Local Ties To National History

By Liv Stecker

Young Edie had no idea what she was missing. Growing up with her mother and stepfather, she didn’t meet her biological father and his family until she was 19. It was 1957, and young Edie decided it was time to meet her grandmother. Cassea Orsborne was no ordinary grandmother. Serving as the President of the Ladies of The Grand Army of The Republic, Mrs. Orsborne was also a teacher of great notoriety in the Northwest and general mover and shaker in the political realm of the early 20^th century.

Cassea Hopper Orsborne was born March 3, 1870 in Missouri, where she later attended The Warrensburg State College, going on to graduate studies at Utah State University before she moved to Seattle to teach for the public schools. While still in Missouri, she became the first ordained female deaconess in the Springfield Presbytery, one of the earliest of her many memorable accomplishments. She was the head of “Americanization” in the Northwest during her teaching career, first in Seattle, and later in Idaho after she moved to Weiser with her mail carrier husband, O.J. Orsborne. Americanization was a movement in the beginning of the 20^th century to bring immigrant children into the United State’s cultural system. Mrs. Orsborne championed this cause and led the northwest region in the Americanization effort in public schools and received commendations from local leaders for her efforts. In a July 27, 1923 visit to Seattle by United States President Warren G. Harding, Mrs. Orsborne and her husband were invited as guests of honor at a reception for the President.

In 1928, Cassea Orsborne was elected as the National President of the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization that she had become heavily involved in through her career. The Grand Army of The Republic was founded in Decatur, Illinois in 1866 as a support group for union veterans from the Civil War who found themselves struggling to find understanding and relief in the civilian world after enduring the grueling misery of the war together. What began as a veteran’s relief organization soon burgeoned into a political force to be reckoned with, and in 1881 an auxiliary group called the Loyal Ladies League was formed as the female support network to the GAR. In 1886 this group was renamed the “Ladies of the Grand Army of The Republic”, and by 1910 the group was 60,000 members strong and providing $30,000 annual relief to veterans organizations. In addition to programs for struggling and disabled veterans, the GAR championed voting rights for African-American Veterans and other civil liberty causes. Eventually, the Grand Army of the Republic was succeeded by an heir – the Sons of Union Veterans of The Civil War, but the Ladies of The Grand Army of the Republic have persevered on under the same name until present day, where they operate out of a National Headquarters at the Ohio Veteran’s home in Sandusky. Mrs. Orsborne’s passion for this organization and her heavy involvement are chronicled in an impressive collection of well preserved panoramic photographs dating back to the 1910s.

Edie Sevy recently opened a scrapbook and was stunned to find decades of memorabilia from her Grandmother’s illustrious career, spanning shore to shore and involving major political movements of her time. A wooden box full of campaign ribbons and medals, beautiful photographs of the annual encampments of the Grand Army Of the Republic, and a cane that is said to have belonged to President Woodrow Wilson himself, who is a distant relative of the late Mrs. Orsborne, were all part of Mrs. Orsborne’s estate. Edie has reached out to the current historian of the Ladies of the Grand Republic in Ohio and hopes to find a museum to showcase some of her grandmother’s collection.

As Edie has poured over her grandmother’s scrapbook and box of mementos, she talks about her misgivings as a 19 year old, just meeting this side of her family. “I had allowed bitterness and resentment toward my father to keep me from meeting this wonderful lady. Think of the opportunities I would have had if I had been more forgiving. I thought by avoiding them I would hurt my father for not being there for me, but it turns out that I was the only one who got hurt!” She says humbly. Edie lives in Kettle falls with her husband John, surrounded by her children both by birth and by “choice”, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Much like her grandmother once was, Edie has become a pillar in the lives of the people around her and in the community.

Source: http://suvcw.org/LGAR/History.html,

Coming In February...

Find out where you can see this piece of history in Stevens County in the February edition...

Winter Wonderland

By Liv Stecker

Florida’s beaches, they are not, but if the residents of Washington’s geographical postage stamp don’t know how good they’ve got it in the recreation department, even in winter, then they’re missing out. Sure, there’s snow, and lots of it. There’s ice, and wildlife, early sunsets, late sunrises, and some pretty nippy temperatures to contend with, but if you step out into the crisp air and the crunchy snow in the sunshine and can’t appreciate the smell of fresh, healthy winter, there’s a good chance you might be dead.

North Stevens, Pend Orielle and Ferry Counties all contain well-kept winter recreation secrets. From state land crisscrossed with Snowmobile trails, to remote peaks and cozy cabins at the end of a long snow shoe or cross country ski path, to ice covered lakes rich waiting for the seasonless fisherman, we’ve got it all. Including a commercial ski hill that keeps things real and affordable for the locals and visitors alike, there is no lack of winter recreation in this corner of the state.

Strap on your pack boots, turn on the four wheel drive and follow us through the deep powder to a line up of adventures that you didn’t know you were missing!

• ·       49 Degrees North (ski49n.com , 509-935-6649)– is a commercially competitive ski hill that boasts 2,325 acres of pristine territory towering eastward of Chewelah. Seven different ski lifts transport you to the top of two separate peaks and a slew of runs ranging from difficult, highly technical to slow easy routes for begginners like me, who spend as much time on their bum as they do on their board.

• ·       If swooshing and sliding downhill aren’t your cup of tea, or maybe shelling out the cash for a lift ticket isn’t in the cards this season– hit up the trails around the Little Pend Orielle Wildlife Refuge east of Colville for some scenic snowshoeing and cross country skiing, and visit with the resident deer, elk, otters, moose, bobcats and more birds and fish than we can reasonably list here. Visit The Fish and Wildlife Service at fws.gov or call (509) 684-8384 for regulations and information.

• ·       Snow Peak Cabin located near the top of Snow Peak in Ferry county, just above the Kettle Crest Trail is a cabin built and maintained by the Colville National Forest, available to reserve by the night. This quaint little shelter is accessible by the not-faint-of-heart  snow shoers or nordic skiiers in search of a spectacular winter adventure. Pack in your own food and water and warm up by a woodstove in the wilderness.  Visit www.recreation.gov or call 1-877-444-6777 for more information.

• ·       If you’re in the mood for International Galavants, hop over the border to Rossland British Columbia and give the slopes at Red Mountain Resort a go.  Take a spin on the downtown ice skating rink or try you hand at the Luge during Rossland’s Winter Carnival during the 4^th weekend of January. Check out tourismrossland.com and www.cbp.gov for international travel information.

• ·       Colville National Forest plays host to a large assortment of snowmobile parks from Albian Hill, east of Republic, to Mill Creek, between Colville and Ione, and Flowery Trail, just up the hill from Chewelah. Hundreds of miles of groomed routes with trailhead parking lace the beautiful and wild forest country, interspersed with protected state land. Most of these parks post grooming updates and trail system maps on the state website, parks.wa.gov , or call Colville National Forest at 509-684-7000 for information. Sno-Park permits are required at most locations.

• ·       The town of Republic stages it’s own WinterFest, also the third weekend in January, so if you don’t feel like braving the international border crossing, take a scenic drive over amazing Sherman Pass and get in on the hot wing contest, ice wine tasting and whatever you do, don’t miss the Out House Races. Ferrycounty.com

• ·       If sledding is more your speed, and you have been on the lifelong quest to find the Ultimate Sledding Hill, look no more, and put away the non-caloric silicon-based kitchen lubricant. At publication, we had many contenders for “Best Sledding Hill Ever”, including Dominion Mountain outside of Colville, the Metaline Golf Course, and Riverview Camp’s sledding luge for innertubes (there’s a small fee there) between Metaline and Cusick. But for everybody within a 20-mile radius of Northport, the answer was obvious: the infamous “Party Hill” just a little way up Sheep Creek road.

• ·       Also located in the far Nor’East (Sullivan Lake Area) is the Frater Lake cross country ski trails, Noisy Lake snowshoe trail and a plethora of snowmobile areas. Check in with the Sullivan Lake Ranger District on the Colville National forest for more info about those not-so-hot spots: 509-446-2681

• ·       For the truly hardy, or implants from the Midwest (yes I am talking to you, Minnesotans), believe it or not, you can quench your thirst for ice fishing on the 38 acre Williams Lake, 14 miles north of Colville, you can catch 10-13 inch rainbow trout in a winter-only fishing environment open December 1 – March 31. Rainbow Resort in Inchelium is also a great spot for rainbow trout, eastern brook and big mouth bass during the winter months.

Before you pack it up and head to Aspen, Colorado or Banff, Canada for a winter outing, make sure you stop and smell the snowflakes in our very own back woods. Most local DNR or Forest Service employees can help you find the perfect niche for whatever winter sport or pastime you prefer. Sno-Park passes that are required on state lands (and to access some federal spots) are available at a wide variety of vendors that are listed online at parks.wa.gov, along with any additional information you might need. Remember to pack smart and play safe – always be prepared for the worst-case scenario but plan for the best!

Water Of Life

By Liv Stecker

Digging for water is her bread and butter, but after more than a decade as a hydrologist with the US Forest Service, Jenn Hickenbottom was looking for a way to give back to the global community. There are no shortages of opportunities to donate money to large non-profit organizations and movements, but Jenn wanted to use the other resources she had available – her education and her natural talents as a problem solver with a lot of mechanical common sense. Jenn has worked for the Colville National Forest for the last 7 years, after spending time on the Lolo National Forest and the Idaho Panhandle. Studying hydrology first at Standford, and then Missoula State, she also spent time living in Africa in college. Jenn is fluent in Spanish, Japanese and Swahili, and rather than funneling money into an inefficient machine with vague accountability, she wanted to roll up her sleeves and get involved.

Her research led her to an organization based out of South Carolina, called Hydromissions. Started by husband and wife team Steve and Jennifer Lorch, Hydromissions began as an LLC out to create “appropriate, village level technology”, using nothing that couldn’t be repaired or replaced in a remote village without power or hardware stores. Hydromissions is now a non-profit with a unique function – all of the volunteers are professional hydrologists, geologists, and engineers, who are sent out in teams of two in cooperation with other sponsoring non-profit groups to specific locations around the world. The two volunteers pack everything they need to drill a low-tech well in any environment inside of two 50 pound pieces of checked luggage. All of their personal gear for the 3-6 week trip has to fit into a carryon bag.

For Hickenbottom, Hydromissions was the perfect fit. Traveling into remote and primitive locations with only a backpack and an auger has been the challenge that she was looking for. To date, Jenn has visited Sudan, Nepal, where her Hispanic heritage helped her pass for a native Nepalese, Senegal, Papa New Guinea, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Rwanda and Tanzania. In every location she and her travel partners have stayed in village huts, or sometimes tents, and helped the villagers drill their new well with the tools fabricated by Hydromissions. The volunteers live with the villagers, sharing their meals and observing their customs while they are implementing the project. After the well is completed, the drill is gifted to trustworthy local citizens for future well drilling.

In every case, they have been met with success, except Zimbabwe, where recent fires had scorched the ground, and the dehydrated and heat-hardened rock would not yield to the human-powered drilling efforts.  Some projects have been quick and easy, with more local resources and educated help, others have been a fight against the natural landscape, cultural stigmas and even playful children who fill the partially dug wells with small rocks. According to Hickenbottom, water sources with broken pumps and wells, expensive installations and lavish sites litter these underdeveloped countries, where relief groups have come in and drilled high tech wells that cannot be maintained by the remote villagers with their limited resources. Jenn says the focus of Hydromissions is to leave the villages equipped with everything they need to keep their well running. Rudimentary pump setups are crafted entirely from what is on hand in the village. In a Sudanese village, after much brainstorming and scouring the village the only pump materials they found consisted of rope and rubber material, so Hickenbottom taught the villagers how to construct and operate a rope pump with rubber gaskets that carry fresh water upward as the rope is pulled. Ingenuity and self-reliance are the most important tools that the volunteers leave with the villages.

Specific work sites are chosen based on project requests by other non-profit groups, usually faith-based ministries with connections to villages or regions in a country. One of Jenn’s most recent trips, to Rwanda, lasted just over two weeks and cost a total of $375 US dollars in supplies, a relatively expensive project for Hydromissions. The average cost is less than $200, with some that are well under $100. Travel expenses are raised by the individual volunteers, and all of their time is donated. The Rwanda project, in a village still reeling from a decade of genocide, was done in cooperation with Nazarene Missions International. Two local village teachers were in charge of coordinating the well project, and also remained the  “well keepers” after the project was completed. In many villages, this duty is delegated to young, educated leaders who are then tasked with maintaining and repairing the well as well as training new well keepers.

Jenn Hickenbottom says that Hydromissions has changed the way that she looks at many of our cultural “norms”. The abundance of water that we have access to and take for granted has become a constant reminder of those who walk for miles to haul a few gallons of dirty water, or go without. For Jenn, the worth of clean drinking water can’t really be calculated in numbers, and while buying bottled water that is actually less closely monitored for cleanliness than our municipal waters seems almost absurd in our culture, she says that she appreciates the value that it puts on water, and perhaps reminds us of the importance of water to our survival as humans.

In addition to learning the many distinctions in work practices and sanitation from country to country, Jenn and the other volunteers have experienced the complete day-to-day culture of a mosaic of lifestyles, careful to observe religious and moral customs, such as wearing dresses and covering their heads. In some villages, Jenn says that the men are eager to perform all of the manual labor instead of allowing the visiting women to dig, but the male volunteers are usually allowed to do the drilling. She sees this as an advantage to the villagers who will ultimately be maintaining and using the well, as they do the work from the first divot in the ground. In one visit, Jenn and her partner were provided with protection in the form of men with guns by the village, due to local unrest. Every visit has provided a new and different experience, none of which Hickenbottom regrets.

Hydromissions is a unique organization as it fabricates low tech drilling tools that are portable, usable and fixable with a little bit of common sense and ingenuity. Hickenbottom and the other professional volunteers have found their niche in this common sense approach to a global problem. The organization also provides a unique way to designate donations to any specific project, to tool fabrication or even a certain volunteer, all through their website. Working in cooperation with other non-profits who propose new projects to Hydromissions allows the company to streamline productivity and remain focused on the development and construction of drilling tools. For more information, to donate to Hydromissions or contribute to Jenn’s next trip, please visit hydromissions.org or find them on Facebook.

Meet The Press!

Silverado Express gains new staff

Publisher/Creative Designer

Megan Ruland never made plans to be a newspaperwoman, but sometimes, you inherit the ink. Our new publisher’s illustrious career in print began at age 11, when her mother, Nadia Willey, worked for the Statesman Review in layout and design. Ruland became part of the newspaper family and learned vicariously through her mother how to put together a paper, along with the other ins and outs of graphic design. When Willey moved over to the Silverado Express with Don Birch in 2008, Ruland was not far behind. Coming on board as an employee for what was then Booth and LaDuke Motors, Ruland quickly became indispensible to not only the dealership, but the quickly growing Express as well. When Tony Booth offered her the job of “computer girl”, Ruland had no idea what she was in for. Juggling the many hats of IT and network manager, ad designer, social media guru, etc., etc., etc., she was busy enough before the Silverado fell into her lap. When her mother stepped out from behind the creative design desk at the Silverado Express, Ruland was a shoe-in replacement. “I had been watching my mom build the paper, helping her out here and there, and learning along the way.” Her first solo edition emerged when her mother was out on medical leave. Ruland swooped to the rescue of the paper and created a special holiday edition for December of 2013. Ruland says that she loves every aspect of being the creative designer for the newspaper. Putting all of the puzzle pieces together in an artistic way that is pleasing to the eye taps all of Megan’s best talents.

A self-taught tech-whiz, Ruland grew up in the Colville area, graduating in 2008. At 16 she travelled to Brazil with an Interact Group from the Colville Rotary to help set up a computer network for a school in an impoverished community. Emerging from high school with both artistic and technological talents, Ruland began working quickly and hasn’t paused since. In 2013 she married Isaiah Ruland, a local boy with a very large family, and cemented her root structure in the community. When she isn’t busy juggling her duties at Country Chevrolet and the Silverado Express, she is spending quality time with her little nieces and other family members.

Ruland’s vision as the publisher and creative designer of the Silverado Express is to both expand the audience to a younger demographic and also connect the paper back to the community as much as possible. “I want the Silverado Express to be a Community Newspaper – I want the people to be the paper.” She says. One of the ways she intends to make this happen is by expanding the online reach of the Silverado Express through social media and an eventual website/blog. Going digital is a way that she can accomplish both of her goals at once. Not only can she reach a generation that has emerged with little connection to printed material, she can also make feedback from all readers more accessible. Her hope is to encourage more community interaction and feedback via Facebook and easy access online. While there is no question of the popularity of the traditional newsprint for a large local demographic, Ruland looks forward to an increase in readership through the world-wide-web.

Like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/silveradoexpress

Advertising Sales

If you’ve spent much time in Colville, there is a good chance that you have met our Advertising Saleslady. Barb Christianson has been a lifelong Colville resident, retired after a 24-year career in the office at Colville High School, as well as high school cheer coach. She loved her job at the school, saying she “never had the same day twice.”  She took over selling ads for the Silverado Express three years ago at the request of “Donald Vernon” Birch, whom she has “known forever”, and who believed that her affable nature and connection to nearly everyone in town would make the job smooth “saling” for her. Birch was not wrong. Christianson has found her niche in meeting the needs of local business advertisers and the community newspaper.

Christianson says that her favorite part of the job is the people. Seeing all of the students that grew up around her, and working with them as adults is a delight for her in her latest occupation. “If you’ve lived here all of your life, you pretty much know everybody, honey.” Barb chuckles. Perhaps it’s the encouraging voice of the cheerleader that Christianson spreads across town that wins the affection of everyone she meets. Whatever her gift, Barb is an excellent networker and brings community connections all over the tri county area to the table at the Silverado Express.

Growing up in Colville, Christianson married her high school sweetheart and best friend Larry, who retired after a full career for Boise Cascade. Perhaps unintentionally, Christianson is following in the footsteps of her father, who was the advertising manager for the Statesman Examiner in the 1940s and 50s. She remembers sitting on top of the giant rolls of newspaper and watching them feed into the presses as a little girl.

As to her second career, Christianson couldn’t be happier. She loves the chance to visit friends around town and keep up to date on everything that changes. “That’s what makes life interesting!” she says. For information on placing an ad in the Silverado Express, or for a social visit from the lovely Barb, please contact her at 509-684-6437.

Writer

Livia Stecker grew up on the outskirts of Colville before she migrated to the Northport area. An avid traveller with a varied background, she brings a fresh perspective to local living. “I have lived in many places, but somehow, I always end up back here.” She says, “you can take the girl out of Stevens County, but… well, you know the rest.” Her writing career began at the age of 8 when she and her cousin in Spokane published a neighborhood newspaper that they called the 21^st Avenue Gazette. Sadly, after three editions, funding was pulled and the girls were forced to find another livelihood. Throughout high school, marriage, college, and raising four somewhat unruly daughters, she has pursued her passion for the written word in various publications, including Northport’s School Newspaper, The Pioneer, the publication for Central Oregon Community College, The Broadside, as well as numerous blogs, short stories, poems and even a couple of novels that she is just waiting to spring on the world.

Liv is the second born of six Stecker siblings, and mother to four girls, who give her endless literary material to write about. She is an Emergency Medical Technician, a structure and wildland firefighter, a substitute schoolteacher and a part time waitress. In addition to her current professional pursuits, Stecker has worked as an Archaeological Technician for both the Colville National Forest and the Deschutes National Forest, pursuing her childhood dream of becoming the female version of  Indiana Jones. She has also worked in off highway vehicle (OHV) trail recreation, retail, wholesale and a plethora of volunteer organizations. Stecker likes to consider herself a small wealth of trivial information, a jack-of-all-trades and a handy friend to have around to make light of most serious situations. She has a passion for history, literature, and saving humanity from itself.

When asked how she chooses what to write about, Stecker responds, “Everybody has a story, it’s just a matter of digging it out and giving it a voice.” She has worked as a transcriber of local oral history in both northeast Washington and central Oregon, and one of her favorite parts of volunteering for the local ambulance service were the stories that her patients would tell her during transports. “ You can’t underestimate the value of history passed down through the spoken word. We have to find a way to save those stories.” She says.

Stecker is looking forward to helping Megan Ruland and Barb Christianson make the Silverado Express the voice of the community, unearthing the stories that are just waiting for a voice to tell them.

If you have a story you would like to tell, contact Liv or Megan at the Silverado Express! silveradoexpress@countrychevy.com or https://www.facebook.com/silveradoexpress