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.
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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.