B2
Hood River News, Wednesday, July 15, 2015
ROOTS
A nd B ranches
By MAIJA YASUI
The smiles of Aya and Mr. Soup
J
Some folks have expressed how envious they are
that I am retiring. Others have said they cannot fath-
om that I will not be serving the community in some
manner, and they are right. This need to serve is in
my DNA, I just won’t get paid for it.
Retirement has given me the luxury of more time to
reach out to some new found friends, and reconnect
with some of those special senior citizens long neglect-
ed. I use to tell myself I just didn’t have the time to stop
by and visit. But now I do, and it is immensely reward-
ing.
I took a very special “new” friend up to Celilo for
her cancer treatment last week and was able to share
in that joyous moment when she was fitted with a
stunning hair piece that helped her feel whole again.
Icing on the cake was the news that her mammogram
was clear, just one of a multitude of tests she had ago-
nized over these last few weeks. I would have missed
these moments if I was still working.
I was able to stop by
Hawks Ridge and take
Soup Fukui out for a lit-
tle drive, and listen as he
shared memories of
early life in Dee, the hard
winters that destroyed
some of the crops he had
so carefully tended, a
short stint in the service
and the pain of losing
his wife and only child.
He has been a peripheral
part of our family for
years but on this car ride
his loneliness is palpable.
I tell him his smile lights
up a room. His twin-
kling eyes remind the
■
grandkids of Santa
Photo
by
Maija
Yasui
The heat took its toll
on everyone, from those
NEW FRIENDS Sumio “Soup” Fukui, and Ren and Aya Yasui, Claus. I don’t think he be-
lieves me.
harvesting the fruit, to
get acquainted over lunch and bandaids.
We stop at the house
the bucket dumpers, trac-
for lunch hoping to catch
tor drivers and sorters.
up with Flip and find out how the pear crop is grow-
We kept saying how unusual this year’s harvest was,
ing. We are in luck, not only is Flip in for lunch but
but one wonders whether it will become the norm
Aya and Ren stop by. Aya runs over to Soup her out-
given the dire projections of global warning.
stretched arms offering a hug. His smile lights up the
I look south to Mt. Hood as my beacon of weather
room like last week’s lightening.
change. I can still see the pristine white glaciers on
“Mr. Soup, you have a band aid on your head. What
the north facing side so familiar to us all. The moun-
happened?” she asks. “I fell” says Soup somewhat
tain is breathtaking with its graceful curves and white sheepishly, brandishing a purple eye below the cover-
and dark undulations, but when viewed by satellite
ing. “Don’t worry” Aya consoles him, “I have one
technology from high overhead, you can see that only
too.” She brushes back her bangs and shows him her
the upper reaches of the mountain are still snow cov-
very own band aid a mirror image of his. “It’s okay
ered. The vast majority of the mountain’s surface is a
Mr. Soup. It will get better.” She turns on his smile
deep charcoal grey, naked rock skirting most of its
once again.
mass, their dark jagged profile in sharp contrast to the
■
white glacial cap. An epiphany in my conceptualiza-
As we ride back to Hawks Ridge Soup counsels me.
tion of global warming occurred with this shift in per- “Make the most of every day and those kids and
spective. If Mt. Hood is our local barometer, we have
grandkids. Do you know how lucky you are?”
much to do to protect its ice pack from evaporating
Mr. Soup, I do know that I am truly blessed. And
into thin air.
you are one of my blessings. Your sweet smile lit up
Choosing to view life from a different perspective is
our home and the heart of a little girl. When Aya
an experience I am rapidly encountering as the mo-
came over this evening, she ran through the front
ment of retirement from public service has come and
door and asked, “Is Mr. Soup here? I want him to see
gone. Adapting is an important skill set, simultane-
that my head is all better.”
ously fascinating and fear provoking. One thing is for
We will continue some of these road trips and see
certain, change is inevitable and learning how to
where they take us Mr. Soup. We may not put many
adapt to an ever changing physical, social and politi-
miles on the speedometer, but you will fill many
cal environment is crucial to survival.
hearts with your smile.
ULY CAME in June this
year.
Not only was the sun
working overtime to keep
the temperature in triple
digits, it never seemed to set.
The nights were unbelievably
bright with sunrise coming be-
fore the sun was laid to rest
properly. It reminded me of
Alaskan evenings in the land of
the midnight sun. The bamboo
surrounding our koi pond grew over a foot in just one
day, seeming to thriving in the intense heat, while
other flowers and fruit wilted in spite of an early
morning sip of recycled water.
Cherry harvest came a good two weeks early this
year, allowing us to finish harvesting the weekend of
the fourth rather than
just beginning to pick on
that all American holi-
day. While we typically
worry about rain destroy-
ing the fruit’s marketabil-
ity, this year we were
faced with another quirk
in Mother Nature’s bag of
tricks, the oppressive
heat softened the tender
cherry morsels and re-
duced their shelf life. We
scrambled to get them
packed and delivered to
the fruit company before
they lost their luster, a
tell-tale sign of the per-
fect cherry.
First Book gives new books to local families
First Book Hood River
works with existing literacy
programs throughout the
County to distribute new
books to local children who,
for socio-economic reasons,
have limited access to books.
The mission of First Book is
to increase literacy in chil-
dren in Hood River County.
On April 27, the Hood River
Valley High School Teen Par-
ent Program held the First
Book Hood River book distrib-
ution party. Because of a gen-
erous grant First Book re-
ceived this year, each child
was given five books for their
home libraries. Ali Church at-
tended as a special guest and
representative of the United
Way. As a special treat chil-
dren at the center read to the
group, underlining the goals
and benefits of the program —
everyone loved their stories.
First Book Hood River re-
ceives generous support from
Hood River Lions Club, Unit-
ed Way of the Columbia
Gorge, Gorge Community
Foundation, and individual
community supporters and
volunteers.
“We could not
continue our work without
these local supporters and are
endlessly thankful,” said Kym
Zanmiller of First Book..
First Book Hood River
grants book awards four times
a year and the next grant ap-
plication cycle will open in
September. If you would like
more information, contact
Dorothy E. Milford
will celebrate her 100th
birthday with an open
house on Saturday, July
1 8 a t t h e P a rk d a l e
Grange from 2-4 p.m.
Cake, ice cream and
snacks will be served,
and all are welcome to
attend. Cards are appre-
ciated; no gifts, please.
Dorothy was born in
Fort Scott, Kansas on
July 21, 1915 to her par-
e n t s, Jo h n a n d A d a
Bruner. She very proud-
ly calls herself an “Old
Kansas Farm Girl.” As a
young adult, she mar-
ried her husband,
Theodore W. (Walt) Mil-
ford and in the early
1940s, they moved from
Kansas to Oregon, with
short periods of time
spent in California and
Washington. When they
came to the Hood River
Valley, they knew they
had found “home.” They
purchased a house in
the Mount Hood area of
the Hood River Valley
and to this day, Dorothy
lives in the house which
her husband remodeled
and rebuilt. Three chil-
dren were born to them,
Columbia Gorge Peace
Village is gearing up for its
eighth summer, and there
are still several spots avail-
a b l e f o r c a m p e r s. T h i s
year’s camp runs August 3-7
at Mosier School, and
serves kids aged 6-13. Peace
Village is a day camp full of
fun activities that support
its “Principles of Peace”
mission: Authentic Self-Ex-
pression, Connection, and
Empowerment.
Kids are placed in small
camper groups with coun-
selors that lead them
t h r o u g h a c t iv i t i e s t h a t
teach the core concepts of
non-violent conflict resolu-
tion, media literacy, earth
connections, service, move-
ment, music, art, and peace
heroes.
Campers also enjoy Vil-
lage Fair activities which
expand on themes of peace,
the environment and na-
ture, sustainability, food,
and the arts.
All of these experiences
are developmentally appro-
priate and model a deep re-
spect for cultural and reli-
gious diversity. We cele-
brate that our children are
Kym Zanmiller at zan-
miller@gorge.net. If you
would like to volunteer or do-
nate, call Nancy Paul at 541-
490-5330 or write First Book
Hood River at P.O. Box 221,
Hood River, OR 97031.
lege, in upstate New York,
prepares students for suc-
cess through hands-on expe-
rience with internships, re-
search and study abroad. Its
inte g rative cur riculum
builds bridges across disci-
plines and uniquely blends
liberal arts and professional
study. Located in New York’s
Finger Lakes region, the Col-
lege is home to 6,100 under-
graduate and 460 graduate
students.
Free weekend comes to Maryhill
Maryhill Museum of Art
invites residents of Hood
River, Wasco, Sher man,
Gilliam, and Jefferson coun-
ties to visit free of charge
during the weekend of July
18 and 19. Residents of those
counties need only present
their driver’s license to re-
ceive complimentary admis-
sion.
On Saturday, July 18 at 3
p.m. Maryhill will host a free
performance of The Taming
of the Shrew in the muse-
um’s gardens, produced by
Portland Actors Ensemble as
part of the company’s Shake-
speare-in-the-Parks series.
Visitors are invited to bring
a blanket or camp chair for
seating; Bake My Day food
cart (Goldendale, WA) will be
at Maryhill serving a Renais-
sance menu in keeping with
Shakespeare’s day, or bring
your own picnic. The event is
sponsored by Judy Lack-
strom and Bob Morrow,
PACE Engineering, and Phil
Swartz. Preceeding the per-
RV Doc — Bruce Henderson
Mobile Service & Repair
State Fire Marshal
Certification
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541-993-5982
L ICENSED & C ERTIFIED
formance from 1 to 3 p.m.,
Chalk It Up To Shakespeare
will take place.
Everyone is invited to
create a temporary museum
master piece inspired by
Shakespeare, during this
free, drop-in program adja-
cent to the Sculpture Gar-
den.
WKO-High Cascade Mills
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Call Kirsten at 541-386-1234
two daughters and one
son. Their oldest daugh-
ter passed away in 1982
and Walt in 1989.
Dorothy has many
friends and her family
laughingly says that
“ s h e n eve r m e t a
stranger.” For the most
part, as a young woman,
she was a stay at home
mother and wife; how-
ever, she did work in re-
tail for a while at Paris
Fair Department Store
and Safeway, when it
was located in the
Pietro’s Pizza building.
She also sold Avon for a
few years, but her fami-
ly was sure that she pur-
chased more items than
she sold. Dorothy loved
to sing and could play
many musical instru-
ments, including piano,
accordion, guitar and
more. Her favorite past
time has always been so-
cializing and visiting
with friends. She cur-
rently enjoys going to
church on Sunday at the
P a rk d a l e
Baptist
Church and to the se-
nior dinner on Thurs-
day at the Mount Hood
Town Hall.
‘Peace Village’ seeks
campers, donations
Submitted photo
FIRST BOOK’S Nancy Paul,
center, meets with moms and
kids receiving First Book dona-
tions, from left Lucy Munoz and
her son Anthony; Ali Church of
United Way holding Harper We-
seman, Aya Yasui, Ren Yasui, Vi-
olet Lorenzen, Kelsey Dorzab
and her baby, Kaylee, and Clau-
dia Chamonica holding her
baby Yureli.
Krummel makes Dean’s List
Duncan Kr ummel, a
Music Composition major,
was named to the Dean’s List
in Ithaca College’s School of
Music for the spring 2015 se-
mester.
Krummel, a Hood River
Valley High School graduate,
can be seen on stage this
month at Columbia Cetner
for the Arts in “Next to Nor-
mal.” Details in Happenings,
page B3.
From day one, Ithaca Col-
Dorothy Milford
celebrates 100 years
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
nurtured by many faith tra-
ditions and welcome this
opportunity to learn from
each other.
Sixty percent of our
campers need financial aid
in order to attend Columbia
Gorge Peace Village. Last
year, we provided 45 full
scholarships and approxi-
mately 40 partial scholar-
ships to our campers. This
year, we are still fundrais-
ing to make sure that any
child is able to attend camp.
We have special support
from a grant from the Jub-
itz Family Foundation, and
from our Regional Peace-
maker Sponsors: Jody Behr,
Hood River Valley High
School Community Work
Day, M.L and J.D Hatten-
hauer, Gorge Ecumenical
Ministries, and Bethel UCC.
If you would like to join
our sponsor list with a do-
nation of any amount, con-
tact us!
To register a camper or to
m a ke a d o n a t i o n , v i s i t
c o l u m b i a g o r g e p e a c ev i l -
lage.com.
Joe Guenther
Financial Advisor
1631 Woods Ct
Suite 102
Hood River, OR
97031
541-386-0826
www.edwardjones.com Member SIPC
Recycle Tips
MILK CARTONS
- Are NOT recyclable locally.
- Also known as ‘gable
tops’, milk cartons and
shelf-stable “aseptic
containers (juice cartons)
take too long to pulp up at
Northwest paper mills,
which are designed for
newsprint. If you put milk
cartons in recycling, they
end up at the landfill and
add cost to garbage/re-
cycling service.
- Purchase milk and
juices in recyclable plastic
containers if possible.
www.tricountyrecycle.com
541-506-2636