STATE/REGIONAL
THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 5A
Donor buys books for children of hotel employees
Frequent guest at
Geiser Grand Hotel
can’t visit this year
because of pandemic
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — Reanna
Clark seems more interested in
tasting her brand new book than
reading it.
Which is pretty typical
behavior for a 6-month-old.
But Reanna’s older brother,
Colton, 12, is eager to start
turning the pages of his volumes,
which include Gary Paulsen’s
“Tucket’s Travels,” a series
chronicling the adventures of
a 14-year-old boy who is kid-
napped while traveling on the
Oregon Trail in 1847.
“I like to read whatever looks
good,” Colton said.
His brother Gage, 7, is exam-
ining a stack of books, including
one of Tedd Arnold’s “Fly Guy”
stories.
The Clarks are inspecting
their new books in the lobby of
the Geiser Grand Hotel on Baker
City’s Main Street.
This is not a coincidence.
Their mother, Mandy Clark,
is the front desk manager at the
restored 131-year-old hotel that is
a Baker City landmark.
The Clarks’ books — and
about two dozen more — were
donated to the children and
grandchildren of Geiser Grand
employees by a longtime guest
who wasn’t able to make her
annual visit this year due to the
coronavirus.
Geiser Grand owner Bar-
bara Sidway said the donor, who
asked that she remain anon-
ymous, called recently to say
that she wouldn’t be traveling to
Baker City.
But the guest had a request.
She asked Sidway to com-
pile a list of Geiser Grand
employees’ children and grand-
children, including their ages
and interests.
Then the donor called Carolyn
Kulog, owner of Betty’s Books
in Baker City, and ordered books
for each child.
Most received two or three.
“She’s so thoughtful,” Sidway
said of the donor.
Sidway said the woman
always browses Betty’s Books
during her stays in Baker City.
The books arrived last week
and the Clarks picked up their
books on Friday.
The eldest, 16-year-old Lane,
wasn’t there, but he also received
books.
Mandy, who lives in Keating
Valley, said her kids have “been
getting tired of reading the same
books.”
The children are accustomed
to deliveries from the Baker
County Bookmobile, which
hasn’t been operating this spring
due to the pandemic.
Clark said she was surprised,
and gratifi ed, by the donor’s
generosity.
“It is so cool,” she said.
Clark said she has met the
woman during some of her pre-
vious visits.
Sidway said she has talked
with the woman since the books
arrived, and the benefactor wants
to order more books for Geiser
Grand employees’ children and
grandchildren.
“It makes my heart swell and
puts a smile on my face in a time
when little else can,” Sidway
wrote in an email.
Layoff s, few
seasonal
workers
at Oregon
state parks
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Ore-
gon’s state parks have
started to reopen, but the
agency that manages them
is is facing an estimated
$22 million budget shortfall
between now and next June
amid the economic collapse
caused by the coronavirus
pandemic.
The Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department said
Tuesday it will lay off 47
full-time employees by June
30. That’s in addition to the
338 seasonal staff that will
not be rehired this year,
The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live reported. Only 77 of
415 seasonal positions have
been fi lled for 2020.
The parks department
does not receive funding
from tax dollars but
from the Oregon Lottery,
camping and parking fees,
and RV registration fees.
Oregon state parks
closed to the public in late
March, just before Gov.
Kate Brown announced a
stay-home order that closed
most businesses across the
state. Lottery funds subse-
quently shrunk, while park
fees were zero.
“It’s a gut punch, we’ve
never been through any-
thing like this before,”
parks spokesman Chris
Havel said.
The layoffs will trans-
late to reduced services at
day-use sites and camp-
grounds across the state,
including trash collec-
tion, restroom cleaning and
maintenance.
Day-use park sites began
to reopen in May with lim-
ited services. On June 9,
several popular camp-
grounds will reopen, with
online reservations starting
Wednesday at noon. That
will provide some revenue,
but it’s not expected to be
enough.
Havel said visitors can
help by packing out trash
and bringing their own
water, toilet paper and hand
sanitizer.
Oregon’s parks hav-
en’t been in such trouble
since the early 1990s, when
the parks department was
cut off from the Oregon
Department of Trans-
portation and left to fend
for itself. Offi cials faced
the closure of some 60
state parks before voters
approved parks funding
through the Oregon Lottery.
“This is a heartbreaking
time for our agency family,
both for those who face a
heavy workload as we roll
into summer and for the
dedicated professionals we
have to release from ser-
vice,” said Lisa Sumption,
state parks director.
Photo by Jayson Jacoby/EO Media Group
Reanna Clark, 6 months old, has a fi rm grasp on her new book, “Pat the
Bunny,” as she sits on the lap of her older brother, Colton, 12.
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Enterprise, OR 97828
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