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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2017)
History Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, January 25, 2017 A7 O UT OF THE P AST Blue Mountain Eagle Jan. 23, 1942 75 years ago Civilian Defense School has Big Attendance Nearly one hundred men, with every town and every community in Grant County represented, were in atten- dance at the school of in- struction for Police Reserves, and community chiefs and leaders in the various branch- es of Civilian Defense held in the Grant Union high school last Saturday and Sunday. The school was called by Sheriff J.B. Hazleton, county Chief of Police Reserves, and the sessions each day started at 9 a.m. and continued un- til late in the afternoon. The forenoon session on Saturday was devoted to discussion on Criminal law led by Sergeant Ted Bryan, local officer of the State Police department. Twenty-two questions were present, in the form of an ex- amination and the “pupils,” after scanning through the list were, after a few mo- ments of secret embarrass- ment, greatly relieved when the sergeant explained that he would attempt to answer the questions, using the Oregon Criminal Code for reference. This discussion proved to be very interesting and was continued into the afternoon session. Some actual demonstra- tions of police procedure were given by Sergeants Bryan and Glenn Martin of Burns, after which the re- mainder of the afternoon was taken up with a speaking pro- gram. Forest Supervisor J. C. Iler of John Day, who under the Civilian Defense organiza- tion is County Chief of Fire Reserves, gave an interesting talk on the use and control of both gas and incendiary bombs, briefly summarizing the instructions given at the school for County Defense leaders and Fire Chiefs re- cently held in Portland. A H Wright, superinten- dent of Grant Union High school, told of some of the things which the schools are doing in defense work, and then the session for that after- noon was concluded with an interesting discussion on sab- otage by Marshall Barnes, of the Federal Bureau of Inves- tigation, who explained the various methods used by es- pionage agents and saboteurs. Mr. Barnes conducted the Sunday session of the school, which was devoted principally to air regulations and instruc- tions to the various communi- ty chiefs of air raid wardens. Methods of controlling gas bomb raids as well as incendi- ary bomb fires were explained and the use of a gas mask was demonstrated. Besides Mr. Barnes, other who spoke on the Sunday morning program were: V. F. Greupner of Albee, Harold Larson, chief of police of Burns, and K. A. Snow, county coordinater of Civil- ian Defense for Grant county, who explained various phases of this work. The afternoon was devoted to finger printing all of the members of the Po- lice Reserves. Blue Mountain Eagle Jan. 23, 1992 25 years ago Author of “Gentle Ben” has Grant County roots WILSONVILLE — Walt Morey, author of “Gentle Ben” and other children’s O utlook books, died of a heart attack Sunday, Jan. 12, at his home at the age of 84. “Gentle Ben,” the story of a 13-foot, 2,200 pound Ko- diak bear, appeared in 1965 and sold nearly 3 million cop- ies. It was later turned into a movie and television series. He wrote 14 other children’s books, most of them based on the people and animals he knew. Born Feb. 3, 1907, Morey was a native of Hoquiam, Wash. After graduating from high school, he moved around the Pacific Northwest as a mill worker, construction worker, heater manager, and for a time, as a professional boxer. He began his writing ca- reer by selling short stories to pulp magazines in the late 1920s, and writing two books for adults. The ad- vent of television wiped out many of the pulps and Morey stopped writing. He ran a ha- zelnut orchard in Oregon and did some deep sea fishing in Alaska. His wife, Rosalind, was a schoolteacher who some- times read Morey’s old sto- ries to her students. She urged him to write a story for children. “I was highly insulted,” Morey said in a 1991 inter- view. “I said, ‘I don’t read kids’ stories. I don’t like kids’ stories, I won’t write one.’” After 10 years of listening to his wife’s nagging, Morey decided to end the argument. He sat down at the typewriter to prove to his wife that he couldn’t write children’s sto- ries. The result was “Gentle Ben.” His last book, “Death Walk,” appeared in June 1991. He tells of an 18-year old boy who encounters an escaped band of criminals in Alaska. He spent the last 15 years visiting elementary schools, urging children to read. Morey said he knew about non-readers. He repeated first grade three times and said he hated school in general and reading in particular until he became a teenager. Rosalind died in 1977. He was married the follow- ing year to Peggy Kilburn, former wife of Mr. Clarence Kilburn. They lived in John Day during the 1950s and 1960s where he operated a freight line from Portland to John Day. They lived on a 60-acre hazelnut orchard at Wilsonville, south of Port- land. Peggy’s sister was Sunny Meyers who was married to Les Meyers. They built their home near the airport, and she died about 10 years ago. Peggy’s daughter, Lucy DeMarsh, was married to Joe DeMarsh, former coach at Grant Union High School. Peggy’s mother was Edith Ebbert who worked at the Mt. View Golf Club for several years when it was first estab- lished. She died six years ago in Canby. Morey is survived by his wife, Peggy of Wilsonville; his step-daughter Lucy De- Marsh; four grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. No funeral was planned. A memorial service is pending. Editor’s note: Information for this story was compiled from a story prepared by The Associated Press and Dick Martin, a resident now of Eu- gene and former owner of the John Day Pharmacy. SENI R My, my, what a week of weather, huh? We did have an ice skating rink in the parking lot, but our nice city crewman brought over some sand Rose Coombs and spread it around so we could get from our autos to the front door. We thank you much for that, Tom. There were a couple dozen very intrepid souls who came out for lunch. But there were 23 others who said, “Please deliver to me.” And we did. Ken, Larry, Buzz, and Carlos did the happy chore. Hopefully next week will have more moderate weather conditions. That will be January birthday recognition day, so if your birthday is in January, come on down (or up, as the case may be) and celebrate with us. You could win the $10 gift certificate donated by Huffman’s Market. The winners were Betty Elliot for Chuck’s Little Diner and Julia Davis got the $5 in trade donated by Prairie Hardware & Gifts. Buzz led the flag salute and Jack asked the blessing. We wanted to have our annual meeting today, but there were too many people missing, so try again next week. We did hear good news about Jim Howard - came through the surgery fine and is recuperating for a while at home. PTL. Since there was no school today in the Prairie City district, Zach got to help Iva and Tom with the meal and serving. So what was our meal today? Spaghetti and meat sauce, green beans, garlic bread, and triple chocolate banana bread. That was a trick on the senses. You look at the chocolate and determine that it will taste like chocolate. Then your tongue picks up the taste of banana, and your brain says, “Now wait a minute! Banana-flavored chocolate?” Yep. And it was good, too. Been lots of comments about how this winter is a bad winter. But if you stop and think, bad winters come in cycles, just like everything else that is weather-driven. The trick is to keep the snow in the mountains until we need the water in the summer. And another comment was concerning that we had never cancelled a meal since we started back in the early ‘70s. And I think that may be true. I can’t remember. But special circumstances merit special decisions. And I think that cancelling last week was a good idea. And if you think the circumstances here are bad, just take a peek at Portland...Son #2 called Monday evening. Daughter-in-love Laurel had been rear-ended trying to get home from stocking up for the bad weather. The person who hit her had a choice of missing her and hitting another car head-on. So he decided that a rear-end hit was better than a head-on. All due to the slick roads. Son #1 hasn’t been to work for a week due to the ice on the roads. And my goodness, how are they going to make up all those missed school days? Makes me think of the story about Seneca. When the temperature gets down to below zero, the kids put a sweater on. Proverbs 25:20 “Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.” On Jan. 16 we had approximately 32 diners at the center. We had beef chop suey, steamed rice, pork egg rolls, fortune cookies and key lime Alma Joslin cheesecake ice cream. Greeting us at the front desk were Jeanette Julsrud and Drew Harmer. Rick and Becky Rhinehart delivered 37 meals out and 36 frozen ones to shut-ins. They represented the First Christian Church and were helped by Amber Wright and Billy Scott Howland who delivered to Mt. Vernon. Becky also served with help from Karen Barrietua, Jan Ellison and Ron Dowse, all from First Christian Church. Jan led the flag salute and Ben Leuthe asked the blessing. Roberta Dowse won the Len’s Drug gift card and Dale Stinnett won the free meal for two at Valley View. On Jan. 19 we were greeted at the door by Buzz Glass. The rain and melting snow have formed a moat at the front doors. The folks at the center had improvised a bridge across it but the bridge wasn’t useable by folks with walkers and wheelchairs. Buzz was redirecting those folks around to the kitchen door. We really appreciated the Elks Lodge for taking care of snow and ice removal in the parking lot. Ron Dowse and Margret Glass were at the front deck. We want to say a big THANK YOU to Step Forward for taking on the Mt. Vernon home delivered meal route. This frees Veanne up to take care of other things. Linda and Dennis Dickerson delivered the John Day and Canyon City meals. They were able to get to all but two homes. The weather has definitely been giving all of us big challenges. Others from the Methodist Church were at the center to serve.The kitchen staff did their usual excellent job. The pork roast was very moist and tender. The mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli, rolls, jello with fruit and blueberry muffins were tasty too. The meal was sponsored by Tootie Cernazanu. Tootie is very generous to our John Day Senior Center. 35 meals were delivered and over 50 people dined at the center. Veanne did not have any announcements. Isa Larkin led the flag salute and Sherry Feiger asked the blessing. Kay Cotham won the Chester’s Thriftway gift card and Margie Conlee won the lunch for two at Valley View. On Jan.16 Mr. Jack Cavender went home to be with the Lord. His celebration of life was held Saturday, Jan 21. He was 96 years old. Soo Yukawa Thank goodness the snow had melted enough that allowed everyone to safely travel to get here to Monument. He had many family members from all over that came. There were four generations that came to pay their respects. He was a dear “Papa” to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He left a legacy that won’t be forgotten. When hearing all the stories of his life and what an impact he made on his family, I was quite envious. I never had a grandpa. Mine all had passed long before I was ever born. Mr. Jack had also made a huge impact in his community and Grant County. Had I had known that Mr. Jack had so much knowledge about so many different things, I would have picked his brain more. He will be greatly missed and there will be a big hole at the Senior Center lunch. We had a very intimate crowd for our Tuesday, Jan. 17 meal. Our greeters were Bob Blakelsee and Marva Walker. Bodean Andersen has been unable to safely get down her driveway due to the snow and that is the reason why she has been MIA, just fyi. Bob led us in the flag salute, Marva made the announcements, and yours truly prayed the blessing over our meal. Diane Gianger and Sharon Falls both won the free meal for two at Valley View. Bob Yukawa won the Len’s Drug gift card. We had 27 guests on our books and five takeouts. Carrie Jewell and Terri Hamilton made us a tasty and hearty meal of tacos with all the fixings, Spanish rice, refried beans, and pudding for dessert. We thank our cooks and our generous donators. We especially are thankful and appreciate our cooks coming out to make our meal, braving the icy roads. We continue to lift up prayers for Ron Odette of Long Creek and Debbie Reid of Kimberly, who recently had hip surgery. We also pray for Janice Werner of Monument for healing from surgery too. Hope I didn’t miss anybody. I’m not liking this mushy, muddy, slushy mess we’re getting now. Because of the warmer temperatures, everything is melting or not staying frozen anymore. It wasn’t very pleasant stepping in mushy cow poop, twice, I might add. I hope everything melts gradually and not all at once. That would be a nightmare. My poor Steve, the old goat, lost a horn. That big, mean Perry beat him up. Poor Steve was a bloody mess for awhile and he looks weird with only one horn. Soon, Perry will get his just reward. I’m contemplating on my garden for Spring. I’ve got grandiose plans for this year. I plan on using chicken wire to block out the nasty gophers. Oooh, I’m getting excited, Spring is just around the corner! Revelation 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. Prairie City Seniors John Day Seniors Monument Seniors 04846