East Vancouver Community Advantage Magazine October 2022

Published

Active Media Publishing Group

PO Box 672 · Aurora, OR 97002 503.825.2111

ADMINISTRATION

Matthew Nelson, Publisher

Catrina Nelson, CFO

Tara Weidman, Executive Assistant

Donovan Darling, Content Manager

PRODUCTION

Jeremy Okai Davis, Art Director

Stacy Benner, Sr. Graphic Designer

Holly Darling, Sr. Graphic Designer

Shawn Schmidt, Sr. Graphic Designer

Hilary Berg, Sr. Graphic Designer

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Tyler Francke Dennis McNabb

David Bates Robert Matsumura

Patti Jo Brooks Olive Gallagher

Angie Helvey Sherry Dorn

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Carly Carpenter Kara Langley

Laurel Bice Hayley Starkey

Malaina Kinne Angie Helvey

Brittney Waterman Henry Schifter

Andrew Sambuceto

ADVERTISING SPECIALISTS

Don Ormsby Bill Kistler

Stephanie Baker Jim Belan

Peggy Jacobs David Long

Chris O’Brien John Zobrist

Brad Marti Shelley Zeman

Tina Toney Darren Dwyer

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RECIPE: Halloween Popcorn Balls

COVER FEATURE: Apollo Plumbing Heating & Cooling Services

SEASONAL O’ Lanterns

COVER PHOTO APOLLO

Halloween Popcorn Balls

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

1 tsp vanilla

4-5 cups mini marshmallows

3/4 cup Reeses pieces

3/4 cup candy corn

3/4 cup white chocolate pretzels (chopped)

DIRECTIONS

Pop your popcorn and put in a large bowl. In a large pan over medium high heat, melt your butter. Add in your vanilla and marshmallows, stirring constantly until melted and creamy.

Pour the marshmallow mixture over your popcorn and stir until popcorn is fully coated.

Allow to set for a couple minutes, then stir in half the Reese’s pieces and candy corn.

Separate your popcorn into 10 sections.

Press in the white chocolate pretzels (they’ll melt if they go in sooner) into each section.

Shape popcorn into balls. If the mixture is sticking to your hands, spray them with nonstick spray as needed.

Press additional candies onto the outside of the popcorn balls.

Place balls on parchment paper and allow to set for about an hour.

Flooring

The Tale of Stingy Jack

Exploring the myth behind Halloween’s pumpkin pastime

By Krysta M. Nelson, Contributing Writer

Oh autumn, what a wonderful time of year! A time to break out all my favorite sweaters just as the leaves are turning into vibrant shades of yellow, orange, and red. And best of all, the arrival of Halloween, my favorite holiday. My nickname as a kid was Little Miss Mess Maker, as carving pumpkins has always been my favorite Halloween activity–one time I even recreated a horror movie with gourd guts. While carving pumpkins is extremely popular, most people don’t know the myth behind the mess and tradition.

Long ago in a small Irish town, a drunkard named Stingy Jack earned his moniker after tricking the Devil himself. Jack was notorious in his little town, and Satan had heard of his mischievous deeds. Jack may have been known for being a drunken scoundrel—scuttered and bollocksed—but he was also a clever lad, so he convinced the Devil to take him to his favorite pub as a last request and to pay for the bill. When the tab came due, Jack convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin so Jack could pay for the drinks, then they could leave for the underworld.

The Devil was fooled. And instead of paying up, Jack dropped the coin into his pocket alongside a silver crucifix, trapping the fiery foe in the form of a coin. The Devil begged Stingy Jack to

release him. And so Jack released him, but only on the condition that the Devil would not bother him for another year, and should Jack die, Satan could not claim his soul.

True to his word, the Devil didn’t return for a whole year. When the Devil finally reappeared to claim his soul, Jack tricked the Devil to climb a fruit tree and pick him a last meal to eat before traveling to Hell. Once the Devil reached the top of the tree, Jack carved a cross into the bark of the tree trunk, trapping the Devil high among the branches. Again, Satan begged Jack for freedom, but this time, Jack made the Devil promise to not bother him for another 10 years. Of course, the Devil agreed to his terms and was freed.

Jack died soon thereafter. Because of his mischief and sins, he was denied entrance to Heaven. Upset by the trickery and scheming, and true to his word of not claiming his soul, Satan denied Jack entrance into Hell, too. As a parting gift, the Devil gifted Jack a lump of burning coal to light his way

and sent him off into the night. Jack placed the burning coal in a hollowed out turnip, and he has roamed the earth ever since. The Irish began calling this eerie creature “Jack of the Lantern,” or “Jack O’Lantern” for short.

In Ireland and Scotland, people began carving their own unique versions of jack-o’-lanterns, cutting terrifying faces into turnips, potatoes,

beets, or rutabagas, and lighting and displaying them near doors or windows to frighten away Stingy Jack and other evil spirits. In the mid-1800s, Irish and Scottish immigrants brought the jack-o’-lantern tradition with them when they moved to the U.S. And they soon found that pumpkins, a large fruit native to America, made for perfect jack-o’-lanterns.

Since then, there have been many attempts in popular culture to revive this long-forgotten tradition of carving jack-o’-lanterns from turnips. In 2015, due to a severe pumpkin shortage caused by severe rain, the charity English Heritage called for Brits to rekindle their love for turnip carving and return to the original tradition of turnip jack-o’lanterns. English Heritage even went so far as to install many ghoulish turnip jack-o’-lanterns at Dover Castle to inspire others to do the same. Whether carving trunips will become popular again is still unknown.

In Ireland and Scotland, people began carving their own unique versions of jacko’-lanterns, cutting terrifying faces into turnips, potatoes, beets, or rutabagas, and lighting and displaying them near doors or windows to frighten away Stingy Jack and other evil spirits.

There are, however, many benefits to turnip carving over pumpkin carving. There’s no stringy pumpkin mess or seeds to clean out. Turnips are quite small and portable, so they can actually be hung like little lanterns. Also, turnips are cheap! So you can afford to make dozens and dozens if you’re so inclined. If they’re careful with a knife, older kids can carve a turnip by themselves because they’re so much simpler and smaller. The red-white color and eerie roots are scarier than pumpkins. After you scoop out the insides of the turnip, you can make mashed turnips. Yum! And because they’re available year round, you can carve turnips for more than just jack-o’-lanterns — votive holders, artwork or whatever you want.

So, there you have it. I love it when holidays and their fun-filled activities have such a rich history as Halloween and the Stingy Jack origin of pumpkin carving. And the fact that the history is also a ghost story is even more fun! Whether you choose to carve a pumpkin or turnip, I hope you and yours have a safe, fun, messy, and memorable holiday.

Apollo Drain & Rooter — A Story of Family

Story & Photos Provided By Apollo Drain & Rooter Service

With nothing more than an old used van, a dream and a desire to do great work, a young and eager Scott Bird and his bride Jody, began a journey.

If someone were to ask Scott if he was raised on a farm, he could emphatically reply, “Yes!” He grew up in Mattawa, Washington where he worked with his dad, three brothers and three sisters.

When he was 21, he went to his cousin’s wedding reception. There, catching his eye from the reception line was his future wife, Jody. Their world grew closer since it was Jody’s sister marrying one of Scott’s cousins.

Scott attended Utah Technical College for two years and graduated with a degree in Heating & Air Conditioning. The trade which he would then work in back home in Mattawa. Being back home gave Scott the opportunity to reconnect with Jody and they married in June of 1983.

After about a year of working in the Heating and Air Industry, Scott and Jody decided to return to his family farm. Scott worked with his dad on the farm during the day and drove a semi-truck at

night hauling hay cubes to Seattle. Jody went to work for an insurance company in Othello, Washington.

Jody’s sister and a couple of Scott’s cousins had started a drain cleaning company in Tri-Cities, Spokane and Salem, Oregon. It was going so well that they talked Scott and Jody into leaving the farm and to start their own drain cleaning business in Portland, Oregon.

The Apollo journey:  Scott was told by the bank that they didn’t think it was a “good investment.” They were so wrong. After procuring a bank loan, they were able to start a business of their own. Apollo Drain & Rooter was on its way! Their tagline, “Big enough to do the job, but small enough to care” would carry them through many years of hard and difficult work. Using their own apartment as their headquarters and Jody navigating with the large and cumbersome Thomas Guide Map Book, they offered a flat rate of only $26.50, no matter how long it took or how challenging the job was.

Over the years of juggling work, marriage and parenthood the Birds eventually grew to become a family of 5 with 3 energetic boys! In 1985 Scott and Jody were blessed with their first baby boy, Brandon. Brandon was continuously by Jody’s side as she answered phones, scheduled jobs and handled the paperwork. In 1988 he was followed by little brother Ryan, and in 1990 their son Derek completed their family and the nest was full.

With discipline, hard work and a good sense of humor, the young family survived many ups and downs. Tough economic times challenged their survival in the industry, but they kept going. No matter what challenges they faced, they did so with strength and integrity, always willing to help out their fellow members of the community.

As the Bird boys grew into men, they fully immersed themselves into the family business, which has become one of the fastest growing, full-service plumbing companies in Oregon and Washington. The company of two people has grown to over 50 employees! In 2014 the family became the first in this area to invest in the latest technology of plumbing called Cured In Place Pipe (CIPP). It is their dedication to a growing industry that instilled in them the desire to share this with an area where it is so desperately needed. CIPP, a trenchless lateral drain line repair, is the perfect answer to the root intrusion problem that is so prevalent in the Pacific Northwest. Old pipes are not getting any younger and degradation is a serious problem. Luckily, Apollo is a leader in the installation of LMK’s CIPP technology.

After 37 years of successful plumbing and drain business, the Bird family are proud to announce they have added Heating and Cooling Services . This is exciting news, and the company looks forward to working with the community to keep everyone warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

The Bird’s high standards and love of the work are a testament to their trade. They have great appreciation for the community and their continued support because they would not be where they are today without them.