Allen is retiring, but she’s not leaving the building

Even after 30 years away, Baker City is a special place for Sandy Allen.

“Baker will always be my home,” she says. “I still know more people in Baker, and have more friends in Baker, than here in Salem, even after 30 years.”

Allen, 68, graduated from Baker High School in 1959. In December she retired from a 28-year career at the state capitol, and she was profiled in the Salem newspaper, the Statesman Journal.

She still makes trips to Baker, though, to visit her stepfather, Sherm Allen (her mother was the late Pansy Allen) and two stepdaughters, Cindy Morgan and Cathy Treadway.

After graduating from high school, Sandy spent 20 years working at Basche-Sage Hardware. In 1980, after marrying her husband, John Allen (no relation to Sherm), they moved to Salem.

She went to the Capitol to inquire about volunteering, and met up with a friend from Baker, Rep. Max Simpson.

That first volunteer job led to full-time work, and at retirement she was working in the office of Speaker of the House.

The allure of the Capitol, for her, is more the energy than the politics.

“The process, whether you agree with it or not, is very exciting,” she says.

She won’t be away for long — in retirement, she plans to still lead tours of the Capitol.

“I love the building,” she said. “I love the history. That’s a great place for it to come alive.”

For a story about Allen from the Statesman Journal, go to:

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20091206/NEWS/912130301