THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015
Business & Ag
Hansel and Gretel’s
House of Sweets to open
• OCTOBER
DEBUT PLANNED
BY SUNNY WERNER
Sunny@TheBakerCountyPress.com
One pretty much has to be
an old-timer to remember
saving up pennies for a trip
to the candy shop.
Now, however, two of
Baker’s newer residents
plan to give new gen-
erations the experience of
standing in a candy store,
trying to decide which
sweets they want most.
“Hansel and Gretel’s
House of Sweets” is slated
to open downtown, directly
across from the Geiser
Grand Hotel on Main &
Washington.
Tricia Maher and Chris-
tina Dudley-Scott, cousins,
decided they wanted to
offer Baker “something
different,” as they tell their
story.
“We wanted to be super-
careful not to step on any
toes,” says Maher, “so we
did a lot of market research
and met with lots of store
owners.”
They settled on a candy
store, as that is something
Baker doesn’t have.
“And who doesn’t love
candy?” Maher sauid.
In their efforts to respect
the niches different stores
have carved for them-
selves, they won’t be offer-
ing fudge, for example.
“Sycamore Tree already
is famous for their fudge
We wouldn’t compete
with them,” Dudley-Scott
explained.
The women have been
avidly gleaning informa-
tion from all the sources
available, and reiterate
frequently their delight in
the warm reception they
have received.
They have worked with
business advisors and the
various Downtown Busi-
ness groups.
The plan is to open in
early October. “We are
hoping for the first,” said
Maher.”
The store will offer a
variety of candies, both
sugar and sugar free. They
will have the old-fashioned
candy bins as well as dis-
play cases.
They also plan to show-
case some local producers’
goods, such as regular and
gluten-free breads.
The women are also
planning to make smooth-
ies and have comfortable
seating areas.
“We really want people
to feel welcome to come
and relax, to sit and visit,”
Dudley-Scott explained.
“The store is not going to
be just for kids.”
“We have so many
plans; it’s just so exciting!”
Sunny Werner / The Baker County Press
Tricia Maher and Christina Dudley-Scott are slated
to open their new candy store soon.
said Maher. “We plan to
offer kids’ birthday parties.
We have so much room in
here and we can use one of
the semi private rooms.”
“And we are going to
have our own Santa here in
the weeks before Christ-
mas!” Dudley-Scott added.
Both women have small
children, and the store
currently has space de-
voted to the kids. They can
play, color and entertain
themselves as their moth-
ers paint and decorate the
store.
The store itself is light
and cheerful, with large
windows on two sides.
At present, much of
the decorations consist
of bright and colorful
children’s toys “donated by
our kids!” said Maher.
There is a large display
counter seen immediately
after entering, and big open
spaces which will be filled
with tables and shelves.
Toward the rear are several
more rooms and areas that
the cousins will put to
good use. There is also
a kitchen, with a pass-
through bar area where the
smoothies will be made
and served.
As they progress toward
opening day, the cousins
are excitedly exchang-
ing ideas. They are very
welcoming toward sugges-
tions, and invite Baker folk
to stop by the store, even
before they open, with
ideas, comments, thoughts
and suggestions.
Jeff Kleck: tales in watercolor
BY GINA K. SWARTZ
Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Jeff Kleck has been cre-
ating art since he was very
young. Now, his art is on
display at the Baker City
Saddle Shop on Church
street.
The 1974 Baker High
graduate who grew up on
cattle ranches in the Medi-
cal Springs area said of
his work, “I’m trying real
hard to let the paint paint
the picture. That’s hard for
people that do watercolors,
not mess with it too much
when you’re letting the
paint paint the picture.”
He added, “Everything
I paint has a story, has a
tale. There is something
behind every painting, it
has a story within itself,
as much as anything I try
to tell a story. Behind that
story I try to use different
techniques, a splash tech-
nique or a drip technique.
Instead of even worrying
about what the color is,
use any color but make
sure the value is correct,
so it doesn’t matter the
color—say I see a shadow
on a neck and it’s a dark
shadow. It doesn’t matter
that the neck has a flesh
tone to it what matters is
that area is dark. A lot of
people don’t realize how
mush green is in skin. So a
good dark green you put it
into a portrait and you look
at it and say, ‘Holy cow,
it is amazing what all that
color does.’”
As far as a defined style,
Kleck doesn’t specifically
identify with anything.
“It is kind of mixed,”
he said. “I’ve done a few
bronzes before. With
watercolor, I use a splash
technique where you drip
paint onto the paper and
blow it around with a
straw. It gets you this inter-
esting coloration and then
you can go back over it
with the details you want.
I don’t do photographic
— Weekly Hay Report —
Friday, September 11, 2015 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady compared to week-
ago prices. Export sales have seemed to slowly
pick up compared to past few weeks. Many produc-
ers have decided to hold on to their hay for now, in
hopes for higher prices. Some producers are having
their water rights cut off due to the drought.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa — Large Square, Supreme
300 210.00-210.00 210.00
Alfalfa — Large Square, Premium
100 140.00-140.00 140.00
Timothy Grass — Large Square, Good
800 170.00-170.00 170.00
Last week:
Orchard Grass — Small Square, Premium
30 195.00-195.00 195.00
Timothy Grass — Small Square, Premium
10 195.00-195.00 195.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 991
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 279.00 - 292.00 Top 316.00
400-500# Bulk 247.00 - 285.00 Top 289.00
500-600# Bulk 209.00 - 251.00 Top 252.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 241.00 - 261.00 Top 265.00
400-500# Bulk 229.00 - 253.00 Top 258.00
500-600# Bulk 207.00 - 225.00 Top 226.00
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 201.00 - 216.00 Top 218.00
700-800# Bulk 169.00 - 191.00 Top 196.00
800-900# Bulk 163.00 - 177.00 Top 178.00
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
600-700#
700-800#
800-900#
900-1,000#
Yearling Heifers
Bulk 173.00 - 192.00 Top 198.00
Bulk 168.00 - 180.00 Top 181.00
Bulk 166.00 - 177.00 Top 179.00
Bulk 151.00 - 164.00 Top 164.50
Thin Shelly Cows 73.00 - 89.00
Butcher Cows 94.00 - 106.00
Butcher Bulls 102.00 - 119.00
Stock Cows Yng. 1590.00 - 2300.00
Younger Hfrts. 113.00 - 132.00
Stock Cows - 1310.00 - 1535.00
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press
BHS grad Jeff Kleck shows off his art at the Baker City Saddle Shop.
realism. For me, I’m ex-
perimenting with different
styles but at the same time
every time I’m putting
something together, I’m
telling a story. If there is
anything that would define
a style it’s more about the
story but I like to say it is
‘tales in watercolor.’”
He smiled. Kleck was
influenced at young age by
Duke Sundt, well-known
western artist and sculptor.
“He showed me how
to draw my first bucking
horse and I’ve been draw-
ing or painting ever since,”
Kleck said. “I also give a
lot of praise to my old art
teacher in High School,
Mr. Miller. I went through
three years of art right here
at Baker High School. I
had one class of design in
College and I can tell you
I learned more from Mr.
Miller in High School as
I did in that college class.
The rest of it is studying,
reading, watching, trying,
experimenting and seeing
what happens.”
Kleck has a couple paint-
ings that are near and dear
to his heart one of those
is called Dad’s Sombrero.
It is a depiction of what
Kleck has in his mind of a
hat his dad had complete
with a horseshoe print on
the back rim.
He explained, “It’s like
any cowboy hat that any-
body has ever worn it has
gone with that cowboy a
lot of places and there are a
lot of stories to tell. If that
hat could only talk.”
Which is coincidently
is the name of another
painting he has done of a
cowboy hat.
He tells of another
painting that tells the story
of when he was young
working on his family
ranch in Medical Springs.
“I was the one that rode a
lot of the colts and I would
ride them out to the back
of the ranch, the painting
is called Two Empty Stir-
rups,” he said.
Kleck explained, “It il-
lustrates when it is an hour
ride, but a two and a half
hour walk back, holding
on for dear life seems to
be the best option at that
point.”
When asked about the
selling of his art, Kleck
said, “Years ago I had a
friend see some of my
paintings and said I know
a guy that would love
those, would you sell
them? So I sold a couple,
they were just hanging
in my house. And then at
one particular time I had
a bunch of paintings and
I had just been enjoying
them myself. I had a yard
sale, because I was mov-
ing, so I just set them out
with everything else and
sold them there. The ones
I remember I will probably
repaint again. One was
of George Fletcher, the
first black man to win the
saddle bronc completion
at the Pendleton Roundup.
He was denied his saddle
until 1965 or something
but he was a good rider
and it’s not to emphasize
any particular issue it was
just to honor somebody
who was a good cowboy.”
Kleck’s wife Barbara
said, “Recently Jeff found
a newspaper clipping about
it and said ‘I want to paint
this again.’”
Kleck said, “Philosophi-
cally I have thought about
this for a while, people
paint for a number of rea-
sons. I have decided that
when people start coming
to see and buying your
art then you really have a
partnership. You may buy
something you like for
your home or whatever but
my share of the partnership
is to continue to grow as a
painter.
SEE JEFF KLECK PAGE 5
Doug Fir is $415.00/mbf
White fir is $365.00/mb
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: $1120.20
Silver: $14.86
Platinum: $974.55
Palladium: $607.38
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $385.50/bu/USD
Wheat: $487.00/bu/USD
Soybeans: $887.75/bu/USD
Oats: $234.20 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $12.84/cwt/USD
Canola: $472.50 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $139.90/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $189.40/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $62.83//lb./USD
Bloomberg.com