A6
COMMUNITY
East Oregonian
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Echo FFA meats the cut
By MCKENZIE ROSE
Special to the East
Oregonian
ECHO — A bus full
of enthusiastic and stud-
ied-up Echo FFA members
in the early morning hours
of May 1 began their jour-
ney to Corvallis, to compete
with other FFA chapters at the
spring Career Development
Event.
And compete they did.
The Echo meats evalua-
tion team placed first over-
all, beating the next team by
a margin of more than 200
points, and sealed a spot at
the national competition.
The CDE competitions
spanned three days, with
veterinary science on May 1,
meats evaluation (referred to
simply as “meats”) on May 2
and milk quality and livestock
evaluation on May 3.
While the other three Echo
teams did not advance onto
nationals, participants said
they gained valuable expe-
riences they look forward to
applying next year to enhance
performances.
This meats competition
requires intense attention to
detail, immense knowledge of
meat cuts and characteristics,
refined observation skills and
much more. Participants must
evaluate and identify various
aspects of meat carcasses,
identify retail cuts, determine
the quality and yield grade of
different portions, differen-
tiate between wholesale and
retail cuts’ quality and take
a test on other meat features.
Juniors Lillian Wallis,
Kyndra Zumwalt and Mason
Murdock; sophomores Creed
Russell and Taylor-Jo Hoff-
man; and freshman Colter
Meads made up the 2022
Echo meats team.
Shandie Britt/Contributed Photo
The Echo FFA meats evaluation team displays its first-place
banner won at the state Career Development Event in ear-
ly May 2022 in Corvallis. From left, Kyndra Zumwalt, Colter
Meads, Creed Russell, Oregon FFA Reporter Jessie Samarin,
Mason Murdock, Taylor-Jo Hoffman and Lilian Wallis stand
together.
Their coach is Raymond
Smith, Echo School District
superintendent. Smith has
coached FFA meats teams for
21 years, 10 being with Echo.
Some members of the
team competed in additional
events. Meads was on both
the veterinary science and
livestock evaluation teams,
Hoffman was a veterinary
science member and Lilian
Wallis also was a livestock
evaluator. Hoffman explained
why she was willing to partic-
ipate in such a difficult and
complex competition.
“Considering that I eat
some sort of meat every
day, I thought that it would
be very beneficial for me to
learn about meat and where
it comes from,” she said.
“Being told by my coach that
I would thrive in this CDE, I
decided to try it out, and I am
so glad that I did.”
By placing top in the
state, the team can attend
the national competition in
the fall in Indianapolis. Not
only did Echo take top honors
among the 29 teams present,
but in individual performance
as well. Zumwalt was the
first-place individual, Russell
was only one point behind her
in second, Wallis achieved
third, Murdock was fifth and
Hoffman was ninth.
The whole Echo meats
team placed in the top 10 out
of 110 total competitors.
“This team pulled it all
together and performed very
well,” Smith said. “They had
a goal in mind to win the state
contest and were willing to
put the time and effort into it.”
The participants said
when they obtained their
results, they were finally able
to relax.
“It felt like all of that stress
and worry that we had all
been feeling had been lifted
off of our shoulders because
all of our hard work had paid
off,” Hoffman said. “It was
impossible to wipe the smiles
off of all of our faces for the
next hour.”
“I had full faith in the
abilities of my teammates,”
Wallis added, “but I was very
surprised to hear that we all
placed in the top 10.”
This isn’t the first time
an Echo meats team has
advanced to nationals. The
recent triumph marked
Echo’s sixth meats state title
in the last 11 years. Smith
attributed the team’s success
to the former students, who
“set a tone and example that
if you work hard, follow the
plan and put in the time you
will find success.”
And each team, he said,
“has a common thread of
unity and support for each
other.”
Wallis elaborated on that
point.
“All my teammates
worked really hard to prepare
for this competition and we
all had strengths in differ-
ent sections of the contest,”
she said. “Zumwalt was well
versed in meats as she worked
for Mike’s Mobile Slaughter
and has been doing really
well in the ID portion of the
contest.”
Teammates credited
Smiths’ coaching for playing
a large role in the success.
“Knowing that we have
Mr. Smith as our coach
makes me confident that we
will be high competitors at
the national level,” Hoffman
said. “Mr. Smith has proved
to me that he is one of the best
coaches in the country, and I
am certain that he will make
it his top priority for us to be
more than ready by October.”
These meat experts
expressed excitement for the
opportunity to travel and put
their skills to the test in India-
napolis in a few months.
“Our team will have to put
in countless hours of prac-
tice between now and then to
achieve the goals of national
top ten,” Smith said, “but
they’re up to the challenge.”
Whale of a story
One-day exhibit
draws attention to
plight of orcas
By TAMMY
MALGESINI
East Oregonian
MISSION — A 3,000-
pound whale totem is the focal
point of a one-day exhibition at
Tamastslikt Cultural Institute
near Pendleton. It was created
by master carvers from the
House of Tears Carvers of the
Lummi Nation, who will be
traveling with the exhibit.
“Whale People: Protectors
of the Sea” also features an
immersive video installation
with underwater footage of
orcas and the voices of Indige-
nous elders who communicate
a message that was at the heart
of the totem’s journey, “What
we do to the waters we do to
ourselves.”
A Pepsi Primetime @ the
Museum program is Satur-
day, May 14, beginning at
2 p.m. Featuring a presenta-
tion by master carvers Jewell
James and Doug James, the
free event is outdoors at the
Tamastslikt, near Wildhorse
Resort & Casino.
They will discuss the art
and cultural aspects of totem
pole carving. Those attending
are invited free admission to
view the museum displays,
which includes the final
day of the “You Are Here,”
which features the works of
14 contemporary Indigenous
artists.
The Whale People offi-
cially opens at 7 p.m. with a
blessing, speakers and songs.
The video projection program
repeats every 13 minutes
from 8:30-9:30 p.m. The
award-winning project was
created in conjunction with
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The Natural History Museum
in Vashon, Washington.
Referred to as the Totem
Pole Journey, it is the latest
of a series of pilgrimages that
have been conducted over two
decades. The native carvers
departed earlier this month
from Bellingham, Wash-
ington, with stops planned
across Washington, Oregon
and Idaho. According to a
press release from The Natu-
ral History Museum, the
goal is to draw attention to
the extinction crisis facing
Pacific Northwest salmon and
orcas, and build support for the
Indigenous-led movement to
remove the lower Snake River
dams.
Lummi elder Jewell James
said inspiration for the journey
comes from the story of Tahle-
quah. A southern resident
orca, her “tour of grief” capti-
vated global audiences in 2018
when she carried her deceased
baby calf 1,000 miles across
17 days.
The carvers, James said,
have produced a dozen totem
poles for journeys. The pole,
he said in a May 8 Seattle
Times story, is an effigy, to be
used in synchronization with
prayers and ceremonies to heal
the river. It is intended to help
unite people on behalf of the
salmon and orca.
“We live in a time in which
society is so desensitized
to what we are doing to the
Earth,” James told the Seattle
Times. “We are setting it up
for its demise, our children and
grandchildren will suffer if we
do not take action.”
For more information
about the exhibition, search
www.thenaturalhistor y-
museum.org. For questions
about the event at Tamast-
slikt, call 541-429-7720 or
visit www.tamastslikt.org.
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