April 1999

"I don't have a house anymore," said Louise R. Smith. "I have a shop." The one-story home on Gerth Avenue in West Salem is almost entirely devoted to rooms filled with the business of ceramic figures. Plaster and Ceramic Art by Louise is the name of her business, and she's now celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Viewing the rooms that once might have been a bedroom, garage or living room, you now see a veritable artwork evolution factory. On the kitchen table are a few pieces of "greenware," a drab gray color with rough edges left from the molding process. Louise painstakingly finishes each piece before firing it. Just off the kitchen is the kiln room, where the ceramics are heated to temperatures up to 2100 degrees. Though the kiln is well insulated, Louise said it will raise the temperature in the house somewhat. "So I don't use the kiln when it's above 90 degrees outside," she said.

The bulk of the business, however, takes place in two larger rooms. In one, floor-to-ceiling shelves are filled with fantastic figures, in various stages of development. Some are finished but unpainted, others are painted and still others are glazed to a high polish. Graceful dancers, cartoon characters, cowboys, animals, Christmas figurines, interesting faces and more seem happy to be here in Louise's workshop. But as customers come and go, it's plain to see the characters are just as happy to leave, maybe to grace someone's mantelpiece or living room wall.

In the adjoining "classroom," the walls are also lined with occupied shelves, but a large worktable occupies the center of the room. This is where students come two nights a week to learn, to create and to socialize around the art of ceramics, from one of the best teachers in the Willamette Valley.

Though Louise has been a resident of West Salem for 51 years, and many of those years have been at this same address, she was actually born in Alberta, Canada. Her father brought the family of seven to Oregon in 1926 after selling his 385 acre wheat farm southeast of Edmonton. He used the money from the sale of that farm to buy another, in Stayton. "It's a good thing we knew how to grow things," said Louise, when asked how they survived the depression in Oregon. After completing eighth grade at the local one-room schoolhouse ("The Blue Den") between Scio and Stayton, Louise said she "married young."

Only many years later did she find her way back to school-completing a medical assistant degree program at Oregon State College and Chemeketa Community College. But after a few years working for a local dentist, Louise decided she needed a different kind of job. Then, when a neighbor offered to teach Louise how to cast plaster, she began to see a way in which she might earn a living from it.

"About 70 percent of my business now is from teaching," Louise said. The rest is from the retail sales. "Many of my students become my best customers," she added, "and many have been coming regularly for over 12 years." While cleaning the greenware and pouring plaster are the hardest, "the painting and glazes make the rest worthwhile," she added.

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Year 2000 Readiness Plan

While Salem Electric cannot state at this time that there will be no Y2K problems, our top priority is to provide responsive and reliable service to all customers and be sure Salem Electric's system is compliant.

The Salem Electric Year 2000 (Y2K) Task Force was created in September 1998 to implement a Y2K Readiness Plan. All departments are represented on the task force to address five main areas of concern:

Mainframe computer -
A contractor is assisting staff with equipment replacement and upgrading the custom software.

Personal Computers -
All equipment and software have been inventoried. Software will be "patched" when available.

Power Supplier -
(Bonneville Power Administration) There is frequent communication on their compliance and contingency plans.

External Entities -
Vendors and service providers have been contacted for compliance documentation.

Operational Equipment -
Inventory of office and field equipment has been completed.

Salem Electric's main goal is to identify and resolve all potential Y2K problems. Each of the areas of concern listed above will be addressed through the following steps:

Inventory - A detailed inventory of all date sensitive micro processor controlled equipment will be prioritized on a "service critical" basis. This inventory includes equipment and services provided to Salem Electric that affect reliability.

Assess - As information is gathered, the Y2K problem will be assessed as to the effect on Salem Electric's service reliability and ability to maintain customer communications. All vendors and service providers are being contacted for documentation of compliance. Information is being gathered through a Y2K compliance questionnaire and the internet.

Test - Based on vendor response, internal verification testing will be done. When applicable, testing may be done by a reliable third party after reviewing vendor compliance statements.

Plan Strategy - A series of Y2K disclosure articles are planned throughout 1999 to update customers and educate staff.

Remediation - All equipment that is non-compliant will be updated or replaced. All affected software will be patched or upgraded.

Contingency - Electric utilities, probably more so than most businesses, deal regularly with emergency situations. The Y2K problem is certainly a different situation from a storm-related outage, although it is comparable in that it is dealing with the unexpected. The contingency plan includes additional crew members on standby, as well as the availability of staff for manual equipment operation. Alternatives for the delivery of power and equipment are being investigated in addition to alternative communication methods for maintaining contact with our customers.

Summary - Salem Electric receives all of its power from the Bonneville Power Administration through the regional power grid. Salem Electric is working diligently to maintain the reliability of its distribution system and to identify and correct all Y2K problems on its system. However, problems initiated by one of the many utilities connected to the grid could result in interruptions for Salem Electric which are beyond its control. An important part of the success of Salem Electric's compliance is the close contact that is maintained with state, regional and national industry related organizations.

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The City of Salem is considering increasing its electric utility franchise fee from 3.5% to 5%. This would increase the electric bill of all the users of electricity within the Salem city limits.

There is an opportunity for public input on this issue on Monday, April 26 at the City Council meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Council Chambers at 555 Liberty St. SE. Anyone wishing to give testimony is asked to indicate this when they sign in.

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