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.