A4
Opinion
wallowa.com
December 13, 2017
Wallowa County Chieftain
A perfect
gift for a
teacher
You know your child’s teacher works hard, and your child
would like to get that special teacher something during this
season of giving.
Your child has probably been learning about developing
healthy eating habits and staying physically active. Maybe
you’d even like to model that behavior through your choice
of a gift. But what are your options in the land of cookies, hot
chocolate and candy, candy and more candy?
There are food and nonfood items that you can give that
will convey your appreciation to your child’s teacher and with-
out going into debt or adding to the sea of sugar laden goodies.
If the teacher
is a coffee drinker,
consider giving a
pound of coffee
beans. If it’s tea he
or she prefers, how
about a selection of
Ann Bloom
teas with a nice tea
cup. Tea cups are
inexpensive at second-hand stores.
Fresh fruit and nuts are always welcome as a mid-afternoon
snack. Homemade granola or trail mixes are easy to make. The
OSU website, Foodhero.org, has a recipe for DIY Trail Mix
that can be customized to fit almost anyone’s preferences and
can be made in large quantities for multiple gift giving.
Now that there are gluten free items available, the snack
can even be made gluten-free and nut-free for anyone with
special dietary restrictions.
If your child’s teacher likes to cook, a homemade spice
mixture or a basket with the makings for a dinner can’t be beat.
This is especially welcome during a hectic work week when
the teacher comes home and needs to make dinner for a family.
Wallowa County is famous for its abundance of handmade
and homegrown items. From soaps to lotions, hand- knitted
items or even a dozen fresh eggs with a bow all lend them-
selves to gift possibilities. If you sew, knit or crochet, a nice
pillow is fun and easy, especially if it’s one that can be taken
into the classroom for others to enjoy.
If there is a photographer in the family, a scenic photograph
from one of your family trips in an inexpensive frame (again,
think thrift store) is an idea.
Teachers spend a great deal of money out-of-pocket for
supplies that are not covered by the school budget. A gift card
to Safeway or Walmart, where school and program supplies
can be purchased, is never out of style. A gift card to a local
coffee shop is also a welcome gift.
Although the holidays are fraught with foods high in sugar,
fat and calories, it’s possible to enjoy some sweets and still
maintain a healthy eating plan. Cookies or breads that rely on
dried fruits and nuts, instead of a lot of sugar or butter, make
for a nice food gift. Homemade vinegars, mustards and pick-
led vegetables are easy to make and low in calories and sugar.
If you have home-canned items, such as applesauce, those can
be turned into gifts, too.
Whatever you decide, your children’s teachers will appre-
ciate the thought, and knowing you recognize their hard work
is the best gift of all. Happy holidays!
GUEST
COLUMN
Ann Bloom is a nutrition program assistant for the OSU
Extension Service in Wallowa County. She can be contacted
at 541-426-3143.
etters to the Editor are subject to editing and
should be limited to 275 words. Writers should also
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call to verify identity. The Chieftain does not run anon-
ymous letters.
In terms of content, writers should refrain from per-
sonal attacks. We do not routinely run thank-you letters.
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L
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Contents copyright © 2017. All rights reserved.
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Volume 134
1 Year
$40.00
$57.00
Changes for women, minorities
When you live as long as I have, you
see a lot of change. My grandfather saw
more. Born in 1881 and died 1985, lived
in the Wild West and lasted 15 years after
we put a man on the moon.
In 1912, he traveled from Saskatche-
wan to Los Angeles to watch the Wright
brothers fly their airplane. After that, he
traveled through Mexico for eight months
while Pancho Villa was racing around try-
ing to get a revolution going.
Grandpa transitioned from horse
and buggy to automobiles then to tele-
phones, radio, TV, two world wars and
jet airplanes. He was voting when women
couldn’t vote or own land.
He suffered through Prohibition and
the Great Depression of the ‘30s. When
he was about 100, I asked him what he
thought was the biggest change in ranch-
ing in his life time. Without hesitation he
replied, “satellite TV.”
In my case, I guess I can sum it up as
transitioning from an occasionally work-
ing crank telephone with switch board
operators to cell phones with recorded
messages.
Minorities and women have made
great strides in the 76 years I have hung
around. Minorities have gone from being
discriminated against in every way to
being given preferential treatment in hir-
ing and education through programs like
Affirmative Action.
Women once were confined to their
homes and told to get in the kitchen and
rattle those pots and pans. When I was a
kid in Saskatchewan, women were not
allowed in bars at all.
If a woman wanted a drink, she had to
do it in the privacy of her own home and
hope the community club women didn’t
smell it on her breath.
On Saturdays when everyone went
to town, the women shopped while the
old man relaxed in one of the bars. I can
remember women waiting in the car with
OPEN RANGE
Barrie Qualle
the motor running to keep warm while
their husbands socialized over a beer.
They would stop men entering the bar
and ask them to send their husband out,
and if he felt like it, he would. It’s a won-
der some of them didn’t die from carbon
monoxide waiting in an old car with the
engine running. Women in Alberta were
better off in that they were allowed in the
bar with an escort.
When I joined the work force, the glass
ceiling women have dealt with was firmly
in place. All doctors were men and nurses
were girls. The attitude seemed to be that
women were subject to raging hormonal
variances and could not be relied upon to
make good decisions.
They were told “don’t bother your
pretty little head about it.” Most of the
women in the office were secretaries or
data entry girls with little chance of any-
thing more.
As things changed, there was a reali-
zation that there had been a huge waste of
resources in the past. Women were given
more responsibility and better jobs but
were paid less than their male counterparts.
There might be a little of that still going on.
Recently there has been a rash of TV
celebrities and politicians getting in trou-
ble for past indiscretions with women.
Some of their behavior was pretty egre-
gious, but some of it was what would have
been called dating in the ‘70s.
I grew up during the sex drought of the
‘50s and was pretty shocked and amazed
by the turn of events called the ‘60s.
My friend Doyle Gellerman and I were
discussing the recent scandals and firings
of movie moguls, TV personalities and
politicians. There seems to be an awful lot
of maleficence going on, and one of the
ladies was even paid $32 million by a TV
host to hush up about his behavior toward
her.
That should be a wakeup call for men
in power that don’t act like gentlemen.
Doyle and I wondered if we might have a
case to bring against some of the women
that in the past plied us with liquor and
took advantage of our low self-esteem
when we were young and vulnerable.
I have pretty much healed from that but
Doyle I fear is scarred for life.
The days of treating women poorly and
getting away with it are pretty much over.
Corporations and government are con-
ducting long overdue seminars on sexual
harassment. Woe be to those who disre-
spect women or minorities any more.
I guess attitude adjustment and change
will always be with us. I have seen a lot of
it. We will have to be resilient in the future
because a lot of it is happening awfully
fast.
Some of the changes in attitude were
sure necessary. Legislation like Affirma-
tive Action was necessary to give a leg up
to minorities. They damn sure needed it.
However, I think there should be a sun-
set on some legislation and once a group
has been given an advantage for sev-
eral decades, the law should be revisited
to determine if it is still necessary to give
any group a huge advantage in college
entrance or hiring.
Equal opportunity and fairness should
always be on the books. There comes a
time when ability and productivity should
determine who gets the advantage regard-
less of gender or race. But then we always
have human nature to deal with. Hard to
legislate that.
Barrie Qualle is an all-around work-
ing ranch hand, author and ranch rodeo
enthusiast. He lives in Wallowa County.
4-H Congress was inspiring adventure
GUEST
COLUMN
While most families were sitting down
for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, I was
traveling across the country to the capi-
tol of Georgia for the 2017 National 4-H
Congress. This event is undoubtedly the
highlight of any 4-H member’s career.
There were 975 delegates present from 44
states and Puerto Rico.
Friday began with tours of the World of
Coke (the soft drink was invented there),
CNN News and historic Atlanta. Then all
975 members attending gathered in the
grand ballroom for get-acquainted activi-
ties and a pin exchange.
Saturday morning included speeches
from Sonny Perdue, the U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture, and an Atlanta school offi-
cial. Then the day was full of leadership
activities and speed networking, where I
met people from all over the country.
Then we were immersed in an evening
of culture at the international night where
there was cuisine from 15 different coun-
tries and an authentic hula dance from the
Hawaii 4-H delegation.
Sunday’s assembly was dominated by
Deidre Schreiber
Eugen Schoenfeld, a 92-year-old Holo-
caust survivor with the best sense of
humor you’ve ever heard as well as being
a Professor Emeritus of Georgia State
University.
For lunch we went out to Pitty Pats
Porch, the restaurant that makes an
appearance in the famous movie “Gone
With The Wind.”
We spent the evening at the Atlanta
Cultural Center where we learned about
Georgia’s Native American history and
even learned a ballroom dance or two.
Monday, I had the opportunity to vol-
unteer at the Atlanta Community Food
Bank that serves more than 6 million peo-
ple annually in Atlanta and its 27 sur-
rounding counties. To put that in perspec-
tive, the entire state of Oregon is home to
roughly 4.1 million. Then we were edu-
cated on poverty and how we can help in
our communities.
Tuesday, after one last speech from
NFL motivational speaker Dan Clark, we
boarded our planes and began the 2,379
mile trek back to God’s Country.
One quote by Martin Luther King Jr.
made me think about the impact we all
have the potential to create: “If I cannot
do great things, I will do small things in a
great way.”
Another quote by speaker Dan Clark
has inspired me to apply to be on the plan-
ning team for the 2018 National 4-H Con-
gress. He said: “It isn’t the size of the
town you come from, it’s the size of your
dream.”
I would like to thank the Wallowa
County 4-H Leaders Association and our
community for their support to make this
life-changing trip possible!
Deidre Schreiber is a Wallowa County
4-H member.
Mother Nature, make the fog go away, please ...
doned into a snake pit rather than Santa’s
I’m not normally impacted by Sea-
sonal Affective Disorders but the fog,
WAHL TO WALL lap.We spent some time listening to the
clouds and general dreariness the past
few days has really played on my psy-
che. Even with a quick trip to Lewiston
seeking sunshine, I was in tough shape by
Monday night.
In addition, the mind-numbing cold
that came with it was difficult to escape.
It’s been a while since I remember feeling
that cold –– although the air temperature
was in the 20s most of the time.
Fortunately, Mother Nature’s dour
attitude about things didn’t dampen the
Enterprise Winterfest celebration. The
warming barrels were a welcome attrac-
tion this year.
Paul Wahl
What the Wonderland Pop Up Market
lost in size it made up in quality. Kudos to
everyone involved in that endeavor.
I had never sampled “chestnuts roasted
on an open fire” before. I will probably
not do that again. I think it must be an
acquired taste.
Watching the wee ones interface with
Santa was a blast. There are always a few
who seem to think they are being aban-
karaoke performers sing Christmas carols
and finished Saturday with the parade.
We are on the waning end of Christ-
mas events for 2017 and, for that matter,
the entire year. This is the season we begin
thinking about the top 10 news stories for
the past 12 months.
That feature will likely publish in the
Jan. 3, 2018, edition. It’s always a high-
light for me to work on compiling the
story. We have listed our selections and
asked folks to help rank them on Face-
book. Check it out and let us know what
you think.