6 JANUARY 15, 2002
Smoke Signals
Il(y(gi)GoGt) (gpartinniinitS; K)Gon)Qas S
Tribe adds new College Counselor and Advisor, Adult Education
Coordinator and an Administrative Assistant to the mix.
Administrative Assistant
DEB BACHMAN
.'!. -r-; U
k "V j' - ;,
1 ' . i ,
v ' 'n - v
v . j ! s d V
"PWwBHW ff
y v j
i LI
eb Bachman is probably the one new em
ployee in education that most Tribal mem
bers will come to know first, since her duties as
the Administrative Assistant have her playing the
middleman in most communication efforts be
tween Education staff and the student popula
tion. And really, she would say, the job encom
passes a little of everything in the department.
Born in 1954 in Harlowton, Montana, Bach
man is a real local, having spent nearly all her
life in the Pacific Northwest. At a young age,
the family made the move from the Rocky Moun
tain country to the badlands of central Wash
ington, in Othello, where she would live until
age 12. Norman Wetzel, her father, was in the
grass seed business, and thus it's not too sur
prising that when electing to move to Oregon
later on they selected Stayton as their next liv
ing location. Her mother, Mamie, drove school
buses for a living. For them, at that time, Stayton
with its calm country cool was perfect.
Bachman left, however, once out of high school
and joined the increasing demographic of rural-to-urban
emigrants that have defined Oregon
for the past few decades. She moved to South
east Portland.
It would be in Portland that she would meet
her husband, Richard Bachman. For five years
she would toil as a receptionist for Prudential
before moving on to Pacific States Galvanizing,
where she served in a similar position for 16
years.
Deb and Richard decided, after years of the
daily hour-long commute to downtown Portland,
that maybe the small town life might be due for
a reprise. After her son Brandon and stepson
Andy graduated from high school the couple
uprooted themselves with daughter Stephanie
and headed for a lovely five-acre piece of prop
erty just off Rock Creek.
Bachman would try stints with HR Jones and
Cascade Steel before coming to work for the
Tribe. Richard, however, still makes the long
drive daily to Portland, where he maintains his
job installing air-conditioning.
The Tribe was ultimately the perfect fit for
Bachman, as the pay was good and the locale
hard to beat only a few miles from home. Plus,
the backwoods location allows for plenty of space
and atmosphere for her favorite endeavor, gar
dening. Through Oregon State University, she has
been participating in a Master Gardener pro
gram, a course that like any other curriculum
covers all aspects of the art. Bachman has found
herself studying botany to a degree, insects and
meteorological aspects (Just during our interview
she was explaining why my own efforts to grow
garlic had gone awry).
"I've noticed the growing season here is really
short," she said. "I've had a really hard time
growing tomatoes."
Hence the plans to eventually construct a
greenhouse, time and money permitting. Rich
ard made her a potting bench for Christmas.
Ironically, none of that has given her any ideas
of extravagance for their garden. In that realm,
she prefers to let nature do its duty.
"I want to keep my garden natural," she said.
Three months so far has been enough to con
vince Bachman that Grand Ronde is a place that
will be kind to her. She would like to stay for
awhile.
"I enjoy working here," she said.
Tribal Youth Gather at Leadership Academy
Continued from front page
tempts to restrict access to records from the
Reagan administration. I also told them that
Native American journalism is rare and
underrepresented. While the ambition for
many might be to one day have their mate-
o t ""Z . .
rial grace the New York Times or National Geo
graphic, don't forget Indian Country has a horde
of untold stories that even writers from the elite
publications have little access to. Milk it, I told
them, because it won't be around forever.
We also had to demonstrate many of the pit
falls of journalism. I brought in some stories where
I had made some serious bungles, to illustrate
how easily a factual error can be overlooked and
to show just how even a minute one can change
everything. (No, I won't repeat them). Other sto
ries showed point-of-view, and others the age-old
and embarrassing practices of fibbing, exaggera
tion, and conflict of information.
Whether we made an impression or not I don't
know. Many students asked for photocopies of
pieces and one young lady even nudged me for
some interview tips. She was writing for her
school paper evidently. A handful of other stu
dents perused our newspaper samples, my old
college textbooks, and one even fixed himself a
sandwich.
Motivational Speaker Chance Rush
from Oklahoma
v - , 0 '
.-. ;-.',.:.'.: m .'.;::. ...' -
,-..7 -V ...V:'
"First you spread the
peanut butter..'
Tribal member Chris Mercier, freelance
writer for the Smoke Signals, shows young
people participating in the recent Youth
Leadership Academy that journalism is like
making a sandwich while freelance
photographer Peta Tinda looks on.