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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2015)
10 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 Local Baker City Christian OTEC’s Women’s luncheon: 50-year nominating tradition comes to an end committees appointed Meghan Andersch/ The Baker County Press Bel Canto performs at the final luncheon. BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com A fifty-year tradition ended Thursday, Decem- ber 10th, with the final monthly Baker City Chris- tian Women’s Luncheon. With not enough volunteer support to continue this particular tradition, the ministry will be going in a new direction, though it’s not exactly clear yet what that will be. Parking in the Sunridge Restaurant lot was hard to find and a long line of ladies chatted amiably in the hall while waiting to get into the banquet room. The theme of the event was “Visions of Chocolate.” The event proved worth the wait, including a succulent tri-tip dinner (and chocolate dessert, of course). Judy Logsdon hosted the afternoon, opening by reading Amy Peterson’s The Littlest Christmas Tree. Lynn Applegate said the opening prayer. Baker High School’s award-winning Bel Canto choir, under the director- ship of DeeAnn Sands, performed a number of holiday songs, including “O Come, O Come Em- manuel,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and a Hanukkah song about a spinning dreidl. A lovely chocolate basket was raffled off to raise funds for Stonecroft Ministries (Stonecroft Ministries and the Baker City Christian Women’s Connection hosted the luncheon). After a spirited round of bidding, Roberta Morin won the final bid. A winner was also drawn for the quilt raffle. The Baker City Christian Church’s quilting group made the quilt. Daryl Hobson had the winning ticket. Logsdon said this is the second year in a row that a gentleman has had the winning ticket. Meghan Andersch/ The Baker County Press Daryl Hobson had the winning ticket for this quilt. The winner last year donated his quilt to a Washington family that was burned out of the their house. Donna Kilgore of Stone- croft Ministries then stood to talk about future plans. She said even though this is the last luncheon, it will not be the last event. She told everyone to keep watch for notifica- tions of future happenings. Kilgore said they will continue to meet monthly for prayer, saying that “without prayer, nothing happens.” There are also seven weekly Bible studies held throughout the area from Sumpter to Baker and points in between. The studies are held on various days and times. To find out more or to get involved in a study, contact Kilgore at 523-4297 or Jerri Wickert at 523-3447. Logsdon then intro- duced featured speaker Kristen Holmberg, founder of Idaho Christian Speak- ers, blogger, and mother of three. Holmberg spoke on finding Christ in Christ- mas. She asked attendees to raise their hands if they could think of one tradition that made Christmas seem like Christmas. She then asked to see raised hands if anyone could think of one of those traditions that was not drawing them closer to Christ. She stated she was giving everyone permis- sion to “say no,” and spoke of training the mind to focus on the reason for Christmas. To that end, Holmberg spoke about the history of Christmas and several of the symbols of Christmas, including Christmas trees (eternal life, trinity), holly (crown of thorns and drops of blood from Christ’s brow), and Saint Nicholas. She shared strategies that her family uses at Christmas, including a gift-giving rubric based on the gold, frankincense, and myrrh given by the Magi to the young Jesus. Holmberg suggested other strategies for focus- ing on Christ, including praying for those you re- ceive Christmas cards and e-cards from or putting the Nativity scene under the tree and using the presents to decorate the house. At the end, Holmberg said that even if none of her suggestions resonated, she hoped they’d prompted a thought of something that would, and asked the ladies if they had any ideas to share them with someone before they left. Road work near John Day to be completed by today The Oregon Department of Transportation and their contractors are work- ing along U.S. 395 at the Vance Creek Culvert site near mile post 11-C, about 9 miles south of Canyon City. The culvert was replaced last month and the high- way rebuilt above it. The width of the road between the guardrails, however, is not as wide as the original alignment. This narrower configu- ration makes it difficult for some large trucks, buses and other long vehicles to stay in their lane while maneuvering around the sharp corner. Crews will add addition- al fill material to build up the existing road shoulders then relocate the guardrail to create a wider, safer corner. Travelers are advised to drive with extra caution in this area and to expect single lane travel, flaggers and delays up to twenty minutes at the site through the end of this week. Signs are posted in the area advising of the narrow roadway and that the work site is one-way traffic for trucks and buses. There are no travel restrictions for oversize loads during the project work. Drivers of commercial trucks, RVs and other long vehicles are advised to use extra caution and be mindful of the one-way travel for trucks and buses around this curve. The road widening project is expected to be completed by December 18. Find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TheBCPress The board of directors for Oregon Trail Electric Coop- erative (OTEC) have appointed the director nominating committees for Baker and Union Counties. Appointed to serve were: Position 7 (Union County) currently held by incumbent Greg Howard Donna Beverage – 786-1492 Dale DeLong – 786-4343 Mike McLean – 786-1412 or 786-5735 Position 8 (Union County) currently held by incumbent Dave Baum Donna Beverage – 786-1492 Dale DeLong – 786-4343 Mike McLean – 786-1412 or 786-5735 Position 9 (Baker County) currently held by incumbent Charlene Chase Martin Arritola – 910-9019 Diane Brown – 523-3679 DeeDee Clarke – 524-1999 The nominating committees are responsible for inter- viewing and recommending qualified candidates for the 2016 OTEC Board of Director Elections. If you are a member of the cooperative and interested in running for the OTEC Board of Directors, please contact the commit- tee members in your county. The committees have requested any members interest- ed in stepping forward for consideration, please contact them on or by January 25 for Position 7 or 8 (Union County) and January 22 for Position 9 (Baker County). Committees must submit their nominations to the board secretary no later than January 30, 2016. Any member wishing to petition for placement on the 2016 Board or Directors Election Ballot should contact Joan Macy (541-524-2831) or Lara Petitclerc-Stokes (541-524-2858) for the petition and conflict of interests forms. Nominations by petition must be filed no later than March 1, 2016, must be signed by the candidate and by at least 50 OTEC members qualified to vote. In addi- tion, there must be a request that the candidate’s name be placed on the ballot. A copy of the bylaws describing the terms of the of- fice and qualifications needed to serve on the 9-member board of directors and well as a conflict of interest policy are available online at www.otecc.com/about/annual- meetings. Each director’s term of office is three years. The elec- tion will be completed at the annual meeting scheduled for April 30, 2016 in Baker City, OR. All OTEC coopera- tive members and their families are invited to attend. Convicted murderer dies in Umatilla Inmate Mark Allen Pinnell, 67, died of natural causes at approximately 10:55 a.m. on Monday, December 14, 2015, in the Two Rivers Correctional Institution (TRCI) infirmary in Umatilla. Next of kin have been notified. Pinnell entered Oregon Department of Corrections custody on March 4, 1986, on one count of robbery in the first degree out of Clackamas County. He was later charged with six counts of aggravated murder and two counts of murder out of Washington County and was sentenced to death. He has been on death row since March 13, 1992, and was temporarily housed at TRCI for medical reasons. Man found dead along I-84 On December 8, 2015, at approximately 8:54 a.m. Troopers from the Oregon State Police along with of- ficers of the Pendleton Police Department responded to the report of a deceased adult male along the shoulder of Interstate 84 near milepost 209 westbound. Upon arrival at the scene, officers located Neil Schulte, 73 of Nordland, Washington who was pronounced de- ceased. Schulte was discovered near the highway right of way fence adjacent to the onramp to I84 at milepost 209 westbound. Investigation revealed Schulte had been traveling from Austin, Texas to Nordland, Washington and was reported missing by his girlfriend on December 4th, 2015. Travis County Sheriff's Office took a missing person report on Schulte on December 4th. Schulte’s vehicle had been towed by the Oregon State Police as an abandoned ve- hicle near the 209 interchange on December 3rd, prior to Schulte being entered as a missing person. The Oregon State Police Pendleton Crime Lab along with the Umatilla County Medical Examiner responded to the scene to assist in the investigation. Preliminary investigation indicates that Schulte died of natural causes and no criminal activity is suspected.
