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Hood River News, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
CASCADE
Observations
Treichels celebrate 60 years
By PEGGY DILLS KELTER
Submitted photos
LaVern and Ozzie Treichel
Ozzie and LaVern Treichel of Parkdale cel-
ebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on
June 19.
The two were married June 19, 1955 in
Nicollet, Minn., moving to Parkdale in 1969.
Ozzie worked as a self-employed farmer, log-
ger, builder, and baler; LaVern, as a hospital
nurse. The couple has three children, Con-
nie, Craig and Chris, and 10 grandchildren,
including 16-year-old triplet granddaughters.
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
Peggy Dills Kelter prepares materials for completion of her
last year as a teacher at Mid Valley.
Love, punctuated
Photo by Barb Young
H ONORING
D AVID
D UNCOMBE
M
ay 29, and the handcrafted love notes
from second graders keep coming —
their teacher has informed them that
today is my birthday, and that I will be
retiring from teaching in the coming
year. If I felt uncomfortable about turning 59
when I awoke this morning, their lovely cards
have temporarily banished those feelings.
Little do they know that their cards are demon-
strating “hyperbole,” which my dictionary defines
as “an exaggeration or extravagant statement.” Ma-
gali’s note to me is in Spanish. She writes, “Tu eres
la mejor artista del mundo.” Translated it means,
“You are the best artist in the world.” Nora says,
“You are the best art techer ever! I will miss you
over the summer because you are the best techer
ever!” Who can feel depressed with fans such as
these?
Cooper writes, “You are a grate artist.” His senti-
ment is less hyperbolic than those of the girls, but
Cooper is reminding me that homonyms and homo-
phones are one of the reasons English is so hard to
learn for my ELLs (English Language Learners).
Take the word grate as an example. Uttered orally,
grate could refer to the action of shredding cheese,
a metal plate that covers a hole (a whole one?) in the
street, or an adjective describing someone who does
something well, as in “you are a great artist.” One is
a verb, one is a noun, and the last is an adjective.
The second graders’ charming cards, filled with
errors of convention, make my birthday “The best
day ever!!!!!” I send them back (an action of return
or part of the human anatomy?) a class card to let
them know (no?) how grateful (egad!) I am for
(four?) their (there, they’re?) lovely gifts.
Pastor Kelly Ryan, left, and mod-
erator Pam Tindall welcome
guests to the David Duncombe
Library at Bethel United Church
of Christ in White Salmon. The
library houses Duncombe’s col-
lection of books and his life
time archives, including his jour-
nals, papers, correspondence,
and news articles documenting
his extensive social activism.
Rev. Duncombe, a chaplain and
long-time social activist, was
jailed several times and con-
ducted more than one hunger
strike. He died at age 82 in
2011. A work desk with materi-
als for writing legislators con-
tinues his legacy of political ac-
tivism. The library was designed
by Katey Price and built by Ben
Seagraves, and is open to the
public. David’s children, Betsy,
Steven and Jane Duncombe,
were in attendance.
■
Lately, I’ve been noticing how often we use ab-
breviations — on road signs, when texting, or at the
grocery store: 4 instead of “for,” as in “Johnson 4
Mayor,” “Cntr lane closed” instead of “center” and
the one that always confused me in elementary
school, “C’mon.” Until I was 9 or 10 I always read
“C’mon” as “See moan” and wondered why so many
authors used this undecipherable term in the novels
I adored. The day I realized it was short for “Come
on” was truly a day of revelation.
Although I am a native English speaker, I was
tripped up by “C’mon” until someone read it cor-
rectly to me out loud. When instructing native Eng-
lish speakers, we teachers often ask them if some-
thing “sounds right.” Instinctively they know to
say “The big brown dog” instead of “The dog big
brown.” But English Language Learners can’t rely
on their instincts to say or write something correct-
ly in English In fact, the rules of Spanish would in-
struct them to add adjectives after the noun, and not
before. So we all muddle through the messy but fas-
cinating process of learning a second language.
■
I consider myself a “grammar geek.” In middle
school I loved diagramming sentences. In college I
worked as an editor and proofreader for my school’s
publications office. I’m a member of the “Apostro-
phe Patrol,” one of the many in search of apostro-
phes being used poorly. That said, I still make lots of
errors with English conventions. My friend Mimi is
my go-to grammar guru — she even has the word
“Grammarian” printed on her business card. I call
her when I have questions about correct English
usage. She is remarkably knowledgeable, especially
since she is not a native English speaker; her first
language is German.
■
My friend Kim is a fellow “grammar geek.” We
find learning about the rules of language to be en-
tertaining. Several years ago, we had a revelatory
moment when we learned that there are rules in
English about adjective placements. The order of
adjectives should be as follows:
Quantity or number
Quality or opinion
Size
Age
Shape
Color
Proper adjective (often nationality, other place of
origin, or material)
Purpose or qualifier
For example, we wouldn’t say, “Oregon slimy five
brown long slugs crawled through the soil wet.”
Rather, the correct order of adjectives is, “Five
slimy long brown Oregon slugs crawled through the
wet soil.” Where others play golf or watch wrestling
for entertainment, Kim and I search for grammar
fun facts.
■
Kim is just one of the people I will miss when I
hand in my keys to Mid Valley Elementary School
next week. For 13 years I’ve had the pleasure of
working with a group of brilliant, creative, hard-
working educators. Together, we’ve experienced the
untimely deaths of many of our loved ones, cele-
brated the arrival of new babies, weathered the
ever-changing worlds of educational policies and
procedures, rescued abused students, and always
found some time to laugh.
There are seven of us retiring this year from
MVE. Those that will remain are an astonishingly
talented bunch. Last week they threw us a party
that celebrated the importance of laughing together.
Members of the school’s staff wrote witty, delightful
songs perfectly created for each of us retirees. A full
chorus of fellow teachers sang them, complete with
a ukulele band and actresses pantomiming the
lyrics. Thank you, Mid Valley, for a wonderful party,
and for your support, guidance and humor these
last 13 years. I will miss you, my grate friends. You
are the best in the universe!
Hood River student wins Holocaust Center contest
“How can lessons of the
Holocaust inspire you to
make the world a better
place?”
This is the question
posed to hundreds of stu-
dents in the Pacific North-
west for the Holocaust Cen-
ter for Humanity’s 2015
Writing, Art, and Film Con-
test.
Haley Hughes of Hood
River Middle School won
Honorable Mention in Art
(7th-8th) for her piece enti-
tled “Support.” The follow-
ing is an excerpt from her
Artist Statement:
“I will never harm any-
one because they are differ-
ent, or because they are dis-
abled. I will only help them
and bring their spirits up.”
O ve r 7 0 0 s t u d e n t s i n
grades 5 through 12, from
more than 60 schools
throughout the Northwest,
answered in the form of po-
e t r y, f i c t i o n , p a i n t i n g ,
sculpture, drawing, and
film. On June 7, the Center
honored the winners at an
awards ceremony.
For over 25 years, the
Holocaust Center for Hu-
manity (formerly the Wash-
ington State Holocaust Edu-
cation Resource Center) has
been teaching tolerance
through lessons of Holo-
caust and providing educa-
tional resources to teachers
and community g roups
throughout the region. The
Center offers teacher train-
ings, a Speakers Bureau of
local Holocaust survivors,
“travelling trunks,” and the
Writing, Art, and Film Con-
test.
The contest gives stu-
dents the opportunity to en-
gage with the lessons of the
Holocaust, while empower-
ing them to explore themes
of tolerance, bigotry, and
compassion in their daily
lives. Director of Education
Ilana Cone Kennedy said,
“The contest is a great way
for students to connect the
lessons of the Holocaust to
their own lives. Through
their writing and creativity,
they find that their actions,
even small ones, make a dif-
ference. Their work in-
spires all of us.”
Here’s what you need to know for July 4 in HR
The Hood River Lions are
working with other communi-
ty groups for another great In-
dependence Day salute to our
country. Set for Saturday, July
4, the day opens with the 40th
annual Kollas-Cranmer
Run/Walk from Odell to Jack-
son Park in Hood River.
Registration starts at 7
a.m. at Mid-Valley Elemen-
tary School. Walkers start
at 8 a.m. and runner begin
their contest at 9 a.m.;
www.4thofjulyrun.com.
The parade, with the theme
of “Beautiful Bounty,” will
start at 10 a.m. with the line
G RADS
Continued from Page B1
students with college and ca-
reer opportunities through
the Aspire program, and for
chaperoning numerous
events in the past including
school dances.
The evening was a musical
one, with original songs by
HRVHS students, including
“Blast Off ” as well as “Eagle
Nation” by graduating se-
nior Owen Kozec, which
pumped up the audience be-
fore “Pomp and Circum-
stance” kicked in.
Another highlight of the
musical selection was a new
school alma mater per-
for med by the Chamber
Singers. The piece was writ-
ten and conducted by
HRVHS music director Mark
Steighner, who is retiring
from his role after 36 years.
The recessional song cho-
sen by the students was “See
up on Eliot Drive beginning at
8:30 a.m. To speed up the reg-
istration, forms and instruc-
tions can be obtained by link-
ing to “gorgelions.org.”
The parade fee is $10 and
there will be monetary prizes
for the best entries.
The grand marshals will be
the people associated with
Fish Food Bank which opened
its new facility last month.
The theme is “Beautiful Boun-
ty,” describing the wonderful
area of the Hood River Valley
and Columbia River Gorge
and the assistance that is
given to our neighbors by the
you Again” by hip-hop artist
Wiz Khalifa. As the students
filed out to massive applause,
Khalifa’s words blasted from
the loudspeakers, “We’ve
come a long way from where
we began. Oh I’ll tell you all
about it when I see you
again.”
Fish Food Bank. Attendees
are asked to bring a can of
fruit or soup to Jackson Park
that will be given to the FISH
Food Bank.
For safety to children and
adults along with keeping the
parade route litter free, the
Hood River Lions ask that no
candy be passed out or thrown
from the entries. The Hood
River Rotary Club and
Heights Ice Cream are again
teaming up to offer ice cream
at a discounted price in Jack-
son Park for the children after
the parade.
Onlookers will be treated to
about 50 local entries but also
a Portland band called “The
Beat Goes On” with its musi-
cians and baton twirlers. They
will also perform in Jackson
Park for 40 minutes starting at
noon with the raising of the
This size ad in the HRN
9 times for only $175 50 !
Call Kirsten at 541-386-1234
■
The patriotic celebration
ends with a grand fireworks
display over the Columbia
River starting at 10 p.m.
thanks to the Hood River Eye-
opener Lions Club.
Donations for the fireworks
program are needed and can
be mailed to Eyeopener Lions,
1767 12th Street #136, Hood
River, OR 97031.
Recycle Tips
WKO-High Cascade Mills CARDBOARD
Buying Logs
& Timber
Douglas Fir
White Fir
Pine
!
K
O
O
L
American Flag.
At 11 a.m. the Hood River
Fire Dept. will began serving
its annual BBQ lunch. Around
1 p.m. we will be entertained
by the Willy & Nelson band.
Also in the park will be ice
cream, two bounce houses,
face painting and some games
for the children.
Jeremy Beddingfield 541-399-3933
Norm Byars 541-490-2940
Mill: 509-427-8413
2022 Wind River Hwy • P.O. Box 8
Carson, WA 98610
Recycle at curbside,
rural depots or transfer
stations.
- Businesses that generate
a lot should ask garbage
company about a cardboard
dumpster.
- Flattened, in pieces
between 1 feet to 3 feet
any direction.
- Do not include pieces
smaller than 1’x1’ (can’t
be sorted out)
- Do not include wax
corrugated cardboard
(like fruit boxes)
www.tricountyrecycle.com
541-506-2636