Bee Tree classes move forward thanks to generous donation

Published by admin on Wed, 07/31/2024 - 6:49pm

Shown above, from left, are Bee Tree Folk School founders Dennis and Sandy Cooper, Sydney McLaren, Shanie McLaren and Weiser Tractor and Feed owner David Hobbesiefken. Sydney, who is a mechanic at Weiser Tractor and Feed, recently repaired a riding lawn mower, sold it and donated the funds to Bee Tree Folk School to pay for shipping of equipment that her mom, Shanie, will use to teach non-certified Infant CPR and Stop the Bleed Classes. Photo by Philip A. Janquart
Not long ago, Weiser resident Sydney McLaren repaired a lawnmower given to her by a family friend, just for fun.
 Sydney, 24, loves her job as a mechanic at Weiser Tractor and Feed. It is so fulfilling, she finds herself working on projects even in her off-time.
 Her father Scott, who works in the aerospace industry, has a friend from his ham radio club who couldn’t get his aging Craftsman riding lawnmower going, so he bought a new one, leaving the old machine to take up space in his garage. Knowing Sydney’s interest in anything mechanical, he offered it to her for free.
 “I said, ‘Yes, I would like to have that,’” she explained. “So, I took it, just to see what I could do to get it running. It was a nice, big red tractor. There was no rust or anything, so it was nice to polish it up and watch the paint just pop.”
 Though the owner couldn’t get it started, Sydney found, after going through the mower, that bringing it back to life wouldn’t be difficult.
 “I think it was a 2006 and the nice thing about this lawnmower is the previous owner took very good care of it,” she noted. “He kept it in the garage in the offseason, so it didn’t have any damage at all, aside from a few scuffs when you run into a rock or something. It was in very good condition and ended up not needing much work. Frankly, I kind of wanted to hold on to it, but I already had a mower.”
 Meanwhile, her mother, Shanie, was arranging to teach non-certified Infant CPR and Stop the Bleed classes at the Bee Tree Folk School in downtown Weiser. 
 The Bee Tree, founded by Sandy and Dennis Cooper, is a nonprofit that offers community members the opportunity to share their knowledge, teaching instructional classes on a variety of topics such as canning, cooking, gardening, basic auto maintenance, bookkeeping or any type of knowledge they want to pass on to others.
 Shanie, who moved to Weiser from the Seattle area with Sydney and husband Scott in 2022, worked in hospitals for 23 years as a community educator, teaching basic life support for all in-house education for physicians, nurses and care providers. She was also a community instructor for births and family education. She attended births and gave in-service instruction to parents about their babies.
 When they met for the first time, Shanie and the Coopers hit it off, Shanie a natural match for Bee Tree mission.  
 They ultimately devised a plan for the free classes and purchased equipment online thanks to a $6,000 grant awarded to Bee Tree by the LOR Foundation.
 The CPR equipment includes a doll or mannequin, a replacement lung, face shield and a video that participants can keep, and the LOR grant paid for it all.
 Shanie and the Coopers, however, weren’t expecting a $600 shipping fee that took them by surprise and threatened to put the classes on ice indefinitely.
 “We got the grant, but later on we found out that it didn’t cover shipping,” Shanie told the Signal American. “Dennis and I had put in the order together and the shipping wasn’t disclosed at all. We were blindsided by this. That is a lot of money, especially to a nonprofit.”
 Enter Syndey and her riding lawnmower.
 “So, I was trying to figure out what to do with it and found out the Bee Tree was now in debt $600 and I thought, ‘Well, gee, the stars are kind of aligning here. Maybe I can sell this lawnmower and give the money to the Bee Tree,’” she said.
 Weiser Tractor and Feed owner Dave Hobbesiefken helped Sydney sell the tractor through his business, located at 605 Hwy. 95 in Weiser.
 “I talked to Dave and he was willing to do a deal where I’d bring it in and have Weiser Tractor sell it,” Sydney said.
 Dave added, “She came and asked if that was something we would be willing to do, and we wanted to help out.”
 Part of the process was listing the mower on the Weiser Tractor and Feed website and within five minutes, they got a response.
 “Immediately over our webpage this guy said, ‘Hey, I want this mower,’ and usually the scammers will say, ‘I want this …; I’m going to send you …’ or ‘I’m going to come pick it up, just give me your account number,’ or whatever. So, I wasn’t too friendly at first, but then he called a few minutes later.”
 The buyer tried talking them down from the $1,000 asking price, but once he learned it was for a good cause, he was willing to pay full price.
 “It was just such a fabulous, generous offer and really continues with that support of the community and support of what we are trying to do here,” Sandy said. “It’s just pretty darn amazing and generous that somebody would do that.”
 Schedule for Infant CPR and Stop the Bleed classes:
Stop the Bleed© Classes:
 • Saturday, Aug. 17, 1-2:30 p.m.
 • Monday, Aug. 19, 7-8:30 p.m.
 • Saturday, Oct. 12, 1-2:30 p.m.
 • Monday, Oct. 14, 7-8:30 p.m.
Infant CPR (non-certified)
 • Monday, Aug. 5, 7-8:30 p.m.
 • Saturday, Aug. 24, 1-2:30 p.m.
 • Monday, Oct. 7, 7-8:30 p.m.
 • Saturday, Oct. 19, 1 -2:30 p.m.
 

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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