OPINION
Wallowa County Chieftain
A4
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Work, the curse of the drinking class
I
Staff photo by E.J. Harris, File/East Oregonian
in this Jan. 23, 2018, fi le photo, ballots are counted at
the Umatilla County Courthouse in Pendleton for the
statewide special election.
Local government
is local people
I
t’s understandable
that you might be
tired of politics in
general right now, and
political campaigns
specifi cally.
Honestly, 2018 was
brutal. Oregon saw
record-setting cam-
paign spending in the
governor’s race and on
statewide measures,
and contested local
races mixed in, too.
back half of the B sec-
tion is not part of your
daily reading habit,
there is a lot to be
learned.)
Districts across the
state will take part in
the special election,
choosing volunteer
representatives for all
kinds of boards. These
are often under-the-ra-
dar positions that don’t
draw nearly the same
level of scru-
tiny as city
councils or
of the
county commis-
sioners, much
less statewide
offi ce. They
also attract
It all translated into
few applicants and are
bushels of fl yers in our often fi lled by write-in
mailboxes and adver-
candidates if no one
tisements in all forms
fi les for the position.
of media. It was impos-
But they’re a cru-
sible to avoid, and
cial part of our democ-
became a challenge
racy. They represent
to fi nd the substance
the commitment of
underneath the lay-
common citizens to
ers of posturing and
make decisions for the
rhetoric.
good of the whole. The
This current calm
directors are in charge
between storms of the
of spending taxpayer
2018 midterms and
2020 general may seem money and making
decisions about large
like a good chance to
employers, includ-
not think about elec-
ing the Hermiston and
tions for a while.
At the risk of ruining Pendleton school dis-
tricts, Blue Moun-
that relaxation, we’d
tain Community Col-
like to talk about the
lege and the ports.
election coming up in
They oversee critical
May.
Don’t freak out.
functions like ambu-
You will not be get-
lance and fi re services,
ting mailers or seeing
and community ser-
advertisements on your vices like parks and
television. Your inbox
cemeteries.
will not be fl ooded
It takes all kinds of
(any more than usual). people with all kinds of
Mud will not be slung. expertise to keep local
In fact, many peo-
government function-
ple won’t be aware of
ing, and we applaud
the election until the
those who step up
day a ballot arrives
to the role. We also
in their mailboxes.
encourage more people
Maybe you’re one of
to sign up for duty. One
those people. But if
way or another, the
you perused the classi-
seats will be fi lled. It’s
fi ed section in Wednes-
our belief that democ-
day’s East Oregonian,
racy functions best
you saw the listing of
when the selection pro-
45 districts large and
cess of representation
small with seats com-
is public, rather than
ing open this year.
chosen by default.
(A quick side note
Filing for the posi-
on the classifi ed sec-
tions
begins Feb. 9 and
tion of the newspa-
per: Much of our local the deadline is March
21. Forms are available
government’s work
at county offi ces and
appears there fi rst in
on the Umatilla County
the form of budgets,
website. Ballots will go
hearings, requests for
bid, auctions and other out ahead of the May
public notices. If the
21 election.
VOICE
CHIEFTAIN
noticed in an interview a question
Now that I had a car dependent
about what the interviewee had
on gasoline and repairs I had to step
as his or her fi rst job. This made
up my employment attendance. It
me recall the fi rst job I ever got paid
seemed there was no shortage of
work
in the fi elds and orchards. In the
for. I was about 5 or 6 and the neigh-
Barrie Qualle
summer there was harvesting fruit, in
bor was loading loose hay into the
the fall grapes and nuts. I once made
mow in his barn. The loose hay was
pretty good money swamping grapes
dumped in front of the barn and a big
with a kid that would work hard. We
Jackson Fork would swoop down and menial tasks. Living in the San Joa-
were paid 50 cents a ton each to load
grab a load and the hay would be ele-
quin Valley there was always work
out grapes. Don almost worked me to
vated and run down a track where it
in the orchards. The fi rst spring job I
dumped in the hay mow. They had
remember was picking boysenberries. death. In the winter you could prune
trees and in the early spring you
about 20 sheep in the loft and my job
A bunch of us would ride our bikes
could set out smudge pots in almond
was to chase the sheep around on the
to the berry patch about 6 a.m. and
orchards or thin peaches.
hay to pack it. I think I earned about
pick till about 2 p.m. I can’t remem-
I did have two jobs that were better
25 cents. My next paid job, age 8, was ber how much we were paid per crate
than working in the fruit. I landed a
helping the neighbor girl milk cows
but it was more than mowing lawns.
job taking care of the swimming pool
for a week while her parents were on
Later in the summer I next worked
that wasn’t too bad. I also
vacation. By age 10
worked for Oliver’s Fly-
my Dad had me driv-
ing A gas station pumping
ing a tractor and doing
JUST ABOUT EVERY KID IN MY
gas. One day a couple of
a little summer fallow-
CLASS WORKED IN THE FRUIT IN
boys about 18 pulled in to
ing. Later in that year
get gas. I knew them and
again the neighbor had
THE
SUMMER
AND
IF
THE
HAR-
wasn’t too fond of them.
me helping his son
I had just started putting
stook oat bundles that
VEST WAS LATE THEY WOULD POST-
$2 worth of gas in their
had been dropped by
PONE THE OPENING OF SCHOOL
car when Mr. McGee fl ew
a horse drawn binder.
into the gas station and
I decided early on I
TO GET THE WORK DONE.
jumped out of his car. He
didn’t need the job, I
ran over to the passen-
only needed the money.
ger side of the car and pulls JC Phil-
At age 11 I fi nally got a job I
in a dry yard hauling peaches to the
loved. The community pasture of
women who cut them and put them on lips half way out the window and
gave him a real good beating. He
about 200,000 acres was not far west
drying trays. First thing in the morn-
of our ranch. The pasture manager
ing we had to take the trays out of the then left. It turned out that these two
had a kid, about 22, that traded a lot
sulphur houses and spread the trays in boys were driving by Mrs. McGhee,
of cattle and some ran in that pas-
the yard. This paid $1.25 per hour and who was carrying a bag of groceries
ture. He would come by with his cat-
was hot miserable work. If you were a into her driveway, and threw a bunch
of grapes hitting her. They didn’t
tle truck and load my horse and we
good worker you could pick peaches
see Mr. McGhee sitting on the front
would gather cattle to a corral and
for 15 cents a box and maybe pick
porch. Herman McGhee, though only
sort out a few and load them. We
125 boxes. I wasn’t a good worker
145 pounds, wasn’t one to call the
would jump the horses in with the
so I worked for the $1.25 per hour
cops.
cattle and be off. On the way home
swamping the fi lled boxes onto pallet
Talking to my grandfather one day
Tommy would pull a couple of beers
trailers or propping peach trees. Just
he was extolling the virtues of living
out from under the seat and we would about every kid in my class worked
in Saskatchewan. I asked him what
have a cold one on the way. It was
in the fruit in the summer and if the
was so great about a country that got
years later I found out that a lot of the harvest was late they would postpone
down to 40 below in the winter and
cattle Tommy loaded weren’t his. I
the opening of school to get the work
had mosquitos that would carry you
did enjoy rustling.
done.
off in the summer. He answered, think
At age 12 we moved to Califor-
By the time I was 16, 1957, I had
about it, if you were smart enough to
nia and there seemed to be plenty
saved enough to buy a 4-year-old
stick to grain growing and not raise
of work there. None of it pleasant.
1953 ford with 35,000 miles on it.
cattle, you only had to work 40 days a
Now that I was hooked on money I
I paid $730 for this beauty, license
year. He made a lot of sense.
found work mowing lawns and other
number FJN 813.
OPEN RANGE
OUR VIEW
Anti-vaxxers put us all at risk
O
ver the past few weeks, we
have received reports of an out-
break of measles in southwest-
ern Washington, which has now hit more
than 50 patients.
“But I thought we eradicated measles
along with polio and a host of other seri-
ous diseases through vaccination,” you
might be thinking to yourself.
You’d be right about that. The U.S.,
for all practical purposes, had indeed
eradicated these pestilences as vaccines
developed by top health care pioneers
like the legendary Dr. Jonas Salk virtu-
ally wiped out these dreaded affl ictions.
So what has changed?
In the Clark County (Vancouver),
Wash., case, it has been reported that
42 out of the 49 known patients who
have contracted the measles were not
vaccinated.
One patient had only received a par-
tial vaccination and the status of the six
others was unknown. Health offi cials sus-
pect the outbreak can be traced to expo-
sure at the Portland International Airport,
the Moda Center and other possible sites
in and around the Portland area.
A separate group of cases have been
reported among the Orthodox Jewish
community in New York State.
What ties these two diverse popula-
tion groups together is they are both at
the heart of an anti-vaccination move-
ment in the U.S.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Let’s remember, we are a
great country
To the citizens of our area and espe-
cially to the ones in Wallowa County:
We are a great country already in spite
of the slogan “Make America Great
Again”. The Wallowa County Cham-
ber of Commerce Citizens Awards ban-
quet recognized just a very few of those
who have and who know that Amer-
ica is great already. I was shocked and
completely surprised to be honored by
Whether refusal to be vaccinated is
based upon religious conviction or the
misguided belief that children can be
healthier without them, many parents are
refusing to have their children immu-
nized. They place us all at higher risk.
As one Washington state epidemiolo-
gist stated, “This is entirely preventable.”
It is indeed preventable, but only if we
can successfully inoculate the entire pop-
ulation, so as to protect the most vulner-
able among us — the young, the aged,
and those with already-compromised
immune systems.
Perhaps with the passage of time,
we as a society have forgotten what ter-
rible consequences these maladies can
wreak upon human populations when
left unchecked. Maybe it’s time for a new
round of education, just as the older gen-
eration among us received back in the
1950s and ‘60s when these vaccinations
were becoming widespread.
Meanwhile, the apparently grow-
ing ranks of “anti-vaxxers,” as they have
become known, are holding proven sci-
ence, best health care practices, and the
rest of us hostage.
If you have children, please ensure
that they are vaccinated and follow the
recommended immunization schedule
that virtually every state and local health
department advocates. Do it for them and
do it for all of us.
the Wallowa Mountain Quilters Guild
and the Chamber with the Unsung Hero
award. I thank all involved. There are
so many of us who go about our every
day lives to make this a wonderful
place to live and work. They deserve to
be rewarded too.
When we take note of the situations
around the world, how many of us con-
sider the fact that out of the billions of
people that inhabit our planet, that, by
the grace of God, you as the reader of
this and I as the writer are two of those
billions to live in the United States of
America. We all have been rewarded
with freedom, advantages and opportu-
nities to do something to benefi t others
and to help ourselves.
It was so nice to be reminded of my
efforts. I thank you WMQG again for
singling me out for this very special
award.
Hope McLaughlin
Enterprise
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
M EMBER O REGON N EWSPAPER P UBLISHERS A SSOCIATION
Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group
VOLUME 134
USPS No. 665-100
P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Offi ce: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2019. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Editor, Christian Ambroson, editor@wallowa.com
Publisher, Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
Reporter, Stephen Tool, steve@wallowa.com
Reporter, Ellen Morris Bishop, ebishop@wallowa.com
Administrative Assistant, Amber Mock, amock@wallowa.com
Advertising Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
Trump should pay for
wall
Let’s make this short and simple: If
our billionaire president wants a wall
that won’t cost the American one dime
as promised, how about he and some of
his billionaire pals pay for it themselves.
Jeff Irish
Enterprise
Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing offi ces
Subscription rates (includes online access)
Wallowa County
Out-of-County
1 Year
$40.00
$57.00
Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery
See the Wallowa County
Chieftain on the Internet
Wallowa.com
facebook.com/Wallowa
twitter.com/wcchieftain
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to
Wallowa County Chieftain
P.O. Box 338
Enterprise, OR 97828