About two weeks ago my husband, Emile, and I attended the SOREDI 25th Anniversary Annual Dinner. At the dinner, some people were recognized for helping SOREDI get its start, while others were honored for creating businesses that have prospered in southern Oregon.
Emile is the General Manager of the Medford Coop and since 2012 was declared the International Year of Cooperatives by the United Nations, one of the groups that was honored that night were the representatives of the cooperatives in the Rogue Valley. Those four coops are: The Ashland Food Coop, The Medford Food Coop, The Grange Coop, and the Rogue Federal Credit Union.
All of the coop representatives sat at one table and it was quite a nice group. I sat next to Barry Robino, the CEO of the Grange Coop. It seems that Emile had told Barry about my pie adventure and he asked me about it. When I told him that most of my children’s teachers had received pies, Barry mentioned that his wife, Dee, was a kindergarten teacher. And then he told me a story.
First some background: Every year, Barry’s wife, Dee, creates a book for each and every one of her students. This book is for the children to keep and it is all about them. That is an amazing feat when you consider that Dee has two kindergarten classes and upwards of 42 students to do this for!
Now for the story: It happened that one night, one of Dee’s students was getting ready for bed and while most of the time his Mom was the one who read to him, on this particular night, his Dad was the one reading to him. The young boy had selected the book Dee had created and his Dad began to read it to him. At one point in the book the Dad noticed that his son was crying and he stopped reading and asked him what was wrong. The son replied, “Oh it’s okay Dad. I always cry at this part of the story.”
I thought, “What a wonderful thing Dee has done! She created a book that really touched this child… what a gift. He will treasure that book and remember it forever.” And since I have been thinking about that story for the last few weeks, I finally realized that I needed to make a pie for Dee… to thank her for her love and commitment to her students and for going the extra mile to make their kindergarten experience so special. I only wish that all children could have such a wonderful start to their educational career.
raspberry Rhubarb Pie
Teaching is leaving a vestige of one self in the development of another. And surely the student is a bank where you can deposit your most precious treasures. ~Eugene P. Bertin
Pie a Day Give Away 
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