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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2015)
12 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2015 Local Eagle Valley Days fills streets Hells Canyon Jr. Rodeo held Carmelita Holland / The Baker County Press Members of the Eagle Valley 4-H Club rode the parade route along with some of their fair animals. • PARADE GROWS FROM LAST YEAR, HAS MORE FLOATS, PARTICIPANTS BY CARMELITA HOLLAND News@TheBakerCountyPress.com Eagle Valley Days, held June 20th, was well at- tended this year. The parade was much larger than in earlier years, featuring many more floats depicting community in- terests— and the ladies at the park kitchen were kept busy most of the day. Walter and Norma For- sea were Grand Marshals, driven by Dan Mitchell in a golf cart. “The golf cart was not really in the plans for the Grand Marshals to ride in,” said Mitchell, “but the antique car they were plan- ning to ride in the parade broke down. “I had to run the golf cart over to their house for them to get in to it, to make sure there was room under the roof for Walt’s cowboy hat.” “What I liked about the golf cart,” said Norma, “was the roof that shaded us from the hot sun.” A somewhat similar conveyance, without a roof, carried the Junior Grand Lady, Savannah Brown, and Junior Grande Marshall Daniel Brown, a new addition to the parade. Another outstanding float was entered by Frank Randall, who has been making sure for years that all the kids in Eagle Valley have a free bicycle. The bikes on the float are only a small example Buy now and save up to $80 On select PPG Paints. Limit 10 gallons. Sale through July 11, 2015. 3205 10th Street Baker City 541-523-4422 of those he has rebuilt at his own expense of time, labor, and parts. A portable jail also drew much attention, hold- ing a prisoner protesting his innocence, claiming he had simply “borrowed” the horse; it is believed to be a Pauly Jail constructed about 1883. Generous amounts of sweets were thrown to children along the parade route. During games and other activities at the Eagle Valley Grange Park, there were 181 hamburgers, one hundred ninety one hot dogs consumed, besides 75 pounds of beef used in barbecue dinners. No record was kept of other foods, but it was estimated that near two hundred servings of straw- berries and shortcake were distributed. The winner of the pie making contest was Sarah Backstrom from New Jersey, who is the daughter of Jane Ellis. Sonja and Larry Weems of Hermiston, purchased the pie. Kandice Holland, age 14, made an Oreo Cream pie that brought fifty dollars at the auction. Bethany Garrison who has won many cooking prizes in the past, con- tributed eight pies to the auction. Music for the evening was outstanding, provided by D. J. and Birdie Smith, and daughter Shelley, members of the family of Patricia Matheson. Shelley Paskett took the opportu- nity to honor her grand- mother, Patricia, on the stage on her eighty-ninth birthday. Roseann Riggs was Chairman of Eagle Val- ley Days this year. Gayle Haga was in charge of the Kitchen. Eagle Valley Days is the major fund raiser for the Eagle Valley Grange which provides a hall and kitchen at the Community Center, a park with a large green lawn and a kitchen on the west side of Richland, emergency services; EMTs and the Eagle Valley Am- bulance, besides promoting the Boy Scouts and various other community services. The Eagle Valley Grange wants to express their appreciation to every one who worked to make Eagle Valley Days a huge success, and acknowl- edges that this grange alone could not achieve such success without the cooperation and hard work contributed by everyone. Those who contribute in- clude churches, the VFW, the New Bridge Grange and Cindy Plano for work- ing for parade entries, Gar Rovang announcing entries in the parade, Mib and Jacque Dailey, auction- eers, the Richland Fire Department, all of the local businesses, Art and Mary Jane Walker for donating buns, the Eagle Valley RV for donating ice—the list goes on. A meeting was held the following Monday and it was agreed there will be another Eagle Valley Days celebration in 2016. Carmelita Holland / The Baker County Press Princess Karmen Molina. BY CARMELITA HOLLAND News@TheBakerCountyPress.com The 2015 Hells Canyon Junior Rodeo Princess was Karmen Molina, the ten-year-old daughter of Tana Molina, granddaughter of Sandy and Pete Bigelow of Halfway. She rides a big buckskin paint gelding she calls “Little Joe,” which she tells everyone she loves very much. Princess Karmen was accompanied by grandpa Big- elow in Richland, June 20th, where she rode in the Eagle Valley Days parade. Her day to ride in the Hells Canyon Junior Rodeo Parade was Saturday, June 27, leading to the Rodeo which began at noon at the Pine Valley Fair- grounds. Sunday morning the Pine Eagle FFA, Joe Denig and son, Shane, cooked the Cowboy Breakfast, served by Trinity Butner and Kandice Holland. The concessions stand was then handed over to the 4H Club. A Cowboy Church Service was held at 10 a.m. The Sunday Rodeo performance began with toddlers entering the Mini Mite Dummy Roping Contest to rope a pair of plastic cow horns on part of a head, fastened to the end of a bale of hay, with the same gusto and determina- tion of any adult intent on roping a maddened Brahma bull. This contest was followed by children of all ages participating wholeheartedly in every event they qualified for. On occasion, a parent of the very young had to “help out.” Mini Mite competitions included Dummy Roping, Mutton Busting, and Goat Tails. Under Pee Wee were Girls Breakaway, Boys Break- away, Girls Goat Tying, Boys Goat Tying, Boys Steer/ Calf Riding, Girls Calf/Steer Riding, Boys Barrel racing, Girls Barrel racing, Boys Poles, and Girls Poles. Cow kids; Dummy Roping, Goat Tail untying, Barrel Racing, Calf Riding, Figure and Race. Junior Boys, Calf Tying, Boys Breakaways, Girls Breakaways, Ribbon Roping, and Girls Goat Tying. Senior Boys Calf Roping, Bull Riding, Chute Dogging, Girls Poles, Team Roping, Girls Steer/Cow Riding, Girls Barrel Racing, Saddle Bronc, and Ranch Bronc. The popularity and fine reputation of this rodeo grows each year and the addresses of contestants tend to reflects this. Besides many from the local area, Halfway, Oxbow, Richland, and Baker City, the list of origin in the records include Haines, North Powder, Harper, Middleton, Elgin, Caldwell, Midvale, Meridian, Homedale, Lakeview, Long Creek, Redmond, Albany, Jordan Valley, Dayton, Wash- ington, and Winnemucca.