•♦«»<•* wt,*fc A « 1
wr* *'
Thor»., Sept 21. 1 » 7 t ($•< 2) SANDY (O re ) POST— 3
Perfect for retiree
Her job is the berries
t
Staff photo
Just a few miles to go
THREE WET, cold backpackers trudged down Sandy’s
streets last weekend after hiking a portion of the Pacific
Crest Trail. The trio was headed for the home of Jeff
Youngbluth near Bluff Road. From left, the hikers are
Youngbluth, Jeff Whitson of Portland and Scott Wright of
Gresham.
For possible learning problems
Boring students screened
BORING - The usual
atmosphere of students
taking a test was missing
Monday and Tuesday at
Boring
Grade
School.
Missing were the faces of
frustration and anxiety. In
fact, the 50 or so first graders
seemed to enjoy having their
visual, auditory and motor
skills tested.
For two days, volunteers
from the Sandy Retired
Teachers Association and the
B o rin g P a re n t-T e a c h e r
Association screened in-
I coming first-g ra d e rs to
determine possible learning
problems.
The test is aimed at skill
levels, not intellectual levels,
explained Superintendent
Dave Gillespie.
The test is designed to help
first-grade and kindergarten
te a c h e rs
r e c o g n iz e
developmental areas where
kids are having trouble that
teachers normally wouldn't
be able to pick out in a
classroom, said Gail G rif
fiths, testing coordinator.
The test, which is being
administered for the first
time in the Boring district, is
divided into seven areas,
each one evaluating an area
of motor, visual, auditory or
conceptual skill.
For example, to test motor
coordination skills, a student
is asked to crawl, walk. run.
walk on a balance beam and
jump rope. To test auditory
memory, a student is asked
to perform three commands,
repeat a sentence, repeat
numbers and recall story
facts.
This screening w ill help
teachers design a program
for particular students to
correct weak areas, Griffiths
said.
" I t ’s really effective at
preventing reading problems
later on,’’ she said. The
children are still young and
so much can be done at their
age, she added
G riffiths said a child may
start out with a serious
problem, but after working
20 minutes a day in a specific
area, he or she should be able
to function normally in a
classroom by the end of the
year.
A teacher can prescribe
individualized activities for a
student, she said
“ Our ideal is in three
years, every child w ill read
at or above grade level by the
third grade,” said Gillespie.
"This (program) gives us a
road map from which to
start.”
He said the district decided
to s ta rt screening firs t-
graders in this manner
because it didn’t have a good
instrument to pinpoint where
children were in terms of
ability.
He said first graders all
have different ability levels
when they first enter school.
Gillespie said the district is
not foolish enough to think
this screening w ill answer all
its needs, but the program
w ill help
"What I like is the com
m unity involvem ent,” he
said, referring to the help of
retired teachers and parents
in the testing
G riffith s said students
have to score a certain
percentage of correct an
swers in an area, and since
the tasks are specific, the
score gives a pretty accurate
picture of a student's skill
level.
County commission
supports Measure 11
Greater property tax relief
for homeowners is one of the
features of Ballot Measure 11
that makes it superior to
Ballot Measure 6, according
to the Clackamas County
Board of Commissioners
The board, in a prepared
statem ent released last
week, gave unanimous
support to Measure 11, the
property tax relief proposal
developed by the Oregon
Legislature as an alternative
to the 1.5 percent limitation.
"Ballot Measure 11 is by
far the superior product,”
the board said. " I t provides
greater property tax relief to
Oregon homeowners and
renters; it provides for the
responsible continuation of
essential services by local
governments, and it places a
lim itation on the growth of
government.”
On
the other hand,
Measure 6 eliminates local
control and choice by forcing
local governments to go to
the state asking for money,
the commissioners said.
They also said Measure 6,
if successful, would mean the
end of serial levy support for
basic services such as law
enforcement and libraries.
Measure 6 gives the state
prim ary authority to decide
who gets what, the board
said.
According
to
com
missioners, figures from the
legislative revenue office
show that homeowners in the
school districts of Sandy,
West Linn, Oregon City,
Molalla, Canby, Milwaukie,
Gladstone and Lake Oswego
would pay substantially less
taxes under Measure 11 than
they would under Measure 6.
BANG to
meet Thursday
BORING — Neighbors
opposed to a proposed 12-
acre in d u s tria l zone in
Boring w ill seek support of
the Boring Action Neigh
borhood Group at the group
Thursday meeting.
The zone change was
denied rece ntly by the
Clackamas County Planning
Com m ission,
but
the
developer plans to appeal.
A planning commission
representative also w ill be at
the meeting.
The Bang session begins at
7:30 p.m. in the Boring Fire
Hall
D uring the w inter the
bushes require pruning and
some spraying to prevent
blight.
"The year before last, I
pruned for nearly 100 hours,”
she said
In early spring she
enriches the soil with fer
tilizer to replace the nitrogen
her sawdust mulch leaches
from the soil.
Picking season starts in
July, and for the next two
months she estimates her
berry farm is a half-time job
" I have a long picking
season because I grow early-
rnedium - and late-producing
berries,” she said "From
July through September this
year, we picked 32 days —
which means that every
other day I was working ”
Once the picking season
ends, the berries require no
more than an occasional
by KAYE BARTON
Julia Latimer says she has
the ideal part time job for a
retiree — one that allows her
time for travel ,n the winter
and for work outdoors in the
summer, one that provides a
supplementary income and
decorates her yard as well.
Mrs.
L a tim e r
grows
blueberries She maintains
100 of the 300 plants her
husband tended until his
death eight years ago.
Mrs.
Latim er’s
9-
acre plot on Kelso Road
also supports a few fruit
trees and some raspberry
bushes, but the blueberries
provide the income which
enables her to travel.
"Blueberry blossoms look
and smell like lilies of the
valley,” she said "In the
spring the air around my
house is so fragrant — and in
the fall the bushes put on a
spectacular show of autumn
colors
"That was the main reason
we put the bushes in —
because
they
are
so
decorative,” she said “ It
certainly wasn’t for the quick
profit — it takes five years
before they produce any
berries to speak of.”
3.000 Pounds Of
Berries
Now that the bushes are
w ell
established
they
produce an average of 3,000
pounds of berries per season
For years the berries from
the Latimer farm were sold
on the fresh market, but the
last two seasons she has sold
them to freezing operations.
" I t took so much time to
get the berries ready for the
fresh market,” she said.
Fresh m arket
berries
must be sorted by the grower
and packed into hallocks, or
m e d iu m - a n d - l a t e -
" After sitting at the sorting
table and watching five or six
or
seven
thousand
blueberries go by. you sort of
welcomed the chance to
stand up and go pick for a
change,” she joked.
Preparing the berries for
the freezing plant is much
less tedious and there is less
tra v e l involved, she ex
plained "We had to haul the
fresh berries to warehouses
in
Clackamas
and
Milwaukie, but the freezing
plants are right here in the
Sandy area. It ’s just easier
all the way around ”
30-year lifespan
With good care, blueberry
bushes
w ill
rem ain
productive for 30 years or
more, according to Mrs.
Latimer. But the attention
they require is neither
constant
nor
tim e-
consuming “ I really don’t
have to do a great deal to
them — they sort of take care
of themselves,” she said.
spraying until the following
F ebruary. The schedule
allows Mrs Latimer plenty
of time to travel and to work
with community groups
Writes her memoirs
Her w inte r travels in
recent years have included
trips to New Zealand. Alaska
and the Hawaiian Islands,
the C arribean and the
Canadian Rockes After each
trip she writes a summary
which she binds into a
separate folder for each
journey She is also working
on her memoirs and has
accumulated a thick sheaf of
typewritten pages which tell
the story of her life up to the
most recent years
delightful place to visit,” she
said. "The scenery looked
just like western Oregon
They even grow blueberries
there — not too many areas
around the world can grow
fresh blueberries, so that
was special to us.”
In addition to travels and
her berry farming, Mrs
Latimer finds time for active
involvem ent in several
organizations. She is a
member of Order of the
Eastern Star and the
Rebekah Lodge. She is
treasurer of the Golden Age
Club and president of the
Ladies' Aid Society of the
Presbyterian Church She
also works as an RSVP
volunteer at the Sandy Senior
Center
In spite of what appears to
be a very full schedule, she
says she welcomes the
diversion
her
sm all
blueberry farm provides
"A lot of retired people
need things to occupy their
tim e,” she said “ My berry
patch gives me something to
do.”
Julia Latimer, busy with the harvest.
Boring students receive high ratings
BORING — The Boring
School D istrict has been
given a standard rating (the
highest possible) as a result
of a state evaluation done
last M arch, the school
district board was told last
week.
S u p e rin te n d e n t D ave
Gillespie said the rating was
in all areas of minimum
standards.
In other action, the board
discussed a proposed sup
plemental budget ot $10,000
The money would be used to
work on the old gymnasium
for lighting, painting and
changing some floor work,
Gillespie said
The board also heard a
com parison
on
Ballot
Measures 6 and 11. Gillespie
said Measure 11, as the
lesser of two evils, would be
better for the district.
CLASS ACTION
A trio of sweaters in a doss by
themselves. . .knit for action os
well os their great looks. From
o big sweater collection in
Shetland wool, lambs wool
and high-bulk orion by Lord
Jeff, Christopher
and Diodes.
13.00 to 26.00
GAircini
At the Glosi Outterfly
Mon thru Frt 9 30 until 9 00
I
Downtown G*e»hom
Sot 9 30 until 6 00
Sun noon until 5 00
»*/*•