FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 9
Local
North Powder FFA’s debut BBQ BHS students
learn about
organ donation
By Todd Arriola
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Last Friday, February
20, the North Powder High
School Chapter of the
Future Farmers of America
(FFA) hosted its first ba -
becue dinner fundraiser at
the Baker County Fair-
grounds, from 5-7 p.m.
The dinner was sold
as a dine-in or carry-out
meal, at $10 a plate, and
included sirloin tip roast,
baked potato, green beans,
French bread, dessert, and
bottled water.
Randy Newman, a retired
Baker High School teacher
who taught there for 27
years, is the North Pow-
der Agricultural Science
Teacher, and was the driv-
ing force behind the event,
along with FFA member
volunteers, and adults in
the community.
Newman and the crew
began preparing the meals
hours earlier, while some
FFA members sold tickets
at the District 7-1A Basket-
ball Tournament, at Baker
High School. Some of the
members participated in
the tournament, but were
present later on to assist
with the fundraiser.
The preparation of the
meals included cooking
around 200 pounds of
meat mostly to medium
rare, after being soaked
overnight in seasoning,
outside on two large metal
grills, which were built
Kailyn McQuisten/ The Baker County Press
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
L-R: Lane Loennit, Garrett Shreve, and Randy Newman.
Cassidy continued, “But
what they aren’t seeing is
what the Superintendent
has to do for that sal-
ary: They have to run a
business entity with 450
employees and a 28-mil-
lion-dollar budget, as well
as meet all State and Fed-
erally required educational
standards.”
Cassidy said the search
committee began with 15
candidates.
The Candidates.
Betty Palmer: Palmer
is currently Principal at
Baker Intermediary, and
teaches 5th grade and the
Gifted & Talented class.
She has had her Admin-
istrator’s license for the
past ten years, has taught
in Milton-Freewater, La
Grande, and Baker City.
She has been back in Baker
City for the past 15 years.
Palmer is familiar with the
culture of eastern Oregon,
of “people reaching out
and helping people,” as she
says.
by members of the Baker
High School FFA, while
Newman was a teacher
there, he said.
Newman and FFA mem-
bers and seniors Garrett
Shreve and Lane Loen-
nit tended to the roasts
on the grills, while other
volunteers inside prepped
the other components of
the meals, including 400
baked potatoes, 40 loaves
of French bread, and 24
gallons of green beans.
Preparations all began at
noon that day.
The funds raised from
the barbeque will be used
for future events and com-
petitions, which includes
the FFA State Convention,
in Silverton in March,
Newman said. He said the
North Powder FFA has a
greenhouse, also a fund-
raiser, which operates from
spring until the end of the
school year. He also said
that, with potential grants
and/or future fundrais-
ing events, it’s possible
that a shop could be built
near the school in North
Powder, providing more
learning opportunities for
students.
Newman said that over-
all, the fundraiser was a
success—especially for its
first time
The FFA sold 200 tickets
and brought in a little over
$2,000.
Newman is confident
these numbers will in-
crease as the event takes
hold in future years.
She speaks of how hard
teachers and administra-
tors have worked together
to move forward over the
years.
“I’ve got skin in this
game!” she says. She
wants to see stability and
collaboration, and, as she
points out, “Everyone new
comes in with great ideas,
but I know what we have
all been working so hard to
achieve. I want to see the
happy ending.”
Robert Vian: Vian
has been an educator for
the past 20 years in both
Oregon and Idaho. He has
been Superintendent of
Schools in Orofino Idaho
for the past two and a half
years.
He and his wife love the
area and the people in Oro-
fino, but all their grandchil-
dren live in Boise—five
and a half hours away.
As Vian said, they both
have “always thought
Baker was beautiful” when
they have driven through,
and the opportunity to be
so close to their grandkids
was too good to miss.
When asked his goals
for the direction he
would like to lead Baker
schools, Vian said, “What
I can bring is focus. To
be successful, we need
to concentrate on two or
three things at a time. To
me, most important here
are buildings —we have so
many sitting empty— and
vocational / technical train-
ing. Not every kid wants or
needs to go to college, but
they all need a career.”
Mark Whitley: Whitley
has been Principal of John
Day High for 12 years and
then, as he tells it, “The
School Board must have
liked what I was doing
because they made me
School Superintendent!”
He has held that position
for the past five years.
He has a strong grasp
of the realities of life in
rural eastern Oregon, the
hardships faced and the
strengths built.
He and his wife have
strong ties to John Day, but
a move to Baker would not
strain those too greatly, he
says. “It’s only 80 miles!”
The idea of “taking on
a larger district and the
professional challenges
involved, the opportunities
for personal growth, work-
ing with key leaders in the
community, new projects
right out of the box. I’d
like to be a part of that!”
he said.
He reiterated several
times that he and his fam-
ily love John Day. “This is
just the kind of opportunity
you have to explore,” he
said. “We would still be
close to our old commu-
nity, but could expand our
commitment to support
eastern Oregon to the best
of our abilities.”
Editor’s Note: The 5J
School Board was sched-
uled to meet yesterday
(Thursday evening) and
announce the new Super-
intendant; however, this
newspaper’s print deadline
fell just before that meet-
ing. Look for more cover-
age next week.
Grazing fees to increase
The 2015 federal grazing
fee, which is determined
annually through a Con-
gressionally-mandated
formula, will increase by
$0.34/head month March
1.
The fee applies to more
than 8,000 permits admin-
istered by the U.S. Forest
Service and nearly 18,000
grazing permits and leases
administered by the Bureau
of Land Management.
The 2015 fee will be
$1.69 per head month
(HM) for lands managed
by the U.S. Forest Service
and per animal unit month
(AUM) for the Bureau of
Land Management.
An HM or AUM, which
are treated as equivalent
measures for fee purposes,
By Sunny Werner
Sunny@TheBakerCountyPress.com
5J superintendent finalist
Continued from Page 1
Stacy and Lindsay Bingham on stage at BHS.
is the occupancy and use
of public lands to include
but not limited to one cow
and her calf, one horse, or
five sheep or goats for a
month.
The figure is calculated
according to three main
factors – the average an-
nual change in beef prices,
leasing rates for grazing on
private land in 11 western
states, and the cost of live-
stock production.
The formula was estab-
lished by Congress in the
1978 Public Rangelands
Improvement Act and has
continued under a presi-
dential Executive Order
issued in 1986.
Under that order, the
grazing fee cannot fall
below $1.35 per AUM, and
any increase or decrease
cannot exceed 25 percent
of the previous year's level.
The formula is based
on a 1966 base value of
$1.23 per HM/AUM for
livestock grazing on public
lands managed by the For-
est Service and the Bureau
of Land Management in
western states and data col-
lected annually by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Sta-
tistical Service.
The fee applies to 16
western states, which
include Arizona, Cali-
fornia, Colorado, Idaho,
Kansas, Montana, Nebras-
ka, Nevada, New Mexico,
North Dakota, Oklahoma,
Oregon, South Dakota,
Utah, Washington, and
Wyoming. Permit holders
and lessees may contact
their local Forest Service
or Bureau of Land Man-
agement office for add -
tional information.
The Forest Service,
an agency of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture,
manages approximate-
ly 193 million acres of
Federal lands in 44 states,
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands.
The Bureau of Land
Management, an agency
of the U.S. Department
of the Interior, manages
approximately 245 million
surface acres. Most of this
public land is located in 12
Western states, including
Alaska.
Representatives from DMV offices in the region,
Donate Life NW, and Baker County’s own “Sweetest
Hearts,” the Bingham Family—represented by Lindsay
and her mother Stacy—were on stage to tell high school
students about organ donation.
The occasion was the “Traveling Quilt” celebration,
which was organized to commemorate 40 years of col-
laboration between the Department of Motor Vehicles in
Oregon and Donate Life NW.
Families who have been affected by the programme
are welcome to donate a square to the quilt. This particu-
lar quilt is continuing its trip to Bend, south to Klamath
Falls, then to Medford and will end up hanging at the
State office of the DM in Salem.
Oregon is rated fifth nationwide in registrations for o -
gan donorship. So far, 58,000 Oregonians have received
the gift of life, sight, or tissue.
As Lindsay Bingham said, “I got my heart two years
ago on Valentine’s Day. You never know who’s heart you
might get.”
Stacy and her husband Jason are no strangers to organ
donation. Three of their children have suffered or are
suffering from heart failure. Right now, Lindsay’s sister,
Sierra, is hoping to get back on the transplant list.
Aimee Adelmann, Program Coordinator for Donate
Life NW, and herself a double transplant recipient, talks
about working with the donor and the recipient families.
“It is amazing,” said Adelmann, “how the family feel-
ing grows so strong between the recipient and the donor
families.”
The pamphlet from Donate Life NW includes this
information: One person can save up to eight lives as an
organ donor and restore sight and mobility to another 50
people as an eye and tissue donor.
Those interested can contact DonateLifeNW.ORG, or
sign up at the local DMV.
Visit heartsforbinghams.org or go to Facebook and look
up “Hearts for Binghams” to learn more about their fam-
ily and history of organ transplants.
SWCD offers
youth range camp
sponsorship
The Baker County Soil and Water Conservation Dis-
tricts recognize and understand the important role our
youth play in conservation. Much of the youth in Baker
County are growing up on farms or ranches, and will, if
not already, make important decisions regarding healthy
land management.
The Baker County SWCDs have pledged to sponsor
local students to attend the High Desert Youth Range
Camp, June 17-20, 2015. The camp, which takes place
at the Northern Great Basin Experimental Range near
Burns, will provide students with valuable rangeland and
management knowledge. Students who attend the camp
will learn about rangeland ecosystems, plant, weed and
wildlife species, new mapping technologies, how to de-
sign a ranch management plan, and much more! Campers
not only learn valuable skill sets for a future in rangeland
health and agriculture, but they also earn college credits
by attending the camp.
During the 2014/2015 SWCD Annual Dinner and
Awards Banquet that took place in January, attendees bid
on silent auction items that were donated by Baker Coun-
ty residents and SWCD Directors. The proceeds from
the silent auction will sponsor two students to attend the
High Desert Youth Range Camp. The SWCDs are asking
interested students to submit an essay explaining why
they would like to attend the camp, and what their future
education/career plans include. Students will be selected
for sponsorship based on their essay.
Oregon High school students (grades 9-12) are eligible
for the Youth Range Camp. Sponsorship essays and camp
applications will be due to the Baker County SWCDs
by April 13th, 2015, so do not delay! To receive a camp
application and apply for sponsorship, or for more infor-
mation, please call the SWCD office at 541-523-7121, or
stop by at 3990 Midway Drive in Baker City.