Successful schussers
The Mt. Hood Race Team, competing against 25 teams from Oregon,
Washington and Idaho, nabbed a second place overall at the Buddy Werner
Championship Ski races held at Skibowl. Mt. Hood racer Luke Winters, 12, of
Gresham, swooped to first places in the giant slalom and slalom, capturing the
boys overall individual champion trophy for the second year in a row, and
Shannen Burton placed third overall in the girls' individual score. In team
competition, the girls took home the second-place trophy and the boys placed
third. Girls team members were Shannen Burton, Ashley Lodmell, Orianna
Galasso, Kayla Lanker, Teagan Estelle, Graeson Fish and Katherine Dean, and
the boys team members were Luke Winters, Cody Winters, Nate Gunesch,
Luke Musgrave, Hunter Kern and Sam Flecker. A.J. Kitt, four-time Olympic
skier, inspired 260 of the Pacific Northwest's top ski youth racers at the
opening ceremonies.

A new Green Scene
The Mt. Hood Green Scene, spearheaded by Doug Saldivar, hosted its first
recycling fair in April at the Welches Middle School, offering recycling
opportunities for the community that included everything that lurks in the
storage shed. "The goal is to build community awareness," said Saldivar, who
estimated the turnout at the fair to be more than 400. At the day's end,
almost 7,000 pounds of recycled goods were collected, including 160 pounds
of discarded batteries, 400 pounds of cardboard, 60 pounds of scrap metal,
150 tires, 12 cubic yards of styrofoam and 140 fluorescent bulbs containing
mercury. The event was sponsored by the Sustainable Hoodland Network, the
Villages at Mt Hood and the Clackamas Office of Sustainability. Saldivar, a
member of the board of Directors for the Villages at Mt. Hood, secured $3,500
of funding from Portland Recycling to pull off the event.

Runner up for Best Tasting Water
The Rhododendron Water Association received second place for Best Tasting
Water in the state of Oregon at the Oregon Association of Water Utilities
annual conference in Bend. The Rhododendron Water Association's David
Jacob accepted the award, plus a "Special Service" plaque for exemplary
service during the association's crisis the previous November when a giant
Douglas fir smashed through the filtration unit during the rainstorms of late
autumn.

Pacific ninebark and twinberry honeysuckle
The second in the series of native plants to the mountain featured in the
Mountain Times were the Pacific ninebark and the twinberry honeysuckle. The
ninebark flourishes on the mountain and is spotted by its clusters of white
flowers, while the less frequently seen twinberry has to be enjoyed close up,
showing off its blooms of small, yellow flowers. Both plants provide good
erosion control along streams and can be successfully transplanted.
Ninebark's seeds provide food for birds and mammals and the plant can grow
to 15 feet. The twinberry is a fast-growing plant that can reach eight feet tall
and has black, bitter berries. Some Northwest native peoples had taboos
against eating them, and the Kwakwaka'wakw believed that if you ate the
berries you would be unable to speak.