By Susan
Matheny General Editor
Updated weekdays by 5 p.m.
Visit the Pioneer Archive for past news articles
HEADLINES
(Click on a headline to jump to the story)
8/15/01 - Smith: K-Falls and Q&A
8/14/01 - Hit-and-run driver kills W.S.
woman
8/13/01 - Breaking news
8/10/01 - Madras marines pursue aviation
interests
8/9/01 - New city administrator on the job
8/8/01 - Judge rules for city in O'Meara trial
8/7/01 - Flying ace Rex Barber dies
8/6/01 - 509-J takes axe to its budget
8/3/01 - Warm Springs dancers travel to France
By Susan
Matheny
General Editor
A group of some 15 local citizens met with Sen. Gordon Smith during his Madras visit last Thursday.
Smith was in Central Oregon for a town hall meeting in Prineville, the brief Madras stop and a visit with administrators at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.
Questions for the senator centered around the Klamath County irrigation water situation, river rafting, and U.S. policy regarding imports of foreign agricultural products.
On the Klamath County irrigation water shortage, Smith commented, “The focus is on a sucker fish that gets all the water at the expense of eagles, fall salmon and farmers.”
He added, “I just read that the farmers are releasing water for the eagles. That’s as opposed to the radical environmentalists who couldn’t give a rip about the people.”
“We can’t save this agricultural season, but we can sow a lot of hope for the future,” he said, mentioning the $20 million in federal aid for that region.
Smith said the Klamath County situation had caused a ripple effect on other Oregon industries, noting farmers in Tillamook were complaining about unusually high hay prices.
Madras resident and river rafter Dave Green warned Smith there was a flaw in the system for counting rafters if a rafting lottery is eventually imposed. He said he took a two-day float recently, but it was counted as three days because he pulled his raft out of the Deschutes River in one place.
“What you’re describing to me is (a case of) taking
the public off of public lands and that is not the policy of this
present administration,” Smith responded.
“We have a new sheriff in town and I could not imagine
George Bush would like what you described,” Smith said,
adding, “We don’t want chaos on the rivers, but the
numbers I’ve been shown make no sense.”
Madras farmer Paul Clowers asked what could be done to stop the dumping of foreign agricultural products in the U.S., especially ones that have been treated with pesticides U.S. farmers aren’t allowed to use.
“If the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says you can’t use it, then foreign countries shouldn’t be able to use it and sell it here,” Smith said.
Student Michael Manning asked the senator why, then, U.S. manufacturers were selling pesticides that are illegal in our country to other countries.
“Obviously, we can’t write laws for other countries. But whatever they use it on should stay in their country,” Smith responded.
Manning later asked Smith for his views on drilling for oil in the Arctic.
“I’m very concerned about our dependency on foreign oil. Yet, you can drill oil in Alaska now and send it to Asia,” Smith said, adding, “I say not now — but not never. It ought to be our last option.”
Hit-and-run driver
kills W.S. woman
By Elena Lesley
Staff Writer
Two fatal motor vehicle-related accidents occurred last weekend on the Warm Springs Reservation.
On Friday, at around 3:30 p.m., a car driven by David Gaston Sr. of Tuscon, Ariz., suddenly swerved off of Highway 26 near milepost 75 and struck a tree, said Warm Springs Chief Detective Jim Cole.
“Based on what witnesses have said, the car just suddenly drove off the road and into the tree without hitting the breaks. I’d guess the driver probably fell asleep, but we may never know,” Cole speculated.
Although the elder Gaston was pronounced dead at the accident scene, the car’s two passengers, Cornelius residents Dillon and Tyler Gaston, ages 15 and 13, were transported by air to Emmanuel Hospital in Portland.
Dillon, who is in fair condition, suffered a spinal cord injury, femur fracture and facial fracture, while Tyler, who is listed in critical condition, suffered spinal and abdominal injuries.
Warm Springs Police officials and the FBI are currently investigating the Saturday hit-and-run accident that killed Warm Springs resident and tribal member Lorraine Hoptowit, age 40.
According to the FBI press release, a small, light-colored truck — possibly a Chevrolet S-10 pick-up or Blazer — that was towing a 10 to 12 foot long flat-bed trailer, struck Hoptowit around 9:25 p.m. at the intersection of Tenino Road and Highway 26. The truck was last seen heading westbound on Highway 26.
Anyone with information regarding this incident should call the FBI at 503-224-4181 or 541-389-1202, or the Warm Springs Police Department at 541-553-3273.
Staff Report
News came to the doorstep of The Madras Pioneer last Wednesday around 10 a.m., when a Dodge pickup came crashing through the front door.
The pickup driver, Harry Armstrong, 53, of Madras, had just pulled up in front of The Pioneer building and was shifting his vehicle into park, when the accident happened.
Apparently, a Toyota pickup, driven by 18-year-old Tiffanie Sperry of Madras, was coming around the corner of E Street onto Sixth Street when Sperry spilled her coffee and bent over to retrieve it.
In the process, she didn’t see Armstrong’s pickup and struck the back of it, pushing it through the front of the brick-walled Pioneer.
Sperry was cited for following too close and for failure to use a seatbelt. She received a bump on the nose in the accident, but no one in the Dodge pickup or newspaper building was hurt.
The biggest surprise was that Armstrong’s pickup was pulled out of the rubble without any dents or broken headlights in front. The back bumper did sustain a large dent.
Madras marines pursue aviation interests
By Susan
Matheny
General Editor
Cherry Point, North Carolina is a long way from Madras, but last spring, by coincidence, four graduates of Madras High all wound up at the Cherry Point U.S. Marine Corps Base at the same time.
Situated on an inlet on the Atlantic coast, Cherry Point is a very small town, but is home to a Marine base with approximately 15,000 to 20,000 active Marines and their families. On such a large base, it was a rarity that the four Madras natives were there simultaneously. The four never worked together, but did hear of each other, and even heard rumors that there might be a fifth Madrasite.
The two youngest, Cody Smith and Jared Hosford, had entered the Marine Corps together in August 2000 under a “buddy system” since they were both interested in the same thing — being aircraft mechanics. The buddy system allowed them to go through boot camp together in San Diego and be stationed on the same bases after that.
After graduating from boot camp in November, the pair took classroom studies in Pensacola, Fla., to learn all about Harrier jet engines. The Harrier is nicknamed the “Jump Jet” because it can rise straight up off the ground, as well as take off from a runway.
After passing tests on the bookwork, the two friends were sent to Cherry Point Marine Corps Base for six months of hands-on training as aircraft mechanics.
Cody’s parents, Tammy and Rich Smith of Madras, were able to visit him on base in April. Tammy described the base, “It had a huge landing strip with planes taking off and landing constantly, all hours of the day and night.”
Both young men graduated June 28, and are already working as full-fledged Harrier mechanics at the Marine Corps Air Base in Yuma, Ariz.
“Cody talks about making it a career. He enjoys what he’s doing and likes the traveling,” Tammy said, noting the mechanics are routinely invited to go on three-month, overseas jaunts where they work aboard ships which carry Harriers.
Hosford’s mother, Cathy Hosford of Madras, said her son wasn’t the best student in high school, but really found his niche in the military.
“He’s doing excellent in the Marine Corps. He had to take tests every week and was getting (scores of) 100 and 95 on every single test. This was a kid who hated studying, but he really put his mind to it and now he’s taking apart Harrier engines,” she said proudly.
Hosford said her son’s turnaround illustrates the importance of keeping hands-on career-oriented classes like auto mechanics in the high schools.
“Finding a niche they like, where their strengths are,” is the key that opens students like her son to learning, she observed.
The two older Marines were 1986 MHS graduate, Jim DuPont, and Todd Shaver, who graduated in 1988. DuPont’s parents have since moved to Lake Oswego, according to Shaver, who worked with Jim on the base and was a good friend of his. DuPont and his wife, Andrea, are still living in North Carolina, where he is a KC-130 (cargo) pilot and she is a flight surgeon.
Shaver, the son of Tom and Dyann Shaver of Madras, entered the military at age 18, right out of high school. After graduating from boot camp, he served in the reserves while attending Oregon State University during the school year, and officer’s candidate school in the summers.
OSU was where he met Tracy, a Beaverton girl. Both of them were in the college pep band and met at a band tournament on the OSU campus. They were married in 1991, and Todd graduated in 1992.
Tracy is currently staying with her in-laws in Madras and provided details on what her husband has been doing since college.
They moved to Quantico in Virginia, where he enrolled in “The Basic School” (TBS) for nine months, which all Marines must pass to be accepted. With his sights set on being a pilot, Shaver took a year of basic flight training in Pensacola, Fla., beginning in March 1993.
The training is done with the student seated in the front of the plane, and an instructor in the back. Later, during advanced flight training the student and instructor each have a control yoke and sit side by side in the cockpit. Shaver took his advanced training in Corpus Christy, Texas in a King Air plane. Upon graduation from that school, the men are assigned to pilot either jets or helicopters.
“Since Todd was first in his class, he got to pick what he wanted and he wanted to fly C-130s,” Tracy related. The C-130s are huge, four-propellor planes capable of carrying cargo, troops, or fuel for the in-flight refueling of other planes.
Shaver was promoted to the rank of captain in 1995 and his orders took him to the Cherry Point Marine Corps Base, where he flew C-130s on different training commands for a year, then served four years with the 252 Fleet Squadron. In 1998 he returned to Cherry Point as a 253 Fleet Squadron flight instructor.
Known by the nickname “Buzz,” (his call sign) Shaver flew missions in every country in Europe and other continents while with the 252nd Fleet Squadron, his wife said, listing off Kosovo, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, England, Germany, Central America and Sierra Leone as places he had been.
“He’s not allowed to tell me the secret stuff. He
just leaves and tells me when he will be back,” Tracy said,
adding, “I stayed home with the kids and he’d fly away
and do his thing.”
“I’m his wife, you’d think he would tell me
something. Once I said, ‘If you were on your death bed, then
couldn’t you tell me some of the stuff you’ve
done?’ and he said no,” Tracy related.
Sometimes military wives would find out through their own grapevine where their husbands were, as was the case during the Kosovo conflict.
“He couldn’t tell me where he was staying, but I found out later from another military wife that he was in Crete,” Tracy said. The other woman had gone over to visit her husband, and learned Shaver was there flying out to refuel planes.
Shaver flew in 12 missions, including ones with Allied Forces, three tours with Operation Northern Watch, and one in Sierra Leone, Africa where the Congolese Army was revolting against the democratic government.
He was awarded eight medals during his service, including ones for: Good Conduct, Kosovo Campaign, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement, Armed Forces Service, National Defense, Armed Forces Expedition Area, and Humanitarian Service.
His Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal was earned for solving a problem during an serious in-flight emergency. Shaver’s plane, with an eight-member crew of trainees, had just taken off and was flying over New Orleans when the landing gear got stuck and couldn’t be locked down, which meant they wouldn’t be able to land.
Since it was an unusual problem, there was no procedure to go by, so the plane had to be flown around for two hours while Shaver figured out what to do. They finally chained the landing gear down to hold the wheels in position and were able to land safely.
This year, the 31-year-old Shaver was close to being promoted to major when he made the decision to quit the military.
“His responsibilities would have changed and he would have been out of the cockpit and doing a ground job, and he wanted to fly. He also could have been deployed for up to a year and didn’t want to be away from us,” Tracy said, noting they have two children, Kyle, 6, and Alexandria, 3.
So, July 7, the Shavers moved back to Madras while Todd searched for a civilian job. By July 30 he was on his way to Memphis, Tenn., for six weeks of training as a FedEx flight engineer. His goal is to become a 727 pilot for FedEx.
“They bid on routes, which are assigned depending on
seniority. He hopes to fly out on the route from Portland to
L.A., because we want to stay in Central Oregon if
possible,” Tracy said.
Hopefully, “Buzz” will soon be back up flying in the
skies of the Northwest.
New city administrator on the job
By Susan Matheny
General Editor
New City Administrator-elect Steve Bogart was on the job Aug. 1, even though he won’t officially be hired until the next council meeting Aug. 28.
Bogart, from Baker City, has signed a contract with the City of Madras and agreed to begin working immediately since former Interim Administrator Andy Parks’ last day at work was July 31.
He was familiar with Madras before applying for the position, but said it has changed since the last time he was here.
“It’s far different now than it was four or five years ago. The dynamics in the community are different. It's an active, growing community, which is exciting,” Bogart said.
What intrigued him about the Madras job was the town’s impending development.
“More than any other community I’m familiar with, Madras has very nearly all the pieced in place to make it a dynamic, vibrant community,” he commented, listing off the recent infrastructure improvements, apparent public acceptance of development, and desire to invest in things like parks.
In Bogart’s two previous jobs he helped turn two struggling communities around — Baker City and Vale.
In Baker City he left his job at the lumber mill after being elected a county commissioner.
“At that time almost every (county) employee had been laid off and they were on the verge of bankruptcy. I got involved and elected and served 12 years, with eight as the commission chair,” he said.
After things became stable, he quit as commissioner, but stayed on six months to finish an enhanced-911 project. About that time the interim manager of Vale called to recruit him and the challenge intrigued him.
“Vale was four years behind on audits, had experienced a dramatic turnover in city staff, and had a huge number of state infrastructure projects on hold until the city was financially stable,” Bogart related.
He accepted the Vale City Coordinator’s job and spent 18 months getting the audits current, drawing up a formal budget, seeing a truck route project completed and street improvement money come in, before his family wanted to return to Baker City where his daughter wanted to graduate from high school.
In addition to working at those jobs, Bogart was also
attending college and is currently 13 hours short of obtaining a
degree in general studies with a focus in business and public
administration.
Bogart and his wife, Connie, are currently searching for a new
home in Madras. Their daughter, Morgan, 18, will be a freshman at
Treasure Valley Community College, and their sons, Ryan, 26, and
Zack, 21 are living in Nebraska.
Connie worked as a bookkeeper for a law firm, was a church choir director and sang in the community choir in Baker City, while Steve coached kids wrestling, basketball, Little League baseball, softball and volleyball as their kid were growing up.
A lot of Bogart’s time in the past has been spent serving on state committees, including the ODOT Region 5 Transportation Advisory Committee, State Workforce Quality Council, and he chaired a four-county Housing Authority Board, and Northeast Oregon Economic Development District.
Currently, he is a member of the Oregon State Board of Education, which will require him to travel to Salem twice a month.
Although Bogart has had to hit the ground running at his Madras job, he is up to the challenge.
“I can’t imagine anybody not wanting to do this. It’s like having all the pieces of a puzzle and a lot of resources and all you have to do is put it together, and that’s part of the reason it’s so attractive to me,” he said.
Judge rules for city
in O'Meara trial
By Susan Matheny
General Editor
Nine Peaks Golf Course owner Kevin O’Meara lost his fight against the City of Madras last Friday and had his course cut down to just nine holes, following a ruling by Senior Circuit Court Judge F.J. Yraguen.
In addition, the ruling ordered O’Meara to pay $73,168 in damages to the city, along with the city’s attorney fees, which are estimated at $125,000 to $150,000.
The trial, held last week, centered around land and water. Half of the Nine Peaks course is located on private land and half on land leased from the city. A 1992 City-O’Meara agreement also allowed treated sewage treatment plant effluent to be used to irrigate the golf course and adjacent farmland, which was leased by O’Meara from the city.
Two years ago, O’Meara filed a lawsuit against the city claiming the city had not provided high enough quality (level IV) effluent at sufficient water pressure for his irrigation system. It also claimed the city had failed get involved in a road easement dispute between the golf course and Keith Manufacturing.
In his Aug. 3, written findings, Judge Yraguen ruled against O’Meara on all three claims. He noted the city used its best efforts to produce level IV effluent and delivered it at the proper pressure to O’Meara’s irrigation system. It was the inability of O’Meara’s irrigation system to handle the pressure that caused problems, he concluded.
As for the road easement dispute, the judge wrote, “It was not the City that began construction of an industrial building across (O’Meara’s) easement ... but rather R. Keith Foster.”
In a confidential agreement without approval from the city, the judge noted, O’Meara and Foster settled the easement problem for the sum of $300,000.
According to information in the document’s Summary of Pleadings, O’Meara accepted an immediate payment of $300,000 from Foster, and transferred 20 acres containing four golf holes to Foster on a promissory note for $499,500. The acreage was then leased back to O’Meara for three years.
Believing the city would eventually sell him the leased land,
O’Meara to began constructing new golf holes on the farmland
property and had plans to relocate the Nine Peaks clubhouse
there.
In the City of Madras’ countersuit, Judge Yraguen backed the
city on 12 of its claims, and denied four.
“We lost on a couple, but we only had to win one of them to prove breach of agreement,” said Madras Mayor Rick Allen following the Aug. 3 ruling.
It was the charge that O’Meara destroyed 57.22 acres of leased farmland by leveling it to construct new golf holes that resulted in the order to pay $73,168 in damages.
O’Meara did not return calls requesting his comments on the ruling. Reached on Monday by phone, his lawyer, John DeVoe commented, “We’re evaluating our legal options, then we will go forward with them. There could very well be an appeal.”
The mayor, however, had plenty to say.
“It puts final closure on a bad relationship that has bird-dogged every city council, county commission and public works employee since the agreement was signed 10 years ago,” Allen said, listing a mediation in 1995, and lawsuits brought by O’Meara in 1997 and 1999.
The result is, O’Meara’s lease is canceled and the city is now in possession of nine golf holes on that land. O’Meara still possesses a course with five holes on his private property and four on the property leased from Foster.
Allen said over the next three weeks the city will wait to see what O’Meara decides to do. While the city doesn’t own the lawn-mowers and equipment to keep up a golf course, Allen said city workers would begin watering the grass immediately “to preserve the asset.”
When asked if Madras was going to be left without a golf course and if the city was considering getting into the golf course business, the mayor responded, “I understand the importance of golf in the community and we’ll do everything in our means to help facilitate golf. I think this next spring people will be much happier.”
Flying ace Rex Barber
dies
By Susan Matheny
General Editor
World War II flying ace Colonel Rex T. Barber, 84, of Culver who was credited with shooting down the plane of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, passed away July 26, at his home in Terrebonne.
A memorial service was held at Redmond Memorial Chapel on Tuesday of this week.
Barber was born May 6, 1917 in Culver to William and Charlotte Barber. He graduated from Culver High School and attended Linfield College in McMinnville, and later majored in agricultural engineering from 1937 to 1940 at Oregon State College in Corvallis. Before completing his degree, however, he joined the Army Air Force in September 1940.
Barber served as a private until March 1941, then took training and graduated as a second lieutenant from the flight training class of 41H at Mather Field in Sacramento, Calif.
His first assignment was to the 35th Fighter Group at Hamilton Air Force Base, Calif., and he was further assigned to the 70th Fighter Squadron.The latter squadron was sent to Guadalcanal in December 1942.
There on April 18, 1943, in a borrowed plane “Miss Virginia” Barber was one of those credited with shooting down the plane of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the man who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor. Barber also had a close call with downing a second bomber. His plane was scared with machine gun bullets and had a deep gash on its left wing from where pieces of the exploding enemy plane had struck.
From late 1943 to early 1944, he flew P-38 planes with the
449th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group in China, and was
subsequently shot down over the Yangtze River.
With some help and a little luck, he evaded capture and was
returned to friendly territory in June 1944.
In January 1945, Barber was assigned to the 412th Fighter Squadron, 29th Fighter Group, at Oxnard, Calif., under the command of Col. David “Tex” Hill, where he flew and tested for combat America’s first operational P-80 jet fighter.
Barber flew 110 combat missions from Guadalcanal and 28 from China and is officially credited with shooting down five enemy planes and an additional three probable hits. He was awarded the Purple Heart, numerous Air Medals, two Silver Stars and the Navy Cross.
After the war, he continued on active duty in flying status, finally retiring on April 1, 1961 from the 354th Fighter Wing, with the rank of Colonel.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret of Terrebonne, sons, Rex Barber Jr. and Richard Barber.
509-J takes axe to its
budget
By Dave Hassler
Sports and Education Editor
With Jefferson County School District 509-J facing an almost $2 million shortfall in anticipated revenues for 2001-02, serious cutting had to done to begin to right the financially beleaguered school district’s ship.
Superintendent Phil Riley was the man who wielded the ax.
At the district’s July 23 Board of Director’s meeting, Riley reported to the board that he and his staff had found a way to save $1.93 million in expenditures without a single district employee being laid off.
“This is not a fun list,” Riley said of the itemized roll of cuts he presented. “Still, there are no layoffs and we tried not to affect the classroom too much.”
Originally, projected revenues for the district were $25.1 million for 2001-02, with the budget made accordingly. However, after preliminary reports from auditors who checked over 509-J’s budgets over the last few weeks, Riley said that a more accurate picture is $23.5 million.
“As you know, we ended the year (2000-01) $331,000 in deficit, and it could go up to $400,000 when we’re done. With that deficit, you can plan on having $23.1 million (in revenue),” he said.
Over 30 different items will either be cut or have their funding reduced. Some of the bigger savings will come from the technical budget ($160,000), the maintenance department ($177,700), removing contingency monies ($200,000), eliminating the classroom size reduction study money ($142,000) and withholding the principals’ discretionary funds ($253,000).
Also, the district will not buy a new bus that was budgeted, not hire a new electrician or technical support positions, and eliminate a donation to the Boys and Girls Club.
Items that will have a direct impact on students include a cutback on book purchases, not hiring a budgeted ESL teacher for Warm Springs Elementary, freezing the hire of unfilled club adviser positions and eliminating mandatory drug testing for athletes and fall back to random drug tests.
The first of the cuts came from Riley himself. Rather than ask the board for a scheduled raise for administrators, Riley said he was withdrawing that request, which would provide a savings of almost $40,000.
Jefferson County Middle School Principal Pat Kelly, who had provided the original written proposal for a raise, re-polled his fellow administrators and almost all said they were willing to forgo a raise in light of the present financial situation.
Another area of savings will be made by not hiring a business manager for the district. 509-J’s previous business manager, Mark Brannen, resigned his position to seek the Madras city administrator’s job, which he did not get. Now, Brannen’s duties will be spread between Riley, Gail Stone and Jo Guiney. The net total savings there will be $35,000.
After the report, which Riley said could only be described as “painful,” he asked the board for a recommendation that he and the business staff implement the cuts.
Board member Tom Norton spoke first: “I think we ought to commend Phil and his team. They are doing what needs to be done right now.”
Member Steve Earnest moved that the board not only give Riley a vote of confidence to proceed, but to publicly applaud his efforts on behalf of the district and community. The motion passed quickly and unanimously.
In final business that evening, the board extended a three-year contract to both Riley and assistant superintendent Keith Johnson. Contracts for both positions are typically of a one year duration, but the board felt that a three-year contract would show the confidence it has in Riley and Johnson to guide the district through difficult financial times. The action passed 5-0.
Warm Springs dancers travel to France
By Susan Matheny
General Editor
A two-week visit to a village in Southern France near the Mediterranean Sea with free room and board provided — Who could pass up an offer like that?
The invitation was extended by Elizabeth Riley (an Oregon native who has lived and taught English for 10 years in France) and accepted by Warm Springs Elementary teacher Cary Varela. Last summer, after a year of student pen pal exchanges, Riley brought a group from France to visit Warm Springs School and was seeking an exchange.
The French were very interested in “Les Indiens,” as they called them, and were eager to have a dance group visit their schools. Varela soon recruited Tony Suppah’s Spotted Eagle Dancers and Native American flutist Charles Littleleaf.
Funding for air fare was expensive, but with the help of grants from the Confederated Tribes, Jefferson County Commission on Families and Children, and personal donations, a local delegation of 13 finally departed for the June 17 to 30 trip. Once in France, the town of Nezignan L’Eveque graciously hosted the group.
The American group included Cary and her daughter Jessica, Charles and Vicky Littleleaf, helpers Ron and Susan Matheny, dancers, Barbara Poncho and son Brandon Thompson, Corey Johnson, Donna Wilson and her granddaughter Nicole Suppah, Chips Kalama, and drummer and singer Tim Kalama.
The group expected France to be different, but no one could have prepared them for the delights they encountered. The vinyard-covered countryside near the city of Montpellier was dotted with storybook villages, 11th Century churches, ancient castles and Roman bridges.
Narrow cobblestoned streets wound through the villages of Valrose and Nezignan L’Eveque, where the group stayed, making every walk an adventure. There and in the nearby medieval town of Pezenas, the visitors felt like Alice In Wonderland as they wandered down intriguing high-walled streets to discover tiny shops, flowered nooks, shuttered windows, and carved stone doorways through which lords and ladies of the Renaissance once passed.
A warm welcome was given by Nezignan Mayor Edward Sicard, who held a dinner in the Americans’ honor and presented Charles Littleleaf with a French flag and the city’s medal of honor. Charles in return gave the mayor one of his handmade wooden flutes, and Cary presented him with a photo book on Oregon.
A committee of school parents in Nezignan had spent six months raising funds and planning events for the Americans’ visit. Staying with host families allowed the group to intimately experience the day to day lives of French people like superintendent and principal Serge and Cathi Segura, banker and nurse Luc and Sylvie Gimeno, math teacher Monique Gay-Varagnat, and retired couple Raymon and Marcelle Hübsch, who were nicknamed “the Indians of Nezignan L’Eveque” because of their kindness. Committee president Trinite Caprini and her husband Patrick also became well-acquainted with the Americans.
Home base was the Nezignan elementary school, where students had eagerly anticipated the visit for months. Two days were spent interacting with students by showing them slides of Madras and Warm Springs and teaching beading and round dances. Elizabeth’s college-age daughters Emily, Sarah and friend Mathieu did the classroom translation.
Even though they couldn’t communicate, the kids on both sides soon hit it off. Jessica, 10, became close friends with two girls. “We talked mostly with hand motions and I taught them a little bit of English. They taught me the games “footbol” and “balloon,” which is like kick-ball,“ she said.
Corey and Brandon shot hoops with the French boys, while Cary and Susan showed the French kids how to twirl a large jump rope and play jump rope rhyme games. Though Cary couldn’t speak French, she said she had a blast conversing with the French women in a combination of broken English and Spanish.
The four American children were quick to pick up on the French monetary system, and the phrase “Can I have 10 franks?” became a refrain whenever an ice cream stand was spotted.
The full two weeks was a whirlwind tour of school performances in the mornings, sightseeing trips with students in the afternoons, and dinners or picnics in the evenings. The French children stayed up as late as the adults, and often went to bed at 10 p.m., only to rise at 8 a.m. the next morning for school.
After one particularly busy day Nicole announced on the bus, “I just realized, I haven’t watched TV all week and I don’t even miss it!”
At mealtimes, however, everything ground to a halt. Family meals are important to the French, so everyone, including school children, takes a two-hour lunch break for a formal, six-course dinner served one course at a time. There is always wine as well as a “fromage” or cheese course.
This took some getting used to for Americans accustomed to gulping fast-food. While others savored the French cuisine, Nicole and Brandon were finicky eaters and survived on french bread for two days before breaking down and trying it.
The wonderful foods were an experience in themselves. Soft, yet chewy baguette bread that never seemed to go stale, custard tart with fresh figs fanned out on top, fresh-picked melons and apricots, flat French pizza, grilled sausages, amazing salads brought by moms to school potlucks, and the exotic saffron-flavored paella, chock-full of mussels and whole shrimp.
Dinnertime also introduced the visitors to some of the different customs. People were reminded to keep their hands or elbows on the table, because in France it’s impolite to put your hands in your lap. They learned not to worry about schedules and just go with the flow, because in France, things just happen when they happen.
It had been rumored that French people were reserved, but it was the French who taught the Americans to let their inhibitions go and get out and dance at school barbecue parties.
Barbara and Tim’s favorite was a party featuring Caribbean music by an entire orchestra of steel drum players. “The dancing was pretty good. I was smiling in every picture I was in. I never dance usually, I just stand around,” Tim noted. At the Nezignan School party the DJ slapped on a Country and Western tune as it was announced to Ron’s surprise that he would be demonstrating “cowboy dancing.”
The Indians (no one said Native Americans) were instant celebrities everywhere they went and got used to having their bus mobbed and signing autographs.
Elizabeth, who acted as translator and tour guide, explained why the French have such a love for Indians. “Historically, there has always been a close relationship between the French and Indians. The French were not colonizers, but trappers who intermarried with the natives,” she said. Today, Indian cultures are revered for their respect for nature and animals. Elizabeth also noted France is a socialist country which puts a high priority on humanitarian programs, and they view Native Americans as an oppressed people.
During the school visits the children of Le Pouget School stole the Americans hearts as they proudly sang Michael Jackson’s “A-B-C, it’s easy as 1-2-3” song and “Stay, Just A Little Bit Longer,” which they had learned in English class.
While Vicky set up sound systems for the musicians, Ron ran errands and dealt with emergencies like a drum that didn’t arrive with the rest of the luggage. Elizabeth lent him her car, and he noted, “I liked driving down all those narrow roads, and one time I backed right into a castle wall.” Luckily, he was going slow and the car wasn’t damaged, he quickly added.
In the process of doing shows, the non-Indians in the group learned all the round dances and Tim and Chips song “Round Dancin’ Around The World,” became one of their favorite tunes.
Sightseeing highlights included the magnificent Castle of Carcassone, shopping at the Pezenas Bazaar, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, the Port of Sète, a tour of a ranch that raised bulls for bull fighting, boat tour of a marshland wildlife refuge, trip to the mountain town of Roquebrun where they swam in the Orb River, and viewing the humongous, 160-foot tall Pont Du Gard aqueduct built by the Romans.
The Central Oregonians brought back memories to cherish and a hope of going back some day or hosting some of their French friends here.
“People were just so extraordinarily nice to us, which we’re not used to. And they wanted to learn all about Native Americans,” Donna commented, adding, “It’s nice to be with people who appreciate you.”
