THURSDAY
FOURTH-QUARTER SWOON DOOMS BAKER BOYS BASKETBALL: PAGE A6
DECEMBER 22–29, 2021
Read
‘Janie’s
Journals’
Visit
Camp
Logan
Learn
Art
classes
PAGE 6
PAGE 7
PAGE 12
WWW.GOEASTERNOREGON.COM
Fair Lights in
Wallowa County
PAGE 8
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Cars enter the Wallowa County Fairgrounds for
the Fair Lights holiday display in 2020. This year’s
drive-thru display runs through Sunday, Dec. 26.
GO! Magazine
December 23, 2021
IN THIS EDITION:
Your weekly guide
to arts and
entertainment
events around
Northeast Oregon
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
Local • Business & AgLife • Go! magazine
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Carmen
Erskine of Baker City.
Publication
schedule for
Christmas and
New Year’s weeks
The Baker City Herald
will not publish an issue
on Saturday, Dec. 25.
Next week, the Herald
will publish issues on
Tuesday, Dec. 28, Thursday,
Dec. 30 and Friday, Dec. 31.
There will not be an issue
on Saturday, Jan. 1.
$1.50
Generosity
‘overwhelming’
Toy donations above average this year
BRIEFING
Hospice looking
for volunteers
Heart ’N Home Hospice
is looking for volunteers to
undergo training to learn
about hospice care and
the services provided to
patients.
Typical volunteer ac-
tivities include talking with
patients in person or on
the phone, art and music,
helping with transporta-
tion, grocery shopping
and errands, and doing
yard and housework.
Anyone interested in
applying can learn more at
https://internal-lhcgroup.
icims.com/jobs/117067/
hospice-volunteer/job.
More information
is available by email-
ing Cheyenne Thamert
at cheyenne.thamert@
lchgroup.com or by calling
541-524-7688.
WEATHER
Today
40 / 24
Rain or snow
Friday
34 / 24
Morning snow
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Members of the Baker
Kiwanis Club write
responses to more than 250
letters to the jolly old elf
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Shelly Cutler, a member of the Baker Kiwanis Club, leafs through some of the
more than 250 letters to Santa that she and two other club members wrote
responses to.
By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Shelly Cutler isn’t a ghost writer but
she makes an exception for Santa Claus.
The chance to bring joy to a child with
a couple of short handwritten sentences,
Cutler said, is one she simply can’t miss.
“It’s so well worth it,” Cutler, a member
of the Baker Kiwanis Club and executive
director of the Baker County Chamber
of Commerce, said of her role as one of
Santa’s designated scribes this Christmas.
“The Christmas spirit — sometimes we
struggle to fi nd it, but here it is.”
Cutler and two other Kiwanis Club
members, Debbie Poe and MaryLynne Ev-
ans, divided up the task of replying to each
of more than 250 letters to Santa written
by Baker County children.
The last of the responses — postmarked
from the North Pole, naturally — were
mailed on Tuesday, Dec. 21.
And with each of the dozens of letters
Cutler wrote, she imagined the smile of
wonder on a little face, perhaps as the
child pulls the envelope from a mailbox,
or later when they, or a parent, reads
Santa’s words.
Donated toys at the CASA of Eastern Oregon offi ce
in Baker City. The toys are being distributed around
the county.
By LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
The community, says
Mary Collard, responded
with big generosity this
holiday season.
Collard is the executive
director of CASA, which
trains volunteers to
advocate for children in
the court system. Every
December, CASA has a toy
drive and “wish tags” for
children in foster care.
Lew Bros. Les Schwab in
Baker City is the collection
point for the toys — the
local version of Schwab’s
company-wide “Toys for
Tots” campaign, said Diana
Brown, co-owner of the tire
store.
See, Toys/Page A3
11 COVID
cases Tuesday
Highest one-day total in a month
Baker City Herald
“The way they light up and are so ex-
cited,” Cutler said. “There’s nothing like it.”
This is the second year the Kiwanis
Club has invited local kids to write to
Santa.
Last year the club started the effort
because its longtime Christmas tradition
— photos with the jolly old elf himself —
was canceled due to the pandemic.
See, Santa/Page A3
Baker County had
its highest daily total of
COVID-19 cases in a month,
with 11 cases reported on
Tuesday, Dec. 21.
That was the most in
a day since Nov. 22, when
there were also 11 cases.
Tuesday’s total was the
fi rst day with 10 or more
cases since Nov. 30, when
there were 10 cases.
Case totals have been
trending down, however,
during December, for the
third straight month.
The daily average
dropped from a record high
of 15.5 cases during Septem-
ber, to 5.4 during October
and to 4.8 during November.
For the fi rst 21 days of
December, the daily aver-
age is 3.7 cases, the lowest
since July.
See, COVID/Page A3
Shining Bright
By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Most people look at Doug and
Lori Lien’s Baker City home and see
a brilliant display of lights in mul-
tiple hues and shapes and sizes.
Doug Lien does not.
He sees holes.
Black spots.
Places where he could wedge in
a new decoration, gleaming against
the dark winter sky.
See, Lighting/Page A3
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Winner of the Griswold award in the Baker County Chamber of
Commerce’s Christmas lighting contest is Doug Lien, 675 L Loop.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Winner of the award for best non-lighted display in the Baker County
Chamber of Commerce’s contest is Meghan Moore, 2406 Second St.
TODAY
Issue 95, 34 pages
Business ...........B1 & B2
Classified ............. B2-B5
Comics ..............B6 & B7
Community News ....A3
Crossword ........... B2-B5
Dear Abby ................. B8
Winner of the Santa’s Favorite award in the Baker County Chamber
of Commerce’s Christmas lighting contest is Billie-Jo Nickens, 1170
Columbia Ave.
Horoscope ........... B2-B5
Letters ........................A4
Lottery Results ..........A2
News of Record ........A2
Obituaries ..................A2
Opinion ......................A4
COMING NEXT WEEK — LOOKING BACK AT THE TOP STORIES OF 2021
Senior Menus ...........A2
Sports ........................A6
Weather ..................... B8