A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
The gift
that keeps
on giving
N
ot many things last
forever, which makes
the perpetual Stewart
Scholarship’s timeless gift of
education even more exceptional.
Established by the late
benefactors Wayne Stewart of
Dayville and his son Eminger
Stewart III of Mt. Vernon, who
made a provision to set up a
perpetual education fund upon
his death, the endowment uses
the interest from the fund to
provide annual scholarships to
Grant County students.
The fund itself is never
depleted, so the gift truly keeps
on giving. Forever.
Last year, $576,000 in interest
was awarded as scholarships.
More than 100 students received
financial help toward their
education, most receiving
$5,000. Few students anywhere
have access to such an amazing
opportunity, and the fact most
Grant County students who
qualify receive the award is
remarkable.
Recipients can use the funds
for undergraduate, trade or
graduate school educational
expenses, and are eligible for up
to five years.
Eminger Stewart left behind
no survivors when he passed
away in 2007, but this gift will
help thousands of young people
improve their lives.
Much like the endowment,
the benefit it funds is also
everlasting. Education continues
to provide benefits throughout
a person’s life without being
depleted.
On average, a person with a
high school diploma earns $712
per week, compared to $1,173
per week for a person with a
bachelor’s degree, according
to the Bureau of Labor and
Statistics.
The average unemployment
rate for someone who has only
completed high school is 4.6
percent, compared to 2.5 percent
for someone who has earned a
four-year degree.
Not only is education
rewarding in terms of earning
potential, it opens new doors
many may never have known
existed.
With the July 1 Stewart
Scholarship deadline
approaching, we acknowledge
the philanthropic legacy left
behind by the Stewarts with their
scholarship endowment, and we
encourage local students to learn
from them.
Invest in something that will
continue to give back: your
education.
For more information about the
scholarship, visit grantesd.k12.or.us
and click on “Stewart Scholarship”
at the bottom of the page.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
Shampoo bottles and horseshoe nails
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
It’s the little things in life.
“How do you open this thing?”
my husband asked, walking out of
the bathroom holding a bottle of toi-
let bowl cleaner.
“Is it broken?” I asked, tilting my
head to see the bottle better.
“I don’t know, but it seems to be
stuck,” he said, still trying to twist
it as he headed for the kitchen junk
drawer. “Are my pliers still in here?”
he asked, pulling the drawer open.
“It’s a new bottle,” I said, “I can’t
believe it’d be broken.”
I took the bottle out of his hands
to look at it. I squeezed the lid and
turned — and it opened right up. I
gave my husband that one eyebrow
look.
“Well, how was I supposed to
know you had to squeeze it first?”
“Guess that means I know how
many times you have scrubbed the
toilets in our house, then, huh?” I
teased him.
He gave me a pretend glare, “I
just prefer to use Ajax when I clean
them.”
I rolled my eyes. “And to think,
it is women who get a bad rap for
not being able to open their own jars
and bottles. First it was the shampoo
bottle and now toilet
bowl cleaner?”
I smiled, and the
years rolled back in
my mind’s eye.
My husband and
I had just started
Brianna
dating, and he had
Walker
invited me to come
stay the weekend
at his parent’s house. His mom was
quite hospitable: We had a delicious
supper of baked potatoes with a cold
cucumber sauce, and then she point-
ed me in the direction of my bedroom
and handed me a towel and wash-
cloth.
The next morning, I showered,
then went upstairs to help with
breakfast. I had just finished setting
the table when my boyfriend walked
up the stairs, “Did you use the sham-
poo that was in the shower?” he
asked.
“Yeah, ” I answered. “Why?”
“There was shampoo in the pump
dispenser.”
While I was showering, I had
reached down to pump some sham-
poo in my hand. The dispenser was
locked but the bottle was half-empty.
I unlocked the pump, squirted some
in my hand — and then, thinking that
maybe he was one of those super
particular kind of guys, I squeezed it
back down and locked it.
“Well?” he asked.
“What? Was I not supposed to
use that shampoo?”
“It was there to use. I just want to
know how you made the pump dis-
penser work.”
“I unlocked it, and then —”
“It unlocks?” he interrupted.
He groaned, “You’re remember-
ing that stupid shampoo dispenser,
aren’t you?”
I smirked. The little things often
become big things over time. My
grandma used to recite:
For the want of a nail the shoe
was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse
was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider
was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle
was lost,
For the want of a battle the king-
dom was lost,
And all for the want of a horse-
shoe nail.
It wasn’t a war — but a pesky
bottle cap did cause me to lose out
on having someone else clean the
bathroom. It’s the little things for
sure!
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Arming teachers
‘neither dangerous
nor irresponsible’
W HERE TO W RITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-
575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax:
541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@centu-
rylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day,
97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-
575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityoflong-
creek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025.
Email: cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax:
541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie
City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax:
820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website: www.
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State Capitol,
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
Salem, 97310. Phone: (503) 986-1180.
Website: www. leg.state.or.us (includes
Oregon Constitution and Oregon Revised
Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol or
messages for legislators) — 800-332-2313.
• Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900
Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone:
503-986-1730. Website: www.oregonlegis-
lature.gov/Bentz. Email: Sen.CliffBentz@
oregonlegislature.gov.
• Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale – 900 Court
St. NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-
986-1460. Website: www.oregonlegislature.
gov/findley. Email: Rep.LynnFindley@
oregonlegislature.gov.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
• The White House, 1600 Pennsylva-
nia Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500;
Phone-comments: 202-456-1111; Switch-
board: 202-456-1414.
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D — 516 Hart
Senate Office Building, Washington D.C.
20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Email:
wayne_kinney@wyden.senate.gov Website:
http://wyden.senate.gov Fax: 202-228-2717.
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D — 313 Hart
Senate Office Building, Washington D.C.
20510. Phone: 202-224-3753. Email:
senator@merkley.senate.gov. Fax: 202-
228-3997. Oregon offices include One
World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St.,
Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; and 310
S.E. Second St., Suite 105, Pendleton, OR
97801. Phone: 503-326-3386; 541-278-
1129. Fax: 503-326-2990.
To the Editor:
A recent guest editorial has
called “arming teachers” danger-
ous and, therefore, irresponsible.
Instead, the writer suggests that
spending more money on armed
guards and other security measures
is the responsible answer to school
shootings.
First, the term “arming teachers”
is so misleading regarding what has
actually been proposed that it is re-
ally false. What has been proposed
is taking those select teachers who
volunteer, screening for suitability,
requiring intensive training of them
during a week or two during the
summer recess and requiring their
identity to remain strictly confiden-
tial.
The confidentiality of their iden-
tity is important so that a potential
perpetrator would not know what
teacher(s) may be armed and, there-
fore, would not know what teach-
er(s) to avoid and what teachers
and classrooms it would be safe to
target.
Those who favor this approach
are also not in favor of “arming
teachers.” We are in favor of the ac-
tual proposal of volunteers only, re-
quiring intensive training and total
anonymity. That is neither danger-
ous nor irresponsible. It would be
cost-effective, it would be a power-
ful deterrent and it would save lives
in the event of an attempted mass
shooting.
Reg LeQuieu
Mt. Vernon
Initiative preserves
Second Amendment
To the Editor:
In response to the Grant County
Second Amendment preservation
ordinance under review by Judge
Cramer, Blue Mountains Forest
Partners Executive Director Mark
Webb challenges this as being un-
constitutional.
Note this is a Second Amendment
“preservation” ordinance. He says in
his Blue Mountain Eagle interview
that he knows if this is on the ballot
it will pass by way of we the people,
but that it too will be challenged if
voted in. Does Mark Webb support
the rights of the people in this coun-
ty, this country? You decide.
Sandy Rue
Prairie City
Slow down and
care for life
To the Editor:
I am reminded of dialogue from
a famous 1961 Audrey Hepburn
movie, “Breakfast At Tiffany’s,”
where she struggled with relation-
ships, even with her cat.
“I’m like Cat here, a no-name
slob. We belong to nobody, and no-
body belongs to us. We don’t even
belong to each other.” But then,
“Where’s the cat?” and then, “Ohh-
hhh, Cat!!” She found her cat in the
soaking rain, who meant more to
her than she realized.
My cat Roswell, however, af-
ter charming, irritating, loving me
for over 10 years, slipped out the
door and crossed over the Rain-
bow Bridge with his proud flitting,
brushy tail and indignant “meow,”
when he innocently ran out on
Highway 395 in downtown Long
Creek. The same day, a neighbor
woman lost her 15-year-old cat the
same way, crossing the highway.
We are both heartbroken.
My point? Our city has a radar
speed trailer, a new crosswalk, pe-
destrian crossing sign and, soon,
children playing signs. Vehicles
continue to blow through our town
with no respect for the life here.
Whether children, pets or deer. Peo-
ple could take a few extra seconds to
take a deep breath and slow down.
Notice the surroundings. Look for
children not paying attention, cats
headed for an open field to hunt,
dogs out of their yard, fawns look-
ing for mom, cars trying to back out
of a cafe parking area.
Care for life! We do belong to
each other!
Leslie Barnett
Long Creek
L
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Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.
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