Ruralite
Kristal Romans organizes local running and biking events and competes in ultra-running events.
PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTAL ROMANS
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Ruralite
March 2024 • Volume 72, No. 3
CEO Michael Shepard
SENIOR VP OF CONTENT Leon Espinoza
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mike Teegarden, CCC
DEPUTY EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Noble Sprayberry
SENIOR EDITOR Jennifer Paton, CCC
ASSISTANT EDITORS Chasity Anderson, CCC; Victoria Hampton, CCC, David Herder CCC
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Valeri Pearon, Nina Todea
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCTION SR. MANAGER
Elizabeth Beatty
PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR
Alyssa McDougle
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Ruralite Celebrates 70
I don’t know about you, but I am itching to get outside and get my hands dirty. As soon as the soil in my flower beds stops feeling like overly thickened pudding, I’m ready to purge the winter blahs—and the weeds that have sprouted.
I have a few new flower beds that will get my attention first. One area is a clean slate just waiting for inspiration and the right plants to transform it.
I’m a lazy gardener, favoring native perennials that require little care while providing vibrant color year after year. Over time, I want to fill in the open spaces with low-creeping plants that reduce the need for weeding. I’m not there yet, but this month’s gardening story gave me great ideas on ways to reach my goals while saving money. I haven’t grown plants indoors from seeds since my days in elementary school, but I’m excited to give it a try again.
When the weather is too cold to work my flower beds, my family loves to play board games. We have an overflowing game closet. I was pretty excited when I ran across a company in Pahrump, Nevada, which helps game developers take their ideas to the finish line. You can read about it on Page 10. Maybe one of you will design the next must-have board game.
As we continue celebrating Ruralite’s 70th year, please look at the Before You Go story on Page 30. From time to time this year, we will share nuggets from some of the first issues of Ruralite magazine. This month, we feature new product descriptions and household tips that ran in December 1954.
Sincerely,
Mike Teegarden Editorial Director
Advance to Pahrump, Collect on Creativity
Innovator leads the way to a successful board game design business Up Close, Page 10
On the Trail Again
Running and cycling race series showcases Lincoln County’s terrific trails and awe-inspiring scenery
By Dianna Troyer
Revved up for a new running season, Pioche competitors Alice Midgley and Sarah Somers wonder what surprises are in store for them in the local Rocky Road Adventures series.
Dry Valley resident Kristal Romans launched the running and cycling series in March 2018 to share her love for exercise, camaraderie of outdoor enthusiasts and Lincoln County’s rugged scenic beauty at state parks and along backcountry trails.
“Every year, Kristal makes each race unusual with different prizes or offerings at aid stations,” Alice says. “She makes great custom, laser-carved wood medals and awards that are unique for each race.”
With Kristal’s and volunteers’ trademark hospitality and enthusiasm, the races attract more competitors by word-of-mouth.
“People from Ely, Cedar City, St. George, Hurricane, Las Vegas and even the San
Kristal Romans, right, and her husband, Heath, left, congratulate Jay Bartlett for winning the 2023 Cappy’s Backyard Ultra. PHOTOS COURTESY OF KRISTAL ROMANS
Francisco area have been coming every year,” Kristal says.
Since the series started, Alice and Sarah have run in a couple of events every year.
Alice says all the races are fun, regardless of whether she is volunteering at an aid station or running.
“Her races give me a reason to run and to set a goal,” she says. “I always look forward to them.”
Alice runs as a hobby after getting off work for the school district, serving food to kindergarten to high school students in Panaca.
“Sometimes, I laugh at myself because the prizes motivate me,” she says.
At the Little BIG Dog Trail Run at Kershaw-Ryan State Park, Alice received a collapsible water bowl as a prize for her dogs, Lieutenant, a Newfie/Lab mix, and Frank, a border collie.
Something for Everyone
Kristal invites residents to compete or volunteer at events throughout the running season.
“She even gave bandanas to the dogs,” Alice says. “One year, she gave a membership to a gym. They’re all prizes that are both fun and functional.”
Sarah, a high school teacher and owner of the Gym on Main in Pioche, says she appreciates not having to travel far to compete.
“Kristal’s races are super unique with location and prizes,” she says. Sarah will compete in a half-marathon at Echo Canyon State Park in July and a trail run at Cathedral Gorge State Park in October.
Beat Your Personal Best
When Sarah is asked for advice on becoming more physically fit, she shares how she started running. In 2009, she could only run about a mile.
“I was so happy when I could finally run a one-mile loop,” she says. “I added another mile and another. Start by trying to always beat your own personal best and see where it leads.”
For Kristal, running is more than just a hobby—it is a lifesaving endeavor. After undergoing radiation therapy to treat breast cancer, she decided to run, bike and eat a healthy diet.
“I decided to fight cancer with exercise,” she says. “When I started, I could barely run a block, but I kept at it. I run every day—whether it’s raining or snowing or windy or icy. When it’s sunny, I’m extra appreciative.”
She quickly realized she liked running so much she finished a 10K and a half marathon.
“Then I started ultra-running,” she says. “I’m happiest on a trail.”
To share the transformative power of running and biking in her life, Kristal launched Rocky Road Adventures. She says the name is not only for local challenging courses but also her favorite ice cream.
Continues on page 8
April 6: Cappy’s Backyard Ultra at Cathedral Gorge State Park
May 4: Broken Record 3 & 6 Hour MTB Challenge at Kershaw-Ryan State Park
July 6: Eagle’s Echo Night Run, Echo Canyon State Park
October 19: Battle Born Trail Run at Cathedral Gorge State Park
The Race Across Nevada Virtual Challenge can be found at rockyroadadventuresnv.com for those who don’t want to run or bike. More information is available on the Rocky Road Adventures Facebook and Instagram pages.
Kristal makes various handmade awards for each event in the Rocky Road Adventures series. These awards were given away at the Battle Born Trail Run 2023. ADOBE STOCK ILLUSTRATION BY DMITRY
Women in Energy
Women increasingly power electric utilities and each other
A generation ago, if a young woman expressed an interest in working in the energy industry, it’s possible her friends, family and even prospective supervisors would have steered her away. Keeping the lights on was traditionally seen as men’s work—aside from customer service or clerical roles, that is.
Yet today, women represent an increasing share of the electric cooperative workforce, and not just in traditional roles of the past. As you look around your public power utilities, you’ll find women in many roles—from lineworkers to engineers to
“When I came to work for Lassen in 2003, there were very few women in managerial or leadership roles in the industry,” says Theresa Phillips, public relations manager at Lassen Municipal Utility District. “We seemed to be working behind the scenes, with little recognition for our contributions.
“Fast forward to 2024, and the industry has embraced women in public power in every aspect.”
International Women’s Day is March 8. It’s a great opportunity to celebrate accomplishments of the many women transforming public power utilities and serving their local communities.
It’s hard to imagine a better career field for today’s young women who are interested in making their communities better places to live, work and play.
“The competition for talent and skill shortages has highlighted the need to expand recruitment strategies to get a more diverse range of candidates,” says Desiree Dunham, Workforce Programs manager for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. “The diverse experiences and perspectives of women contribute to more creative and effective problem-solving, which can be especially beneficial in navigating complex challenges and finding innovative solutions that cater to a broad range of consumer needs.”
NRECA reports that nearly 90 electric co-ops are headed by female CEOs. The association says the strengths women often bring to leadership—such as teamwork, problem-solving and communication—are important to the industry’s future.
Public power utilites across America are working to build
awareness among young women about the opportunities available to them. Some even host day camps for teens in which they get a behind-the-scenes look at what’s involved with delivering power.
Beyond the highly visible roles such as linework, participants learn how people in areas as diverse as information technology, finance and environmental compliance are vital to utility operations.
Students aren’t the only target of such efforts. Desiree points to the priority the industry places on supporting career development for women. Mentorship programs and networking opportunities create platforms through which women can connect and share their experiences.
“These positive shifts need to be continuously reinforced with targeted outreach efforts, career awareness campaigns and support systems to enhance the entry points and career progression for women,” Desiree says.
Theresa sees a strong impact in the annual Women in Public Power Conference, a learning conference that provides developmental opportunities for women in five critical areas of success: knowing yourself, creating connections, managing communications, building confidence and strengthening resilience. It’s a room full of women supporting other women—from customer service representatives to general managers.
Theresa encourages others in the industry to attend as it’s a chance to network among other women.
Conferences are just one place to feel this camaraderie. NRECA’s Women in Power mentoring program for the electric co-op community provides support and resources to guide and empower women in their careers.
“Thanks to their Women in Power mentoring program, I have been able to network with several women across the country involved in the energy industry,” Duncan Valley Electric Cooperative CEO Kassi Mortenson says.
“(Through) the Women in Power mentoring program, I was matched with Charise Swanson, CEO of the New Mexico statewide organization, NMREC,” Kassi says. “Call it fate, but it could not have worked out more perfect. We were able to meet in person as DVEC is an associate member of the New Mexico group, and (we) have since developed a very beneficial mentor/mentee relationship.”
Nearly 20% of the nation’s co-op workforce is nearing retirement age during the next five years, which opens new opportunities in leadership roles at electric utilities across the country. Public power utilities pride themselves on offering stable jobs with opportunities for growth.
“Cooperatives are often recognized as ‘best place to work’ employers in their communities, offering competitive benefits, caring cultures and support for families,” Desiree says.
Strengthening inclusion and diversity is a commitment of public power utilites. Within this, women often advocate for fostering an environment where skills and expertise are valued among individuals.
“More and more women are becoming involved in the energy industry as utility leadership, boards of directors, lineworkers, engineers, etc.,” Kassi says. “Now it’s just a matter of everyone else getting used to it. Women in the energy industry are here to stay.” n
Jessica Johnson is a community and member relations administrator at Poudre Valley REA in Fort Colling, Colorado. PHOTO BY GARRETT HUBBARD
OPPOSITE: Genevie Boarman was the first female lineworker and volunteer for a National Rural Electric Cooperative Association International trip. She works at Northern Neck Electric Co-op in Warsaw, Virginia.
PHOTO BY LAURA EMERY, COOPERATIVE LIVING
LINCOLN COUNTY POWER
Participants in the Anytime, Anywhere:
“People reach out to me about running, and I tell them to not doubt themselves,” Kristal says. “It’s mind over matter. Your body follows what your mind says it can do. I tell people, ‘You can do it,’ and point out Paralympic athletes who run.”
Kristal encourages anyone to exercise.
“You don’t even have to come to an organized event,” she says. “Just do any physical activity, anywhere and anytime.”
Virtual Program
To help people find their “anywhere and anytime,” Kristal created a virtual
adventure, the Race Across Nevada Virtual Challenge, described at rockyroadadventuresnv.com.
Participants can be indoors or outdoors doing any kind of activity and keep track of their efforts to reach 1,473 miles or minutes. The challenge starts in Pioche and leads participants to every county’s seat in Nevada until finally reaching the state capital, Carson City.
“It’s a fun way to set a goal and be accountable to yourself,” Kristal says. “For example, the first stage is from Pioche to Las Vegas, which is 177 miles by highway road. You either complete 177 miles or 177 minutes or any combination, doing
whatever exercise you’d like. You can run, skip, jump rope, swim, paddle board, walk, hike, kayak—whatever.”
To motivate participants, she made a booklet to keep track of activities for each of the 16 stages and a customized puzzle of Nevada and its counties for each participant.
Next year, Kristal hopes to offer a new race: the Boot Hill 25K/50K on the dirt roads of Pioche and the surrounding area.
“It’s in the planning stages and will start and end at Boot Hill Cemetery,” she says. “I’m excited. It will give runners another option and reason to come to Lincoln County.” n
Continued from page 5
Sarah Somers, a local high school teacher, and Sugar run in the Little BIG Dog Trail Run at Kershaw-Ryan State Park in Caliente.
ABOVE: Alice Midgley finishes the Battle Born Trail Run last year. This year, the challenge is October 19 at Cathedral Gorge State Park.
LEFT:
Race Across Nevada Virtual Challenge receive a customized puzzle Kristal made.
Advance collect to pahrump on creativity
Innovator leads the way to a successful board game design business
Story and photos
by Chiara Profenna
Michael Spahitz’s Pahrump, Nevada, warehouse bursts with creative energy. The Board Game Design and Manufacturing headquarters sees plenty of imaginative and unique games within its walls.
Each year, novice and expert game designers bring their innovative ideas to Michael, where he pieces together the puzzle to produce a finished game.
Michael displays colorful custom board games on the headquarters’ showroom walls, highlighting only a fraction of the games he has helped create. Cardboard boxes house a diverse array of games, from trivia challenges to strategic games, stylized Monopoly boards and myriad other inventive concepts.
The game that started it all sits on the center shelf: Dogopoly (The Original Game of High Steaks & Bones).
Inspiration Strikes
Michael and his brother, Rob, grew up playing board games on rainy days in New York. One day, while the boys were playing Monopoly, their dog walked across the board.
“Normally, we were very particular about our games,” Rob says. “It’s like, ‘Don’t bother us while we’re playing.’ But we loved our dog so much … We just went over and hugged him, and somewhere right about then is when we got this inspiration of, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if all of the Monopoly properties were named after dogs?’”
Not long after, Rob and Michael created the first iteration of Dogopoly by taping together sheets of paper and referencing a picture dictionary for dog breed names.
Their passion for board games followed them as they grew older, but they never forgot their first venture into game design.
“As we got older, we started creating our own games,” Michael says. “I
learned how to become a graphic artist and merged the two into offering a service for people online to come to me whether they need design services or just manufacturing services.”
Michael eventually established the design business on his own.
Turning Concepts Into Classics
“What we offer is a service for others,” Michael says. “You have a game concept, and we take the concept and bring it to fruition, from the rough concept to a finished product, where we have it manufactured, and it can be sold in stores.”
Since 1997, the business has grown from offering only manufacturing services to including graphic design and selling game components on a separate website.
Michael has created hundreds of tabletop games, serving individuals and larger corporations from his warehouse in Pahrump. For about 15 years, the business
has operated out of this small town an hour outside of Las Vegas.
“When I moved to Pahrump, one of the pluses for us was the overhead,” Michael says. “We could actually have a building where we could do warehousing and order fulfillment.”
Looking through the rows of games Michael has helped create, it is apparent no two designs look alike. Vintage games are washed in sepia with old photographs on display while contemporary designs use eyecatching graphics and vibrant cartoon characters. According to Michael, he aims to keep singularity and longevity in mind when designing a game.
The Finished Product
“One of the pluses of me being a game inventor and a graphic artist is that I’ve been through this,” Michael says. “When it comes to helping my customers, I can make a lot of suggestions and advise them on things they might want to consider.”
The global tabletop games market was estimated at $24.91 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to $48.69 billion by 2028, according to market research company Arizton. Among the thousands of new games released yearly, Board Game Design and Manufacturing has contributed hundreds since its inception.
With hopes of eventually opening his own large-scale manufacturing building, Michael envisions expanding the company’s reach and impact. His business is a haven for emerging inventors.
As the CEO, owner, art director and webmaster, Michael prides himself on being able to offer services for anyone with a thoughtout concept. He advises aspiring game makers to play and test their games with as many people as possible and to choose a professional designer to create packaging that gives a great first impression.
“I enjoy doing this,” he says. “It’s a very rewarding job because one of the things that we’re doing is helping people to make their dreams come true.” n
Visit www.boardgamedesigns.com for more information on how to turn an idea into a board game.
ABOVE: Michael Spahitz has been running his business in some capacity since 1989, beginning with programming and design services in his community. RIGHT: With a focus on high-quality game pieces, Michael’s business offers an assortment of styles and materials.
Digging
How to save money in the garden Dollars for
By George Weigel
Plant prices have risen sharply the past two years. So have costs of insecticides, fertilizers, deer repellents, mulch, tools and other accessories gardeners use to keep their green investments alive. Even bagged dirt is no longer dirt-cheap.
What’s a gardener on a tight budget to do? Fortunately, this is one pastime that lends itself well to belt-tightening strategies. Let’s dig into specifics.
Ways to Save on Plant Purchases
You could pay full price at prime planting time like most gardeners, or you could pay half or less with some bargainsniffing strategies. Start by looking for markdowns on overstocked, out-of-bloom or past-prime plants. These are often perfectly healthy, just not attractive enough to fetch top dollar.
Four top savers: Perennials relegated to a bargain rack after they have finished blooming for the season; annuals and vegetables that are still viable but unsold after the spring rush; trees and shrubs that are misshapen markdowns but fixable via pruning and patience; and tulips, daffodils and other spring-blooming bulbs that are often 50% off when unsold but still plantable by the end of October.
Get on your favorite garden center’s loyalty program. Many offer discounts, coupons, rewards and special sales to regular customers. While you’re at it, let local garden center managers know you’re interested in plants they want to clear out. You might get a call before plants go on the clearance rack—and maybe even year-end freebies.
Bargains are sometimes possible through mail-order and online vendors, but expect the plants to be small and bare root—shipped
ADOBE STOCK PHOTOS
FLOWER STUDIO,
with weight-saving packing material around the roots instead of soil. Coddle them in a pot for a year to maximize success.
Plant bargains also can be found from unconventional sources, including plant societies, master gardeners, libraries, public gardens, farmers markets, schools and garden clubs—all of which often hold plant sale fundraisers using divisions from members’ yards, locally started seedlings and discounted greenhouse transplants.
You might also encounter plants at yard sales. These sometimes can be bargain-priced, dig-your-own gold mines. Just be careful you’re not buying someone else’s overly aggressive varieties.
Landscape companies are another overlooked plant resource. Landscapers routinely dig up healthy plants during renovations, simply because they have outgrown the space or a new homeowner doesn’t like them. They may let you salvage the vegetation instead of dumping it.
Ways to Trim the Plant Budget
Wherever you buy plants, opt for less expensive, smaller sizes. Given patience and good growing conditions, a quart-sized perennial will end up at the same mature size as a gallon-sized one but at a significantly lower starting price.
Leaning small especially saves on trees, which can double in
REPURPOSE HOUSEHOLD ITEMS IN THE GARDEN
Gardening can give a second life to all sorts of household junk, er, “resources.” Here are several items that can be retooled:
• Old shoes, baskets, backpacks, pocketbooks. Just about any worn-out item that can hold soil can morph into a plant container. Just be sure it has drainage holes.
• Vinyl blinds, plastic detergent bottles. Cut in strips with a point at one end and use as plant labels. Use a marker or wax pencil for writing.
• Dishes, glassware, vases, ceramics. Old, one-off and even cracked pieces can be crafted into garden ornaments.
• Newspaper, junk mail, office paper. All can be shredded and added to the compost pile.
• Empty milk jugs. Wash and reuse as plant protectors over young vegetable garden plants on cold nights. Or use the cut-off bottoms as seed-starting containers.
• Plastic soda bottles. Cut a vertical slit and wrap the bottles around young trees, shrubs and vines to protect them against rodent chewing.
• Margarine tubs, yogurt cups, egg cartons. Poke holes in the bottom and use them as seed-starting containers.
LEFT: Save money on plants by dividing perennials and planting from seeds.
RIGHT: Add a little humor and variety to your garden by repurposing old household items as plant containers.
• Plastic wrap. After food-bowl duty, save a few sheets to drape over seedstarting trays. It traps moisture like a mini greenhouse.
• Spray bottles. Rinse them well and use them to mist seed trays or tip cuttings. Or use them for spraying animal repellents.
• Used sandpaper. Staple strips of it to the tops of raised-bed boards or other wooden-bed edging to repel slugs, which detest crawling over scratchy surfaces.
• Old mailbox. Relocate it to the garden, where it can become a repository for markers, labels, string and all those other little things you forget in the garage.
• Old broomstick, left-over PVC pipe. Make a watering wand for reaching hanging baskets and window boxes by using metal hose clamps to secure your garden hose to them.
DIRECT SEED OUTSIDE TO SAVE MONEY
Even cheaper than buying greenhouse transplants on sale or starting seeds inside is direct seeding them outside.
Direct seeding is simply tamping seeds into loosened, moistened garden soil at the right time of year. Similar to how nature does most of its planting, direct seeding can cut a flower budget down to pennies on the dollar. Save your seeds each year instead of buying packets, and you can directly seed the following year at no cost. Seeds saved from heirloom or traditional open-pollinated plants work better than seeds from hybrid varieties, which often produce no or sterile seeds and variable offspring.
Many annual and perennial flowers start readily from seeds planted directly into the ground. Some of the easiest are marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, poppies, alyssum, cornflowers (bachelor’s buttons), larkspur, snapdragons, sweet peas, floss flowers (ageratum), flowering tobacco, gloriosa daisies, hollyhocks, nasturtiums, strawflowers and sunflowers.
Many vegetables also direct seed readily, including peas, lettuce, spinach, kale, beets, carrots, radishes, beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, okra and corn.
Three factors are key to success:
Timing. Some plants are sensitive to cold and shouldn’t be planted until the threat of frost is gone and the soil is sufficiently warm. Seed packets list the dates when it’s safe to plant different varieties.
Loose soil. The soil doesn’t need to be tilled or deeply dug, but seeds sprout much better when lightly tamped into the top quarter- to half-inch of soil loosened 4 to 6 inches deep. Tossing seeds on top of hard, compacted ground usually results in little to no germination.
Damp soil. The soil surface needs to be consistently damp until the seeds sprout. That might mean lightly watering once or twice daily on dry, sunny days. Once seedlings are growing, the main job is thinning—if needed—and making sure weeds don’t out-compete the new seedlings.
Weeds and excess plants are easy to pull when they’re young. Better yet, snip them with scissors.
Be patient for sprouting to happen. While some seeds sprout in a matter of
Starting new plants from seeds yields way more plants to the dollar than transplants. Vegetables and annual flowers are fairly easy to start from seed inside in winter. Basic workshop lights with fluorescent tubes are sufficient for growing seedlings, which usually need only about six weeks of inside growth before being ready to plant outdoors.
Even less expensive is planting seeds directly in the ground outside, bypassing the need for such things as lights, pots and potting mix. See the sidebar for more on how to direct-seed plants.
A third plant budget-stretcher is mining your own plants for expansion. Most perennial flowers can be dug and divided into fist-sized pieces after several years of growth, giving you free plants to use elsewhere.
Clumps of spring bulbs can also be dug and divided after their foliage browns in spring. Some shrubs yield newbies if their suckers—roots that send up shoots—are dug and transplanted. Virginia sweetspire, summersweet, hydrangea, diervilla, kerria, lilac, bayberry, sweetshrub, sweetbox and forsythia are good sucker-transplant candidates.
Check with friends and neighbors to see if they would like to trade divisions, which can yield free new varieties for your yard. New shrubs, trees, roses and evergreens can be created by snipping 4- to 6-inch pieces off the tips of mother plants and sticking them into a moist potting mix. That induces roots to grow from the buried cut ends, giving you a new “baby” from the plant.
This works for many annual flowers and tropicals, too.
If you are spending too much on annual flowers, save money by converting space to perennials. Limit those $6 annuals to pots, hanging baskets and window boxes. Perennials cost more upfront and don’t bloom as long as annuals, but the payback is usually three years or less.
Some annuals, such as ageratum, celosia and cosmos, are good at self-seeding, meaning they come up on their own each spring from seeds dropped by last year’s flowers. This is a way to fill beds without any new expense and only limited work, e.g., removing seedlings you don’t want or transplanting self-sprouted seedlings where you do want them.
Save on your potted plant budget by starting with fewer plants each season. With patience, pots of fewer premiumpriced potted annuals fill in eventually and cost less than tightly packed ones.
Another pot option is scavenging the yard for perennial flowers you can dig and divide to use in pots. The best are those with colorful foliage that add interest beyond the few weeks they flower, such as coral bells, hostas, golden sedges, variegated liriopes and ferns. Return the perennials to the
Containers are a great way to organize easier for those who have trouble
Beans are easy to start from seeds directly in the garden.
ground in the fall to overwinter and mine again next year.
A third pot money-saver is using double-duty plants. Most so-called houseplants—crotons, palms, snake plants, peace lilies, rubber plants, etc.—are tropical or subtropical species that do perfectly fine outside in northerly summers and inside over winter.
Consider using plants you bought as houseplants in summer pots, dressed up with coordinated annuals. Conversely, instead of discarding tropicals bought for summer pots at the end of the season, convert them into houseplants over winter.
Ways to Save on Gardening Products
The fastest way to save on gardening products is to cut out things you—and your plants—don’t need.
Some possibilities: wound dressings for pruned trees (not necessary and sometimes counter-productive); leaf shine (a soft, damp cloth with diluted soap cleans dusty houseplant leaves); compost activator (a few shovelfuls of finished compost or soil adds decomposition microbes); antitranspirant/antidesiccant sprays (somewhat helpful in transplanting, but research shows little to no cold-weather protection); moisture-holding gels for potted plants (research shows little to no water-saving benefit); landscape fabric (inhibits soil oxygen and traps moisture in poorly drained beds, plus weeds grow on top if you mulch over it), and tree fertilizer spikes (trees usually get the nutrients they need from soil, decomposing mulch and/or fertilizer on the surrounding lawn).
Next is reducing the amounts you use of products such as fertilizer.
Plants take up only the nutrients they need. Adding more doesn’t make them grow bigger or better and is a waste of money, not to mention potentially polluting.
If plants are growing well, there’s usually no need to add anything. If they’re not, a soil test reveals if lack of nutrition is a culprit—along
with exactly which nutrients are needed and in what amounts.
Extension offices and many garden centers offer inexpensive DIY soil-test kits to help you spend fertilizer dollars wisely.
Bug and disease sprays are another potential cost-saver. Some gardeners routinely use pesticides “just in case,” both wasting money and potentially killing beneficial insects that would have controlled pest bugs naturally—and at no charge.
Most bugs and diseases target only specific plants, and much of the damage is temporary or cosmetic anyway. Consider products only when plants are under threat from intolerable or potentially fatal damage—and when there are no better alternatives.
Sometimes, free or less expensive alternatives are available for other garden products. For example, an index finger stuck a few inches into the soil can give an accurate read on soil moisture versus investing in a soil moisture meter.
Expensive potting mix can be stretched by mixing your own from bulk ingredients or by refreshing last year’s saved mix with half-new mix, assuming last year’s mix wasn’t bug- or disease-ridden.
Many municipalities collect leaves in fall and offer the resulting free or low-cost compost to residents the following year, saving on bagged or bulk purchases. Tree companies often are willing to drop loads of chipped tree branches in home driveways, saving themselves hauling/dumping fees.
Even costly hardscaping materials such as bricks, stone, patio furniture, garden ornaments and fencing are sometimes available free or heavily discounted from neighbors advertising them through local social media channels.
Lots of household waste is fair game for repurposing in the garden, including storage tubs that morph into flower containers, cut-off soda bottles that serve as plant protectors, and butter tubs that become seedling pots. See the sidebar on page 13 for 20 household rejects that can serve new life in the garden. n
organize plants and make gardening trouble getting down on the ground.
Children love helping plant seeds, and they are more likely to try new foods if they helped grow them.
A dash of color doesn’t always have to come from the blooms.
Home Cooking WITH COFFEE
Coffee Coffee Cake
Crumb topping
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon instant coffee powder
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Heat oven to 350 F.
Spray a 9-by-9-inch pan, and line with parchment. Spray the parchment as well.
For the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, coffee powder and salt. Add the melted butter. Mix until it forms crumbs that you can clump together in your hand.
For the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking
Cake
1¾ cups cake flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
soda, cinnamon and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the coffee and sour cream until smooth.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each is well-combined. Add the vanilla. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Starting and ending with the dry
½ cup strong-brewed coffee
1⁄3 cup sour cream
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
ingredients, alternate adding the flour mixture and the coffee mixture to the stand mixer. Mix well after each addition. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Top with crumb topping, spreading it evenly. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven. Cool for 20 to 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
Sausage Gravy for Biscuits
1 pound ground sausage
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup water
¼ cup brewed coffee
Salt and pepper, to taste
Brown sausage in a cast-iron skillet. Add flour, and brown. Add milk and water. Simmer for desired thickness. Stir coffee into the mixture. If it’s too thick, add more milk. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over your favorite biscuits.
Coffee Baked Beans
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
¼ cup vinegar-based barbecue sauce
Heat the oven to 350 F.
28-ounce can baked beans
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
¼ cup brewed coffee
Cook the chopped bacon in a pot over medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, reserving the bacon grease in the pan. Drain the bacon on paper towels.
Add the chopped onion to the pot with the bacon grease. Cook for 15 minutes over medium-low heat or until caramelized. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the bacon back to the pot, as well as the remaining ingredients. Mix.
Pour the beans into a greased 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Bake for 2 hours. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Mocha Cupcakes
Cupcakes
1 cup sugar
½ cup brewed coffee, cold
½ cup canola oil
2 extra-large eggs, room temperature
3 teaspoons cider vinegar
Frosting
3 tablespoons milk chocolate chips
3 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350 F.
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1⁄3 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1⁄3 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons brewed coffee
½ cup chocolate sprinkles
In a large bowl, beat sugar, coffee, oil, eggs, vinegar and vanilla until well-blended. In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat into coffee mixture until blended.
Fill 12 paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make frosting: In a large bowl, melt chips and butter in a microwave. Stir until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar and enough coffee to reach desired consistency. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes, and add sprinkles.
Coffee Dry Rub for Steak
2 tablespoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons instant coffee
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon crushed coriander
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne, more or less to taste
Add all ingredients to a medium-sized bowl. Mix well. Once mixed, it can be used immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight glass container.
S’mores Creme Brulee
1 cup whole milk
3 extra-large eggs, room temperature
2⁄3 cup sugar
1⁄3 cup baking cocoa
2 tablespoons strong-brewed coffee
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Heat oven to 325 F.
2⁄3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1⁄3 cup sugar
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1.55-ounce milk chocolate candy bar, broken into 12 pieces
In a small saucepan, heat milk until bubbles form around sides of pan. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, cocoa and coffee until blended but not foamy. Slowly whisk in hot milk.
Place six 4-ounce broiler-safe ramekins in a baking pan large enough to hold them without touching. Pour egg mixture into ramekins. Place pan on oven rack. Add hot water to pan to within ½ inch of the top of the ramekins.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Centers will still be soft. Remove ramekins from water bath immediately to a wire rack. Cool for 10 minutes. Refrigerate until cold.
In a small bowl, mix butter and cracker crumbs. Set aside. To caramelize topping with a kitchen torch, sprinkle custards evenly with sugar. Hold torch flame about 2 inches above custard surface. Rotate it slowly until sugar is evenly caramelized. Sprinkle custards with crumb mixture, and top with marshmallows. Using the torch, heat marshmallows until browned. Top with chocolate pieces. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 hour.
To caramelize topping in a broiler, place ramekins on a baking sheet. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Heat broiler. Sprinkle custards evenly with sugar. Broil 3 to 4 inches from heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until sugar is caramelized. Sprinkle custards with crumb mixture. Top with marshmallows. Broil for 30 to 45 seconds or until marshmallows are browned. Top with chocolate pieces. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 hour.
READER EXCHANGE
Books/Magazines
Does anyone have an Annie’s Attic booklet called “Chemo Caps & Wraps,” number 871044? Thank you in advance. I am willing to purchase.
Betty Mercado
1820 E. 10th St.
The Dalles, OR 97058 bettym@centurylink.net
We are trying to locate my grandfather’s high school yearbook. He graduated in 1930 from The Dalles Oregon High School. If anyone has it and is willing to sell, please contact me. Thank you so much.
Kim Koester
220 Well St. Fairbanks, AK 99701 skmeb08@gmail.com
Crafts/Hobbies
I have started a tablecloth using my odds and ends of number 10 crochet cotton. Sadly, I have reached the end of my colored cotton. I am asking members if they can send me their odds and ends of colored crochet cotton number 10. The brighter the colors, the better. I will pay for postage.
Patty Gassner
39981 Gisler Road Scio, OR 97374
Milestones
My widowed mother turns 100 in March. She has lived in Delaware her whole life but traveled to many places in the United States and abroad—including France, her favorite country and ancestral home. She shared her travel stories with the elementary school students she taught for decades. She says she doesn’t want a birthday reception at her assisted living facility, as her dear friends are long gone. I know she would be surprised and delighted to receive greetings from afar to celebrate her milestone birthday. Send to Julia A. Coxe, 726 Loveville Road, Room A-40, Hockessin, DE 19707.
Donna C. McLean Redmond, Oregon
Submitting Requests Is Free
Thanks
Thank you, readers. Your generosity in sending so many wonderful and lovely buttons has wowed me. I will be at work for months making “button flower” vases as fast as I can to give away. My button table is full, thanks to your kindness.
Shirley Lyons Veneta, Oregon
Thank you, Ruralite, for helping to make my 90th birthday so memorable. I received more than 350 cards from readers—from Alaska to Georgia. I wish I could personally thank each of you for your birthday wishes. It is amazing how many kind people took time to send greetings to a stranger. Thank you for your generosity, and yes, I had (at least one) margarita on my birthday. Thanks again.
Marian Kuchle Florence, Kentucky
A great big “thank you” to everyone who sent me a birthday card. From handmade or otherwise, I so appreciated each and every one of them. Not only did I enjoy reading all the wonderful comments, but I also got a lesson in geography. It truly was a very memorable 82nd birthday.
Ilse Pettey Baker City,
Oregon
I would love to thank each and every one of you kind souls. The overwhelming response to my mother, Josephine’s, milestone was awesome. I helped her open and read each card. The personal messages, jokes and crafty gifts were so nice. My mother sends her love and thanks. She will be donating the cards to St. Jude’s and will keep the personally crafted ones for her scrapbook. I cannot thank you all enough. God bless.
Josephine Formica/Dawn
Lund Rachel, Nevada
Have a safe St. Patrick’s Day!
Send your request—no attachments, please—to readerexchange@ruralite.org or mail to Reader Exchange, 5625 NE Elam Young Parkway, Suite 100, Hillsboro, OR 97124. Fill in the subject line with Reader Exchange. Acceptance, scheduling and editing are at the editor’s discretion. Single requests only, please. No duplicates.
Submissions are handled on a first-come, first-served basis and as space allows. We cannot honor every request. Please affirm you have authorization from all appropriate parties before submitting. By submitting, you indemnify Reader Exchange, Pioneer Utility Resources Inc., its officers, directors, employees, utility clients and insurers from all legal liability incurred by the publication of information.
We no longer accept pen pal requests. You may submit a pen pal request as a Marketplace ad. Marketplace pricing applies. When submitting a milestone request, please send it at least two months before the milestone. Phone numbers will not be published. Email addresses will be published if part of the ad, but you must include a postal address. Requests also must include the name and address of the electric utility that provides your magazine.
Oregon Caves National Park and Preserve Trek Underground in Oregon at
BACKGROUND ADOBE STOCK PHOTO BY SHAUN HUNTER/WIRESTOCK. INSET PHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE
What Is It?
Deep in the Siskiyou Mountains that sit along the border between Oregon and California, Oregon Caves National Park and Preserves is home to lush forests and deep caves worn into the mountainside.
History
Known as the Marble Halls of Oregon, the caves were formed from the lack of marble. Starting more than a million years ago, slightly acidic rainwater seeped into the ground and began dissolving the marble. The caves formed as the marble washed away. In 1909, President William Howard Taft established Oregon Caves National Monument.
Cave Tour
The monument has a few popular cave tours open seasonally—often late March through September. Tours fill quickly, so consider booking in advance. The discovery tour is 90 minutes and limited to 12 people. Be aware it is a natural cave and, therefore, difficult to traverse. Children must be at least 42 inches tall. The tour goes through long passages with ceilings as low as 45 inches, and there are more than 500 stair steps.
Added Preserves
In 2014, 4,000 acres were designated as Oregon Caves National Preserve. The land had previously been part of a national forest. It encompasses the watershed that feeds the cave rivers and provides the park’s drinking water. The park and preserve are home to many hikes for those who prefer the wide outdoors to narrow caves.
More Information
Tours are offered Thursday through Monday during the season. The cost is $10 for those 16 and older, $7 for children and $5 for those with Interagency Senior or Access passes. Visit www.nps.gov/ orca to learn more about when the park is open and to determine if tours are right for you and your group. For more information, call 541-592-2100.
We’ve
Found
the Most Beautiful Endangered Species
Theirs sold at auction for $226,000. Ours is JUST $29! Curious? Read on!
To art nouveau jewelers at the turn of the last century, nothing was more beautiful than the dragonfly. In the dragonfly’s long body and outstretched wings, jewelers found the perfect setting for valuable stones. ese jewelers’ dragonfly designs have become timeless statements of style; a dragonfly pendant designed by French jeweler René Lalique recently sold at auction for $226,000. Inspired by his stunning artistry, we’ve crafted our Dragonfly Nouvelle Collection, an elegant jewelry set for JUST $29!
True artisanship in Austrian crystal and yellow gold. is necklace and earring set features gorgeous multicolored enamel paired with Austrian crystals and a yellow gold finish. Ask any jeweler and they’ll tell you it takes true artisanship to properly blend the blues and purples found in this enamel. While art nouveau dragonflies are hard to come by, we’re helping to repopulate their numbers with this artfully stylized depiction of some of nature’s smallest wonders!
pendant, get earrings FREE!
Buy the pendant, get the earrings FREE. If Stauer were a normal company, we’d sell the necklace and earrings for $199 each, but because we engage the world’s best artisans and cut out the middlemen to sell directly to you, we’re offering the necklace for JUST $29! Even better: If you buy within the next few days, we’ll throw in the earrings for FREE! at’s a nearly $400 value for JUST $29!
Act fast! e first time we ran this jewelry in our catalog, it sold out in a matter of days. Get this collection now before this offer goes extinct!
Jewelry Speci cations:
• Enamel with Austrian crystal. Yellow gold finish
• Pendant: 1 ½" W x 1 ¼" H.
Chain: 18" + 2", lobster clasp. Earrings: 1 ¼" L, french wire
Nouvelle Collection
A. Necklace $199 $29* + S&P Save $170
B. Earrings $199 FREE with purchase of Dragonfly Nouvelle Necklace *Special price only for customers using the offer code.
Family Tree Tales
By Dave LaBelle
Some people are fascinated with architecture or angels; I love trees.
A grand lone oak tree stands—as if on watch—at the side of a road not many miles from where I live. Each time passing it, I wondered its age and who planted it there. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me, and I had to know more.
I learned the man who planted it is gone. So are his
davidlabelle.com and bridgesandangels.wordpress.com.
children and his children’s children, but the old oak tree John Vorwald placed in the earth in 1895, as a marker for the northeast corner of the town that would become New Vienna, Iowa, still stands 128 years later. His great-grandson Kevin Vorwald still lives on the family property.
Kevin’s great-grandfather was the first mayor of the town when he planted the tree. Though New Vienna was founded in 1843, it wasn’t incorporated until some 50 years later, long after Iowa became a state in 1846. Kevin says his great-great-grandfather married a girl whose father bought the land from the government when James Polk was president. Polk’s name is on the deed.
Trees are living, breathing
gifts, and may possess greater memory and intelligence than we imagine. Research has revealed that like people, trees can have elaborate, far-reaching root systems that allow them to talk to each other.
Just like us humans, trees are connected and often members of large families.
I am reminded of the late Shel Silverstein’s powerful book, “The Giving Tree,” about the relationship between a boy and an apple tree. Every tree is a giving tree. Just as I imagine how lacking a world without birds would be, I think how sad our walk on Earth would be without trees. I have often said that next to a good mother, God’s greatest creation is a tree.
Had I not chosen photojournalism, I might have become an arborist. n
Reader Challenge
Your challenge is to choose a tree that speaks to you—one that you admire and maybe even feel a connection to. Research its species and origin. Was it indigenous or a species brought to your area, transplanted from another state or even another country? Does the tree have a story? And then set out to make a photograph that captures how you feel about the tree. Consider the angle, composition, light and lens, even the time of day or night that best reveals how you see this magnificent creation.
Email your best image (just one, please) with caption information, including an explanation of how it affects you, to GPH@pur.coop. We may share submissions on our website and social media channels.
Renowned author, photographer and lecturer Dave LaBelle has captured special moments for more than half a century. For more of his writings, visit
NIKON D800, 34mm lens ISO 100, f/9 at 1/400
This oak stands witness to the evolution of an Iowa community.
PHOTO BY DAVE LABELLE
Choose a homelift, not a stairlift
The Modern Solution
A Stiltz Homelift is a safe, attractive, & affordable alternative to stairlifts. It requires no special machine room, and no supporting walls.
Economical & Flexible
A Stiltz Homelift can t just about anywhere in your house. It has a compact footprint, similar in size to a small armchair. A Stiltz Homelift plugs into a standard home electrical outlet, using less power than boiling a kettle.
Your Forever Home
Avoid the expense and distress of relocating, or the disruption of adapting your home for downstairs living. A Stiltz Homelift helps you live safely and independently in the home you love.
It’s Never Too Soon
Some Stiltz customers need a Homelift immediately. But others want to “future-proof” their homes for when the stairs become a challenge.
Homelift Specialists
Stiltz is a world leading Homelift manufacturer, so you’ll be in good hands. Your elevator will be installed and maintained by Stiltz trained professionals - who truly care about your freedom.
“I can’t imagine what we’d do without it. I wish we had installed our Stiltz Homelift several years ago!”
– Mr. James, Roanoke VA
Spring-Cleaning Tips to Use Less Energy
By Miranda Boutelle
Q: What energy-saving tasks I can add to my spring-cleaning list?
A: Spring is a great time to refresh, clean and enhance energy efficiency at home. By adopting simple yet effective energy-saving strategies during our springcleaning routines, we can create an efficient living environment that may also lower our utility bills and extend the life of our heavily used appliances.
Be sure to include these spring-cleaning tips to add some energy savings to the job. Check the filter in your heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. Even though it’s out of sight, don’t leave it out of mind. Your furnace worked hard during the winter. Ensuring your HVAC system has a clean filter is a low-cost and easy way to protect your equipment and maximize efficiency. A dirty furnace filter can cause your system to work harder than necessary, decreasing efficiency and shortening the system’s life.
Have your air conditioning serviced and professionally cleaned. Both the indoor and outdoor units should be cleaned. Dirty refrigerant coils reduce efficiency. This also applies to heat pumps and ductless heat pumps, also known as mini-split systems. A technician can check refrigerant levels and refill or make repairs if necessary.
Schedule HVAC service in the spring. HVAC contractors get busy responding to calls during the summer heat. Scheduling cleaning services for your air conditioning in the spring can ensure the work gets done before the rush and even save you money. Some HVAC contractors offer special discounts for cleaning services in the milder months, which helps fill their schedules and keep their technicians working.
Clean window AC units. Window AC units can get dirty, too. They can be cleaned with the proper tools, cleaning agents and know-how. Always unplug the unit before cleaning it, and wait until it is completely dry to plug it back in again. Take the time to clean it properly in the spring before you need it in the summer.
Clean light fixtures and fixture covers. Cleaning can brighten your space by removing dust and grime collected during the winter. While you are at it, check your bulbs and replace any incandescent or compact fluorescent lights with energysaving LEDs. Although they tend to cost a little more, LEDs last longer and use less energy.
Buy good LEDs. Good-quality LEDs are expected to last 30,000 to 50,000 hours, according to the Department of Energy. A typical incandescent lamp lasts about 1,000 hours, and a comparable CFL lasts 8,000 to 10,000 hours. To put this into everyday use, if you have an LED light on for 10 hours a day, it can last 13 years compared to only about three months for incandescent bulbs and about two-and-ahalf years for CFLs.
Don’t forget the oven. A clean oven heats more evenly and quickly, providing better results and lower energy use. A clean oven window allows you to see the food and how it’s cooking without opening the oven door, which wastes energy.
Clean and seal windows. If cleaning windows is on the list, check the seals and sash locks to ensure they close tightly. Check for any areas that need caulking or sealing to reduce drafts. Sealing around windows contributes to year-round comfort in your home. Clean windows also allow more light into the home,
ABOVE: While cleaning light fixtures and fixture covers, check your bulbs and replace any incandescent or compact fluorescent lights with energysaving LEDs. RIGHT: Replacing your furnace filter is a low-cost and easy way to protect your equipment and maximize efficiency.
PHOTOS BY MARK GILLILAND
reducing the need to turn on lamps and overhead fixtures.
Spring is the ideal time to declutter, deep clean and implement practices that not only tidy our homes but also reduce energy consumption, contributing positively to our homes’ energy efficiency and saving money on energy use. n
Miranda Boutelle has more than 20 years of experience helping people save energy. She has worked on energyefficiency projects from the Midwest to the West Coast.
Today, Miranda is chief operating officer at Efficiency Services Group in Oregon, a cooperatively owned energy-efficiency company.
This content was originally created by Efficiency Services Group LLC under contract with NRECA. NRECA retains ownership of this content. NRECA does not endorse Efficiency Services Group, its views herein expressed, nor any products or services it offers.
MARKETPLACE
Agriculture
Reinforced custom-sized pond liners (39 cents/sqft). Hay covers, greenhouse covers, any width and length. Truck tarps and more. High puncture and tear strength. Best price guaranteed. Celebrating 42 years in business. www.btlliners.com. 541-447-0712. 0424
305-gallon Norwesco water storage tank, $285. Clean, used. Excellent condition. Black poly 4 ft. tall by 4 ft. diameter, 59 lbs. Elko, NV. 775-275-0746. 0324
1993 Charmac horse trailer, $2.5K OBO. 3 Apache salt/pellet feeders, $2K each OBO. Aluminum pickup box, new, $150. Large recliner/incliner, like new, $400. 2-piece fireplace hearth, nice, $100. 541-893-6292. No late calls.
4x5 round bales, Meadow Foxtail Orchard Grass. 4x4 Timothy, small square. nas@cpcinternet.com; 208-435-4637 or 208-435-4002. 1224
Antiques and Collectibles
Buying antiques and collectibles: advertising signs, porcelain signs, gas pumps, beer signs, antique toys, cast-iron coin banks, neon signs and more. Jason, 503-310-3321 or tjabaughman@yahoo.com. 0324
Buying American Indian collectibles, Navajo blankets and rugs, baskets, beadwork, etc. Also, quality paintings of the early Southwest and Americas. Call 760-409-3117 or send photos to amer.ind.baskets@gmail.com. 0524
WC Collectibles. We buy comic books! Local to the Inland Northwest, willing to travel. WCCollectiblesCheney@gmail.com; 509-496-1835. 0724
Books, Magazines, Videos
More “Montello Remembered” novels available. I’m also liquidating my NV history collection. Many rare and hard-to-find books now available. pruitt2010@frontier.com; 775-753-3254. 0324
Business Opportunities
Quaint hardware store in Maupin, OR, for sale. Inventory and interior store recently updated and refreshed. See ad on Bizbuysell.com or email Maupincountrystore@gmail.com. $309K.
Looking to purchase small business in Northern Idaho. Call or send information on any opportunities. Can do a quick purchase. 559-269-5554; mike@rouchbuilders.com. 0324
Quick, Affordable: How to Place an Ad
Ads 25 words or fewer are $35 a month. An extended ad of up to 35 words is $50 a month. Contact information is included in the word count. Phone numbers and emails count as one word.
Longer ads may be placed. Contact 503-357-2105 or info@pioneer.coop for pricing information.
Ads are for customers of member co-ops, public utility districts and municipals only. Subscribers and nonmembers may inquire about pricing at 503-357-2105 or info@pioneer.coop.
Ads must be direct and in first person, and are subject to approval and editing.
Closing deadlines (in our office): May issue—March 29, 2024.
If submitting ad by mail, send appropriate payment with your name, address, email, phone number and the name of the electric utility that provides your magazine to: Marketplace, P.O. Box 1306, North Plains, OR 97133. Make check or money order payable to Ruralite.
We accept credit card payments for ads submitted by email. Send ad to info@pioneer.coop.
Call 503-357-2105 to pay by credit card.
Advertisements are accepted in good faith. Pioneer Utility Resources is not liable for interactions between buyers and sellers.
Community Events
8th annual Fiber Arts and Jewelry Exhibit at Art Center East in La Grande, OR. Feb. 2March 30, 2024. artcentereast.org. 0324
Annual Quilt and Needlework Show. April 5-6 in Pahrump, NV, at Bob Ruud Community Center. Presented by Shadow Mountain Quilters. Shadowmountainquilters.com. 0324
Free Items
Free materials—church, government uniting, suppressing “religious liberty,” enforcing National Sunday Law. Be informed. Need mailing address only. TBS, P.O. Box 374, Ellijay, GA 30540. 888-211-1715; tbsmads@yahoo.com. 0424AR
Help Wanted
Publisher for Kodiak Daily Mirror, a 5-day publication located in Kodiak, AK. Responsibilities include all aspects of efficiently operating a daily newspaper. The right candidate is expected to get involved in the community. If interested, contact Virginia Farmier, vfarmier@newsminer.com or 907-459-7511. 0324
Miscellaneous
Local commercial fisherman sells summer catch of preserved freshness by blast freezing at sea, gourmet canned tuna on internet. Sept.June. 100% guaranteed the best canned tuna you ever tasted. Original, jalapeno and garlic flavors available. Twofisherstuna.com. Call 206-799-1082 to place your order. 0324
Alaskan yellow cedar. Great for planter boxes, herb and flower beds, fencing or decks. Various sizes available. Pete, 541-206-0727. Lisa, 541-747-5025, ext. 21. 0624
Granite cemetery markers at affordable prices. Will ship to most places. Joe, 541-815-8906 or highdesertmemorials@gmail.com; and www.highdesertmemorials.com.
Pets, Supplies
Looking for stud services for 2-year-old female borgi in late April-early May. Black-and-white borgi or miniature/small full-bred border collie preferred. Willing to pay a stud fee and travel if necessary. Suzi Smith, 775-233-7242 or suzicooksmith@outlook.com.
Mini-goldendoodle puppies. Excellent companion dogs. 3 males; ready for forever homes Feb. 14. 15-20 pounds full grown. Asking $1K OBO. solomonstephans@gmail.com or 541-332-7101. 0324
Real Estate
Lake front home Eagle Lake, CA. 3-bd, 2-ba, 2-car garage, fully furnished and stocked, move-in ready, docks, boat lift. $299K or trade? 775-771-5263 or bdl1962@gmail.com.
$600K interior Alaskan turnkey roadhouse and 2 dry cabins. Well-maintained on 5 acres with pond. 50 scenic miles south to Denali Park entrance. 907-460-9292. 0524
Let me help you buy or sell ranch, farm and recreation property in Oregon. Fourthgeneration Oregonian, ranch owner. For sale: Sisters, OR, 40 acres. $1.7M. John Gill, 541-480-9161 or johngill@landandwildlife.com. Land And Wildlife brokerage. 0324
23 acres east of Cottage Grove, OR. 8 acres flat pasture, 15 acres forested hillside. 2 cabins, well, tractor, shed, firefighting equipment. City water, electricity. Quiet, secluded, views. Photos on request. $450K. hannond@comcast.net. 0424
Canyon City home w/basement. 2-bd., 1-ba., fenced yard, circular driveway, garage w/ workshop. $240K. Duke Warner Realty, 541-987-2363 or ddwr@ortelco.net. 0324
Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, Dallesport, WA. 1,608-sqft. mobile home for sale in park. $670 monthly rent. Excellent condition. Professional upgrades. Motivated seller. $109K. 503-396-1251. 0424
4 well-maintained 1,200-sqft. cedar homes with huge decks on year-round creek. 2.12 acres. Close to small town of Selma, OR. $875K. 541-597-2185. 0424
Off-grid homestead. Ideal for wind/solar power. NE Elko County, NV. Has equipment, quarters, shop. Year-round access. Water and power nearby. $35K. geopup58@gmail.com. 0324
Recreational Rentals
Wavecatcher: Oceanfront. Central Oregon coast. Summer $175/night mid-May to midOct.; $140/night mid-Oct. to mid-May. (plus cleaning/tax). Three rooms w/double beds. Pets welcome. Wavecatcherbeachrentals.com. Reservations: 541-740-2846. 0324AR
Bend country cabin. Very clean and fully furnished cabin on private ranch. Close to recreation areas. Very nice. $95/night. 541-382-3050; bendcountrycabins@gmail.com. 0424
Recreational Vehicle
Hook up a steelhead at The Hook Up RV Park in Ahsahka, ID. Daily or longer rents available. 208-391-2919; hookuprvpark@gmail.com. 0324
Services
Dawn Till Dusk Masonry. Brick, block, stone and pavers. Small jobs and repairs welcome. Check out our website at dawntillduskconstructionmasonry.com. 541-388-7605 or 541-410-6945. License No. 245760, bonded and insured. 0324
Quarkdesign. A small business for small business. Web and print design, advertising, collateral, web video and audio. Personal websites also. $40 per hour. quarkdesign.com. 0324
Call Pahrump Lock and Safe for all your residential, commercial and safe services. 24-hour emergency service in Pahrump, NV. 702-379-8441; Jim@pahrumplockandsafe.com. 0624
Want to Buy
Wanted: Small, working oven element for a 1967-ish flair, double wall oven. 15 inches long, including 3-prong plug-in, 10.5 inches wide. 541-256-0990. 0524
Buying American Indian collectibles, Navajo blankets and rugs, baskets, beadwork, etc. Also, quality paintings of the early Southwest and Americas. Call 760-409-3117 or send photos to amer.ind.baskets@gmail.com. 0524
Gold, silver, coins/currency, buy, sell. Collections wanted. Fair prices paid. 44 years in retail store. Baker City, OR. 800-556-2133; garrymclin@aol.com. 1024
Old carpenter tools, planes (wood/metal), levels, chisels, slicks, adzes, axes, hatchets, handsaws, old rulers, spoke shaves, wrenches, shipwright tools, old tool chests. 503-659-0009 or 971-666-0659. 0324
Need to buy one copy of “Morrow County History Book” in good condition, published in 1983. Hard cover, 9 inches by 11.5 inches, dark green color with gold agricultural design inset on front. Ione, OR. L8ucy5T@gmail.com; 541-422-7495. 0424
Wanted: early Corvette ’58-’62, any condition. Call/text Randy, 503-544-3807. 0824
The MysteriousCloud
And Other Internet Storage Enigmas
By Jen Calhoun
For years now people have been talking about the cloud. “That document is in the cloud,” they’ll say, or, “I saved those pictures in the cloud.” Meanwhile, nobody ever bothers to explain it.
Let’s end that vague talk once and for all. It’s time to get a grip on this shadowy figure known as the cloud.
What Is the Cloud?
Simply put, the cloud is the concept of using someone else’s computer server to store, host or process data. The cloud is a service offered by all kinds of companies. If you use a computer, smartphone, smart
TV or any other kind of electronic device that connects to the internet, chances are you’ve used some form of cloud service. There are all kinds of cloud services. Netflix is one. So are Google Drive, Apple iCloud, Yahoo Mail, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive. There are many more, but you get the drift.
Why Does the Cloud Matter?
The cloud allows us to access large amounts of information on any device with an internet connection. Think about streaming a movie or episodes of a show on Netflix. Now, imagine trying to store every single movie or show available on Netflix on your home computer. It would stop working. Cloud technology is how we can choose from tens of thousands of movies to watch at the touch of our remotes.
Cloud services are how your child can write a paper on their laptop and you can edit it from an entirely different place, whether it’s your office
The cloud is a service.
The cloud.
NOTthe cloud.
or another city, state or country. The cloud’s remote servers handle much of the computing and the storage, so you don’t have to buy a Pentagon-worthy computer.
The cloud also allows us to store and back up our own data. For instance, you can store and view documents, videos and your photo collection on a cloud service without overloading your computer or smartphone’s internal storage.
If you use cloud services, anything you save is backed up and accessible from anywhere, provided you remember usernames and passwords. A fire, network outage or a power surge might destroy your devices, but your information can still be secure in the cloud if you backed it up.
Where Is the Cloud?
The cloud is not actually in the clouds. Cloud services are right here on Earth, stored inside computer servers that are most likely sitting inside server farms— giant, temperature-controlled facilities full of computer servers that store and transmit information. Next time you picture the
cloud, think of rows of black boxes with blinking lights.
Not-so Silver Linings
There can be downsides to storing and accessing information remotely, however. For one thing, many cloud services cost money. Some devices, such as iPhones, offer free cloud storage up to a certain amount of data. After that, you’ll need a subscription. Business cloud services often charge per gigabyte of storage.
Also, cloud services only work with internet access. Without the internet, there is no connecting to the cloud. And despite serious security measures set in place by cloud service companies, hackers can still find ways to get in. Other calamities that could disrupt your cloud services are natural disasters and other disruptions that cause network outages. n
Avoid QR Mischief
QR codes—short for quick response codes— pop up frequently. TV ads, restaurant menus and many more businesses and services rely on these little squares of blocky lines to link a smartphone user to handy information, a download or as a way to digitally send money to someone.
The FBI, however, has warned that cybercriminals may tamper with the codes. The FBI offers a few tips so you can take advantage of QR codes while staying safe and secure:
X After scanning a QR code, check the URL to make sure it is the site you want. A malicious domain name may be similar to the intended URL but with typos or a misplaced letter.
X Be cautious when entering login, personal or financial information.
X If scanning a physical QR code, ensure the code shows no signs of tampering, such as a sticker placed over the original.
X Do not download an app from a QR code.
X If you receive an email asking you to complete a payment through a QR code, call the requesting company to verify. Look up the company’s number on a trusted site—don’t use a number from the email.
X Do not download a QR code scanner app— the built-in phone camera is a safer option.
X If you get a QR code you believe to be from someone you know, contact them through a known number or address to verify.
X Avoid making payments through a site navigated to from a QR code. Instead, manually enter a known and trusted URL to complete the payment.
BEFORE YOU GO
For the Curious Ruralite
As we continue celebrating 70 years publishing Ruralite magazine, let’s take a look back at a few snippets from a section of the publication called “For the Curious Ruralite” from the December 1954 edition. This was the first edition that carried the Northwest Ruralite masthead.
Low-Cost Water Purifier
A new water sterilizer for rural homes is moderately priced, says Elenite Products Inc. Ultra violet light kills the germs. The gadget is about the size of a table model TV set and sells for as little as $295 for the 100 gallon an hour size.
Apple Stops Spuds Sprouts
One apple stored in a sealed bag of spuds
will keep latter from sprouting, says Ohio State University Expert. Under such conditions, a ripe apple exudes ethylene gas which impedes sprouts.
Step Saver
Absent-minded drivers can now buy a buzzer designed to hook onto the gas gauge and the ignition under the dash. Buzzer buzzes when tank float drops to three-gallon level. “Gas-o-larm” is made by Talco Engineering Co. of Hamden, Conn. for $4.95.
New Fast Film
Eastman Kodak’s new “Tri-x” is supposed to be twice as fast as super double X. Said to cost no more.
43/4-inch
Bacon
Wilson $ Co., meat packers are putting out short strip bacon cut to fit the frying pan. n
CHILD HUNGER CAN BE HARD TO RECOGNIZE. BECAUSE THE 1 IN 7 AMERICAN KIDS FACING IT CAN LOOK LIKE ANYONE. ESPECIALLY ME. I AM THE 13-YEAROLD BOY WHO GETS INTO FIGHTS AT SCHOOL, NOT BECAUSE I’M A BULLY, BUT BECAUSE I’M HUNGRY I AM THE 2-YEAR-OLD GIRL WHO CRIES ALL NIGHT NOT BECAUSE I’M SICK, BUT BECAUSE I WENT TO BED WITHOUT ENOUGH TO EAT. I AM THE 9-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO HOPES A FRIEND INVITES ME TO A SLEEPOVER NOT FOR FUN, BUT JUST SO I CAN HAVE DINNER I AM THE 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL WHO GOES FOR WALKS OVER LUNCH, SO MY FRIENDS WON’T KNOW I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO EAT. I WAS CREATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FROM PHOTOS OF THE 11 MILLION KIDS STRUGGLING WITH HUNGER IN THIS COUNTRY. A FACE THAT CHALLENGES YOU TO SEE HUNGER IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT. I AM WHAT HUNGER LOOKS LIKE IN AMERICA LEARN MORE AT IAMHUNGERINAMERICA.ORG , ,
201 Bullionville Road
Panaca, NV 89042
Phone: 775-728-8200
Toll free: 888-649-3814
Email: lcpd1@lcpd1.com
DIRECTORS
President Richard Katschke
Vice President Cory Lytle
Lorin Wilkin
Cory Wadsworth Paul Donohue
General Manager Dane Bradfield
Board meets the second Monday of each month.
SPRING FORWARD MARCH 10
Change Your Clocks and Batteries
MISSION STATEMENT
To construct, operate and maintain a system that will provide our customers with electric service in the most economical and efficient manner consistent with sound business practice.
The second Sunday in March triggers daylight saving time, when we set our clocks one hour ahead. It is also the best day to change the batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors—even if the batteries are not dead.
If you do not have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, your family is at risk. The detectors loudly warn you if smoke or gas is present in your home so you can get out.
Carbon monoxide is a clear, odorless gas that is deadly but hard to detect. If you don’t have a detector, it is unlikely you will know if your home has a carbon monoxide leak.
Carbon monoxide does not come just from cars. Your gas furnace or stove is a potential source.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offers these tips:
• Properly adjust gas appliances.
• Use electric space heaters, not gas space heaters.
• Install an exhaust fan, vented to the outdoors, above a gas stove.
• Open flues when wood-burning fireplaces are in use.
• Choose properly sized woodstoves with tight-fitting doors certified to meet EPA emission standards.
• Every year, have a trained professional inspect, clean and tune up your central heating system, including furnaces, flues and chimneys. Repair leaks promptly.
• Do not idle your car inside the garage. n