LBCC Horse Center: Students get hands on teaching

About a mile and a half down the road from Linn-Benton Community College on 53rd Avenue lies the LBCC Horse Center, a place you might not have known existed.

Just down the dead-end gravel road, you’ll find a big barn with stables full of horses, a plethora of equipment, lively students, and an enthusiastic teacher.

Classes at the Horse Center are available for all students, whether horses are just your hobby or your lifelong career goal.

There are two programs students can complete. One program is the associate of applied science in horse management. Students in this program take more hands-on classes such as the horse training class at the Horse Center, for which you need prior horse experience. In the horse training class, students get the horses used to being handled, and saddled. The horses then get comfortable with different environments such as the round pen, the arena, and outdoor rides.

The second program is an associate of science transfer program that is mostly for students interested in being veterinarians, such as student Kathryn Burgett.

“I’m going for veterinary and majoring in equine,” said Burgett. “The majority of the people who take classes like this [horse training class] are either veterinary students or horse management students. A lot of us have horses of our own and this is a passion of our own.”

Other classes include breeding classes, training classes, facility management classes, herd management classes, health classes, and business management classes.

Students get horses ready to be put away after riding at the LBCC Horse Center in Albany, Oregon.


The Horse Center currently holds 32 horses. Seven of the horses belong to LBCC and are mostly used for Equestrian Team riding, four of the horses belong to students in the training classes, and the remaining belong to local owners who board their horses at the center. Students are paired with a horse and work with them throughout the term.

Tess Sonntag Johnson, a student in the training class, was paired with 11-year-old Mudd.

“It’s been very rewarding, but it’s taken a lot of time and effort to build the partnership.”

Johnson said her favorite thing about riding horses is everything.

“It requires so much trust between you and the animal. It’s very different when you get on a horse for the first time who you’ve never ridden, versus a horse that you’ve ridden for a year or for your whole life.”

Jenny Strooband has been working at the college since 2002. She is the equine specialist in the Agricultural Sciences faculty and works as a full-time teacher, the Horse Center director, faculty advisor for the LBCC Equestrian Team, and the Equine Science and Pre-Vet advisor for LBCC.

“Linn-Benton tries really hard to be student-oriented and we work hard to figure out what the best thing is for students and I just love being a part of that,” said Strooband.

“I was seven when I first got involved with horses, so that would be about 1983. I’ve actually never taken a break, so I’ve been riding that whole time.”

At the young age of 7, Strooband didn’t know she wanted to work with horses for a living. She was more interested in physiology and ended up earning her master’s degree from Oregon State University in physiology and focused on the reproductive physiology of the mare. Strooband excelled at handling horses, and OSU needed somebody that could restrain horses for that kind of work. Her work there led her to the job she has now at LBCC.

If you’re interested in taking horse classes at LBCC, don’t hesitate. Fall and Winter term focus on Equestrian Team and riding, and Spring focuses more on breeding.

“It’s a really friendly environment out here. We welcome everybody regardless of level or experience. You’re never too old to start. It’s a great hobby and LB is a great place to try it,” said Strooband.

PROFESSOR: Jenny Strooband
EMAIL: stroobj@linnbenton.edu
AVAILABLE PROGRAM: Associate of applied science in horse management
AVAILABLE PROGRAM: Associate of science transfer program

Jenny Strooband (above) puts a bridle on horse Leah before taking her for a ride in the arena at the LBCC Horse Center in Albany, Oregon.

Alexis Schafer (left) and Austin Ellis (right) give horse Hachiko a bath after riding.

Profile: Cynthia Serles; Santiam Cabinets

Cynthia and Don Serles -- owners of Santiam Cabinets in Albany, Oregon

Just down Three Lakes Road in Albany you'll find a shop. A cabinet shop, to be more specific. As you open the door, a nicely remodeled kitchen with laminate countertops and cherry stained cabinets catches your eye.

A showroom.

To your right behind a desk is secretary Cynthia Serles. She takes phone calls, coordinates installations, and helps customers design their dream cabinets, all while the buzz of expensive machinery hums in the background.

Santiam Cabinets is a full-service, family-run cabinet shop that creates custom cabinets for contractors and homeowners. Any shape, stain color, finish, and design, they can create for you in their shop. Owners Cynthia and Don Serles recently celebrated 20 years in business at the beginning of May with a quick nod to how fast it’s all flown by.

“It’s important, I think, to have it family-related because we are both on the same page. It’s a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice, but it has its rewards,” said Cynthia Serles.

Cynthia is one half of a duo that includes her and her husband Don Serles. The two met in 1993 and tied the knot in 2000.

“We have worked together and lived together and everything since 2000. For 18 years, and we rarely fight!” Cynthia said.

The Serles’s live on a 38-acre farm with cows, chickens, pigs, dogs and a cat.

“I take walks every morning and I don't have to leave my property,” said Cynthia Serles, who balances daily chores on the farm and work at the shop.

To the left of the secretary desk, behind a door, sits a passionately soft spoken Don Serles. The “Boss Man,” according to his wife.

Don Serles has been making custom cabinets since 1986.

In high school, Don was interested in woodworking, so throughout his junior and senior year he centered his class schedule around his craft and obtained a vocational education.

Once graduated, Don was looking for an opportunity to utilize his skill set. The vocational director at his old high school got him an interview at a local cabinet shop where he was hoping to make a good impression. He wasn’t, however, expecting the employer to forget about the interview.

“I did happen to just catch him when he was leaving. I got in his truck and went to a job site with him,” said Don Serles.

The two conversed to and from the job site, and on Oct. 8, 1986, Don was employed.

“He walked me out to the shop, I had my best clothes on, and I started on the spot. He took me out to the sanding bench and I started sanding that day.”

For the past 32 years, Don Serles has been mastering his craft and pleasing customers throughout the area.

“They did an exceptional job and completed the project within the agreed time frame,” said customer Lynda Capel. “They even took the time to locate the Formica we wanted even though it had been discontinued. They were a pleasure to work with.”

Don and Cynthia Sereles have managed to build a successful company with minimal marketing, mostly relying on hard work that gets passed around by word of mouth.

“I don’t think many people will be successful treating this like a nine-to-five job,” said Don Serles, “I’ve always had a ‘do whatever it takes’ mentality.”

This mindset has led the team of 13 employees to be booked out five months. So if you’re in the market for new cabinets, you’ll have to wait in line.

PROFILE: Cynthia Serles

OCCUPATION: Santiam Cabinets Secretary

FAMILY: Don Serles

HOBBIES: Taking care of her farm animals

HOMETOWN: Grants Pass, Oregon

WEBSITE: http://santiamcabinets.com

PHONE: 541-928-4830

EMAIL: cyndie@santiamcabinets.com
KITCHEN GALLERY: http://santiamcabinets.com/kitchens.html

Spring Has Sprung: LBCC students take to the sand courts

Jenaya Wright (left) attacks the ball as students Kylene Briggs (middle) and Tanner Sallee (right) prepare to play defense at the sand courts located north of the Athletic Center at the LBCC Albany Campus on Thursday, May 24. Wright and Kya Knuth (not pictured) went on to win the game.

Ellie Weber (right) is all smiles as sand partner Jenaya Wright (left) serves the ball in their fourth match of the day on Tuesday, May 22. The two students are freshmen on the LBCC Women's Volleyball Team.

Kylene Briggs (right) spikes the ball over the net on a sunny Tuesday, May 22, after a set up from Maddie Norris (left). The two compete against indoor volleyball teammates Ellie Weber and Jenaya Wright (not pictured). Weber and Wright went on to win the game.

Mother's Day Plant Sale at LBCC Albany Campus

LBCC students, staff and community gather in the LBCC Greenhouse on Wednesday, May 9, for a Mother's Day Plant Sale hosted by the LBCC Horticulture Club. Shoppers are on the search for beautiful flowers to gift on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13.

Hanging pots, clemson green okra, begonia whites, succulents, geraniums, gardenias, ferns, and more are on sale in the LBCC Greenhouse providing a colorful site and joyful environment. 

Samantha Wilson (left) hands off a small plant to Brendon Froemke who is looking for plants for his mother. He leaves with a hanging pot full of bright yellow flowers and a couple succulents. 

Review: Santa Clarita Diet Season 2

COURTESY: Spoiler TV

Who will Drew Barrymore eat this season? Will she and her husband finally find a solution to her cannibalism, or will they get busted by the cops first?

“Santa Clarita Diet” has returned for a second season on Netflix after a notable first season in 2017. This zombie-comedy series takes a deeper look at how Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore) and Joel Hammond (Timothy Olyphant) handle their special circumstances and take a crack at saving humanity in its second season.

In the first season finale, viewers are left hanging when Sheila is chained up in the basement after her hunger takes over and she attacks her husband Joel, who simultaneously ends up in a psych ward.

Throughout the first season, which released Feb. 3, 2017, the Hammonds face a series of obstacles as Sheila becomes a zombie and starts to crave human flesh. Their witty daughter Abby (Liv Hewson) and nerdy neighbor boy Eric Bemis (Skyler Gisondo) are along for the ride.

“The first few episodes of ‘Santa Clarita Diet’ suffer from an excessive amount of gore — as if Mr. Fresco was afraid we wouldn’t get the joke — and the last third of the season flattens out as the mystery and thriller elements take over,” New York Times journalist Mike Hale wrote about the first season.

Hale makes a good point about the excessive gore, but don’t let it turn you away from the series as a whole. The cast only brings more humor to the scenarios they put themselves in.

Series creator Victor Fresco has exceeded my expectations by delivering even more quirky, comical, and slightly gory episodes in the second season.

“I really enjoyed season two. I thought it was a very well thought out continuation of season one,” said LBCC student Kaj Bansen. “It was extremely binge-worthy.”

In a Netflix interview with Barrymore, Olyphant says, “One of the things that I find quite brilliant about the show is that although they are killing people for her [Sheila] to live, they are victims in this whole situation as well.”

The second season of “Santa Clarita Diet” dives deeper into the Hammond’s struggle to live a sustainable lifestyle, as well as get closer to the bottom of how it all began. The series takes some twists and turns as the Hammonds discover other people with Sheila’s same condition. Will the Hammonds get caught in the crossfire of prior investigations?

Their unique situation is brought back to life in season two that is as insane as it is hilarious.

Popsugar journalist Quinn Keaney wrote, “Season two leans in even more to the crazy, resulting in a series that feels completely at ease with the unique niche it's carved out for itself — a zany, slightly nausea-inducing, laugh-out-loud look at life for a formerly mundane suburban couple.”

I couldn’t agree more with Keaney. “Santa Clarita Diet” brings us a comical take on people who have gone bloodthirsty, and shies away from the more traditional zombie storyline. With each episode running at about 30 minutes long, the time you invest will fly by and you’ll be longing for more once the final credits roll.

Netflix has unfortunately not announced a third season yet.

TV SERIES REVIEW: Santa Clarita Diet -- Season 2
NETWORK: Netflix
STARRING: Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Liv Hewson, and Skyler Gisondo
CREATED BY: Victor Fresco
RATED: TV-MA
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2018