REDMOND SPOKESMAN • TuESDAy, DEcEMbER 6, 2022 A9
NEWS
Sparks fly when veteran meets beekeeper
BY MARK GOSS
For the Spokesman
K
aleb Watson, a U.S. Marine
veteran and pistol instructor,
never figured he’d cross paths
with Joan Sciacca, a diminutive pow-
erhouse, organization design consul-
tant and beekeeper.
Enter a MIG welder.
Watson, who left military service in
2002, has worked hard to re-enter ci-
vilian life. Like so many vets, he has a
tremendous skillset, a commitment to
service and unstoppable work ethic.
But also like so many vets, his experi-
ences left their scars.
“When I left the military, I found
it hard to relate to people who hadn’t
served. And the chaos of civilian so-
cial relationships made it even harder
to find a way in,” said Watson.
Watson and Sciacca came together
through School of Ranch, a Terre-
bonne-based nonprofit that runs
workshops to help new property
owners build skills. School of Ranch’s
mission is to inspire responsible land
use, encourage relationships that
strengthen our community, and open
pathways to economic and social op-
portunities for veterans and others
who may need a hand up.
“School of Ranch is one of the best
ideas I have ever been a part of. I
took for granted all the things I know
about rural life skills. There’s so much
more to it than just: ‘Plant seed in
February,’” said Watson.
Watson recently led practical weld-
ing for farm and ranch, a workshop
that teaches newcomers to use a MIG
welder to repair things.
“Joan showed huge enthusiasm
right away,” he said. “I had to rein her
in a couple of times. It surprised me
given her, um, demographic. It was
Photo courtesy School of Ranch
Participants in a School of Ranch live
workshop teach each other skills, like
welding.
Photo courtesy School of Ranch
Participants in a School of Ranch live workshop teach each other skills, like welding.
cool that I could relate to someone
with an advanced college degree. She’s
a rocket scientist, literally.”
“I only work to pay for fun,” said
Sciacca. “I moved here two years ago
to a five acre ranch. Life here is very
different.” Sciacca has learned bee-
keeping, and took a School of Ranch
workshop on welding so she could
build a stand for her hive.
“Joan is a rock star,” said Wat-
son, pointing to the new welder Joan
bought on a shopping trip to Harbor
Freight with Watson. “How many
workshops take you shopping?” said
Sciacca.
“I always wanted to weld, but never
did anything about it,” he said. “With
School of Ranch I know I can learn
with people at my level. You have to
get together live to learn new skills.
Take beekeeping. I read books on
bees. You know what, the bees haven’t
read the books.”
Both Watson and Sciacca feel
strongly about passing on the core
skills of rural life.
“If we don’t pass ranch and farm
skills along to people like me, they’ll
be lost,” said Sciacca. While Watson
has many skills, he had never run a
formal workshop before, much less
taught welding.
“The experience was fantastic,” said
Watson. “I didn’t realize how much
I’d enjoy passing my skills onto other
people. I didn’t value how rare these
skills are. I just figured everyone had
them.”
Watson worked with the School of
Ranch team to develop his workshop.
With the support of Ellie May, who
donated the use of the facility, Watson
led Sciacca and six others through a
successful learning experience.
School of Ranch helps with curric-
ulum development, training, promo-
tion, registration, credit card process-
ing, facility, and insurance. Watson
earned over $90 an hour for running
this workshop. School of Ranch gives
instructors 25% to 55% of the work-
shop revenue depending on the cost
to produce.
School of Ranch is looking for peo-
ple like Watson who have skills and
want to run workshops. The organi-
zation will train, develop a workshop
plan, handle promotion and registra-
tion, supply facilities and equipment.
Submit this form https://schoolof-
ranch.org/instructor-application. You
can join School of Ranch for free on
Facebook as well at https://www.face-
book.com/groups/3231237387106294.
Bend-Redmond Habitat
for Humanity wins awards
By SPOKESMAN STAFF
Members of the
Redmond Kiwanis
gather donations
from local residents
for St. Vincent De
Paul’s food pantry.
The donations set a
record.
courtesy photo
Redmond Kiwanis smashes
food pantry donation record
By SPOKESMAN STAFF
When Earl Fisher, Redmond
Kiwanian who organizes their
food pantry donation program,
challenged the club to contrib-
ute 1,000 pounds of food to a
local pantry, some club mem-
bers thought he was a little bit
too ambitious. After all, the pre-
vious record was 750 pounds.
But, in Kiwanian style, the
club responded. Three van
loads and 1,864 pounds later,
there is now a new club record.
“We are thrilled to contrib-
ute to St Vincent De Paul Food
Pantry in this way,” said club
president Chris Richie. “Many
families will benefit and that is
why we serve.”
Among the donations were
eight turkeys. A number of res-
idents outside the club chipped
in to contribute.
“When I was purchasing
items for the food drive, the
cashier asked what the food
was for and when I told her
that it was for the Kiwanis
food drive. She said a customer
came in the day before and
paid for two turkeys,” said Ki-
wanis member Amber Wilson.
“The customer told the cashier
to donate the second turkey to
someone she thought deserved
it and so the cashier gave it to
us. It shows how generous our
community is.”
The Kiwanis Club of Red-
mond’s mission is to improve
the lives of youth and fam-
ilies in Redmond and the
surrounding communities
through service, contribut-
ing to and supporting organi-
zations who serve youth and
families and acting as positive
role models. The club meets on
Wednesdays at noon at the Ju-
niper Golf Course clubhouse.
More information can be
found at www.redmond-
kiwanis.org.
Windermere Real Estate accepting
donations of cold weather gear
By SPOKESMAN STAFF
With the coldest months
of the year upon us, brokers
from Windermere Real Estate
are teaming up to “share the
warmth” and help provide win-
ter necessities for those in need.
As part of the annual cam-
paign, the Windermere office
in Redmond will be collecting
donations now through Friday,
Dec. 16 to benefit Jericho Road
and the Family Access Network.
The organizations are specifi-
cally asking for blankets, hats,
gloves and coats in all sizes for
both adults and children, as well
as sleeping bags and tents.
Those who want to help can
stop by participating Winder-
mere offices to drop off dona-
tions. The Windermere office in
Redmond is located at 821 SW
6th St. and is open from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. The public can also
make monetary donations to
help purchase needed items via
the secure donation portal on
the Share the Warmth website.
“Our real estate brokers have
always been committed to their
local communities, and Share
the Warmth is a prime example
of that. We look forward to col-
laborating with the community
each year in order to help our
neighbors,” said Scott Mitchel-
son, president of Windermere
Services Company in Oregon
and SW Washington in a re-
lease. “I’m always amazed by
the generosity this campaign
inspires and proud of the ways
we come together to take care of
each other.”
Get great
service &
great rates.
Joe A Lochner Ins Acy Inc
Joe A Lochner, Agent
www.joelochner.com
Redmond, OR 97756
Bus: 541-548-6023
Bend-Redmond Habitat for
Humanity has won two Earth
Advantage Awards, one for
“Most Net Zero Homes” and
“Project of the Year: Affordable
Single Family.”
Both awards are connected
to the Northwest Cottages
community in Redmond,
which was built by Habitat for
Humanity.
The Earth Advantage
Awards (formerly Green
Builder of the Year) are
awarded to builders across
the state of Oregon who are
exceeding requirements for
courtesy photo
energy efficiency and indoor
air quality. This also includes Earth Advantage presents two awards to Habitat for Humanity. Pic-
building zero energy homes, tured (from left to right) are Scott Brown, Matt Douglas, Viki Wooster
and Grace Weger.
which generate at least as
much energy as they consume.
quisition and development.
Bend-Redmond Habitat for
Winners were chosen by
In addition to the Northwest Humanity builds energy effi-
third party judges from within
cient homes using advanced
Cottages Net-Zero commu-
the green building industry.
nity, Bend-Redmond Habitat
framing methods, super insu-
“We are immensely grateful
lation, and air sealing to reduce
for Humanity has 30 addi-
to our community and their
tional energy efficient homes
energy consumption. Water
demonstration of a commit-
ment to equitable energy ef-
completed or in development,
conservation is addressed with
ficiency,” said Grace Weger,
and plans to continue to build
efficient plumbing fixtures,
Bend-Redmond Habitat for
homes with these standards
short plumbing runs and xeri-
scape landscaping.
Humanity’s director of land ac- into the future.
Read and recycle