B
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
KAREN WHEELER
A month to
remind that
mental health
needs exist
year round
Since 1949, communities across our
nation have observed Mental Health
Awareness Month. The tradition has
grown over the years and today, it’s
stronger than ever. May is our offi cial
Mental Health Awareness Month,
however, the need for attention to this
important cause is a daily one. May
also offers a special time of year for a
refl ective pause — a time to refl ect on
how each of us can use our voices and
partnerships to raise awareness about
the importance of mental health in daily
life.
During this month, Greater Oregon
Behavioral Health, Inc. (GOBHI) is
highlighting important efforts within
the health and human services system
to serve the behavioral health needs
of communities throughout Eastern
Oregon. The term “behavioral health”
includes mental health, substance use
and problem gambling in terms of the
behaviors associated with these condi-
tions and how they impact a person’s
mind, body and spirit. We are honored to
join our providers in raising awareness
about the signifi cant role that mental
health has on one’s overall health and
wellbeing.
How far-reaching is the impact of
mental illness? Most people have direct
experiences with mental health —
either they have needed support or they
know someone who has such as family
members, friends, co-workers, and oth-
ers. The data show:
• 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental
illness each year.
• 1 in 20 U.S. adults experience seri-
ous mental illness each year.
• 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experi-
ence a mental health disorder each year.
• 50% of all lifetime mental illness
begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24.
• Suicide is the second leading cause
of death among people aged 10-34.
The COVID-19 pandemic further
emphasized the importance of mental
health in daily life. The additional stress
it created is diffi cult to measure as seen
by the impacts of increased isolation,
employment reductions, fi nancial
impacts, family stressors, and direct
impact on health for those experiencing
the virus.
See Health/Page 3B
Hillary Levin/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Crispy-Skin Chicken with Pan Sauce.
F LOCK OF 5
F AVORITES
■ A quintet of recipes that elevate the humble chicken to a perfect meal
Daniel Neman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Some people look at chicken and see some-
thing boring. Bland. Blah.
I look at chicken and see a world of possibili-
ties.
I like chicken. I probably make it dozens of
different ways. But over the years, fi ve ways
for making it have come to the fore, fi rmly es-
tablishing themselves as my favorite methods
ever. These are fi ve recipes that transform the
humble chicken from the ordinary and every-
day into a meal of transcendent perfection.
That may be overstating it a bit. But these
recipes are good. They’re really, really good.
I began with a method of cooking that leads
to a crisp skin and juicy meat, the Holy Grail
of chicken. There are several ways of achieving
this goal, but the simplest of all requires almost
no work on your part.
I saw how to do it on a little online video by
Jacques Pepin, which proves that the internet
does have some value after all. He violates
one of the most time-honored rules of cooking,
putting the chicken on a pan before turning on
the heat.
This method of gradually heating the pan
with the meat slowly renders the fat beneath
the skin (for this reason, it works best with
thighs), which allows the skin to become crisp.
After some of the fat has rendered, he covers
the pan, fully cooking the chicken in its own
steam.
And because plenty of fond is left — that’s
the brown bits that stick to the bottom of the
pan — I use it to make a simple pan sauce with
wine or broth and a couple of sprigs of herbs for
added punch.
See Chicken/Page 2B
The intriguing story of a downtown La Grande building
By Ginny Mammen
The charming two-story
brick building at 1115 Adams
Ave, La Grande, former
home of Kneads Bakery, has
presented more of a chase
for historic information than
have any of the other build-
ings so far. It is referred to
as the Stitching Shop in the
National Register of Historic
Places and is claimed to be
built around 1905 and the
builder was unknown.
The fi rst occupants I could
locate were from the 1910
Sanborn Maps and were a
plumbing shop on one side
and an electric shop on the
other. The Stitching Shop
was not located here until
1923 when Mrs. L. H. Norton
moved in to provide sewing
notions and special sewing
services for her customers.
The fi rst person to occupy
this building, that I could
locate, was Richard Lewellen
Duignan, born in Nebraska
in 1888 and who in 1910
was a roomer in the Fourth
Street home of Ester Anson
and his daughter Margaret.
He was working at that time
Fred Hill Collection
The two-story brick building at 1105 Adams Ave. has
housed a variety of businesses over the decades.
as a salesman in the shoe
department of N. K. West.
In September of 1913, this
ambitious young man of 25
would resign this position
and open a shoe repair store
in the “McKenna Building
adjoining the Western Union
offi ce” according to the August
14, 1913, Observer. This was
1115 Adams on the east side
of the Foley Hotel.
The shoe repair shop was to
have the most modern equip-
ment and could do the work
quickly — while you waited
if you wished. There had
been a cigar store and shoe
shine parlor in that location
previously and Duignan had
purchased those and would
continue to run them.
R. L. Duignan was a man
on the move and less than a
year later sold his cigar and
shoe shining businesses to
George Dumazas, who would
continue in that same location
while R. L. moved his shoe re-
pair business to the Haworth
building at 1315 Adams.
Both R. L. and his wife,
Catherine, were active in the
community. But soon he got
the desire to move on and
in 1920 the family moved to
Oakland, California, where he
was a salesman. They later
moved to Santa Rosa where
he became a successful real
estate and insurance broker.
Through the years this
building gave a home to nu-
merous and varied business-
es. It appears that at times
there was just one business
and at others the building
was divided into two sections
each housing a separate busi-
ness.
Some of them were: C. P.
Christie — Phonograph Sales;
The Pink Shop selling ladies
and children’s millinery;
Sommer and Martin offering
coverings for Ford auto tops,
cowboy boots and saddles; and
Young’s Candy Kitchen. The
last three of these rotated in
and out in one year.
There were several res-
taurants — Jack-O-Lantern,
Anthony’s Grill and The Cup-
board Cafe, and at least two
fl ower shops — Clark’s Florist
and Fitzgerald’s Flower Shop
which was there until 1948
where they sold not only fl ow-
ers but canaries.
In addition to having a
constant fl ow of businesses
there seems to be a number of
facade changes that occurred
through the years. The fi rst
was in 1923 just before the
Stitching Shop located there.
In recent years it appears to
have returned close to the
original.
At the beginning of the ar-
ticle I stated that the builder
of 1115 was unknown. But in
my search for the businesses
that came and went over the
years, I feel that mystery has
been solved by the 1913 Ob-
server article about young R.
L. Duignan who was moving
into the McKenna Building.
Further research showed
that in the late 1890s and
early 1900s there was only
one McKenna living in La
Grande.
Who was he and where did
he come from? John McK-
enna was born in New York
in 1856 and the 1900 U.S.
Census showed that he was
single and working for the
railroad in La Grande as a
blacksmith. John was living
as a boarder with William and
Mary Campbell and eleven
other men, mostly railroaders.
By 1910 he was married to his
wife Anna and they had a two-
year-old son named Francis.
John worked himself up to be-
ing the boss blacksmith at the
O.W. R.& N. shops. In 1913 he
became ill with cancer and he
died on Sept. 3, 1913 leaving
Anna a widow with a fi ve-
year-old son. Anna and Francis
later moved to Portland.
Our story has come full
circle. In September 1913
young R. L. Duignan set up
his shop in the McKenna
Building beginning a future
of entrepreneurship while
also in September 1913 John
McKenna, who had worked as
a blacksmith and invested in
constructing the building at
1115 Adams, passed away.
Keep looking up! Enjoy!