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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 2018)
A18 News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, November 14, 2018 The Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter LEFT: Anna Smith creates gingerbread houses, baking the parts to two full houses per batch. MIDDLE: Anna and Tom Smith of Prairie City have been busy making 125 gingerbread houses for the children who visit Christmas on the Prairie festivities. RIGHT: Several gingerbread house parts are set out to cool at Anna and Tom Smith’s home in Prairie City. TRADITION Continued from Page A1 The houses are not small — no graham cracker homes here — but are made from fra- grant, delicious, homemade gingerbread dough. She said it’s a recipe that families will like eating after they’ve displayed them. “Everyone knows me as the Gingerbread Lady,” Anna said. Her husband, Tom, the Gingerbread Man, mixes up the dough from scratch, and Anna rolls it out. Each batch makes the parts for two houses and takes 15 minutes to bake. Then they start the process again in their home kitchen. On Nov. 8, about a dozen walls and roofs were laid out, cooling and setting up. The Smiths start buying pounds and pounds of baking supplies in September, as well as candy for decorating right after Halloween. For this year’s project, they purchased two 50-pound bags of flour, 12 jars of mo- lasses and 24 pounds of butter for the gingerbread. Two 25-pound bags of icing sugar will be mixed up and used as “glue” to construct the Tom and Anna Smith are as busy as elves, preparing 125 gingerbread houses for children to build and decorate during the Saturday, Nov. 17, Christmas on the Prairie event in Prairie City. sweet treats. The Smiths have provided the service out of pocket, with some contributions given in a donation jar at the event, and this year Roan Coffee donated $50 to the cause. Because the costs for sup- plies have gone up signifi- cantly, the Smiths are seeking more sponsors for the project. The first year, it was $1,000 for 75 houses, and this year the price has climbed to $3,000 for 125 houses, Anna said — not to mention the cost of operating their oven for hours on end. “If people would like this to continue from year to year, the community’s participa- tion in sponsoring this event would be greatly appreciat- ed,” she said. To assist as a sponsor, call Anna at 541-792-0901. Anna will also have two of her handmade children’s quilts to give to two lucky winners in a drawing at the event. About 20 volunteers help the Smiths decorate the Teen Center, make the homemade icing and assist the children and their parents or guardians in constructing the houses. Wanda Winegar and other volunteers with the Talents and Treasures nonprofit group help organize Christmas on the Prairie. Winegar said the opportu- nity to build their own full- size gingerbread house is a big draw for children — plus the visit from Santa. She said the event, which is themed “A Blue Mountain Christmas on the Prairie” this year, is a kickoff to the Christ- mas shopping season. “There are people who come every year, so it’s a so- cial event for us,” she said. “I have people who vis- it from out town just for the event,” Winegar added. “It’s nice to know that it’s that popu- lar. It gives people an open invi- tation to visit our shops and see what we can provide for them locally.” For more information, call Winegar at 541-820-3675. Hello Grant County, Only eight more days until Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it! As we are preparing for the holiday season, let’s not forget that our local businesses have so much to offer. Let’s support them! Shannon Adair is a Chamber Board member and also a John Day City Council member. She is working with John Day merchants to spruce up the downtown. At a recent John Day Merchants meeting, it was agreed to encourage all of the downtown businesses to decorate their buildings with white lights for the holiday season. The City of John Day will put up Christmas banners and new lights on the streetlights on Main Street. Be sure to attend “Christmas on the Prairie” on November 17th, the Christmas Baazars through the first weekend in December and the Timber Trucker’s Light Parade on December 8th. The Eagle/ Richard Hanners Sam Palmer won the 2018 race for Grant County Commissioner with about 54.3 percent of the votes. PALMER A Christmas Tree Lighting is being planned for December 14th. The tree will be in the yard next to the historic church. Continued from Page A1 Palmer will travel to Eu- gene Nov. 12-16 for an As- sociation of Oregon Counties conference that will offer training for both newly elect- ed and current county offi- cials. Grant County Judge Scott Myers and Commis- sioner Jim Hamsher will also attend the conference, he said. Palmer said he wants to see the natural resource ad- visory position established. When it comes to filling committee positions, his in- terest is in industry, which in these parts means serving as a liaison with ranchers and farmers, he said. With the Malheur Nation- al Forest Plan in the objec- tion phase, Palmer said he’d like the county to be more I want to give a “shout-out” to the folks in Dayville – your community spirit is awesome! I have heard so many comments about how nice your town looks and how great it is that you all work so hard to make it look that way. We love your scarecrows! Great job! Another “shout-out” goes to the John Day businesses that plan, put on and participate in “First Friday”. Thank you for the great job you are doing; a lot of people have enjoyed this event! We are looking forward to more after the holidays. The Chamber Board meets on Thursday, November 15th. The business meeting is at 10:30 AM at the Chamber office and the no-host luncheon is at 12:00 PM at the Outpost. This month’s guest speakers will be from the friends of Kam Wah Chung. Come and hear what amazing things are happening with and because of our very special heritage site. actively involved according to the coordination principles outlined in federal law. Some changes in the Forest Plan were not made until after the comment period ended, so the plan’s revision process is far from over, he said. Palmer plans to retire from his job at the hospi- tal in Burns around Dec. 3, 2019, when he turns 55 and can draw full retirement pay. Rob Raschio has offered to step down early as appointed commissioner to make room for the new commissioner, but Palmer said that would depend on Raschio’s work- load as the county’s public defender. Palmer thanked the pub- lic for their votes. He said he would listen to what they say and, with their support, make Grant County a productive community. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. Happy Thanksgiving! Tammy Bremner Manager, Grant County Chamber of Commerce 89604 www.eomediagroup.com
