T ONGUE P OINT J OB C ORPS C ENTER C ELEBRATES S TAFF E XCELLENCE !
MTC’s annual Celebrating Excellence Program provides an opportunity for staff to recognize their peers - those employees
who exhibit outstanding performance, go beyond what is expected of them, and do whatever it takes to make a positive
difference. With the challenges of 2020-2021, all our staff deserve to be celebrated for their innovativeness and flexibility.
To honor all our heroes on-site, a virtual awards show spotlighted our winners across campus in socially-distanced viewing
parties. Each staff winner listed below received an inscribed Oscar, plaque, certificate and check. Tongue Point Job Corps
Center is humbled by EVERY staff member’s dedication to providing a supportive environment for our students to thrive in.
SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR
MANAGER OF THE YEAR
MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Adam Darrington
Bob McLellan
Kris Saulsbury
SUPPORT SERVICES STAFF
MEMBER OF THE YEAR
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR
Shannon Hanson
Patrick Harber
EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR
Amy Williams
TEAM OF THE YEAR:
RESIDENCE 4 STAFF
Dan Garber, Residential Living
Supervisor
Tim Cothren
Jeralyn O’Brien
Beth Stark
Stephanie Thomas
Steve Wilkinson
STAFF MEMBER
OF THE YEAR
John Rowden
COMMUNITY SUPPORTER
OF THE YEAR
Heather DeSart,
Northwest Oregon Works
TPJCC SCHOLAR
OF THE YEAR
Precious Asoore, Clinical Medical
Assisting graduate. Awarded to a
select Job Corps graduate who is
enrolled in college.
CAREERS BEGIN HERE
503-338-5000
TONGUE POINT
JOB CORPS CENTER
Help Change Lives • Apply at www.mtctrains.com • tonguepoint.jobcorps.gov
14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
BY RON BALDWIN
Looking back on the last
nearly two years of fi ght-
ing the COVID-19 virus and
each other over the vaccines
and masks and shutdowns,
one thing is clear: in the
face of the pandemic, most
people have turned every
night into Movie Night.
It’s the most American of
responses.
With the boom in online
streaming platforms and
subscribers, some movie
companies are creating
content that is specifi cally
designed for streaming and
never intended for theatrical
release.
Two things are essen-
tial for a successful movie
night; a movie or two, obvi-
ously, but what’s the second
thing we think of? Popcorn!
According to industry
reports, microwave pop-
corn sales have increased
50% and raw popcorn 70%
since the beginning of the
pandemic.
Popcorn has been with
us a long time. Scientists
believe that popcorn has
been cultivated for around
9,000 years but the old-
est viable popcorn, found
in Peru, is 6,700 years old.
Since then, popcorn has
been enjoyed by nearly all
Americans both native and
immigrant far and wide.
Until the 20th cen-
tury, Americans mainly ate
their popcorn as breakfast
cereal, with milk and sweet-
ener. Chicago entrepreneur
Charles Cretors is credited
with driving the adoption of
popcorn into the mass con-
sumption era.
This isn’t the fi rst time
Americans have embraced
the humble snack in times
of upheaval. During the
depression of 1893-1897
Cretors’ popcorn wag-
ons began to appear on the
streets of American cities,
most prominently near the-
aters. At fi ve cents a box/
Ron Baldwin
Author Ron Baldwin writes
about America’s timeless
love of popcorn.
bag, it was cheap enough for
everyone and readily fi lled
empty bellies. The fl u epi-
demic of 1918 again saw a
jump in popcorn consump-
tion as people stayed away
from public places but still
enjoyed the snack at home.
By the time of the stock
market crash of 1929 pop-
corn had already become
the snack enjoyed most by
Americans at movie the-
aters. Theater patrons gob-
bled the stuff by the barrel.
During this depression pop-
corn gained even greater
popularity as an inexpensive
snack. The crop kept some
farmers in business, while
others were failing. World
War II would cement pop-
corn as America’s most pop-
ular salty snack. During the
war, due to sugar rations,
snacks were limited, so
Americans ate three times
as much popcorn as before
the war.
The countertop micro-
wave oven came into wide
use in the 1970s and micro-
wave popcorn appeared in
1981. Americans responded
by popping more popcorn
than ever as producers made
their products easy to pre-
pare, in disposable bags
with all the goodies built-in.
By the mid-1980s Ameri-
cans splurged on $250 mil-
lion in popcorn.
Enter Orville Reden-
bacher. In the mid-1960s the
food scientist and farmer
and his partner developed a
hybrid popcorn they called
Snowfl ake. It proved to
be the future of the pop-
corn industry. This variety
popped up twice as large
as the varieties Americans
were used to. His brand of
popcorn, mass marketed,
drove the industry for years
and other producers took
note. Today, over half of the
microwave popcorn sold is
the Snowfl ake hybrid.
The air popper was a big
trend through the ‘80s and
‘90s but now populate thrift
stores. The newest trend in
man’s long history with the
grain is pre-popped prod-
ucts. The population has
grown tired of preparing
popcorn and has embraced
pre-popped, packaged prod-
ucts like Skinny Pop and
Smartfood. This segment of
the industry is growing fast.
Industry leaders say that fl a-
vored popcorn is the growth
trend for at least a couple of
years.
Anyone who is a true
popcorn fanatic like me will
brook no discussion of these
modern products as being
in any way like the product
made by their favorite old,
messy methods that bring
forth the Golden Bounty of
the Corn Gods.
For the fanatics, it’s a
whole ritual. My college
roommate even wore special
ceremonial black ninja paja-
mas when it was time for
popcorn. What a sight.
I still maintain that
the best way to enjoy this
ancient food is the ancient
way, over an open fi re. My
basket popper is a rusty
thing of beauty but there are
still new models available.
The best thing about pop-
corn is sharing. Walk into a
room with a bowl of pop-
corn and your popularity
goes way up.
