2A — THE OBSERVER
MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019
LOCAL
D AILY
P LANNER
Staff photo
by Dick Mason
Boy Scout
Nate Binga-
man discusses
one of the 10
headstones
he recently
renovated at
Summerville
Cemetery
for his Eagle
Project. “They
had not sur-
vived the tests
of time and
weather,” said
Bingaman, a
member of La
Grande Boy
School Troop
514.
TODAY
Today is Monday, Dec. 9,
the 343rd day of 2019. There
are 22 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Dec. 9, 2013, scientists
revealed that NASA’s Curi-
osity rover had uncovered
signs of an ancient freshwa-
ter lake on Mars.
ON THIS DATE
In 1608, English poet
John Milton was born in
London.
In 1911, an explosion
inside the Cross Mountain
coal mine near Briceville,
Tennessee, killed 84 work-
ers. (Five were rescued.)
In 1940, British troops
opened their fi rst major
offensive in North Africa
during World War II.
In 1960, the Domino’s
Pizza chain had its begin-
nings as brothers Tom and
James Monaghan started
operating a pizzeria in Ypsi-
lanti, Mich.
In 1975, President Gerald
R. Ford signed a $2.3
billion seasonal loan-
authorization that offi cials
of New York City and State
said would prevent a city
default.
In 1984, the fi ve-day-old
hijacking of a Kuwaiti jet-
liner that claimed the lives
of two Americans ended
as Iranian security men
seized control of the plane,
which was parked at Tehran
airport.
In 1990, Solidarity
founder Lech Walesa won
Poland’s presidential runoff
by a landslide.
In 1992, Britain’s Prince
Charles and Princess Diana
announced their separa-
tion. (The couple’s divorce
became fi nal in Aug. 1996.)
In 2000, the U-S Supreme
Court ordered a temporary
halt in the Florida vote
count on which Al Gore
pinned his best hopes of
winning the White House.
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KEEPING MEMORIESALIVE
AT SUMMERVILLE CEMETERY
By Dick Mason
The Observer
SUMMERVILLE — A mystery
and a surprising discovery.
Imbler Boy Scout Nate Bingaman
encountered both in the course of
completing his Eagle Scout project
recently at Summerville Cemetery.
Bingaman renovated 10 cemetery
headstones. All are white limestone
and had either fallen off or were in
danger of falling off their cement bases.
“They had not survived the tests of
time and weather,” said Bingaman,
a member of La Grande Boy School
Troop 514.
Many of the headstones were quite
heavy, including one that was about
5 feet from its concrete base.
“I have no idea how it got there,”
Bingaman said.
He noted the headstone is far too
heavy for one person to have carried
it even that short distance.
Bingaman, an Imbler High School
sophomore, encountered another
surprise when he discovered a fallen
headstone bearing a different name
on each side. It turned out the differ-
ent names were of twins who were
born in 1919 and died a few days
apart in 1920. This headstone was
attached upright to a new concrete
base so both sides are again visible
and each twin recognized.
The Scout took a different approach
renovating the other nine headstones.
They were not put upright but rather
installed horizontally in concrete
frames that replaced their deteriorat-
ing concrete bases. Bingaman said
this would increase their longevity. He
explained headstones are now safer
since they can no longer fall over.
All of the renovations Binagaman
did were in October and November
with the help of members of his troop
and the Imbler High School’s FFA
chapter, which he belongs to. The
work included removing old con-
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The real question is not
whether machines think
but whether men do. The
mystery which surrounds
a thinking machine already
surrounds a thinking man.”
— B.F. Skinner, American
behaviorist
Nov. 10, when they coated each with
concrete sealant.
“This was to ensure that each
headstone, (which refl ects the)
memory of a child, would last as
long as possible,” said the Scout,
the son of Wade and Ange Binga-
man.
Those who assisted Nate Binga-
man, in addition to his troop and
IHS’s FFA chapter, included his
family; Mike Campbell, the Sum-
merville Cemetery’s groundskeeper,
who was Bingaman’s project coach;
North End Construction of Elgin,
which provided the protective tarps;
and Carrie Bingaman, a member of
Summerville Cemetery Board who is
his grandmother.
Much of the money for Binga-
man’s Eagle project was raised at a
September volleyball game between
Imbler High School and Pine Eagle
High School, at which he accepted
donations for the project.
Festival of Trees
provides big
community boost
■ 33rd year of annual winter fundraiser
brings in $50,000 for local organizations
Mega Millions: $314 million
crete bases and replacing them with
wet concrete frames in which they
embedded the headstones. They also
helped install tarps over the bases
when the concrete was still wet to
protect them from the rain.
The headstones Bingaman’s
project renovated are ones of infants
and children ranging up to the age of
11. All died between 1870 and 1890,
except for the twins who passed
away in 1920.
Bingaman said all their head-
stones are made of soft white
limestone. White was chosen for the
children’s graves because of their
young age.
“White symbolized purity,” he said.
The vertical soft limestone head-
stones proved vulnerable to breaking
off from their concrete bases over the
past century, which is why they are
now installed horizontally.
Bingaman and his team took the fi -
nal step in renovating the headstones
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The 33rd
Festival of Trees was again a
remarkable spectacle of com-
munity generosity.
The annual winter fun-
draiser, featuring decora-
tions that may have left
some visitors starstruck,
grossed at least $50,000.
Shannon Willmarth of
Soroptimist International
of La Grande, which puts
on the Festival of Trees,
said this year’s total is at
least as high as what the
festival raised in 2018.
Much of the funds came
from the auction of 23 dec-
orated Christmas trees —
18 large ones and fi ve mini
trees, which were less than
4 feet tall. The trees were
on display Friday evening
for the festival’s annual
gala, which included a ban-
quet and the auction.
Those donating the Christ-
mas trees spent painstak-
ing hours decorating them
Thursday and Friday at the
Blue Mountain Conference
Center, site of the festival.
Groups could decorate their
trees Thursday and Friday.
Willmarth said at least two
groups were decorating
their trees throughout both
sessions.
One new tree at the
auction was Le Bebe Cakes
Bakery’s “The Universe
Declares His Glory,”
which Spring Roberts and
Maxine Scott decorated.
The space-themed tree
displayed the multitude of
colors of the universe and
came with a painting of
the aurora borealis and a
telescope.
Non-tree items auc-
tion items at the banquet
included a golf package,
which provided the oppor-
tunity to play on courses at
Wildhorse Resort & Casino
in Pendleton, Buffalo Peak
in Union, the La Grande
Country Club and Quail
Ridge in Baker City; a
rodeo package of multiple
tickets to rodeos at the
Staff photo by Dick Mason
Tynlee Taylor, left, and Kordell Bailas, both of La Grande, talk with Santa at the annual
Festival of Trees program Saturday at the Blue Mountain Conference Center.
Eastern Oregon Livestock
Show, the Elgin Stampede
and the Pendleton Round-
Up; and several dinners at
local restaurants.
The gala also raised a
total of $20,000 in college
scholarship money for
women and girls in Union
County, to be distributed
by Soroptimist Interna-
tional of La Grande. The
scholarship money was
generated at a “Raise Your
Paddle” event. Individu-
als who wanted to donate
money would raise a paddle
during the fundraiser. The
majority of the money will
go to students who attend
Eastern Oregon University.
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December 18-20
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DONATE YOUR CAR
Other live auction items
and silent auction gift bas-
kets were also part of the
evening.
The 23 Christmas trees
auctioned at Friday night’s
gala remained on display
Saturday during the Fes-
tival of Trees Family Fun
Day. The Eastern Oregon
University football team
transported the trees Sat-
urday and Sunday to the
businesses and residents
who purchased them.
Swire Coca-Cola of La
Grande provided the truck
to haul the trees.
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