104 YEARS Page B10 - January 24, 2013 - TeTon Valley news

Women are from Driggs

Bridget RyderTVN staff

He would rather live in Driggs—its closer to where he skis—but now Jason Reeder is just another

statistic and one of the 39 reported overabundance of single men who live in Victor.

The Community Survey of 2010, a report produced by the US Census Bureau, tells the story of a disparity and odd dichotomy in Teton Valley. According to the five-year average from 2006-2010, Victor boasts 391 single men, and 187 single women. Driggs however, reported 217 single men and 429 single women.

Reeder is a living example of the numbers. After years of visiting, the single, 34-year-old male, who self-describes as a ski bum, settled in Teton Valley full-time last March. When he took up residence, he made his home in Victor. But he met his girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend, at the Royal Wolf in Driggs. Reeder said that he would like to live in Driggs because of its proximity to Grand Targhee Resort, but has only actually made the move to the centrally located town because of his former girlfriend. The two had an apartment on Little Ave. for several months, but when they broke up at the end of December, Reeder took himself

back to Victor where he now lives with, yes, one of his male friends.

The statistic plays out not only on Teton Valley’s ski hills and bar stools, but in the churches as well. The singles branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also has evidence of the Victor-Driggs gender separation. This con-gregation of the LDS church is made up of unmarried men and women from the ages of 18 to 30 and from as far south as Victor to as far north as Felt. According to Stephanie Hill, the president of the women’s group, male church-goers outnumber female worshipers by as many as two to one. Of those many men, one half of them hail from Victor. It takes all of the men from Driggs to Felt to match the number of single men from Victor who attend Sunday services with the singles branch.

Hill theorizes that the majority of gentlemen call Victor home because it shortens their commute to work. A

few of the single male saints farm for a living and one is a state cop, but the majority, Hill said, “either work in construction or land-scaping, something to do with houses.” Most of their jobs are in Jackson.

Given the facts it would be easy to surmise that more women live in Driggs because they work there. Reports from human resources departments of the town’s larger employ-ers, do in fact show higher numbers of female employees in Driggs. Broulim’s has a paid staff of 77 people,

46 of whom are female. Teton Valley Health Care has 102 female employees and 49 male employees. District-wide, Teton Valley School District has 135 females among its staff and 68 males. While more men than women work for Grand Targhee Resort, women still count for 107 of the resort’s 323 employees. Within government, Teton County has 31 females on its payroll and 40 men.

Employee numbers are hard facts,

but the information from the American Community Survey comes with the disclaimer that it has large margins of error and is not a true census, but rather a survey.

TVN en EspañolLos últimos datos del censo cuentan la historia de una disparidad y extraña division en Teton Valley. Victor cuenta con un número significativamente mayor de hombres solteros. En Dri-ggs, sin embargo, las mujeres solteras superan a los hombres solteros en fuerza numérica.

La estática no sólo pasa en las colinas de esquí o en las cantinas de Teton Valley tambien en sus iglesias. La Igle-sia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Dias también tiene pruebas de que la mayoria de sus miembros sol-teros son hombres de victor y mujeres de Driggs.

Victor tiene 913 hombres y 583 muje-res mayores de 15 años. 522 hombres casados, 396 mujeres casadas (no sé cómo funciona eso, poligamia inver-sa?), quedan 391 hombres solteros y 187 mujeres solteras. En Driggs hay 217 hombres solteros y 429 mujeres solteras con un total de 608 hombres solteros y 616 mujeres solteras en el valle.

Por Luis F. Ortiz.

TVN staffKate’s Real Food, based in Victor, Idaho

wants to hear your backcountry breakup story for a chance to win a Relationship Survival Kit from Kate’s.

“We’ve all been there,” reads the contest on Facebook. “You’re cold, tired and hungry. It’s been a 12-hour ‘epic’ so far and now you’re stuck in a hail storm. Honey—get ready to feel the wrath. Or maybe you’re 500 feet off the deck during your first trad lead and you’re freaking out a little. Either way, you’re in the backcountry with your significant other and things are going down hill real fast.”

In honor of Valentine’s Day and chance at redemption, Kate’s is soliciting the best stories for a chance to win the survival kit.

“We can’t gurantee that it will save you, but next time you’ll have a little help,” the contest post said.

The survival kit includes a Flava Fifteen box of Kate’s bars to stave off hunger, two pairs of handwarmers to prevent frostbite and keep your honey happy, one hat courtesy of Wizbang Hats and one additional Helly Hansen hat for insulation when you get stuck in the cold, an emergency stash of the limited

edition Doma Chemistry of Love coffee to start your adventure day right and more.

One Grand Prize winner will be chosen by an expert panel of judges plus one People’s Choice Award winner, given to the story with the most votes.. Submit your story by Monday, February 11th, 2013 on the Kate’s REal Food Facebook contest page. Winners will be cho-sen by Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013.

Share your backcountry breakup story

According to the five-year average from 2006-2010, Victor boasts 391 single men, and

187 single women. Driggs however,

reported 217 single men and 429 single

women.

and men are from Victor

Rules and Regulations:No purchase necessary. Each entrant may enter one story for consideration during the contest peri-od commencing on January 16th, 2013 and ending on February 11th, 2013 at 11:59 PM MST. Multiple entries by the same person will be invalid. Entrants and others will be allowed to vote once (1) each day throughout the contest period.

(1) Grand Prize Winner: Will win: (1) Flava Fifteen Gift Box from Kate’s Real Food,

(1) Hat donated by Wizbang,

(1) Helly Hansen hat courtesy of Kate’s Real Food

(2) Sets of hand warmers,

(1) Can of limited edition Chemistry of Love coffee donated by Doma Coffee Roasters,

2 bars of specialty chocolate.

(1) People’s Choice Award Winner: Will win:(1) Dozen box of Kate’s Real Food bars of the winners choice.

Please note: Backcountry Breakup story does not have to be about an actual breakup. The company is looking for funny (and possibly “epic”) tales of challenges experienced by couples or friends in the backcountry.

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newsTeTon Valleyempowering the community

name: Thomas L. Walshage: 72

ResIdes In: Driggs Idaho with his wife Wynne Ann. He retired to Teton Valley in

1999 after a successful business career.you mIght know hIm as: the

author of “Damnyankee, a WWII Story of Tragedy and Survival off the West of Ireland.” His column

“Gems of Teton Valley” in the TVN

or as a ski instructor at Grand Targhee along with Wynne

Ann, and Teton Valley’s own seanchaí

(Irish storyteller).Quotable: Take back our country. Take back our

freedom These are all inane talking points, appealing to a naïveté common to Tea Party

folk, who like their politics simplistic, hateful, and devoid of compromise. (A different cup of tea, Aug. 11, 2011 Teton Valley

News Op/Ed.)

name: Thomas M. Walshage 64

ResIdes in Swan Valley Idaho with his wife Ann. They purchased the Hansen Guest Ranch and have lived there full time since Feb. 2003.you mIght know hIm as: the former Mayor of Swan Valley, former assistant coach and offensive coordinator with the NFL Oakland Raiders organization. He was also the head coach for two seasons at Idaho State

University.Quotable: “Over the years, Obama has spoken of his disgust for the beliefs of our founding fathers and the

creation of the Constitution because their beliefs and that

doctrine just perpetuated their land grab and the accumulation of wealth.” (Welcome to the new America, May 30, 2013 Teton Valley News Op/Ed)

Will the real Tom Walsh please stand up

We’re gonna have a problem here…Rachael HorneTVN Staff

When Tom M. Walsh gets a call from someone with praise for a column they think he wrote, he listens and

thanks the caller. He tells them he appreciates them reading. But if they call to rip on him, he quickly cuts them off.

“Excuse me,” he said he tells them. “I think you mean that old curmudgeon up in Driggs. Let me get you his phone number.”

Both Tom M. Walsh of Swan Valley and Tom L. Walsh of Driggs have been confused for each other in print since both retired to their respective valleys and took up their old passions for writing. Both have appeared on the opinion pages of this publication, but at very different ends of the political spectrum. It has confused readers, with responses like

“What happened to Tom Walsh?”In an effort to help clear up the confusion,

the two met Monday at Tom M. Walsh’s guest ranch in Swan Valley. Still having a hard time knowing who is who? Tom L. from Driggs.

Think L stands for liberal. Tom M from Swan Valley. M stands for, well I don’t have a good word starting with M to describe a conserva-tive. I’ll leave that one up to you.

While they may not agree on much politi-cally, the two have a lot in common. And they get along. In fact, when the two met up, they greeted each other with a hug, closely followed by a jab from the taller Walsh about the other’s height. Then talk quickly turned, not to their distaste for each other’s politics, but to football.

Both grew up Catholic. Tom M. in Califo-rina. He said back then there weren’t a lot of good football teams in the state. Notre Dame dominated and the games were always on around the Walsh house. The Fighting Irish were polarizing. You were either for them, or you hated them. Both Tom’s were for them. Tom L. grew up in Minnesota and eventually went on to graduate from the university in South Bend, Indiana with a degree in com-munications/journalism.

He went on to have a successful business career, but never did give up writing. When he

Teton Redskins mascot removal on hold for nowPublic input sought at July 8 meetKen LevyTVN Staff

Plans to remove the Teton High School Red-skins mascot and logo are on hold, and Superinten-dent Monte Woolsten-hulme, who crafted the idea, will now seek public and Native American input before moving forward.

Woolstenhulme said he met with Teton School District board chairman Doug Petersen June 12 and

“discussed the plan moving forward” for changing the mascot.

Now, the public can comment on the mascot issue during the district board meeting July 8 at the THS auditorium at 7 p.m. The superintendent said he’s willing to listen to others, including members of the community, alumni, people affiliated with the district and others.

Woolstenhulme said the district is reaching out to the Shoshone-Bannock tribes at the Fort Hall Reservation

“to gather their feedback on the issue.”“I had contacted the Sho-Ban High School previously

to discuss this issue, but had not communicated directly with the Tribal leadership,” he said.

Requests for comments from Shoshone-Bannock rep-resentatives were not returned at press time.

Woolstenhulme said no funds will be spent at this time to change the mascot, and no signs or logos with the mascot will be removed.

Rough estimates of $100,000 to replace athletic uni-forms and to replace signs would come out of existing budgets, “not funds that could go towards staff salaries or positions,” he said.

Woolstenhulme, in a followup interview, said he’s reflected on how this could have been handled better.

“I knew there would be passionate response to this, but not this large, this much or this fast,” he said.

Although he stands by his decision, Woolstenhulme said he may not have presented it in the best way.

“Hindsight is a beautiful thing,” he said. Like everyone else, “I make mistakes and learn from my mistakes.”

Part of the rapid response came from an online peti-

I knew there would be

passionate response to this,

but not this large, this much

or this fast._______________

Monte Woolstenhulme,

TSD superintendent

Real Walsh continued on A16

Mascot continued on A16

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Pride or Prejudice?redskins mascot obliteratedKen LevyTVN Staff

“Redskins” is no longer the mascot for Teton High School.

Citing respect and honor for Native Ameri-cans, Teton School Dis-trict Superintendent Monte Woolstenhulme ordered high school administration to come up with a new mascot and to remove all references to “Redskins” immedi-ately.

Woolstenhulme said he is direct-ing maintenance and will start “as soon as I can get my tie off and get in the forklift” to remove references to Redskins.

“We’re going to take down the signs and the logos. Anything associ-ated with Native Americans will be gone. So that means the high school will need to work through changing the name of the newspaper. “

He said he will not make the deci-sion on what the new mascot will be.

“I’m not asking for board approval, it’s a decision I’m making,” Wool-stenhulme said. “I recognize it’s going to bring a lot of emotion, debate and discussion. I respect that, but we’re moving forward with this change.”

Woolstenhulme denied reports the district will spend $100,000 this year on uniforms. He does not have overall cost estimates at this point.

“Athletic uniforms are on a regu-lar replacement schedule,” he said.

“As they are due to be replaced, then a new mascot would be incor-porated into those uniforms. We are not using $100,000 to get all new uniforms this year. That is the estimated cost of replacing all THS uniforms for all teams, over the next 5-8 years” and will be done “within the current budget on the current schedule. It would have been spent anyway.”

School colors and all other ref-erences to the school will remain the same.

According to Gloria Hoopes, a volunteer at Teton Valley Museum, the high school was referred to as the Orange and Maroon until 1929. The first reference to Redskins was in 1930. It first appeared in the year-book with a logo in 1940.

He said he’s getting estimates for costs, within the school budget, to replace the signs at THS with the name of a new mascot. That cost

“will be part of the regular district equipment budget,” he said, and assumed it would be “a couple of thousand dollars.”

“The reason [for deciding this] now is we are working to be proac-tive and ahead of this issue, rather than waiting for the issue to come from outside, like it did in Salmon a few years ago,” he said, in a follow-up interview. “As I’ve researched the issue it’s apparent it is happening all over the country, with many high schools changing their mascot.”

Woolstenhulme said he’s been thinking about this since he started at the district four years ago. He

denied any pressure from Native Ameri-can groups and said it was his work and research, although he did not speak to any tribal representatives.

“I’m an alumni of the high school, my family is five or six generations to this valley. Even though I appreciate the heri-tage and tradition of

Teton High School and our school district, it has bothered me for some time that the mascot for the high school isn’t in [alignment] with a lot of the programs and initiatives that we’re working to teach, first, our students, and secondly reinforce with our staff.”

Woolstenhulme told the school board of his decision June 10. He shared his reasons with a prepared report and added comments during the meeting:

• Reinforcing the importance of respect for others, where the 3-R’s of Respect, Responsible and Ready are a focus on teach-ing positive social behaviors in all schools in the district.

• Honoring the Native American community in our state and nation, where acceptance of oth-ers is essential to students being successful in a diverse career and college work force.

• Empowering students to rec-ognize others for their charac-ter, not the color of their skin, where there are no similar high school mascots designated for other demographic groups, for example “Whiteskins.”“Or pick whatever group you

want to and think about how offensive that would be if it applied to anybody else,” Woolstenhulme said.

• Selecting a mascot that can be displayed with pride through-out our high school and at other schools in our conference, without creating con-troversy for its poten-tial offensiveness or appropriateness.

• Recognizing that as the flagship school of the dis-trict, Teton High School represents not only our schools, but also our com-munity; our student athletes, teams and mascot should rep-resent Teton in a positive and respectful manner.

“We recognize a national con-versation is occurring regarding mascots with professional sports, collegiate teams and other high

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Go online to voice your opinion. What should be the next THS mascot?

Mascot continued on A12

At press time, the Teton Valley News Facebook page had reached more than 6,100 hits on the story, with much passionate debate raging and 112 comments. Two “Save the Redskins” pages have been created since the decision.

Jonah Lisa Dyer: Never a wrong time to do the right thing. “Redskin” is a

derogatory term. A Native American mascot isn’t the problem—there’s noth-ing wrong with a team called the Shoshone, or

the Seminoles, but Red-skins is akin to calling a

team the Coons, or the Spear-chuckers. It’s

just not nice. Just because you’ve been doing it since 1903 doesn’t make it right or

okay. I’d like to see people petition-ing to change from Redskins to a local tribe that would be a positive nod to valley history and a small enough change not to alienate the good people who have grown up as Redskins support-ers. That would be

a great, conciliatory example to kids of how to do the right

thing well.

Melissa Web-ster: I really want to know who is

going to pay for the uniforms. The seniors

this year aren’t going to want new uniforms especially since they’ve

had uniforms all their high school years. Some parents and students don’t have the $$$ for new uniforms. I know the booster club has already spent lots and lots of money on things for next year and most of it has been ordered.

Joe Quinn: I was wondering when Teton would have to do this...I think it’s ridiculous for all schools with Native American mascots to change theirs as long as the mascot of the team from our Nation’s capital is a Redskin!

Michael George; Political correctness run amok. Naming a team or a school after something or someone is not degrading, but usually offered with a sense of reverence and admiration. Ridiculous.

Sam Matelich: The thing people are missing is that redskin is seen as many as the n-word for Native Americans. Both terms directly reference the color of a people. Both terms have a histori-cally negative context. 60 years ago, you would all be fighting to keep the n-word as our mascot, however we now understand why we can’t do that.

“Redskins” brings out the connotation of a stereotype of savagery. The word essentially takes us back 250 years in time. Our valley saw an extremely brutal massacre of hundreds of Native Americans. One of many in our sur-rounding area. Its salt in the wound to use a derogatory term for those people in sport.

Stefanie D. Johnston: Outside of a mascot, there isn’t any practice of actu-al Indian culture being performed at THS that is to honor and show respect to the Indians. THS has upheld a mas-cot from a non-Indian school that does nothing to uphold Indian heritage. I’m just not sure I see any honor of the Redskin....

Linda Hutchinson: I think it’s time to

TVN File Photo

104 YEARS TeTon Valley news - June 20, 2013 - Page a7

TVN Photo/Ken LevyZach Smith with his wife Olivia Goodale and daughter Alina.

Bridget RyderTVN staff

When Zach Smith answers his phone on a weekday morning, he might be jug-gling that apparatus with the spatula he’s using to make pancakes for his two-year old daughter, Alina. Hanging out with her dad is affecting the little one. Smith said Alina pulled out her pink toy phone one day and told her mother she was “talk-ing with Rob.” Smith confers frequently with Rob Hueseveldt, the city engineer and administrator of Victor, in his role as mayor of that city.

Smith’s mixing the roles of real estate agent, waiter, mayor and family man into a concoction of his life long interests.

“I joke with people and say I haven’t made it far in life,” he said.

Growing up in Jackson, Wyo., gave Smith, now 35, a taste of real estate, res-taurants and politics. Smith started working as a cook at the Bunnery in Jackson when he was 15 years old. Before that, his Boy Scout days included licking stamps and stuffing envelopes for his best friend’s mom during her campaign to reclaim her seat as county commissioner. In the meantime, his hometown became hot real estate.

Now Smith works next door to his first employer as a partner in the Brokers of Jackson Hole. But he didn’t leave the res-taurant business behind entirely. When the real estate market crashed he returned to the restaurant business as a waiter at Osteria in Teton Village.

“It’s rush,” he said of restaurant work, “Intense, really fun.”

Watching the a real estate market take off in Jackson so captured the teenager’s attention that in 1997 he considered forgo-ing college and instead jumping straight into the real estate game. His parents intervened, however, and he headed off to Bozeman, Mont., and Montana State Uni-versity. He skied his way to state residency and then took up college life as a business and theater major with the intention of returning to Jackson Hole and opening a theater and restaurant. Eventually, he focused his studies on economics, but didn’t stop scheming.

He did an economics report on Belize “and it seemed like their economy was about to go gangbusters.” Then online research led him to a property of approximately 2,000 acres with 200 waterfalls. Price tag: $750,000. It was his first “hair brained” idea. He figured if he could get enough people to invest $5,000 toward the project they would be the owners of a great resort.

“I was 20, full of energy and no caution,” he said.

No one else was quite as inspired as

Smith, but in the process the college stu-dent figured out how to earn enough Sky Miles from Delta Airlines to get a free ticket to the country that fascinated him. He graduated in 2003, booked the ticket and retuned to Jackson to wait the winter out working at the Four Seasons until his trip in the spring. In the meantime, his college girlfriend (now spouse) Olivia Goo-dale, had retuned to her home in Appleton, Maine. Their geographical preferences seemed incompatible, but they stayed in touch.

“We couldn’t get rid of each other,” Smith said.

Eventually Goodale conceded that she wouldn’t mind if Smith moved across the country. But another travel plan was not working out so well for him. Delta can-celled their service to Belize shortly before his scheduled departure. However, Smith salvaged the ticket with a trip to Costa Rica and gained a travel companion in his brother. The two roamed the south for 30 days.

“We were living on $10 a day, surfing as much as we could, hiking as much as we could,” Smith said.

In case of emergency, such as suddenly finding no place to exchange money, their Wyoming background served them well.

“We had a tent, cliff bars, and water filter just in case. That’s how we rolled.”

After the South American adventure, Smith reconnected with his sweetheart in Maine for the summer before the two moved back to Wyoming under the con-dition that they would visit Maine annu-ally sometime between the summer and fall solstices. They moved in with Smith’s father to save up money to buy a house in Victor and Smith returned to the Four Seasons in Teton Village.

Smith and Goodale planted their roots on the West side of the Tetons in 2005. That same year, Smith answered an ad in the paper from the Brokers of Jackson Hole (then Art Hazen Real Estate). Tim Mayo knew he wanted to hire the young man when he found out the Smith had worked 40 hours a week while in college.

“He’s a brilliant young man and he’s a worker, he has an incredible work ethic. He truly cares about the quality of work he does,” Mayo said.

Smith got his real estate license with the help of the firm and spent just enough time in real state to be able to say he wished he hadn’t left the restaurant industry. But he’s hung on to both jobs. Mayo invited Smith in as a partner and part owner when the firm reorganized into Brokers of Jackson Hole in 2012.

Between wearing his real estate and

restaurant hats he also slips on a political cap at Victor City Hall. Smith was already serving on Victor’s Planning and Zoning Commission when, in 2011, Scott Fitzger-ald decided to step down from his position as mayor. He suggested that Smith step up.

“He was doing such a good job on the P&Z. He was so engaged and was really thoughtful in his decision making,” Fitzgerald said.

He’s enjoyed seeing Smith grow into the role.

“I’ve always had an interest in politics,” Smith said. “Now I’m completely focused on local politics. Everyone should because you can have more of an effect on local politics.”

His thoughtful strain still shows. His latest reading material includes Citizenville by Gavin Newsome, in which California’s lieutenant governor discusses how to take politics and government into the world of social media. He has also recently finished Jeff Speck’s Walkable City, which looks at how constructing cities around feet pays off economically.

But every year he also reads Siddartha—the novel by Herman Hesse that tells the spiritual tale of the title character during the time of Buddha. The scene in which Siddartha has lost everything and then hears the voices of the world in river most fascinated Smith.

“I feel like water is what carries our souls, actually,” he said.

However, Smith said the most defining moment of his life happened when he was in the fourth grade. He was killing time during a game of hide-and-go-seek on a winter day. He threw a stick at what he thought was a snow bank, but turned out to be a wispy raspberry bush behind which his five-year-old brother was hiding. The stick landed right in his brother’s eye. Evan Smith has had a glass eye since the incident.

“That was tragic time in our family’s life,” Smith said.

Neither his parents nor his brother ever blamed him, but at that young age he had an intense lesson about dealing with guilt and tragedy. He worried that his brother would be bullied, but Smith also suffered taunts from other kids over the incident.

“More than anything it taught me to be kind to people,” Smith said.

Goodale called Smith the “most inter-esting person she’s ever met”.

“He’ so cross dimensional. He’s got his economics background, but you might find him out mushroom hunting or making a great meal or hunting.”

Geographically, he may be close to where he started but he’s made a lot of progress.

A mayor, a waiter and pancake maker

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104 YEARS TeTon Valley news - June 13, 2013 - Page B1

I n T e t o n V a l l e y B1 teton valley news - June 13, 2013

See inSide

Annual Trash Bash and Trashion Show Saturday B7

Bridget Ryder TVN staff

W ho said musk thistle and lambs quar-ter were good-for-nothing weeds? Getting beyond the plants’ prickly

appearance and noxious reputation could lead to better health.

Cate Stillman, a local ayurvedic practitioner, yoga instructor, and founder of Yogahealer, hosted staff from Teton Valley Health Care for a workshop

on how to turn invasive plants into detoxifying smoothies.

“I like to bring people’s attention to how many plants you interact with,” Stillman said as an intro-duction to the group gathered around her kitchen counter.

Stillman’s left hand low-ered and her right hand lifted in the same pro-portions she postulated exists between the rise of

degenerative diseases and the decrease in the diversity of the human diet. Her sweatshirt read, “Dandelions are the new kale.” Native Americans, accord-ing to Stillman, ate anywhere from 1,200 to 1,800 plant species and knew how to use an additional thousand or so for medicinal and practical purposes. In contrast, omnivores on a standard American diet digest about 30 different plants in a yearly cycle. The monotonous diet creates a disconnect with the environment that some also blame on the rise of allergies.

“Their body becomes your body so to speak,” Stillman said.

You are what you eat. If you eat foods

from your local environ-ment your immune sys-tem will recognize and accept them even if they enter through your nose. Stillman travels around the country and the world teaching ayurvedic prac-tices. When in Iowa, for example, Stillman said that she might go for a run, wander off the road into a field, pick a dan-delion and munch it. It only takes a few bites to ingest the new environ-ment and bring her body in sync with her natural surroundings. According to Stillman, allergies don’t have to be part of life. In some places, the natural environment doesn’t trig-ger human antihistamines.

“I want to put that in the bigger context of why we might want to eat the weeds growing in your

yard,” she said.

Stillman said that invasive weeds have become a worldwide phenom-enon. There are 13 pervasively inva-sive species—plants found around the world wherever humans disturb earth. Stillman held up two plants for comparison--thistle and sweet sicily. The rough, husky leaves of the familiar invasive plant dwarfed the delicate, salad-like foliage of the native. The root system of the two plants holds the answer to the question. Thistle sends its roots deep into the earth with amazing

strength. The roots of inva-sive weeds can grow right through potatoes, according to Ben Eborn, Teton County Extension Agent. On the other hand, sweet scicily has very shallow tap roots. This-tle’s long roots allow it to live not from the anemic first layer of soil on the construc-tion site, but rather from the nutrient rich, damp layer of dirt deeper down. This also makes thistle a conduit for those nutrients.

“These plants, they’re pulling nutrients from down below the disturbed soil,” Stillman said.

Humans can harvest and consume those minerals and vitamins in the thistle leaves. Another advantage, it doesn’t take long for the bulky shoots and green of thistle to add up to pounds. Rather than constantly fight invasive weeds, Stillman has learned to work with them.

“Nature’s just going to do what it wants, so coop-erate,” she said. “Do we want to spray our yard and then go and buy supplements at the store?”

Realizing the nutritional value of the normally unwelcome plants will change your attitude, Still-man warned.

“If someone starts to come in and spray the weeds, you’re like no, that’s my liver,” she said.

The workshop then moved outside to a section of Stillman’s yard where Mother Nature eventually covered the disturbed earth with lots of those hardy, liver-nurturing weeds. She bent down and plucked from a patch of green, low growth,

Better eat your weedies

Weedies continued on B11

Dandelions are the new

kale._______________

Quote from Kate Stillman’s

sweatshirt

I don’t think of it as an appliance, I think of it as

health insurance. It can pulverize anything into a really smooth

texture._______________

Kate Stillman regarding her

Vitamix blender

Wild edible plants, both natives and invasive, can be found from backyards to the National Forest. Full Circle Education is hosting a Wild Edible Plants Workshop on Saturday, June 15 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m Join ethnobotanist Kevin Taylor on a walk through the wild lands surrounding Snowdrift Farm in Victor, Idaho to identify and taste local edible plants. Cost is $35 per person. Sign up online at tetonfullcircle.org or by emailing tetonfullcircle@gmail.com

Wild edible plants workshop

TVN Photos/Bridget Ryder

Cate Stillman teaching locals how to incorporate weeds from their yards into their diets.

104 YEARS TeTon Valley news - December 5, 2013 - Page a1

newsTeTon Valleyempowering the community

TVN Photo/Jason Suder

Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” returns to Pierre’s Playhouse for the tenth consecutive year.

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T h u r s D ay, D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 3 1 0 4 T h y e a r 4 9 T h w e e k 7 5 ¢

A lifetime of serviceBridget Ryder TVN staff

Ruby Parsons filled the senior center in Driggs Saturday night. It wasn’t an event for one of Parsons’ projects. The woman, herself, was the occasion for the potluck organized by Sue Cicero and Shauna Crandall of Seniors West of the Tetons.

Cicero said that before making the event public, she asked Parsons if she felt up to a party.

“They can’t all come to my house and visit me,” Cicero said Parsons responded. “I think we need to do this because I need to say ‘hi’ to a lot of people.”

Parsons was diagnosed with liver cancer about a month ago. She said, with the consent of her family, she has declined treatment. The illness

was the only thing that put the brakes on the 84 year-old’s activity.

“She’s always behind the scenes,” Parsons’ grand-daughter Milissa West said. “It was only recently that she slowed down.”

Fourth-generation valley residents, retirees with East Coast accents, family and fire fighters stopped by Parsons’ table to visit with her for a few minutes.

“It was a nice party,” she reflected on Tuesday.A normal Tuesday would find Parsons at the

senior center leading a prayer and telling a joke before lunch. This Tuesday found her in a rocking chair in the front of the fireplace in her home in

TVN file photo Bridget Ryder

Diagnosed a month ago with liver cancer, Ruby Parsons has led a full life of community service in Teton Valley. With the consent of her family, she’s choosing not to treat it. A celebration was held in her honor Saturday. Parsons continued on A16

Bless Me…UltimatumTSD School Board to discuss district policyJason Suder TVN Staff

Administrators have made it clear that during the December school board meeting set for Monday, Dec. 9, rather than focusing on the specific case of “Bless Me, Ultima,” they will instead discuss board policies and ways parents can move forward with their grievances against the education process.

With the expectation of a large attendance, the meet-ing will take place at 7 p.m. in the Driggs Elementary Auditorium.

“The school board’s role is we set policy for the district,” said Teton School District School Board President Doug Petersen. “We don’t even want to get into a book that says ‘this’ or says ‘that,’ we will not dictate curriculum.”

After lengthy classroom disruptions and a contro-versy that exploded across social media, Superintendent Monte Woolstenhulme decided to suspend the book from the sophomore English class required reading list. He cited the novel’s use of profanity as inappropriate and proper cause for his decision. “Bless Me, Ultima” is still available in the school’s library.

“We are not talking about banning a book,” said Petersen.

Woolstenhulme said he chose not to read the novel. The novel is not the focus of Monday’s meeting, but they will discuss the district policies to ensure that classroom disruption of this magnitude, centered around the text, doesn’t happen again.

At 8:05 p.m., the board is scheduled to discuss poli-cies 2340, 2500-2540 and 4120 in the policy manual review, with the subsequent agenda point covering the THS English Department. The meeting will close with public comments.

According to policy 2340, “The Board recognizes the need for the teacher to have the freedom to discuss and teach subjects and issues which may be controversial. Such subjects and issues may include but not necessar-ily be limited to (1) politics, (2) science, (3) health and

A Christmas Carol

Community cast performs Christmas traditionJason Suder TVN Staff

When young Tyson Marcum takes a seat on the new Scrooge’s knee, performed by Ted Kasper, at the end of the tenth anniversary of the collaborative efforts of Pierre’s Playhouse and the City of Victor, we all remember what it truly means to love our neighbor and fel-low man.

For the tenth consecutive year, the City of Victor is sponsoring the volunteer effort at Pierre’s Playhouse, with many veteran actors

and new blood taking the stage. It will also be the first time Mitch Golden takes the reins as director of the performance.

Tom Egbert, Sr., Golden’s grandfather, bought the theatre and adjacent emporium in 1964. For 44 years, the family successfully ran melodramas on the stage before switching gears toward movie screenings in 2008. Now, the annual “A Christmas Carol” is Pierre’s only testament to its live-acting roots.

“Anybody is welcome to do whatever

Scrooge continued on A16

School board continued on A16

B1Yellowstone

Winter in