Fairmont woman’s gift baskets earn spotlight
Jennifer Brookens — Staff WriterArticle Photos
FAIRMONT - Even Oprah is feeling the pinch this holiday season.
One of her most viewed segments, "Oprah's Favorite Things," recently centered around heartfelt and thrifty Christmas gifts. And one Fairmont woman, Tam Plumhoff, made the cut.
Plumhoff's pitch was a basket filled with home-canned goods: a wicker basket, a gift dishtowel and Mason jars filled with canned fruits, vegetables, relishes, sauces and other treats.
"I've been canning for about 30 years," Plumhoff said. "My husband, Dean, loves to garden, and my mother and grandmother were both canners. When I give these as gifts, people think it's so nice, and a week after Christmas, they can open a jar of salsa and remember how much I love them."
From having a great gift idea to being featured on Oprah was only a few weeks' time, according to Plumhoff.
"I wrote up a paragraph about giving out my canned goods at Christmastime, and also about a heritage cook book idea," Plumhoff said. "I submitted the essay by e-mail and that was in mid-November. At 5 p.m. that day, I got a call from one of the producers at the Oprah show. They wanted me to e-mail pictures of myself and my family, and wanted to verify my identity ... The next day, they asked for a video and they e-mailed me a script that explained what was wanted. And they wanted it Fed-Ex'd to the Oprah show by 4 p.m. the next day."
Luckily, Plumhoff received help from her husband, daughter and friends for the video and some still shots.
"That Sunday, I was on the phone with producers and kept e-mailing people left and right," Plumhoff recalled. "And there was still no guarantee that I was going to be used for the show."
The week of Thanksgiving, Plumhoff learned she had been chosen. Her segment would air the next day.
"It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and I was in North Carolina with my son, who just got home from Afghanistan," she said. "The producers called and said the segment was going to be on the show tomorrow. I was hoping to throw an Oprah party for my friends in Fairmont, but I couldn't even record the show."
Again, friends stepped in to help.
Now, Oprah producers have told Plumhoff the episode will air again this month, but a specific rerun date has not been scheduled.
