A remarkable piece of artwork by Bart. Providing warmth and making a new friend at the horse stable. Santiam students horseback riding.  Proud of a job well done. Even the casual observer will see Patrick's focus on his school work and his exemplary use of the agenda book. Not surprisingly, Patrick earned his High School Diploma from Santiam Crossing and was presented with it on Dec.19.

Holiday Adventure Umatilla Forest here we come! We've got our snowshoes, cross-country skis and sleds and we are off! We're hoping that Santa will be able to find us in Eastern Oregon. The plan is to snowshoe in, set up camp and ski as much as possible. There is an incredible cabin where we will be spending Christmas and having a feast of smoked turkey, potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce and rolls. When we return we will be continuing with our regular winter activities of horses, service work, high ropes. Student Quote Heard during a closing circle..."It felt good to have bumps, be able to work them out and have an enjoyable weekend." A Delightful Family Gathering By Program Director Tina Hendrickson, MSW This month's family weekend was a fun and festive gathering. We had an excellent turn out of families. The weekend began with siblings and a dog reuniting and a family education session. The family session was an opportunity to network with others and practice some techniques related to basic communication.   After a mid morning break the session was turned over to Fred Maxwell and Dan Constesdt, our teaching staff, who described the credit audit process. They described the Oregon diploma path, the requirements for community colleges, state universities and some more elite schools. We had many experts in amongst our families and between the teachers and fellow parents it was a very informative session.   The girls' community put together a nice spread for lunch and families reunited and shared a meal. Then family sessions and school meetings ensued. By late afternoon the environment in the A-frame felt like an extended family reunion. There were board games in the living room, a family group in the back room, a sister giving a brother a haircut, a mom enjoying watching her daughter interact with others, and a warm fire in the wood burning stove.   Cabin staff Reagan and Amanda prepared a delicious feast of ham, asparagus, green beans and macaroni and cheese for dinner. We began the feast with Whitfield leading the group in "gratefuls."  For some it was a bit of a hurried affair as many in the community were heading to Scio for the winter Sheep Skin Revue performance.   The Santiam crew gathered in Scio's ZCBJ hall to support Bart in his role as a trapper in Paul Tawes play of Alone for Christmas.  Paul Tawes teaches art at Santiam. The play takes place in the frontier days in an area much like out campus. The trapper is off to Oregon City to trade his furs and is delayed from returning to his cabin and his wife due to a river a flood stage.   The ZCBJ hall it self is a bit of old time Americana. It is a big rectangular building with long narrow windows on either side with white lace curtains. Each window held a mason jelly jar with a votives candle. There where bows of evergreen with red bows, fiddle music playing as we all entered the hall. In the back there was coffee, cider and plates of baked goods all for a dollar. Saturday of family weekend was a busy and fun filled day. I enjoyed wrapping up the day with the blending of my communities. Seeing our Santiam Crossing students and families enjoying a Scio tradition was a fine start to my own winter holidays.    Happy Holidays to you and yours!  Tina Comings and Goings Welcome to new students: Taylor M. Nicholas N. Best of luck to: Nick B. Tyler S. Patrick C. Turkey In a Can By Executive Director Brian MacInnes Our Thanksgiving at Santiam came a week early during Family Weekend where our community (families, students and staff) have a chance to be with each other and give thanks. On campus, we gathered in a warm Yurt filled with the smell of a turkey dinner while the rain poured down outside. We had a lot to be thankful for! The next week was clear and cold, so everyone enjoyed sunshine and the students had a second Thanksgiving. In what has now become a Santiam tradition, using a Boy Scout recipe, the turkeys were cooked in trash cans and the feast included all the fixings. To cook a turkey in a trash can the students pounded a stake in the ground, covered the ground with aluminum foil in a circle that is larger than the trash can and placed the turkey (thawed!) on the stake.  A 20 gallon metal trash can is then placed over the turkey.  Meanwhile 15 pounds of charcoal briquettes have been fired up. When all the charcoal is burning well, a shovel is used to heap it around and on top of the trash can turning it into a giant dutch-oven.  If the charcoal is well lit the turkey cooks very quickly (a 25 pound bird in 1-1/2 hours for one group).  If it is not, it takes a bit longer (4 hours for the other group!).  So, after a day of games and cooking, everyone was able to talk about what they were grateful for and dig in. Good Eats The students will be cooking up a wonderful selection of recipes this coming month. On the menu are jambalaya, fettuccini alfredo, Asian beef casserole, red beans and rice, sheppard's pie, omelets and more!