Elias Grosssmann — Graduate 2006

DELTA JUNCTION, ALASKA — SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — AND PLACES IN BETWEEN OR NEARBY OR IN WESTERN CANADA AND THE NW U.S. ...


Congrats Eli! YOU DONE GREAT! From Peggy and Chris Christopherson... Congratulations on graduating.
In the Community News blog of the Delta News Web, the list of Graduating Class of 2006 contains the following...

Elias Grossmann Hephzibah Home School (His ceremony is June 3)

Eli (Elias) is the third of Dawn (frostysticher) and Bruce's fine children.

The photo and following is from the Western Hockey League (WHL) Seattle Thunderbirds roster Web page for Eli.

Player:Grossmann, Elias Pronounced: Gross-man Position: D Shoots: R Height: 6'2" Weight: 202 lbs. Birthday: 05/10/88 Hometown: Delta Junction, AK Draft Status:Eligible 2006

2004-2005:As a rookie with Seattle, Eli played in 42 total games and recorded one assist. He spent 20 minutes in the penalty box during the regular season. In the play-offs Eli contributed by playing in all 12 games. During the summer he was selected to play for the Pacific District Team at the USA Hockey Select 17 festival in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

2003-2004: Eli played with on the Arctic Lions U-16 team in the USMH. Statistics from this season are unavailable.

Also on the roster page is this important stuff about Eli...

What was the best movie you saw this summer? Lord of War. It was a good show.

If Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie were to get in a cat fight over Brad Pitt, who would win? Angelina Jolie for sure. She is Tomb Raider

Which one of your teammates would be most likely to be on a reality TV show? Which show? Bud. Canadian Idol

What is the best concert you have ever been to? Adema. They are a smalltime rock band.

What color crayon would best describe your personality? Dark blue

Who is the one person on the team you could not share a room with? I could share a room with any of them.

What song best describes the teammate with the number above yours? Put your head on my shoulder- Michael Buble

What country would you like to visit? Why? Australia. The largest reef in the world and I love diving.

What is your favorite Will Ferrell movie? Anchorman

If 50 cent and Snoop Dog were in a rap battle who would out rap who? 50!!

If the team were to re-enact the movie Napoleon Dynamite, weÂ?ve heard Bud Holloway would play Napoleon, but who would play Kip? Clayton, he is a good actor.

What is the funniest Saturday Night Live skit you can think of? Any one with that monkey character

What is more unbearable to watch: Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing or John Travolta in Grease? Patrick Swayze

What was your best golf score, and where? Never have kept score

What do you consider the best comedy movie of all time? Super Troopers

What is one thing you wish your teammates would NOT bring on the bus with them? B/O

If you were on the cover of ESPN magazine, what would be the headline? Who is this guy?

What movie series have you seen all three of: Star Wars, Mighty Ducks, Lord of the Rings, the Matrix movies, or the Jurassic Park trilogy? All but Matrix.

What color of M&M would you consider yourself and why? I don't like M&M's, but if I did then maybe blue.

Who on the team would make the best professional wrestler? JAMES MCEWAN! He loves that kinda stuff.

How many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop? None. I bite em!

Which Disney character do you most identify with and why? Dopey, because we both say dopey stuff

Who is your favorite NHL player of all time? Scott Stevens

If there was a Survivor: Seattle Thunderbird Edition, who could outwit, outplay and outlast the rest of the team? Gibby

Coke or Pepsi? Coke

If you were stranded on an island and you could bring 3 things with you, what would they be any why? Flippers, My Hawaiian Sling, and Goggles. Cause IÂ?d be in the water all day everyday

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? Lasagna cause its pasta with meat and veggies, kinda

You get a free pizza, but are only allowed two toppings other than cheese, what two toppings do you choose? Pineapple and ham

Yep, Eli is a teenager. But he is still a nice kid.

He is developing as hockey defenseman. (How many teeth have you lost todate Eli?) Eli has spent a summer working on a fishing boat in SE Alaska, he is a trapper, he's eaten caribou nose at an Athabaskan potlatch, and he used to hit his younger sister Annie. That is just in the past few years

Like his other three siblings, Eli is a special person. Guess home schooling and parents like Dawn and Bruce (plus living in Alaska) makes good folks.

Congratulations Elias Grossmann

Mother’s Day Quilt Show big success

NORTH ALBANY, OREGON… On Mother's Day weekend, Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild held "Another Bloomin' Quilt Show" at Tom's Garden Center in North Albany.

The following report written for the guild June newsletter. When it is published, copies are available on the guild Web site.

Thanks to the hard work of a lot of people, and Tom’s Garden Center, our first Mother’s Day Quilt Show was an unqualified success.

A large crew of guild members and relatives descended on Tom’s Garden Center late Friday afternoon and again late Sunday afternoon. Sixty-two quilts and 19 small auction quilts later, the garden center was a beautiful mix of flowers, greenery and quilts of all shapes and sizes.

It took us a little while to figure out the best way to hang the quilts in this unique setting. We had to be sure that the garden center merchandise was still visible to the customers and the quilts were at a height they could be viewed.

A special thanks to Jean McDaniel, Gail March’s sister Gywn Collister, Sally Latimer and Bud Pulliam, (Arline Pulliam’s husband) for being brave enough to tackle climbing the ladders.

And what went up had to come down. Not surprisingly, it was much faster to take the quilts down than to put them up. Another big thanks for the help from Sharon Reece’s husband Larry and her son-in-law Mark Remily along with Bud Pulliam and Gail March’s sister Gwyn Collister for once again climbing the ladder to take down quilts,

Other guild members were present a good part of the weekend and helped with set up and take down and many also acted as hostesses through out the weekend. This assistance came from: Rusty Sylvester; Becky Weisberg; Gail March; JoAnn Pope; Arline Pulliam; Majorie Mitchell; Marina Rosario; JoAnn Dutton; Annie Swett; Sharon Reece; Leola Erwin; and Carol Webber.

Those acting as hostesses were able to visit with many show viewers. Several quilters asked for information about the guild and one lady came back on Sunday to show us a handkerchief quilt after telling us about the quilt earlier.

After much discussion on Saturday night and Sunday morning, it was decided to change the small quilt auction to a sale. Many of the people interested in the small quilts wanted to buy them for Mother’s Day Gifts and some mentioned the cost of gas if they had to come back to bid again.

There were a few quilts with one bid, and those bidders were called and told of the change and that the quilts were theirs. So the outcome was that we took in $400 from the sale of those small quilts!

Tom’s Garden Center was a beautiful place to hold a quilt show and lots of people saw our quilts and talked with us.

Tom and Annette Krupicka, owners of Tom’s Garden Center, were wonderful to work with and have suggested we make it an annual event.

No Quilt Show at Strawberry Festival?

LEBANON, OREGON... On May 18, the following was submitted as a Letter to Editor to... Lebanon Express, Corvallis Gazette Times, and Albany Democrat Herald. Then it was sent to the Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild newsletter.

Some of this is from talks with at least two guild members. One member has significant experience marketing quilting commercially.

No Quilt Show at Strawberry Festival?

Most local festivals have quilt shows. Not Lebanon. Why not?

Scio's Lamb and Wool Fair has a quilt show. Pioneer Picnic in Brownsville has a quilt show. Lebanon used to have quilt doings at Strawberry Festival. Why not now?

Lebanon's Strawberry Patches Quilt Shop had Strawberry challenge quilt contests. For 5 or 6 years, the Strawberry Court made a "Queen's Choice" from entries and there were "Visitor's Choice" winners. Strawberry Patches gave prizes and decorated the shop.

In 2002, Lebanon's Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild was formed. In 2003 they held a quilt show during Strawberry Festival. However, in 2004 and 2005, the quilt show was in October.

If there was a Strawberry Festival Quilt Show it would be another reason for tourists to stay in Lebanon.

Lebanon's Strawberry Festival Quilt Show could be a big tourist attraction like the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Sisters is the largest outdoor quilt show in the country. Tourist businesses in that part of Oregon are packed during the show.

Possibly the city's tourism marketing monies could make Strawberry Festival a real "tourist" event. Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild should join the Festival board and plan to make 2007 a big Strawberry Quilt Show year.

Tourists — defined by the tourist industry — are people who travel for 24 hours or more to a place other than where they live. This distance is more than 50 miles from their home. Tourists visit for leisure, business, family, mission and meeting.

This section was added in the email sent to the guild...

Tom’s Garden Center & guild quilt show on Mother's Day weekend was a success.

• It was designed and marketed for more than quilters.
• Mother’s Day and Tom’s other attractions brought over 1,000 folks.
• They all saw the beauty and skill of guild quilts.
• They bought over $400 of quilts.
• The guild’s production costs were low.
• The show benefited from Tom’s marketing plans and location.
• Many of these folks would not come just for a quilt show in Lebanon in October.

Strawberry Festival brings many to Lebanon.

• People go to the garden show while their children enjoy Festival rides.
• People eat ham and pancake breakfasts in town to support the Festival.
• A guild quilt show in town will support the Festival.
• Done right, a quilt show is an added attraction for Lebanon.
• The guild would make more money.

Every quilt show I have attended is designed to attract more than just quilters. The annual Pacific International Quiltfest in Santa Clara, California, is in a major convention center and marketed to wide range of potential attendes.

(QuilteerPeg and I went here from Alaska back in the '90s. I spent much of my time sitting in our rented car on top of the parking garage — There is only so much quilting I can handle!)

Sisters is definitely unique. It’s growth was not an accident. It took hard work, marketing, planning, and coordination.

Santiam Scrappers should do more than a small quilt show in October.
Santiam Scrappers should support Strawberry Festival with a quilt show.

"Strawberry Fields (are not) Forever"

MID WILLAMETTE VALLEY, OREGON… When we came to Corvallis in 1979, our small abode was a 2-bedroom, second floor apartment near Oregon State University.

It was May and then, as now, it was a ripening time for Oregon's big red strawberries. With a small apartment, 3 sons, a cat, and a couple dogs, getting boys outside was a major goal.

So in late May and early June, Jon (oldest – almost 14), and Mikel (turning 11 in November), were signed up to take a daily bus ride to near Independence, along the Willamette River. Their job was to pick strawberries. Back then this was accepted work for Oregon's youth.

The boys had not had this type of experience. It was only two years before that we had come to central Illinois after living for four years in Iceland.

"Strawberry fields forever" was the Beatles best recording back in 1967. But along the Willamette River in 1979, the strawberry fields were not of the "psychedelic rock" type.

For young boys it was hot, hard work. 'Course the berries were vary tasty and they make great throwing fun.

Mikel only lasted two days. He was fired as he fell asleep in the field and had only picked one flat. Jon lasted longer.

Today the boys are middle-aged men, Jon lives in Albany, Oregon, and Mikel is up in Anchorage, Alaska. Strawberry fields, Beatles-type or picking-type, are distant memories.

Here in Lebanon, the town's big community fair, the Strawberry Festival is coming in just over two weeks. Saturday's big parade will feature huge strawberry shortcake covering a flatbed semi-trailer.

But three local papers have recently addressed the loss of Oregon's strawberry fields. In the 1950s, farmers had more than 17,000 acres in strawberries. Today there are only about 2,000 acres in strawberry production. California has 387,000 acres.

Most of Oregon’s berries end up in jam, as most local berries are too fragile for shipping.

Of course, Lebanon's giant strawberry shortcake is made with berries from outside Oregon. On the other hand, Oregon strawberries are available at the local farmer's markets and U-pick fields.

Strawberry fields in Oregon may not be forever as a big farm crop, but they still taste great!