EDITORIAL: Baker City’s community spirit continues unabated

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, September 20, 2023

The list of upheavals in Baker City over the past year and a half is both long and dismaying.

And this isn’t even accounting for the pandemic.

The city council made the ill-conceived decision to have the fire department stop operating ambulances in 2022. This precipitated a wave of resignations that left the department severely depleted, a problem the city has begun to rectify. The loss of ambulance billing revenue will afflict the city for years.

Then Saint Alphonsus Health System closed the birth center at the Baker City hospital, forcing women to seek other options for delivering their babies.

And a recent wave of resignations in the city council left it without a quorum and unable to make a public safety fee, which takes effect Oct. 1, less regressive. The question of how the four vacancies on the seven-member council will be filled is in Baker County Circuit Court. And Mayor Beverly Calder, one of the three remaining councilors, could face a recall election later this year.

Yet amid the discord there is ample evidence that the generosity, community spirit and goodwill that define Baker City continue unabated.

And undoubtedly these attributes will outlast the current series of unfortunate events.

On Saturday, Sept. 16, people gathered for the unique Great Salt Lick Auction in Baker City. The event, started by Whit Deschner almost 20 years ago, netted $38,000 for research into a cure for Parkinson’s disease. The auctions have generated more than $200,000 over the years.

A day earlier, a group of residents from Settler’s Park and Meadowbrook Place assisted living facilities enjoyed the mild late summer sunshine along the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway as part of the “Walk & Roll” event, organized by Enhabit Home Health and Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in partnership with assisted living homes and Heart ’N’ Home Hospice. Volunteers, including cheerleaders from Baker High School, accompanied the residents, who had lunch at Geiser-Pollman Park and had a chance to look at two classic cars owned by Ken and Sally Schuh.

These are but two examples.

No doubt there are many others — dozens — that happen here every day. These private acts of kindness will never be publicized. They are known only to a few. But they are no less vital to preserving the sense of compassion and selflessness that define this community.

We can all contribute, and the opportunities abound.

Even if you can’t help a neighbor get in the groceries or cut the grass, can’t give a stranger a hand crossing a busy street, a few kind words or a smile matter, too.