Staying involved
By Larry Meyer - Argus Observer
Monday, July 2, 2007 12:29 PM PDT
NYSSA - When Debbie deBoer, Nyssa, gets involved in something she jumps in with both feet.
She also tends to disregard setbacks, such as the shutdown of the Amalgamated Sugar Company, instead focusing on ways to overcome challenges and find success.
Born in Ontario, deBoer attended Cairo Elementary School, where both her parents worked.
Her mother, Cleta, was the cook, and her father, John, was the custodian.
“I couldn’t get away with anything,” Debbie deBoer said.
She graduated from Ontario High School in 1984 and attended Links School of Business for one year, and then, in 1985, she went to work at Amalgamated Sugar Company and worked there until it closed in 2005.
She was a seasonal employee and held a variety of positions.
“In my last job I was an assistant chemist in the lab,” she said, which she did for five or six years. “I tested sugar for purity and color.”
She began testing sugar in August before the harvest campaigns started and was to test the sugar to make sure it was meeting the customer’s specifications.
“I was never a year-round employee,” deBoer said.
“I was mad,” she said, referring to when she heard the Nyssa Amalgamated plant was being closed.
Still, deBoer said she viewed the closure also as an opportunity.
“When I had the opportunity, I knew I would go back to school.”
DeBoer joined a number of former Amalgamated employees who enrolled in classes at Treasure Valley Community College and were recognized during the recent graduation ceremonies.
DeBoer, 40, received a degree in business management this spring and is taking additional classes to finish a degree in accounting. But it was not easy, she said.
“The first week was really difficult, after being out of school for 20 years,” she said, adding it was a matter of relearning how to study. She said she is proud of the fact she has received better grades in college — getting mostly As and Bs —than she did in high school. Although she does not have any specific plans, deBoer would like to have her own business. At the urging of Nyssa businesswoman Robin Froerer, deBoer joined the Nyssa Chamber of Commerce, plus ran for and was elected to the chamber board of directors.
“I want this town to keep going,” she said.
And, in the last eight years, she has worked in the Nyssa Chamber of Commerce office with her mother, who is the chamber secretary, and it is a team effort.
“I started the night parade,” deBoer said. “I just had the idea.”
Nyssa’s evening Christmas parade has annually drawn large crowds, since it started.
“It has just gotten bigger and bigger,” she said.
One of her favorite events the Nyssa Chamber of Commerce is involved with is the annual Thunderegg Days celebration.
“I like meeting all the people,” she said.
Working with people is what she enjoys about the chamber office, although helping to put out the Nyssa Chamber’s monthly newsletter keeps her busy for about two weeks every month. Her other involvements include the Eastern Star, which does a lot of charitable work, and the Boulevard Grange.
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