Carla Emery: Author of the Old Fashioned Recipe Book
(Page 16 of 17)
May/June 1975
By the Mother Earth News editors
That's what we want! We want the local people to use the School too. Part of my dream is that the area children will come and ride the ponies and enjoy the playgrounds. And that the local families will come in for, say, a Saturday and eat in the restaurant and take some morning classes or attend an afternoon conference or just walk around and look at the way everything works. That's why we've planned especially large classes for evenings and Saturdays . . . so that local people can attend.
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I feel like I've thrown a party and then been told that nobody wants to come.
PLOWBOY: What's going to happen now?
EMERY: Our opponents have activated the Nez Perce County Planning Commission—which hasn't been active for as long as I can remember—and they're going to hold a hearing. And I think this is just great because I know we've got many friends in the county. So many of those people have worked with us and know what we're trying to do. There are good people in the county who want to see the old homesteading skills preserved and the family farms saved and they know that's what we're trying to do. They know we're attempting to preserve the valley instead of hurt it in any way.
So I welcome this hearing. Because if our plans are approved, the decision will be official and there'll be no doubts about it and we'll be able to go ahead with our dream.
PLOWBOY: And what if this hearing decides against you?
EMERY: That'll be good too. Because it'll give us more time to raise the money we need to build the School. It'll take the pressure off us to open the School immediately and give us time to raise more money and look for another piece of land if we have to.
PLOWBOY: Well I must say you seem remarkably philosophical about the whole situation. No matter whether you win or lose the hearing, you seem to feel you're going to come out ahead.
EMERY: Oh we will. We're going to build this School no matter what happens. We're going to build it someplace and we're going to make it work. That's all there is to it.
And, you see, I can't get too upset at the people who worry about changing our valley because I worry too. I sympathize with the local families who want to keep condominiums and dope and corporate farms out of our little valley. Those are valid objections and, as a mother of five, I object to the very same things. Our valley is a pretty wholesome place to raise a family and I'd like to see it stay that way.
On the other hand, I know that unless we build this School the valley is going to change. Our down payment on the 400 acres was $25,000 and the yearly payments are $10,000. It's worth it—there's timber, a river, a mountain, pasture, tillable areas, and springs on the property—but that's a lot of money. If we're forced to sell, the only people who'll be able to buy this land are corporate farmers or condominium builders from California.
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