THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015
Business & Ag
Business aims for Mass appeal
• DR. JAY BOYD
ALTERS ALTARS
BEAUTIFULLY
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
“I want to beautify
Catholic altars, because
too many of them these
days look like a dining
room table with Grandma’s
table cloth spread over the
top, ready for a buffet; and
that is not what the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass is
about!” said Baker City’s
Jay Boyd.
Boyd, who has been
making altar antependia
for about ten years, started
treating her hobby as more
of a business at the start of
this year.
An antependium is a
hanging for the front of
an altar, pulpit, or lec-
tern—exactly the loca-
tions Boyd’s new venture,
Altarations, focuses on.
Boyd creates and mar-
kets, “Custom traditional
Roman Catholic paraments
at an affordable price,”
according to her site, http://
altarations.blogspot.com.
When asked how she
moved from hobby to
business, Boyd said, “Well,
a priest friend who has a
small chapel of his own
showed me how to make
them, and he also educated
me as to the purpose and
symbolism of them. I made
a couple for him, as well as
for another small chapel,
and for the Catholic church
in La Grande (Our Lady of
the Valley)—always for the
cost of the materials. Then,
last January, my priest
friend was asked to make a
set of four antependia (the
liturgical colors required
in the Catholic Church
are green, white, red, and
purple), but he didn’t have
time to do it. He passed the
job on to me, and I charged
a small amount for my la-
bor. That gave me the idea
to start a small business
and see if I could drum up
some more work.”
In 2013, Boyd altered
the look of the Cathedral
altar in Baker City for the
cost of materials, with her
labor donated.
“Fr. Greiner graciously
allowed me to do the proj-
ect,” she said.
Her work seems to be
catching on.
“I’ve made antependia
for five different churches,
and for a couple of small
chapels. The farthest dis-
tance was a parish in Ket-
chikan, Alaska; that parish
purchased a set of four
antependia, and shipping to
them was an adventure— it
takes a while to get from
Baker City to Ketchikan!
The most recent antepen-
dium was purchased by St.
Eugene’s Cathedral parish
in Santa Rosa, California.”
Not only is her client
base growing, but so is her
list of offerings.
Said Boyd, “A woman
in Lakeview, Oregon asked
if I could make purificators
for her parish.”
As she explained, purifi-
cators are linen cloths used
to cleanse the rim of the
chalice after each individ-
ual receives the Precious
Blood of Christ at Holy
Communion.
She added, “I had not
made purificators before,
but it’s a pretty simple
process, so now I make
purificators, too!”
Through careful selec-
tion, she has been able to
locate some affordable
fabrics and trims—and
keeps the prices of her end-
product low.
She said, “I charged
$250 for the antependium
I made for the parish in
Santa Rosa, and the secre-
tary asked me if I’d made
a mistake in placing the
decimal point, because she
expected to pay a lot more.
But my goal is to help
parishes properly vest their
altars; the altar is a repre-
sentation of Christ, and as
such should be clothed in
fabrics and designs that
emphasize His majesty
and glory, and which draw
attention to the altar as
something toward which
we show reverence.”
Boyd explained, “The
altar is also supposed to be
covered with three 100%
linen cloths (two of them
just cover the top of the al-
tar, and the third covers the
altar from floor-to-floor,
lengthwise), and I make
those, too.”
100% linen, not a
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
On Tuesday, May 26,
2015, at 3 p.m., the Baker
County Natural Resource
Advisory Committee
(NRAC) convened for its
first monthly meeting this
year, in the Commission
Chambers of the Baker
County Courthouse.
Present from the Baker
County Commission were
Chair Bill Harvey and
Executive Assistant Heidi
Martin.
Present from the NRAC
were newly appointed
NRAC Chair Doni Bru-
land, Chuck Chase, Page
Frederickson, Craig Ward,
Alice Knapp, Laurene
Chapman, Jan Kerns,
Cynthia Long, Emily
Braswell, Jan Alexander,
Dick Fleming, Eileen Gyl-
lenberg, George Keister,
Lane Parry, Kody Justus,
Lyle Defrees, Ken Ander-
son, and Jake Bingham.
Gyllenberg, Bingham,
Justus, Long, Keister,
Frederickson, Chase,
Ward, Bruland, Braswell
and Anderson, the new-
est NRAC members, were
appointed on Wednesday,
April 15, 2015, during the
regular County Commis-
sion session.
Guests included Repre-
sentative Greg Walden’s
assistants Kirby Garrett
and Jorden Noyes, Gary
Dielman, Bobbie Danser,
John Creighton, and Craig
Bruland.
Harvey called the meet-
ing to order, and introduc-
tions were made shortly
after that. He said, “I’d
like to thank Jan Kerns
(outgoing NRAC Chair)
for the many years she
spent serving Baker Coun-
ty,” which was followed by
applause from the group.
He introduced Bruland as
the newly appointed Chair,
Friday, May 22, 2015 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady compared to the
same quality last week. Trade activity and demand
was slow this week. Most producers are sold out
for the season. .All prices are in dollars per ton and
FOB unless otherwise stated.
Tons
Price Range
Wtd Avg
Alfalfa/Orchard Mix
Small Square - Good
20 170.00-170.00 170.00
Alfalfa/Timothy Mix
Large Square - Premium
25 200.00-200.00 200.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
Dr. Jay Boyd works on a new creation.
Submitted Photo.
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 908
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk N/A Top N/A
400-500# Bulk 251.00-288.00 Top 289.00
500-600# Bulk 236.00-264.00 Top 275.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk N/A Top N/A
400-500# Bulk 242.00-261.00 Top 267.00
500-600# Bulk 209.00-229.00 Top 234.00
Submitted Photo.
An altar beautifully draped with Boyd’s design.
cheaper blend, is used in
every design.
Boyd said, “I tend to use
a similar design for all the
antependia I make; it’s just
a sort of classic, traditional
design that I learned from
my priest friend. I am a
great proponent of bring-
ing back more Catholic
tradition to our church
architecture, furnishings,
and paraments. We have
lost much of the symbol-
ism that existed prior to
changes that occurred 50
years ago, and in losing the
symbolism, we have lost
some of our Catholic iden-
tity, and our understanding
of our own worship (or
liturgy). Vesting the altar
appropriately is one way
to bring back some of the
traditions that have fallen
by the wayside.”
Boyd works alone on
each project. “I do create
these antependia all by
myself,” she affirmed. “I
enjoy the work very much;
there is a lot of hand-
sewing involved, which I
find very meditative. I love
to see a finished product on
an altar that lends a sense
of reverence to the sanctu-
ary.”
Boyd, 61, lives with her
husband, Jerry, in Baker
City. She holds a PhD in
Psychology from U. C.
Santa Barbara, and has
taught Psychology at both
the high school and college
level. She has authored
two Catholic-related books
and numerous articles on
the Catholic faith. She’s
the mother of two grown
children, and is a strong
proponent of homeschool-
ing.
More photos and
information about Altara-
tions are available at http://
altarations.blogspot.com or
by emailing drjayboyd@
msn.com.
County’s Natural Resource Advisory
Committee has new chair appointed
• DONI BRULAND
TO HEAD NEWLY
EXPANDED NRAC
— Weekly Hay Report —
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 226.00-236.00 Top 239.00
700-800# Bulk 207.00-217.00 Top 220.00
800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A
900-1,000# Bulk 172.00 - 181.00 Top 183.00
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 211.00-228.00 Top 231.00
700-800# Bulk 194.00 - 210.00 Top 212.00
800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Thin Shelly Cows 83.00 - 97.00
Butcher Cows 101.00 - 109.00
Butcher Bulls 122.00 - 143.00
Pairs BM 1625.00 - 2375.00
Younger Hfrts. 119.00 - 147.00
Young Pairs - 2400.00 - 2925.00
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Doug Fir is $415.00/mbf
White fir is $365.00/mbf
Ponderosa Pine is brought sold
on diameter splits
6 to 11 inch dib $300 to $310/MBF
12 to 17 inch dib $350 to $375/MBF
18 to 23 inch dib $400 to $430/MBF
24 inch plus dib $450 to $500/MBF
DIB is diameter inside bark at
small end of log.
MBF is thousand board feet lumber, net scale.
People interested in selling logs
should call and get specific
quotes from saw mills.
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1188.00
Silver: $16.73
Platinum: $1,125.93
Palladium: $783.63
Bloomberg.com
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Standing, Kirby Garrett from Congressman
Walden’s La Grande office.
and outlined the goals of
the NRAC.
“Our main goal, right
off the bat, is to fine-tune
the Natural Resource Plan
(Baker County Natural Re-
sources Plan, NRP), which
you guys have worked on
through the years. The
reason being, we’re at the
point where we need to
finalize it, if there are any
changes, if you’d like…
Once we introduce it into
our Comprehensive Plan
(Baker County Compre-
hensive Land Use Plan),
and have public hearings,
we can’t change it.”
SEE NRAC PAGE 5
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $355.00/bu/USD
Wheat: $493.50/bu/USD
Soybeans: $922.25/bu/USD
Oats: $238.50 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $9.42/cwt/USD
Canola: $468.70 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $150.63/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $219.60/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $82.80/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com