NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
A3
Baker City woman a polio survivor
By LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
A virus changed Gloria
Schott’s life.
Not the virus that has so dra-
matically aff ected society today,
but one of many years ago — a
virus that mostly aff ected chil-
dren and is now nearly eradi-
cated from the world.
Schott was diagnosed with
polio when she was 3½ years
old.
“On Oct. 9, it’ll be 75 years.
I lived instead of died,” she said.
Schott was living with her
family in Weiser, Idaho. She’s
heard stories of how her illness
began.
“I’ve been told it was my
uncle’s birthday and I wouldn’t
eat ice cream. Shortly thereafter
I started to fall,” she said.
Her parents took her to the
local doctor.
“He immediately diagnosed
me,” she said.
And immediately isolated
her.
Schott was admitted to St.
Luke’s Hospital in Boise on
Oct. 9, 1946.
Her parents were not
allowed to see her. She said her
mom got a job at the Table Rock
Cafe in Boise, and would come
to the hospital after work to peer
at her daughter through a crack
in the door.
Schott remembers want-
ing her mother. She would call
out: “Mother, mama, where are
you? I need you!”
“And she was standing right
there,” she said.
Contributed photo
Education assistant Kim Brown, left, accepts the Crystal Ap-
ple Award from Ryan Gerry, Grant Union High School’s prin-
cipal.
Crystal Apple Award
winners announced
Lindy Cruise
In the selection commit-
tee’s letter to Cruise, Prairie
City School District’s agri-
cultural science and tech-
nology instructor, the com-
mittee noted that it looked
at Cruise’s leadership in the
school and the community
as well as her overall con-
tribution to her students.
In the award letter,
the committee referenced
quotes from those who
nominated Cruise:
“She does everything
she can to make Prairie
School better for the kids
and that’s what teaching is
all about.”
“She is a hard working
individual. She has turned
that FFA/AG program
around with her getting the
grant for the greenhouse
Kim Brown
According to Brown’s
bio page on the Grant High
School website, she started
her career with the Grant
School District 3 in 1998 as
a fi rst-grade teacher’s assis-
tant at Humbolt Elementary
School.
Five years later, Brown
transferred to Grant Union’s
special education depart-
ment. In 2008, she spent
one year at Mt. Vernon Mid-
dle School and then began
working at Grant Union
High School in 2009.
“The staff here at the
High School are great and I
am still doing what I enjoy
most,” she notes, “working
with students.”
The committee shared a
quote:
“Anyone that works with
Kim or has worked with
her in the past agree she is
a very caring and compas-
sionate educator. She has
always shown dedication to
her job and truly cares about
the students she is work-
ing with. Kim works easily
with all levels of kids. She is
compassionate, patient, ded-
icated, and reliable.
“Her willingness to step
up has always been appar-
ent but especially during
the early days of COVID.
When others felt they
should not be forced to
work, Kim was distribut-
ing breakfast and lunch
to students in the district.
Not only was she dropping
off the food, she talked to
the students, asked about
their well being, and was a
familiar, caring face during
a tough time. She would
even ask the offi ce staff
and administration if they
needed help, and she was
always ready for any task.”
Schott had contracted the
type of polio that caused paral-
ysis. When she regained some
movement, the hospital staff
would put her on the fl oor and
let her explore.
“I did the army crawl,” she
said.
She distinctly remembers
crawling down the hall and into
a room fi lled with patients in iron
lungs — a tube-like machine that
provided breathing support for
polio patients suff ering paralysis
of the diaphragm.
“The whole fl oor was polio,”
she said.
Schott had heard the voice
of a patient through her wall —
the voice was deep and raspy,
and she referred to it as “my
boyfriend.”
But when she crawled in
dead polio cells.
Schott received that vaccine.
Although she’d already con-
tracted polio, doctors told her
parents that she could still catch
the other strains. The vaccine
would protect against all three.
Growing up, the crutches
and braces limited her physical
activity, so jacks and marbles
helped pass the time.
And reading — a love that
she credits to her second grade
teacher, Ms. Holmes.
During that year, every day
Schott could choose a friend to
eat lunch with in the classroom.
As they ate, Ms. Holmes read
“The Little House on the Prai-
rie” series of books.
“She instilled a love of read-
ing,” Schott said.
There were some times when
her special abilities were sought
for a playground game.
“They’d get me sometimes
for kickball. If I had a cast, it
was solid,” she said, chuckling
at the memory. “I could kick it
out of the fi eld, and someone
would run for me.”
An invisible virus changed
her life three-quarters of a cen-
tury ago, but Schott said it also
created the person she is today.
“I think who I am, my pas-
sions, and my concerns for
those who are hurting, stem
from this,” she said.
But she’ll never forget that
virus.
“I’m never free of it,” she
said. “I thought with time I
would be, but polio still has a
hold of me. I have no memory of
not having polio.”
COVID claims two more Grant County lives
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — COVID-
19 has snuff ed out the lives
of two more Grant County
residents.
The county’s 11th and
12th COVID-related fatali-
ties were an 86-year-old man
and an 81-year-old woman,
the Grant County Health
Department announced on
Monday, Oct. 11.
The department noted
that both had underly-
ing medical conditions and
died at diff erent regional
hospitals.
According to the Ore-
gon Health Authority, the
86-year-old man tested pos-
itive for COVID-19 on Oct.
2 and died at the Boise Vet-
erans Administration Hospi-
tal on Friday, Oct. 8.
No additional details were
immediately available about
the death of the 81-year-old
woman.
As of Monday, Oct. 11,
Oregon’s death toll from the
disease was 4,002. Accord-
ing to the U.S. Center for
Disease Control and Pre-
vention, the nationwide
total of COVID-19-related
deaths stands at 715,000.
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Fri- Sun
Mon-Thurs
Sunday, Oct. 31
W HAT’S
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Friday, Oct. 15
American Legion Auxiliary meeting
• 2 p.m., Grant County Chamber of Com-
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All members of the Ellis Tracey Unit are
encouraged to attend.
Halloween Day Clay Pigeon Shoot
• 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Brad and Julie Smith’s B
Bar J Ranch, Highway 402 near milepost 9
Prizes awarded for women’s, men’s and kids’
clay pigeon shoot, which costs $3 per round.
Bring your own pumpkin for the pumpkin
chunkin’ shoot. The event, a benefi t for Mon-
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“Billie” Bullard is celebrating her
100th birthday October 18. You may
remember her from her time as a
Lionette, Elk, craft fair particpant,
senior center regular, or any bingo
gathering. Billie will be at the Senior
Center in John Day on October 18 at about 11:30
during meal pickup. Stop by to give her a birthday
greeting. She would be delighted to receive
birthday wishes by letter or card as well, sent to
P.O. Box 337, Mt. Vernon, Oregon 97865.
S265031-1
Saturday, October 16
2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Western Headstall
5 Sessions: Mondays,
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S263288-1
Last chance to play golf.
Goblin Open and
Sunday Slam Finale
is October 31, 2021.
S259432-1
JOHN DAY — Two
Grant County educators
have been honored for their
dedication to area youth
with Crystal Apple Awards.
The Grant County Edu-
cation Service District
selection committee named
Lindy Cruise from Prai-
rie City High School as the
licensed winner and Kim
Brown from Grant Union
High School as the classi-
fi ed winner.
Robert Waltenburg, ESD
superintendent, said the dis-
trict has two award catego-
ries: licensed individuals
and classifi ed employees.
“We want to recognize
all school district employ-
ees and volunteers because
every single person in our
schools helps us to edu-
cate kids,” Waltenburg said.
“But these two rose to the
top.”
In June, the service dis-
trict solicited nominations
for the award from across
the fi ve school districts in
Grant County from staff ,
students, parents and any-
one else in the community.
and the Farm to School
program.”
It was obvious, the com-
mittee told Cruise, that she
is highly respected by her
peers, students, families and
community.
S263297-1
139101
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Gloria Schott on her front porch
in Baker City on Oct. 5. Schott
was diagnosed with polio 75
years ago, on Oct. 9, 1946.
there, and lay beneath the iron
lung to see the patient’s face, she
discovered that her “boyfriend”
was in fact a teenage girl.
“The last time I saw her,
she walked into a clinic with
crutches and braces up to her
hips,” Schott said.
Schott left the hospital on her
fourth birthday — Feb. 28, 1947.
“They saved my life,” she
said. “I wasn’t supposed to live.
They told my parents I would
die.”
But though polio spared
Schott’s life, the virus never
truly left her.
She used crutches until she
was 13, and wore a brace on her
right leg for many years.
“They were terrible. Solid
metal,” she said.
The hospital stay was fol-
lowed by physical therapy and
hydrotherapy during the week,
as well as four surgeries — three
on her right leg, one on her left.
Schott became an ambassa-
dor for the hospital, and partic-
ipated in fashion shows to help
raise money for a new building.
She also became a poster
child for the March of Dimes.
Schott still has the posters
and fl yers, as well as the blue
dress she wore.
The March of Dimes was
founded by President Frank-
lin D. Roosevelt in 1938 as
a nationwide eff ort to eradi-
cate polio. Much of the money
raised helped fund research to
develop a vaccine.
Some of that funding went
to Dr. Jonas Salk, who devel-
oped a vaccine made from
1:00 shotgun start with lunch at the Hideout
prior to golf. Belt buckles and year end awards
will be issued after the golf event.
Sign up your two-person team today.
Dave Lewis
dave.lewis@silvies.us
or call 541-413-2216.
Silvies.us
S265088-1