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Show THE SAN JUAN RECORD Wednesday April 13, 1988 - Page 12 on. The news came on and we heard about the (Challenger) explosion. It was quiet. Nobody said anything. We were all shocked, Sloan recalls. The teacher (Christa McAuliffe) was wearing one of our suits. Sloan started her sewing career when her husband was attending the University of Utah. She found a job as a shipping clerk for a womens Later, she apparel plant. trained on sewing machines and was soon stitching womens polyester pants and jackets. When she left two years later, she was supervisor. I started as shipping clerk and worked my way up. By the time I left I knew a lot about the business, Sloan said. - Rose Sloan, owner, and Halchita sewing team. Stan Byrd photo Navajo woman heads sewing plant The staccato hum of sewing machines grows louder in the tiny Navajo hamlet of Halchita. Five months ago Rose Sloan started a three-perso-n sewing comin reservation this plant Monument Valley. munity near 10 and Sloan other Today, Navajo women keep their sewing machines busy full time stitching garments for high-teccompanies like National Semiconductor and Morton h flight suits worn by U.S. astronauts. We worked on flight suits for the women astronauts. We didnt think about it until a few of us were invited to the space center in Florida. It made us feel inportant when we saw how carefully they treated those suits, Sloan said. On January 28, 1986, the women were back in the UNI sewing plant. The radio was ed of and Barrier-Wea- r loved to sew. better serve the needs of San Juan County SAN JUAN VISION CLINIC in Blanding will now be open full time beginning Monday, April 4 high-tec- h clothing. The plant closed in 1986. Sloan spent a year traveling with her husband to construction jobs in Nevada and Arizona. When he landed a job near Kayenta, they returned to Halchita. Sloan says she tried to keep business independent of large companies such as UNI. She says if the orders keep coming in she hopes to expand her operation. What started out as one womans idea may become a new industry for Halchita. Sloan says experience and persistence are two of the ingredients for her plants success. But she says there is something else. Ive always To After a few years with another apparel plant, Sloan joined Dine Apparel at Halchita in 1982. She became a plant manager there and learn- Dr. Ronald Kirk will see patients Monday thru Thursday from 8:30 am to 5 pm Stop in or call 678-232- 4 46 North Main Thiokol. With an idea and years of experience in needle trades, Sloan called Barrier-Wea- r Inc. and asked if she could sew for them. The Durango firm knew Sloan as a former sewing plant manager with Utah navajo Industries. They said yes and set her up with three sewing machines and a contract for 500 jackets. That contract soon mushroomed and Sloan hired more workers. We just finished an order for 1,000 clean-roogarments for Morton Thiokol. They want another 2,000 this fall, says Sloan. Her crew also stiched 500 lab jackets for Xidex, a computer chip manufacturer. Other contracts call for 4,400 jackets for the U.S. Navy and 1,000 special garments for workers at a Hercules ammunition plant in Virginia. Currently, Sloan and her crew are sewing shirts for the Gas Company of New busy with upholstery jobs from local residents but found working alone monotonous. It was then she decided to call Barrier-Wea- r and her business was created. Her plant is in an abandoned dormitory that once housed uranium mill workers. Since the mill closed in 1965, little industry has come to Halchita. Sloan is the first Navajo in Halchita to start a sewing Blanding One channel fits all The Disney Channel. Its like getting three channels in one. Mornings and afternoons are for kids. With programs that entertain as well as educate. Early evenings, the whole family will want to share quality movies, specials and first-ru- n series together. And when its time for the kids to go off to bed, The Disney Channel is for you. Theres nothing else like it on TV, cable or broadcast. The Disney Channel. The one channel tailored to fit your whole m fire-pro- fire-pro- -- Rose knows all aspects of sewing operation, including machine repair. Stan Byrd photo of of 12 oz 6-pa- ck and Squirt Mexico. garments arent new for Sloan and her team. She recalls the time she and her crew worked for UNI, sewing High-tec- h B.F. GOODRICH & STRATTON All-Seas- on family, perfectly. Tires EXPERT FRONT END ALIGNMENT ThefsNcp Channel BRAKE & EXHAUST REPAIR Americas Family Network.. ASK ABOUT OUR CASE LOT ORDERS Ronda Leber girl Linda and Dwight Rogers boy Jill and Steve Palmer girl PARKWAY SERVICE Monticello ! SUBSCRIBE TODAY! W TEXACO merican Tele Venture Monticello 587-20- 14 Blanding IWKThi WaltOiMKvCo |