Participants in the first class of the South Fork Grange’s Generations Project, held in October 2023, display the fruits of their efforts. Class members learned about sourdough bread, sauerkraut and fermented vegetables.

LOSTINE — A quote from singer-songwriter John Denver was the inspiration for June Colony’s Generations Project for the South Fork Grange in Lostine.

Colony said she heard Denver once mention he learned to play the fiddle from his elders.

“We learn in the presence of generations,” said Colony.

She herself learned from working with her grandmother: how to knit, butcher chickens, and other practical skills for self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Now, she is bringing the opportunity to learn those skills and more through the Generations Project. In fact, the motto for the Generations Project is “We Learn in the Presence of Generations.”

Through a series of monthly classes, adults and youth will learn from experienced teachers how to skin and cut up a butchered animal, how to cook, knit, quilt, garden, preserve food, how to split wood, how to identify wildlife and wild edibles, how to camp and much more.

The idea behind the program is that with the knowledge of practical skills, families and individuals will be able to save money by doing things themselves and thus become more self-sufficient.

Colony wrote in a recent article for the state Grange bulletin that “by identifying that many of our families find more expenses than income on a monthly basis, we engaged into their needs, and are hopeful that these life skills can lessen their overall expenses, as well as help connect these community members to each other through this shared experience.”

When she moved to Wallowa County more than two decades ago, Colony said, “immediately the elders taught me how to can, hunt and cut firewood. Now, I’m at an age to teach people who were my age. I’m surrounded by people who know how to do things — (it’s up to us to teach others).”

The first class, held in November at the Grange, was on fermentation. Participants made sourdough bread, sauerkraut and fermented vegetables. They were able to take home the bread and jars of sauerkraut. The next class, in December, is a class for youth on making holiday gifts and ornaments. In January, attendees will learn how to butcher, cut and wrap a sheep and how to butcher chickens.

Colony said she was once presented with half an elk and had no idea what to do with it, since she had never been taught. “How do you take the hide off? How do you cut it up?” she wondered.

However, Colony said not every class is reserved for self-sufficiency type skills. Classes could also be taught in financial literacy. She said the classes are open to whatever a community is interested in, and if there is someone willing and available to teach the subject.

Statewide reachThere are dozens of Grange organizations throughout the state’s 36 counties. A map of Oregon’s Granges, by county, shows a map dotted with communities.

“Everywhere there’s a dot is a Grange hall and a community to serve and to be served,” Colony said.

The program has the ability to go across the state and be replicated in other communities, she said.

“We want it to go across the state. It has the potential to go out to all these Granges to use once it’s developed. The program framework is something you can hang anything on. Whatever the community wants to plug in to it,” she said.

The Generations Project is trying to be modest in its first year, she said, by having only one class per month for a youth and adult group.

Funding for the program comes from two grants.

The group received a $500 starter grant from Soroptimist International of Wallowa County, with an option to apply again, and the Lostine Presbyterian Church gave the Grange $1,000. Colony said the money pays for the facilities, supplies and other incidentals. Teachers are also eligible for a small honorarium. There is also a small class fee of about $10 to cover the cost of materials. She said class attendees usually, at the end of the class, have something to take home.

The South Fork Grange is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and one of the group’s goals for its centennial was to reach out to potential new members. The Generations Project is doing exactly that, Colony said: The project has brought in seven new members so far.

The relevant information in the classes is “hooking people in who want to be part of the bandwagon. It’s unlocked something. I’m so excited about it,” she said.

Colony said the main goal of the Generations Project “is for people to gain knowledge from the classes, pass it on, teach it, share it and build on it.”

Three SistersHolly Lance, of Enterprise, attended the “Three Sisters” class held Nov. 18. The “Three Sisters” is a reference to squash, beans and corn, crops that are commonly grown together. The name comes from Native American lore. Each of the three crops offers something to the other while growing, each helping to support the others.

When harvested and combined as a food source, they provide the nine amino acids needed for health.

Lance, a new resident to Wallowa County, said she is drawn to living sustainably and wants to grow her own food. She is also interested in bees and beekeeping.

“I think I will really enjoy this,” she said of the class. “My husband would have loved this too. It’s up his alley, but he’s hunting today,” she said.

Another class participant, Sara Smith, of Lostine, said she is a fairly new member of the Grange and wants to support the Generations Project.

“I believe there is a need to be more self-sustaining,” she said. “Think about the supply chain. If it goes down, we will need to be better prepared to feed ourselves. This is an opportunity to do that.”

Learn more

For more information on the Generations Project, to learn about classes, or to inquire about teaching a class, contact June Colony at 541-569-2388.