FROM PAGE ONE
A6 — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022
Search training near Baker City goes on despite soggy conditions
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Mannequins,
fortunately, don’t mind getting
soaked.
They’re immune to hypo-
thermia, too.
Those attributes helped keep a
major search and rescue training
exercise going despite heavy rain
on Saturday, April 30, in the forest
near Phillips Reservoir.
About 50 search and rescue
team members from six Eastern
Oregon counties gathered for
the annual training, said Ashley
McClay, public information offi cer
for the event’s host, the Baker
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce.
Baker County search and
rescue members were joined by
their counterparts from Union,
Wallowa, Malheur, Gilliam and
Umatilla counties, McClay said.
Those six counties, along with
Grant, Harney, Morrow and
Wheeler, constitute the Eastern
Ashley McClay/Contributed Photo
Incident Commander Brian Belnap, front left, of the Malheur County Sheriff ’s Offi ce, talks with team leader Nick Vora, of Union
County, Search and Rescue, front right, during a search training exercise on Saturday, April 30, 2022, near Baker City.
Oregon Search and Rescue group.
Participants spent the weekend
at Union Creek campground on
the north side of Phillips Reservoir
about 17 miles southwest of Baker
City.
The initial plan was to have a
ground search, involving a live
“victim,” as well as a rope rescue,
involving a mannequin, both on
Saturday, followed by a second
ground search on Sunday, May 1,
McClay said.
But with rain forecast, orga-
nizers decided to replace the live
subject of the search with a pair of
mannequins, simulating a father
and son who failed to return from
a trip to the woods.
“We didn’t want to have
someone sitting out in the cold and
wet for several hours,” she said.
The rain also delayed the rope
rescue since the showers made the
rock cliff slick.
Instead, searchers, after fi nding
the two mannequins during the
ground search Saturday in the
Old Auburn Road and California
Gulch area north of Highway
7, returned to the campground
and welcome meals provided by
retired Baker County Sheriff Terry
Speelman.
On Sunday, with the skies
having cleared, the rope rescue
exercise took place, but the second
planned ground search was can-
celed, McClay said.
In addition to the ground
searchers, teams from Umatilla
and Malheur counties brought
aerial drones to participate in the
training.
The annual exercise shifts
among the 10 counties in the
region. This was the fi rst time
Baker County has played host
since 2015.
VFW
MORE INFORMATION
Continued from Page A1
building at 518 N. Main
Street in Union for interest
meetings.
“Hopefully they’ll want
to make the organization
grow into what the VFW
or American Legion is,”
McCormack said. “We’re
going to give them free
rein of our post. It would
be their post to do with, per
say, as long as it doesn’t
confl ict with what we’re
doing.”
The group
has already
met several
times, sched-
uling monthly
meetings for
prospective
Forrest
members.
While Post
4060 is pro-
viding the
space, the new
group will
not be offi -
McCormack
cially associ-
ated with the
VFW.
McCormack noted that
the new group will be
entirely member-run, most
likely electing a president
and other positions to lead
the group.
Once the organization
structure is established,
the group can begin orga-
nizing more events and
DEBATE
Continued from Page A1
opportunity to react to what
their opponent had to say.”
The candidates —
Anderes and Hill — both
said they are excited about
the chance to get in front of
GUENTERT
Continued from Page A1
praised her eff ort fronting
the agency, calling her an
“invaluable teacher” and
a person who leads by
example.
Guentert began as a front
offi ce assistant in 2007. She
also spent time in transpor-
tation before moving into
her county manager role in
2014. Knowing as many of
the ins and outs of CCNO is
valuable, she said.
“Learning the pro-
gram from the ground up
and growing up within the
agency, it has given me
such a well-rounded per-
spective of what this agency
does for all the communi-
ties that we operate in,” she
said. “It is so diverse.”
Guentert said the deci-
sion to step into the execu-
tive director role is one that
required a deep internal
look.
The new service group for fi rst
responders and all military vet-
erans will meet next at 4 p.m.
on Monday, May 23, at the VFW
Post 4060 in Union. The group
is planning to meet on the
fourth Monday of every month
moving forward.
fundraisers down the line.
“This group would have
its own set of bylaws and its
own offi cers,” McCormack
said. “We’re in the infant
stages. We’re just trying to
get people to come by and
talk to them right now.”
VFW Post 4060 Com-
mander Larry Forrest said
he is hopeful the new group
can draw a younger crowd
who may not be familiar
with the VFW or may not
be aware of resources avail-
able. Forrest noted that the
VFW has connections with
professionals experienced
in helping frontline service
workers and former mil-
itary members in dealing
with PTSD.
According to For-
rest, the two groups can
easily coexist in the
future through events and
resources. He said the
Union VFW is hoping the
new group will become rec-
ognized as a community
asset that is available to vet-
erans and fi rst responders.
Just months into the pro-
cess of creating the new
group, prospective mem-
bers include individuals
from the Union Interagency
Hotshot Crew, out-of-state
law enforcement offi cers,
veterans who did not serve
overseas and members of
the Union County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce.
“The biggest thing is
going to be getting all the
fi rst responders together,
selecting a set of offi cers,
creating a set of bylaws and
then listing it as a nonprofi t
organization,” McCor-
mack said. “We’ve got a
lot of things we need to do
once we get the members
together.”
He emphasized that
groups like the VFW and
American Legion are cru-
cial for veterans in dealing
with the trauma that can
often stem from their expe-
riences in the military.
“The fi rst responders
all at some point in their
life will run into the PTSD
problem,” McCormack said.
“The idea of this group is
for fi rst responders to also
be able to get together and
talk with each other and try
to help with the PTSD.”
voters to make
their cases.
“I think
the more
informed
people are the
better choices
Anderes
people make,”
said Anderes, 60, a former
educator who is seeking his
second term
as county
commissioner.
“I think this is
a good oppor-
tunity to visit
with folks
Hill
about what
I’ve been doing and what
we’ve been doing as the
county for quite some time.”
“Hearing the concerns
and issues fi rsthand from
my community will be
insightful and benefi cial,”
said Hill, 68, a La Grande
resident and a business
owner. “I hope the debate
will be a positive experience
for everyone.”
Insko said he’s hopeful for
a full house in Huber Audi-
torium on May 6 and would
like for EOU to be a regular
stop for similar events at all
levels of government.
“This whole thing kind
of started not only because
we wanted to give our com-
munity members an oppor-
tunity, but I had a few gov-
ernor candidates reach out
to me, wanting me to host
the governor’s debate here,”
he said. “We didn’t want to
do a primary (debate). We
decided to wait on the gov-
ernors until you have two
party candidates chosen
already.”
“I loved my job as the
county manager,” she said.
“Did I want to drive to La
Grande every day? Yeah, it
was a lot of inner refl ection.
Did I want to take that step
and continue on in the won-
derful culture and leader-
ship that Margaret has (not
only) led by example (but)
really infused through our
entire agency? It inspired
me to step up and have the
opportunity to continue the
culture, the foundation of
our agency, (and) the family
of it.”
Guentert will continue
to live in Wallowa County,
staying in an area she has
grown to love, and will
make the commute on a
daily basis.
“It’s a beautiful drive,”
she said. “It’s enjoyable.
It’s time to refl ect on what
you’ve got going on in the
day. When you’re home,
you’re present for your
family. It also keeps my feet
in that neck of the woods.
I’ve loved raising my family
there and living there. It’s
home.”
Guentert said she doesn’t
plan to make any alter-
ations to the way Davidson
operated CCNO, instead
wanting to continue the
legacy the longtime execu-
tive director built.
“I am defi nitely going
to operate it the same way
she has,” she said. “Being
present in the future, what
our counties need, that is
why we’re here. We’re here
to serve people.”
Her replacement at Com-
munity Connection Wal-
lowa County is still being
determined. Guentert said
she hopes that spot is fi lled
by mid-May.
Davis Carbaugh/The Observer
The VFW Post 4060 on North Main Street in Union is sharing its building as well as its support with a new service group for fi rst responders and
all military veterans. The new group meets on the fourth Monday of every month and will be entirely member-run.
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