiment by Oregon’s electric cooperatives may pave the way for future community solar projects across the state.

All is possible, it seems, when it never rains at Autzen Stadium. n

Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene) has recognized electric cooperative efforts to deploy community solar.Photo by Jeff Beaman