REGION
A6 — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2022
Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally canceled for 3rd straight year
Organizer plans to return in 2023; Baker
County chamber director says other major
summer events scheduled for 2022
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — For
the third straight summer
one of Baker City’s sig-
nature events, the Hells
Canyon Motorcycle Rally,
will not happen.
Mark Dukes, a partner
in High Desert Harley-
Davidson of Meridian,
Idaho, the dealership that
organizes the rally, said
that multiple factors con-
tributed to his decision to
cancel the event.
And unlike the cancel-
lations in 2021 and 2020,
the pandemic isn’t the lone
issue.
Two other concerns this
year, Dukes said, are a
major construction project
to build more than 300
wheelchair-accessible curb
cuts, including on Baker
City’s Main Street, a focal
point for the rally, and a
shortage of employees at his
motorcycle dealership.
Dukes said he doesn’t
have enough workers to
both organize the rally in
Baker City and operate the
dealership.
“I don’t want to go up
there and not have a great
rally,” he said.
Although the omicron
wave of COVID-19 has
passed, and infection rates
are plummeting, Dukes said
there is still an element of
uncertainty that matters
with an event such as the
rally, which takes at least
six months to plan.
Dukes said the prospect
of partnering with other
organizations to coordinate
the rally isn’t feasible in his
view, because they would
need to be familiar with
motorcycles and the motor-
cycle industry.
Dukes said his goal is to
revive the rally in 2023.
Shelly Cutler, execu-
tive director of the Baker
County Chamber of Com-
merce and Visitor Center,
said that although she’s dis-
appointed that the rally is
canceled again, she’s opti-
mistic that it will return in
2023.
“It’s a hit to our summer
tourism for sure,” Cutler
said. “It’s an incredible
event that brings a lot of
revenue to the county and
businesses. I do not expect
another summer to go by
without the rally.”
She said she understands
Dukes’ concerns.
Cutler also points out
that even without the rally,
the roads that brought the
event to Baker County more
than 15 years remain an
attraction for riders, and she
expects many motorcyclists
Baker City Herald, File
The Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally, one of Baker City’s major summer events, won’t happen in 2022, the
third straight year it’s been canceled. The organizer hopes to resume the event in 2023.
will visit the county this
spring and summer.
That happened last
summer despite the rally
being canceled, she said.
“They still come to
Baker, just not in the
masses that we would see
with the offi cial rally,”
Cutler said.
Busy summer ahead
Also on the positive side
of the ledger, Cutler said all
other major summer events
in the county are slated to
happen as usual, including
the Baker City Cycling
Classic in June, Miners
Jubilee and the Bronc and
Bull Riding competition
in July, the Shrine All-Star
Football Game and Baker
County Fair in August and
the Sumpter fl ea markets
during Memorial Day and
Labor Day weekends.
Moreover, an event that
also was canceled in 2020
and 2021 — the Baker City
Memory Cruise car show —
is back on the schedule for
Aug. 20 in Geiser-Pollman
Park.
A new event planned
for the weekend of May 20
is the Chautauqua Amer-
icana Music Festival in
Richland. The event will
include a variety of live
music at the Eagle Valley
Grange Community Park,
as well as artisans selling
handcrafted items and spe-
cialty foods.
“I think we still have
a lot of good things going
on,” Cutler said.
Ready for infl ux
of visitors
Cutler is optimistic
that the 2022 spring and
summer tourist season will
be a busy one in Baker
County, as people from
across the nation, as well
as foreign travelers, take
advantage of the waning
pandemic.
That was the case during
spring break 2021, she said.
“Last spring break was
the busiest traffi c I’ve seen
in the six, almost seven,
years I’ve been here,”
Cutler said. “People were
so ready to get out, and I
expect that trend to con-
tinue, as people are feeling
safer.”
Among travelers vis-
iting the county this winter,
Cutler said about 40% were
from the East Coast.
“People are still taking
road trips,” she said.
Cutler said very few
people who call the Cham-
ber’s Visitor Center ask
about mask or vaccine man-
dates. But she’s still pleased
that Oregon’s indoor mask
mandate will end no later
than March 31, according to
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.
The Oregon Health &
Science University this
week forecast that the
number of COVID-19
patients in hospitals would
drop below the 400-person
threshold for ending the
mask mandate by March 20.
“We always impress upon
people who call that Baker
County is open for business
and we’re excited to have
them back,” Cutler said. “I
think we’re all excited to get
back to normal.”
Staffi ng challenges
Cutler said that although
some restaurants and other
businesses continue to
struggle to fi nd enough
employees to maintain their
usual schedule, she believes
the situation is improving.
She thinks the tourist
season and its infl ux of cus-
tomers could be a great
opportunity for high school
students, including this
year’s graduates, to earn
money for college.
Jackalope Jamboree expands to three days
Music festival
grows in its third
year at Happy
Canyon Arena
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — In just
its third year of existence,
Jackalope Jamboree is
gearing up for a three-day
country and Ameri-
cana music festival at the
Happy Canyon Arena in
Pendleton.
The event features
headliners each night.
Reckless Kelly will kick
things off Thursday, June
23, Turnpike Trouba-
dours will travel to the
stage Friday, June 24,
and closing out the event
on Saturday, June 25, is
Mike & The Moonpies.
FOR TICKETS
Online: Visit www.
jackalopejamboree.com
Nearly 20 musical acts will
take the stage during the
festival.
According to Chad Col-
well, one of the event’s
organizers, if early ticket
sales are any indication,
this could be the best year
yet.
Landing Turnpike Trou-
badours, he said, “is kind of
a big draw for us.” In less
than a month, Colwell said
they have more than dou-
bled tickets sales as com-
pared to all of last year.
Running on adrenaline
from a successful inaugural
event in 2019, Colwell and
fellow organizers Rian
Beach and Daren Lequerica
announced in early 2020
plans to expand to two days
for the second year.
And then the global
pandemic pulled the plug,
forcing the trio to wait
until 2021 for their soph-
omore event. Even with
lingering restrictions and
the sweltering heat, Col-
well said more than 1,000
attended on the festival’s
fi rst day and a tick below
that showed up for Satur-
day’s performances.
Colwell said early out
of the chute, the idea was
to move beyond a one-day
event.
“We wanted to see this
thing grow,” he said. “It
was a goal at some point to
expand and get bigger.”
However, they didn’t
have to re-create the wheel
in order to jump from one
day to multiple days, Col-
well said. A number of
music festivals, he said,
have created a sort of tem-
plate for that, including the
Braun Brothers Reunion
(Challis, Idaho) and Hwy
30 Music Fest (Filer,
Idaho).
Contributing factors
to Jackalope Jamboree’s
quick success, Colwell
said, have been a sup-
portive community, solid
sponsorship and Travel
Pendleton’s promotional
eff orts.
Another big draw, he
said, is mixing up the
lineup.
In addition to national
touring and traveling acts,
Colwell said it’s important
to include local musicians
or those with ties to the
region — that includes
such talent as James Dean
Kindle, Elwood and Tylor
& the Train Robbers.
“Pendleton and Eastern
Oregon has a tremendous
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Also, with RV/trailer
camping already selling
out, organizers are trying
to secure another location.
Colwell encouraged
people to keep an eye
on the event website and
social media pages for
updates.
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music scene,” he said.
“There’s a lot of great
music and we want to
showcase them,.”
While two- and
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Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Concertgoers dance as Jesse Daniel performs June 26, 2021, during
Jackalope Jamboree at the Happy Canyon Arena, Pendleton. The
country singer-songwriter returns for the 2022 musical festival,
which is slated for June 23-25.
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