A10
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Pendleton changes with the times
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
PENDLETON — Machines
rumbled and roared. Looms inter-
laced colorful yarns at right angles
to form cloth. People scurried by,
pushing tubs of spools.
Here at Pendleton Woolen Mills,
the same family has run the business
since 1909. More than 100 years
later, Pendleton’s brand remains
popular, with an online store and 35
retail locations. The mill buys wool
from about 170 sheep farms.
The operation’s enduring suc-
cess, industry experts say, is tied to
its adaptability. The Bishop family,
which has run Pendleton Woolen
Mills for generations, has adapted
to shifting wool production and
changing global markets.
Some of the company’s earliest
designs, including blankets inspired
by Native American culture, remain
best sellers. But other aspects of
the industry have changed over the
century.
The introduction of manmade
fi bers in the 1880s shrank wool’s
share of the textile market, espe-
cially after polyester was invented
in 1941. Americans ditched the itch
of prickly wool for softer synthetic
fi bers.
According to a 2019 Textile
Exchange report, sheep wool makes
up 1% of global textile fi bers. By
comparison, polyester constitutes
52% and cotton 24%.
Specifi c products have also
changed. According to a 2021 study
in Animal Frontiers, a scientifi c
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Employees at Pendleton Woolen Mills in Pendleton work beside spinning
frames.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
John Boston, manager of Pendleton Woolen Mills’ Pendleton mill.
journal, apparel wool used to be
popular as outer knitwear or woven
suits, but as the American work-
force has become more casual, peo-
ple have bought fewer suits.
New opportunities, however,
have opened, including growing
markets for next-to-skin knitwear
and “athleisure” wear made with
fi ne, small-micron wool.
Although Pendleton uses coarser
wool to create blankets and rugs,
the company uses fi ner wool for
next-to-skin clothing.
New international markets are
also emerging, especially among
Asia’s rising middle classes.
According to the Animal Frontiers
study, because wool is four to seven
times more expensive to produce
and process than most fi bers, it’s
marketed internationally as a lux-
ury niche product.
Wool has also found a place
among eco-conscious consumers
avoiding manmade fi bers.
“I see the push for natural fi bers
as being good for the wool busi-
ness,” said Dan Gutzman, manager
of Pendleton Woolen Mills’ wool
buying department.
Additionally, the pandemic
shifted consumer demands. Though
consumers have bought less work
attire, Pendleton has seen demand
spike for home goods including
blankets, rugs and décor and has
pivoted to meet that demand.
“COVID was good for the home
business,” said John Bishop, presi-
dent of Pendleton Woolen Mills.
Consumers also increasingly
Gutzman said farmers should
also be aware of market trends.
For example, U.S. consumers have
been moving toward softer wool,
23 microns or fi ner.
The domestic value of fi ne wool
from a whitefaced breed like a Ram-
bouillet is worth about three to four
times more per pound than coarse
blackface sheep wool, according to
Gutzman.
Not every farmer can jump into
the fi ne wool industry, however. It
takes the right kind of land. Ram-
bouillets are built for arid, rocky
ranges.
“You pretty much have to have
sheep that fi t your land,” said
Gutzman.
Bishop, the company president,
said Pendleton will continue sup-
porting sheep farmers and adapting
to the times.
want “local” products, for which
Pendleton Woolen Mills is well-po-
sitioned to tout that it sources wool
from many U.S. farms.
Pendleton also buys from Aus-
tralia, New Zealand, Brazil and
Uruguay, but the company sources
as much wool as possible — about
40% — from domestic ranches.
According to April Rogers,
Pendleton’s spokeswoman, some
longtime providers include Krebs
Livestock, Krebs Sheep Co., Cun-
ningham Sheep Co., Etcheverry
Sheep Co., Wixom Livestock, Noh
Livestock, Five O Ranch and Ian
Anderson Livestock.
Although the mill works with
ranches at any scale — buying a
few fl eeces or buying them by the
truckloads — Gutzman encourages
farmers with small fl ocks to pool
their wool with others.
Meal service off ers lifeline in pandemic
By JOE SIESS
The Bulletin
During the early months
of the COVID-19 pandemic,
when store shelves were
empty and much of daily
life came to a grinding halt,
seniors in Bend were placed in
a particularly diffi cult spot.
Many, especially those who
have underlying health issues
and who are not as mobile as
they used to be, found them-
selves not only in fear of leav-
ing their homes and exposing
themselves to the virus, but
some were unable to get the
food and supplies they needed.
Fortunately, volunteers for
Meals on Wheels — a program
administered by the Council on
Aging of Central Oregon that
provides seniors in the area with
prepared meals free of charge —
helped many weather the hardest
months of the pandemic.
The program was a lifeline
for the Lohoefners — Doug,
74, has cancer and Debbie, 68,
is asthmatic — and for Arline
Stewart, who lives alone because
her husband has Alzheimer’s
and lives in a care center.
Rachel Dutcher, a Meals
on Wheels delivery driver,
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Meals on Wheels volunteer Rachel Dutcher packs a meal Tuesday
while on her delivery route in Bend.
said the pandemic changed
the nature of her visits. Instead
of just delivering meals, she
found herself checking up on
the seniors on her route.
“When COVID hit, it made
a sudden impression on me,”
Dutcher said. “I was essentially
the only person they talked to
all day.”
Debbie and Doug
Lohoefner
The Lohoefners met each
other while camping near San
Diego, California. Doug was
a retired dentist who decided
to work as a park ranger and
drive a big rig — something
he dreamed of doing for many
years. The couple got married
in 2002 and threw a big coun-
try-style wedding for their
friends and family.
They moved to Oregon
in 2004, spending their days
going on long walks together
with their dogs, camping and
checking out the wildlife. They
settled into their home with
their three cats and several par-
akeets. Deer and blue herons
milled about in the yard.
Then came the pandemic.
Doug Lohoefner had been
diagnosed with a form of leu-
kemia years prior, and Deb-
bie, who is asthmatic, suf-
fered from blood clotting.
Both knew they were at high
risk from the virus, and took
it very seriously.
“We were very scared.
We didn’t want to leave the
house. We didn’t want to let
anybody in,” Debbie recalled
of pandemic’s early days.
“Once I got the vac-
cine, I started feeling a little
bit better,” she said, “more
positive.”
Doug sat on the couch
beside his wife as she spoke
and smiled, maskless.
“That is why I am here
without a mask,” Doug
said. Before (the vaccine) I
wouldn’t even be in here. I’d
be in the other room.”
Doug and Debbie would
order food from places like
Costco and Fred Meyer,
whose delivery drivers
would leave the bags out-
side the couple’s front door.
The Lohoefners then sprayed
This AD is in opposition to Measure #12-80. It is not because we do not want a pool. It is because it adds
to the total amount of debt to our citizens that this narrative is pushing. Those that support this Levy, keep
saying that “we need a pool”. Need and want are two totally different things. When we want these projects,
we are adding unnecessary costs upon the Taxpayers Backs. The same people that support this cash cow, are
directly responsible for the abolishment of our police. They refused to hold the City of John Day (CJD) ac-
countable for public safety. We NEED a police presence. We can argue all day long about the narrative that they
did not have the money in their budget, but the money was there, and the same people that are pushing for this
levy has fallen for the propaganda machine of the CJD regarding the resurrection of the Gleason pool and the
Bullying going on there.
The JDCC parks &rec has overstepped its original goal, as it was written, when it was formed. To those
who have stated, in a failed earlier attempt to form a larger “Taxing District” for a pool, that they did not get a
vote. The current Parks & Rec. was never voted on! The main concern of the district was to assure Gleason
pool was funded, but the district chose to purchase more land. Thus, taking it off the tax rolls. Add that cost to
this scenario. How much money has been spent to refurbish their current office? In the master plan it will be
removed. Money wasted. In the Levy, it includes a NEW office, this adds money to the project. This is not the
way any Tax dollars should be spent. The Parks and Rec did not know
that the CJD was pulling their operating Tax revenues out and spend-
ing for the JD URA program that ALL our local Taxpayers are paying
for. You can put that figure into the cost created by this Parks and
Rec. assault. So, it is just not this LEVY, it is about 12 people making
one bad decision after another and pushing their elitist view and
pawning it off as child safety and helping the elderly out. If you look
at the people pushing this massive assault on our TAX dollars, their
addresses, mostly reflect the more affluent in our rural community.
VOTE “NO” ON THIS LEVY. MEASURE 12-80. Your costs are much
more than the ESTIMATED cost of this project.
ira
Pere
Paid for by Bob
attack last summer she relies
on Meals on Wheels to sup-
plement her diet with some-
thing fresh and nutritious.
Despite her mobility and
independence, it can still be
diffi cult for Stewart to do
certain things, and getting
meals delivered on a weekly
basis is a huge help, she said.
“I was all alone, and I
hardly could take care of
myself,” Stewart said. “I
can’t stand up long enough
or make myself a meal that
is nutritious. So, the Meals
on Wheels has been a boon
to me. And it saves me some
money, too because it was so
costly for food.”
the bags with Lysol to be
extra careful. But all this got
expensive. Meals on Wheels
came through with fi ve
days worth of meals deliv-
ered to them by a volunteer
driver, a service they value
immensely
The couple remains opti-
mistic and thankful, so much
so that they would one day
like to help Meals on Wheels.
“One thing we’d like to do
is donate back,” Doug said,
“once we get healthy.”
Arline Stewart
Arline Stewart, 84, sat
on her couch in her home
in Deschutes River Woods
catching the last few min-
utes of “Rock the Block”
on HGTV. Her red eyeglass
frames complimented her red
lipstick.
Stewart has lived on her
own since her husband, who
suff ers from Alzheimer’s,
moved to Aspen Ridge Mem-
ory Care in Bend four years
ago. During the pandemic,
she felt even more isolated.
“The idea that you
couldn’t get out — it was
very isolating,” Stewart said.
“Nobody could go to church
anymore. We couldn’t do
anything with family or
friends on holidays. Nothing.
It was extremely isolating for
all of us, the elderly people.”
While times were tough,
thinking about her pandemic
struggles didn’t get Stewart
down.
“There is one good thing
about the pandemic,” she
said grinning. “Just one that
I can say… You had to wear
a mask all the time, and you
saved all kinds of money on
makeup,” she said laughing.
“I imagine the cosmetic peo-
ple were unhappy with us for
a couple of years.”
Since she suff ered a heart
Rachel Dutcher,
volunteer for Meals on
Wheels
Rachel Dutcher, a retired
nurse living in Bend, has
been a Meals on Wheels vol-
unteer for about four years.
Dutcher said she has about
10 people on her delivery
list, but the number of deliv-
eries she makes on any given
day can vary.
Dutcher said some of the
people she delivers to have
chronic lung issues, or are
on oxygen, and were already
hesitant to leave their homes
before COVID.
“They have always been
hesitant about getting out,”
she said. “And COVID made
it worse... All of a sudden,
their lives sort of collapsed to
the size of their house.”
People told her they would
leave the television on all day
just to hear voices, Dutcher
said.
“I just realized they were
so in need of face-to-face
and physical interaction with
somebody,” she said. “Being
able to provide that little bit of
interaction, I think it was ben-
efi cial on both sides.”
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