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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
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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
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Tammy Bremner
Manager, Grant County Chamber of
Commerce
89604
www.eomediagroup.com